Manly 16ft Skiffs tight battle for the Wild Oats Club Championship

by James Bury on 12 Oct 2010 Altis Consulting skipper Philip Cooke may have to upgrade his goals for the season after holding on to clinch the opening heat of Manly's 16ft Skiff club championship on Saturday.

Cooke's all-the-way win in a light and flukey three-seven knot east-nor easter was his second win in a month.

It’s meant a slight shift in thinking ahead of the state and national championships.

'We will have to wait and see but it's going along well at the moment,' a cautious Cooke said.

'I've just got to settle a few things in regards to the crew and also see how we go in the heavier stuff before making any big predictions.

'We've had light conditions so far this season but we'll be looking to do a fair bit of practice when the wind is up.'

Cooke will lose experienced sheethand Adam Barraclough to an overseas trip for a fortnight and has for'ard hand Matt Wark laid up with a hamstring strain.

Peter Wettstein, filling in for Wark just days short of his 50th birthday, proved an admirable fill-in as Altis flourished in the benign conditions on Saturday.

Aero Sails (Gerard Smith) and Fire Stopping (James Dorron) threatened at various stages but Cooke and his crew stayed composed to make it across with 10 seconds to spare.

Fire Stopping was a fast-finishing second with Aero Sails third.

'It got pretty tight for us at the end. Fire Stopping made a late charge but we just hung in there all day and got the result,' Cooke said.

'It was a good win.'

Bean Counters (Henry Harding) took out handicap honours from Altis and Cernunnos (Jim Kerrison).

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