3-Buoys Challenge series finale - Down to the wire

by Frank Quealey on 6 Dec 2013 The 3-Buoys Challenge series finale on Sunday will go right down to the wire with only seven points separating the top six teams when they line up on Sydney Harbour.

With each team allowed to discard their worst race score of the series, Brett Van Munster’s Rabbitohs-Kenwood and Chris Nicholson’s Mojo Wine share the lead on 23 points.

John Winning’s Yandoo is just one point behind the leaders on 24 points, but has an ‘average points’ score from Race 1 which may complicate the final standing after Sunday’s race.

Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Michael Coxon) is fourth on 25 points, followed by Smeg (Nick Press) on 29 and Fisher & Paykel (Grant Rollerson) on 30.

The handicapping system associated with the 3-buoys concept will also play an important part in Sunday’s race on the harbour as Mojo Wine has to concede starts of up to 7mins to her main rivals.

Conditions have been testing in the races held so far with strong winds dominating. They were so bad that the Australian 18 Footers League had to abandon Race 4 of the series, even after delaying the start by more than one hour to try and get a race.

While the series has produced five different winners from the six races, ironically, the only two race-winner Lumix (Jonathan Whitty) is only in seventh place on 36 points.

Whitty and his crew have been in good form throughout but unfortunately they have had to pay the price for two DNF results.