ORCV Winter Series - Ticking all the boxes for race six
by John Curnow on 29 Aug 2011
The two little Hicks. Godzilla in front of Toecutter 2, at this moment... - ORCV Winter Series Alex McKinnon Photography
http://www.alexmckinnonphotography.com
ORCV Winter Series - Sunday, August 28 on Melbourne’s Port Phillip, was a classic kind of day for some great yacht racing. It was sunny. Tick. There were yet more Northerlies. Tick. The water was flat. Tick. And above all else, however, the fantastically hot competition of the Bay's coolest racing continued. Now that really was the biggest tick to come out of race six of the 2011 Winter Series.
The brilliant sunshine shone the spotlight on those crews whose afterguard had their eyes open and were judiciously watching the instruments to pick the shifts as the wind tried to settle in to a rhythm. Those that did it right seemed as brilliant as the sunshine, but alas, some did get caught on the wrong side of the track and it did not look good for them from then on. One such vessel to suffer that sort of fate was Bruce Taylor's Chutzpah38. Usually they're in the standings, but today they just could not get back in to the swing of things after the first work did not go so well for them.
Many crews did well on the day and as a result, they have really left the final pecking order up to the last event, which is Race Seven to Geelong on September 10. In a way, the final standings are going to be as much of a question as Melbourne's famous weather. Today, some boats that may not have featured too heavily thus far in the series got on the podium. These were vessels like Cadibarra 8, Runaway and Dry White, whereas other crews, who have shone so brightly so far, seemed to have the polish out. The latter would be vessels such as INSX, Goldfinger, Challenge and the little pair of Hicks, Godzilla and Toecutter.
ORCV Legend, Robin Hewitt, is the Race Director for the Winter Series. 'We had a very pleasant day for sailing. The wind was around seven to nine knots from 345° at our 1030hrs start, which later shifted to 330º and had enough variations to make for tactical winners and losers. Attached is an image of some cloud streets, which I took today and they create bands of pressure. The wind later rose to 18 knots in the final stages of the race, but the sea never got up to more than 30 centimetres.
The Principal Race Officer is the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria's David Leroy. 'We got going on 345º, but it ended up left, so we had the one course change. In fact, it shifted about quite dramatically - snakes and ladders for sure. If you were on the wrong side when they came about, you suffered!!'
'The first work was pretty good and the run OK, however when we got to the second work, it went right for the first half the fleet and when the tail enders got there, it had actually gone left. All in all it was a really great day to be out. Team Beyond Outrageous did in fact touch the weather mark and did their penalty turn. There was a lot of current running out of the Yarra River and they just cut it too fine to mark, but blissfully for us, they did not drag it. Those that got the results today, picked the breeze well. Simple as that. There were some good sailing skills on display. You had to have your eyes open and there was a lot to watch with a myriad of vessels all over the top of the Bay, as the weather dragged many an owner down to the marinas and many a boat from its pen', David finished with.
In IRC1, the Doyen of Victorian yachting, Lou Abrahams and the crew of Challenge got the prize with Dry White and Goldfinger occupying the other places, respectively. The Australian Measurement System (AMS) Division One was taken out by Dry White with Challenge and Jazz Player completing the podium. In Performance Handicap, Dry White took honours from XLR8 and Cadibarra 8.
Division Two remains as interesting to watch as ever with often seconds separating vessels and the places they get. In IRC2, INSX won over White Noise and Godzilla. AMS2 saw INSX score a morale boosting win over the brilliantly sailed Toecutter 2 and the other little Hick, Godzilla, got third. With a fantastic Division Two Line Honours victory today, Runaway took the Performance Handicap prize from Tigris and INSX.
The series results are exceptional, in terms of both how close they are and the efforts some crews have gone to, to either stay on top or get to be a threat for a podium finish, in the end. Six races in and the one drop is now factored in to the results, as the final race, the much-loved jaunt to Geelong, cannot be dropped and so many are keen to have a good result there. A lot of blankets to be thrown over is the best way to describe what will be needed to cover the fleet. In a lot of divisions, six vessels are separated by less than six points and with the vagaries of conditions at this time of year, the results are anything but preordained.
Two vessels do require particular attention, however. Both are in contention for the Lord Warden Trophy, which is awarded to the crew with the lowest pointscore from any division in the Winter Series. The first has won it the last two years with near faultless results. INSX presently sites on seven points, but in 2011, Toecutter 2 has excelled almost as much as they have nearly gone under the radar. Currently, they are on five points and remain very focussed on their end game and the silverware attached to it. They have been close before, only to miss out in the final round, so Robert Hick and crew have been very much letting their actions on the water do the talking for them.
Good luck to all and if you and your vessel would like to join in on the fun of the Geelong event, then there are three categories: - Racing, Cruising with Spinnakers and Cruising without Spinnakers.
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