Fierce racing tipped to determine divisions
SUNDAY’S final Combined Clubs Winter Series race is wide open in all divisions with margins as small as two points separating the top competitors.
With last week’s race abandoned, scores will be counted without discarding each boat’s worst result. Sailmakers and boat builders have been busy making good the damage sustained in last week’s blow. In Division 1, John Dryden’s Jazz
Player is five points ahead of Drew Latham’s Whistler, with RAD (Brent McKay) and Wayne Banks-Smith’s War Games a further four points behind. The light conditions forecast for Sunday could suit the low-slung Radford 35 and the Farr 40 OD War Games.
In Division 2 Ian Johnston’s Zephyr holds an eight-point lead over The Dog House (Ambrose Coad) with Richard Grant’s Cromarty Magellan one point further adrift. Zephyr looks safe but with six points separating second to sixth the minor placings are still anybody’s with Steve Harrison’s Thompson 7 Temptation in fourth two points behind Comarty Magellan and Twitch, campaigned by the Twitch Syndicate, a further two points behind.
Throw in Mark Ballard’s well-sailed 42 South a further point in arrears and Division 2 becomes the fleet to watch.
Young Lion (Steve Chau), leads Division 3 by four points from Chris Sheehan’s Saga and
Dave Wyatt’s Just Jones one point behind Saga.
The winner could come from seventh where Phil Reid’s Mind Games sits, but it is hard to see the well-sailed Young Lion letting this one slip.
The battle of the J24s heads up Division 4 with Another Toy (Michael Kennedy), and Matt Westland’s Zest duking it out for series honours.
Conducted by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, racing starts off Castray Esplanade at 9.40am.