Wet start to Lipton Cup Regatta

by Bernie Kaaks on 24 Nov 2013 It was a rainy start to the Lipton Cup Regatta 2013, despite some sunny patches early in the day, but racing was close in all divisions.

The Sydney 38 fleet, whose three races today formed part of their Sprint Series, were particularly aggressive, welcoming the start team with a general recall in which half the fleet was well early. In a somewhat more sedate approach under a black flag, race 1 began in earnest, with Bruce Taylor’s Chutzpah holding off Challenge, skippered by Mark Bulka, and a determined Phoenix, the Geelong entry skippered by Brenton Carnell finishing a close third.

At the end of the day, Challenge and Phoenix shared the points with seven apiece and Ian Murray’s Cinquante holding third place.

Bruce McCraken led the combined A and B divisions on IRC from Grant Botica’s Adams 10, Executive Decision on both IRC and AMS handicap, but on PHS it was Veloce ahead of David Seaman’s Duckmobile that claimed the first two places.

Gary Mackinven’s S80, Up ‘n’ Go leads division C on IRC and AMS and holds second place on PHS behind Tim Feore’s Osprey.

A disappointing sports boat fleet contested their Victorian State Championship as part of the Lipton Cup Regatta this year, With Troy Croft’s the Stig’s Audi Driving Cousin leading narrowly from Cam Rae’s Monkey Business.

Drambuie leads Division D after three races followed by Secret. In the mixed class for Division 2 (yardstick) fleet, four laser radials, Amber, Sea Monkey, Air Waves, and Scuttlebutt head the leader board. The Hobie Cats in Division 3 mixed class (yardstick) were led by Thunder Rising, and in Division 4, the Taipan 4.9 AUS620 leads the fleet.

The Cruising Division sailed a single race today, starting early in the afternoon, and bringing the rain onto the course area with them. Bruce Early’s A Frayed Knot is currently ahead of Tom Healy’s Anxious and Graham Johnson-Sneddon’s Bolero, but with the long race scheduled for tomorrow, this is anyone’s series at present.

All crews will be hoping that they will not face a repeat of the drenching they received from a heavy shower near the end of today’s program.