Photo - Two first places from two races on Day 4 for Stewart Lewis's Ocean Affinity. Credit Shirley Wodson

Day 4 of the Vision Surveys 25^th Airlie Beach Race Week saw the monohull, multihull and Sports Boats fleet saw the record fleet encounter another day of challenging racing conditions and plenty of action. 

The forecast for brisk winds and rain was close to being spot on. The wind pumped in across Pioneer Bay at the start of the IRC and Cruising divisions races as the first of several rain squalls hit the fleet and shook the sailors out of any post-Lay Day malaise. 

On Pioneer Bay the Performance and Multihull Racing divisions had their chance to race on short courses while the  other divisions headed off south on a passage race around the Molles. 

Performance Racing divisions 1 and 2 completed two windward/leeward courses. Unlike the other race days, the divisions had their own starts. There was plenty of cautious and early kite drops, a few of them not working as well as the skippers would have liked, and lots of yelling on the mark roundings as the breeze pumped in to well over 20 knots. 

In Division 1, the leaderboard has seen a big upset after today’s racing with Stewart Lewis’s Ocean Affinity jumping up from third to first overall after winning both of today’s races. “We are a bit concerned about today’s results,” Lewis said late this afternoon. 

“We didn’t really want to get two firsts in a row. It’s not necessarily good for your handicap. 

“We are actually really happy. We went out there with a crew we had scratched together. It was pretty rough out there, but we didn’t make any mistakes,” he added. 

Lewis is looking forward to tomorrow’s long passage race. “We are hoping for a Dent Island Race where we can have a big square run coming back. That will suit us,” Lewis said. 

Dropping back to second place overall after five races is John Leman’s Bobby’s Girl. Their second race of the day was the worst they had for the series after encountering some gear problems. “We had some breakages and went the wrong way a few times. Hopefully that’s the worst one of the series,” Leman said. 

In third overall is Trevor Bailey’s Carbon Credits after a mixed day of a seventh and then a second. 

Division 2 also saw a shake-up of the leaderboard. Jeff Rice’s Rogue moved up into first overall after a consistent day of a fourth and a third. Their conservative approach to the runs, keeping their only kite packed for the last race, didn’t do them any harm. “The boat only carries a three-quarter ounce light kite. It was flexing a bit on the first run when came in over 20 knots so we thought the best thing to do was to not set the same spinnaker on the final runs,” Rice said. 

Leaping up into second overall after a second and then a first place today is Sandor Tornai’s Skeeter racing with a team of Drummoyne Sailing Club dinghy sailors.  “We have four guys on the boat who are very experienced dinghy sailors. Two of the kids are current Australian title holders in the Cherub class. 

“I wasn’t surprised by the results. I know we can control and handle the boat very well downwind when it’s fresh. Our downwind is our strength,” Tornai said. 

For the previous series leader, Gary McCarthy’s Brilliant Pearl, they achieved a comfortable fifth place in Race 1. However, in the second race, on the first run, the crew lost control of the kite, then rounded up, gybe and then fought to get themselves back into the game. That was all that was needed to push them into them ninth place and move them down into third overall. 

The Multihull Racing divisions completed one long bay race and then one windward/leeward race. 

In Division 1 the series pointscore was opened up when George Owen’s APC Mad Max withdrew from the remainder of the series. While tweaking the rig yesterday afternoon, the team found a large crack in the hull. “We thought it prudent to withdraw from the series, take the boat home and repair it. 

‘We reckon we won the first half of the series,” Owen said. 

Andrew Stransky’s Fantasia had a fantastic day to take out a first and a second to move up into first overall. In second place overall is Wayne Bloomer’s Chillpill with his team of North Sails crew helping him power the boat along to a second in the bay race and a third in the windward/leeward. 

Ben Kelly’s Turning Point did a fantastic job today to take out a third and then a first place. “In the second race we thought the two big boats were close enough to pip us, but I think they had troubles with the kites downwind so that probably gave us the edge in the edge. 

