Photo finish at Grade 5 at Oakcliff Sailing Center
by Oakcliff Sailing 27 Jul 2019 06:47 AEST
Sapling Connor Sheridan, Training Program Director Ethan Johnson, Sapling Banks Blackwell, Sapling Sam Rifkin-Brown © Marianne Barnett / Oakcliff Sailing
Oakcliff's July Grade 5 saw medium breeze and a heat index of 110, but the racing was just as hot as the weather.
With marked improvement in each of the five teams who participated, the racing got tighter and tighter as the day went on until Doug Shannon and Sapling Connor Sheridan had a photo finish in the third and last race of the first-to-two finals.
On the final downwind, Connor was leading Doug who was on the verge of establishing leeward overlap. Connor's bow crossed the line, satisfying the condition for "finishing" the race, and seconds later Doug established overlap and luffed him up.
Although Connor had technically finished the race, his stern had not cleared the finish line, which meant that he was still technically "racing" and required to keep clear; however he did not alter quickly enough so he received a penalty and lost the race. Talk about a tough umpire call!
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