Day One of the 2018 Etchells Victorian State Championship

by John Curnow 10 Mar 2018 02:48 PST 10-12 March 2018

Jukes of Hazzard skippered by Brendon Jukes and crewed by Brian Jukes and Matthias Houvenagel. Great facial expression!!! © Alex McKinnon Photography

Two Races for Day One being staged out of the Royal Brighton Yacht Club. Racing commenced after a short time under AP whilst everyone waited for some wind to come in.

Race One got underway at 1407hrs, and after such a wait, everyone was eager to get going with two general recalls before Ross Wilson, the Principal Race Officer, called for the dreaded Black Flag. The third attempt was all clear.

Close racing on the way to the bottom gate for the first time - photo © Alex McKinnon Photography

Range was 1.1nm on an axis of 140 degrees. The race started in six knots and would range 5 to 10 knots for the rest of the day. The first race took 63 minutes. The second race was set on an axis of 150 with a range of 1.25nm and got underway at 1525hrs. Three boats were over, but all returned to the start.

Overnight leader is Northern Havoc, which is Skippered by Iain Murray, and crewed by Richard Allanson, and Aaron Cole. John Collingwood, Ian Johnson and Tim Ede on Dawn Raid are one point astern on Dawn Raid, as is Lisa, which is skippered by Martin Hill, with Julian Plante, David Chapman and Mark Langford on board.