“The crew did a good job keeping the boat upright and sailing forward. It was pretty tricky conditions today. We probably saw about 30 knots just before the start in the rain squall. We saw about 20 knots of boat speed downwind and about 16 knots upwind which is probably the scariest for the day because there is a lot going on upwind when you are doing that speed,” Kelly said. 

In Division 2 Drew Carruther’s Rushour kept his hand firmly on the overall crown after a first and then a second place today. That puts him on six points after five races with no drops. Second place is still held by Bob Critchely’s Cool Change with Peter Millar’s Quick Skips in third.   

Critchely was hugely disappointed to have to withdraw from Race 2, but a lost inner-stay rigging pin was enough to force the team out before the situation could turn ugly. “We were doing really well in that race. I was actually ahead of the boat that had all the firsts,” Critchley said. 

In IRC Racing it seems Tony Kirby and his Patrice team have the midas touch. They turned today’s passage race into another golden moment with a 10 minute corrected time win over Darryl Hodgkinson’s Victoire with Ichi Ban finishing in third place. 

Hodginkinson concedes Patrice has the regatta in the bag and Ichi Ban will be hard to shake out of second place, but when it comes to third place, he still sees the battle between his Cookson 50 and Colin Woods’s Cookson 50, Pretty Fly III, as very much alive.  

“It was one of the best day’s racing we have had. We haven’t had a boat on boat situation like that for a long time. We were really close and swapping leads with Pretty Fly. This is the first time we have ever race boat on boat with her. It brings back the old days of one-design. 

“Pretty Fly is racing with a lot more crew. However that gives us the advantage downwind as we are lighter. 

“Today we had a good start, got a little bit ahead of them and then squall came in which made it quite interesting. We got through it, then we came up the Denman passage and they got quite close to us, about only four or five boat lengths. We got our line on White Rock and we thought we were going pretty well. We took a very conservative rounding. They were about 10 boat lengths back, but higher up. They came in between us and White Rock and rounded. They were then ahead of us. 

“We reached across and set the shute and that is when we started to claw it back ,” Hodgkinson said.   

Carrying a bigger asymmetrical over time was probably all that was required to edge Victoire ahead of Pretty Fly and into second place. 

The Sports Boats completed a passage race today with John Rae’s Vivace winning the race and holding onto first overall.  Mister Magoo’s Jason Ruckert reported that when the rain squall hit them in the start area he was down to just the main until the squall fully went through. 

Cruising Division 1 is still being led by Ian Griffith’s Witchy Woman, by just one point, after a consistent fourth place in their passage race. The race winner was Ray Nankervis’s Karm. 

Division 2 is another division with the leader, Col Thomas and Nic Cox’s Ella, keeping themselves in the top place even after an 11^th place today. The race winner today was Peter McSweeney’s Wild Honey. 

Division 3 was won today by Colin Clark’s Unbealeievable. After a hard first two days when the team were unable to complete racing, it was a well-earned win by Clark’s team. Overall the division is being led by John Fowells’s Ells Bells after they took out second place today. 

Belinda Cooper and her team on La Quilter have earned their first place overall after winning today’s race. Yesterday’s leader, Peter Dee’s Rampallion didn’t race today opening up the leaderboard to La Quilter, Simon Dunlop’s Namadgi and John Galloway’s QLD Marine Services. 

Multihull Cruising is still being led by John Williams’s Tyee III after another consistent race day when they finished fourth. Today’s race was won by Bernie McErlane’s Zippy. 

Tomorrow’s forecast is for more of the 20 to 25 knots east-south-east wind and the occasional rain squall. 

Racing for all divisions continues tomorrow with the first warning signal time changed to 0925.  The scheduled courses are a windward/leeward course for the Sports Boats and a long passage race for all other divisions. 

To follow the regatta and for full results, go www.abrw.com.au.