Arch Rival evens the score in Land Rover Winter Series - Ladies Day

by Di Pearson on 14 Jun 2016 2016 Land Rover Winter Series - In the second of three Ladies Day races in the Land Rover Winter Series on Sunday, Lauren Connors helmed her father’s yacht, Arch Rival, to victory in Spinnaker Division One over race one winner, Last Tango, in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia series.

Lauren, who normally crews in various positions for dad Steve on his Jones 39, said, “It was good to even the score with Last Tango (steered by Paula Dock). It will make it a very interesting final race.”

Lauren explained, though, that the win was no shoo-in: “We had a reasonable start, but it was very light and fluky with a lot of wind shifts. We were laughing about how different the weather was to last Sunday, when sailing was impossible because of the gale-force winds.

“Last Tango overtook us just after the start and we didn’t pick her up again until the last downwind leg, after we sailed closely for most of the race,” Lauren commented.

“I can’t say enough how good the crew work was – it was Dad’s usual crew. And the bowman didn’t make a mistake all day. It was a real team effort - it always is.”

Now Arch Rival and Last Tango will go head-to-head for series glory in the final race on July 17, when they will also sail for the Chris Lee trophy.

Justine Anson helmed The Goat (a Rogers 46 owned by Bruce Foye and Sebastian Bohm) to third place.

In Spinnaker Division Two, Dee Pollett made easy work of the shifty four - ten knot breeze to take the honours on Damian Barker’s Sydney 36 CR Alpha Carinae from Heather Rutherford at the helm of Next Light, the X35 owned by Derek Collins. Michelle O’Brien steered Peter Fallon’s Twilight Zone into third.

The groundwork is laid out for Alpha Carinae to sail off with Twilight Zone for the series win. Dee Pollett was also overjoyed to find she had been drawn from the winners to receive the Land Rover Evoque experience for one week.

“I am unexpectedly delighted,” she commented. The last time I won anything was when I was 16 – years ago. I’ve already told my boss I’m taking a week off to enjoy the Land Rover.

“I have to stress that the win was a team effort – it’s all about the team. We had a mix of regulars and ring-ins for the race and everyone got in and worked well together,” she said.

Pollett, who grew up sailing dinghies, said the two Ladies Day races are the only times she has steered a yacht in a race.

“It’s quite an experience, quite different to a dinghy, although I have been crewing on the yacht for the past six months. It was fantastic to steer and win and to have such a close race with Next Light,” she finished.

In Non-Spinnaker Division One, Rebecca Tomkins finished atop the podium having skippered Richard Holstein’s Sydney 38, next, to first place over the Mary King helmed Komodo, a Farr 40 recently bought by Jason King. There was just less than one minute between them when the handicaps were applied.

Matt Wilkinson’s Farr 30, Foreign Affair, was third, steered by Lisa Wilkinson.

In Non-Spinnaker Division Two, Jacqui Sapir got CYCA Rear Commodore, Paul Billingham’s Bavaria Cruiser 41s, Defiant, into top gear to win from the Jessica Barr helmed Shorething. Sapir was also drawn to win the Noakes prize for her lucky owner.

Shorething, a Northshore 38 owned by James Butler, won race one, so it is likely it or Defiant will take out the series. Pauline Christie steered Ken Hudson’s Tasman Young 43 to third place, but having missed race one, will not be amongst the money in the final.

Conditions on Sunday were in stark contrast to last week’s horrendous winds and rain, when CYCA officials were forced to abandon the race. This Sunday, the lady skippers found the going enjoyable.

Point Piper set the scene for the start on this Queen’s birthday long weekend. Ice cold sent shivers up the spine during the morning, but was improved by the pleasure of a hot breakfast cooked by the CYCA’s ‘Breakfast Club’. Then the sun came out and warmed up the day by the time the race was underway.

Weekly prizes will be awarded to first, second and third placegetters in each division and include exclusive CYCA Land Rover Winter Series merchandise.

One lucky division winner will also be drawn to receive a week-long Land Rover Range Rover Evoque experience, while a second lucky winner will receive a lift stand launch and two free lay days, kindly donated by the Noakes Group.

The Land Rover Winter Series continues on Sunday from 11.25am with pointscore race seven.

