Gough takes three straight

WORLD champion sailor Rob Gough yesterday made a clean sweep of the SB20 sports boat division of the Derwent Sailing Squadron’s opening day of its club Winter Series.

Gough steered Difficult Woman to three straight wins off scratch and was also the topscorer on corrected times.

It was a significant lead-up to the SB20 Mid-Winter Regatta over the June long weekend.

Gough won each race, but the margins were all tight — 24 seconds, 20 seconds and 14 seconds — in the light northwesterly breeze.

Difficult Woman’s three wins gave Gough 3 points for the day from Honey Badger (Paul Burnell) on 9 points and Team Musto (George Peacock).

Two members of the Tasmanian women’s team contesting the Australian Women’s Keelboat Regatta in Melbourne next week sailed impressively, Jo Breen placing sixth overall in Fire of Athena and Colleen Darcey seventh with Pride of Athena.

Jeff Cordell’s Mumm 36 B&G Advantage scored a narrow win on corrected time in Division 1 from the classic 8-metre class yacht Juana (Jock Young) and Gary Cripps’s Ciao Baby II.

In Division 2, the Latham Syndicate’s J24 T42 Another Toy won from 42 South (Mark Ballard) and Wild Fire (Jon Ettershank),

In Division 3, first place went to Vistula (Gregory Biskup), second to Trad JazzNS (Christopher Thomson) and third to Serenity (Graham Hall).