Another Toy wins fourth in a row

THE J24 class yacht T42 Another Toy and her crew from the Latham Syndicate are certainly enjoying Hobart’s winter chill in the Derwent Sailing Squadron/Battery World Winter Series.

T42 Another Toy notched up its fourth straight win of the Winter Series in a 6-10 knot breeze — straight down from Mount Wellington.

The mountain was blanketed with snow, the temperature 6C when race officer Biddy Badenach hoisted the starting signal for the well-rugged crews of a 26-boat fleet.

With just one race day to sail in the Winter Series, T42 Another Toy looks unbeatable in the Division 2 pennant. The J24 scored an outright win, taking handicap honours from Wildfire (John Ettershank) and 42 South (Mark Ballard).

Jeff Cordell’s Mumm 36 scored a comfortable handicap win in Division 1 from War Games (Wayne Banks-Smith), which took line honours. Series leader Juana (Jock Young) placed third on corrected time.

In Division 3, Gregory Biskup’s Vistula also had an outright win, beating Serenity (Graham Hall) and Trad JazzNS (Christopher Thompson).

The SB20 one-design sports boat fleet had the best turnout, with 10 starters completing three short windward/return races. Former champion Sharpie sailor Frazer Read dominated one-design results, winning all three races.

In Race 8, the first of the morning, Read’s Pinch won from Brainwave (Scott Brain) and Team Musto (George Peacock).

Pinch won race 9 from Team Musto and Paul Burnell’s Honey Badger and in Race 10 the runners-up to Pinch were Team Musto and Brainwave.

With one race day to go for the SB20s, George Peacock (Team Musto) leads narrowly from Paul Burnell’s Honey Badger. Colleen Darcey (Pride of Athena) is third overall.