Results:

Ladies Day Pointscore Series - Spinnaker

Series Results [PHSTCF] for D1 up to Race 2

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 2	Race 1
1	2R	415	ARCH RIVAL	Lauren Connors	3.0	1.0	2.0
2		8975	LAST TANGO	Paula Shires	3.0	2.0	1.0
3		1014	UBS WILD THING	Amanda Scrivenor	13.0	10.0C	3.0
4	3.0S	421	THE GOAT	Justine Anson	14.0	3.0	11.0
5		SYD25	CARABELLA V	Kate McCann	14.0	10.0C	4.0
6		7777	CALIBRE	Michelle Gilfoyle	15.0	10.0C	5.0
7	4.0S	8412	CYRENE 3	Sarah Lawton	16.0	4.0	12.0
8		6111	NEVER A DULL MOMENT	Col & Denise Wilson	16.0	10.0C	6.0
9		7027	THE GOAT	Natalie Greentree	17.0	10.0C	7.0
10		8824	CHANCELLOR	Averill Bones	18.0	10.0C	8.0
11		888	HUNTRESS	Chantelle Hodgson	19.0	10.0C	9.0
12		543	LITTLE NICO	Sonja Walters	20.0	10.0C	10.0
13		8975A	ZORA	Pacificsailing Schoo	21.0	7.0R	14.0
14	5.0S	2001	QUETZALCOATL	Antony Sweetapple	23.0	5.0	18.0C
15		10000	BRINDABELLA	Jim Cooney	23.0	10.0C	13.0
16		8402	MORE WITCHCRAFT	John Cameron	28.0	10.0C	18.0C

Series Results [PHSTCF] for D2 up to Race 2

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 2	Race 1
1		5935	ALPHA CARINAE	Dee Pollett	4.0	1.0	3.0
2		5923	TWILIGHT ZONE	Michelle Obrien	5.0	3.0	2.0
3		B347	SPEEDWELL	Melissa Geeves	6.0	5.0	1.0
4		4377	CLEWLESS?	Susan Hardy	8.0	4.0	4.0
5		35000	NEXT LIGHT	Heather Rutherford	12.0	2.0	10.0
6		YC868	PEACH TEATS-VELOCITY	Laure Darcy	16.0	11.0C	5.0
7		AUS4439	JAGGED EDGE	Gary Mason	17.0	11.0C	6.0
8	6.0S	2125	SEA RUG HOO HA	Peter Howes	18.0	6.0	12.0
9		KA400	SCARLETT O'HARA	Grainne Skol	18.0	11.0C	7.0
10	2R	8330	SHIBUMI	Louisa Nightingale	19.0	8.0F	11.0
11		8063	EYE APPEAL	Rachael Peterson	19.0	11.0C	8.0
12		9900	SUPERFINE	George Waldthausen	20.0	11.0C	9.0
13		3724	SALONA	Pacificsailing Schoo	24.0	11.0C	13.0
14		6683	CROSSHAVEN	S Rahilly & J Pelly	28.0	11.0C	17.0C
14		700	SOMMERBREEZE	Hans Sommer	28.0	11.0C	17.0C

Ladies Day Pointscore Series - Non Spinnaker

Series Results [PHSTCF] for D1 up to Race 2

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 2	Race 1
1		AUS6133	FOREIGN AFFAIR	Lisa Wilkinson	5.0	3.0	2.0
2		6223	TRIM	Lauren Walsh	8.0	7.0	1.0
3		9327	KOMODO	Mary King	10.0	2.0	8.0
4		7600	UTOPIA	Pam Messenger	11.0	5.0	6.0
5		6081	NEXT	R Tomkins A Holstein	15.0	1.0	14.0
6		5930	REVE	Kevin Whelan	16.0	13.0C	3.0
7		248	WAX LYRICAL	Julie Burke	17.0	13.0C	4.0
8	5.0S	6797	HOLY COW!	Kim Clinton	18.0	13.0C	5.0
9		6563	L'ATTITUDE	Janine Davies	18.0	6.0	12.0
10	7.0S	8383	KRAKATOA	J Whitfeld B Wilkins	20.0	13.0C	7.0
11		7046	INKONKONI	Monica 0hare	20.0	9.0	11.0
12		RQ1123	RUM JUNGLE	Jenny Smith	21.0	8.0	13.0
13		6841	PAPILLON	Julie Plant	22.0	13.0C	9.0
14	4.0S	5271	NOCTURNE	Gerard Kesby	23.0	4.0	19.0C
15		6396	SPORTS BAR	Barbara Maunsell	23.0	13.0C	10.0
16		7100	M	Plum White	28.0	13.0C	15.0
17		1961	IN CAHOOTS	Pat & Roberta Easton	32.0	13.0C	19.0C

Series Results [PHSTCF] for D2 up to Race 2

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 2	Race 1
1	2R	7045	DEFIANT	Jacqui Sapir	3.0	1.0	2.0
2		5950	SHORETHING	Jessica Barr	3.0	2.0	1.0
3		6739	HUBCAP2	Anna Wilkens	8.0	4.0	4.0
4		4582	PRIVATEER		10.0	7.0F	3.0
5		7096	SOLUTION	Elizabeth Lee	12.0	7.0F	5.0
6		129	VIVA	Pauline Christie	14.0	3.0	11.0C
7		69200	ARCH NEMESIS	Kirsty Taylor	16.0	10.0C	6.0
8		KA25	UNCANNY	A Lawrence / J Whitf	17.0	10.0C	7.0