'F18s under Spinnaker - 33rd Nacra Nationals, Day 3 - 33rd Nacra Catamaran Nationals'
Maeve Southall
33rd Nacra Nationals day three proved to be a day of two extremes. Light airs in the morning meant that only one race was sailed, while a building ridge ahead of a high pressure system moving through south of the Bight, saw the afternoon's racing blown out.
In the F18s, results from the morning race saw some of the lighter crews feature in the podium results. Gordon Beath from Cairns had a clear start and with the clear air was able to keep in the pressure for the entire race to take the victory. 'We had been hoping for this weather for a while as we are a lighter crew' explained Beath. 'Once we had clear, we were able to keep in the pressure, and it seemed that everywhere we went, we were on the right side of the shifts.'
Second behind Beath in the morning race, was local sailor Rob Stewart. 'The lighter conditions suited us as we are minimum weight' said Stewart. 'It was good to finish ahead of some the competitive guys like Mick (Guinea) and Mal (Richardson).'
In the 5.8 fleet, the lighter conditions favoured the Southport pairing of Steve Curtis and Kerry Noyes. Curtis and Noyes made the most of the light and variable conditions to upset Matt Caldwell and Bruce Potter's run of bullets in the 5.8's.
The overall result in the 16sq fleet has tightened, with Warren Guinea taking this morning's race from Jared Potter.
Racing got underway in the afternoon, but as the wind built with gusts to 30 knots, there were numerous capsizes. In the interest of safety, the Principal Race Officer, abandoned racing for the day. Mick Guinea expressed his frustration, 'We were in front by over half a leg when racing was abandoned, and it is a shame that the race wasn't shortened to at least reward crews for being on the water.'
Overall leaders are Mick Guinea and Viv Haydon in the F18s, Matthew Caldwell and Bruce Potter in the 5.8s, while Warren Guinea leads on count back in the 16sq's. Racing continues tomorrow and concludes on Saturday.
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