8:46 AM Mon 4 Jan 2010 GMT
Light winds have prevailed in the early heats of the 2009-10 Australian 16ft Skiff Championships being held on Belmont Bay, Lake Macquarie.
A feature of the series, so far, has also been that there has been different winners in each of the three heats.
Heat 1 on Saturday 2nd January was sailed in a light and shifting northerly. The first three places were ultimately filled by three skiffs from the Manly Club with 'NetKiosk' (Phillip Cooke) winning and followed by 'Fluid Building' (Clint Bowen) and 'Cernunnos' (Jim Kerrison). The three skiffs gained an early break, picking a good wind shift on the first work to windward and were never headed.
Heat 2 on Sunday 3rd January was sailed in a light south-easter with the courses being blanketed at times by misty rain showers. With the breeze also tending to shift around, places tended to change, particularly early in the race. Current Australian champion, James Dorron, sailing 'Fire Stopping, eventually took the lead and won by 30 seconds from 'NetKiosk' (Phillip Cooke). 'Brydens Compensation Lawyers' (Lee Knapton from the Georges River Club) sailed into third position only a further two seconds behind.
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The weather brightened up for Heat 3 on Monday 4th January with a 10-15 knot easterly breeze and plenty of sunshine. Belmont skiff, 'Mitre 10 Kurri Kurri', sailed by Kieran Humphries, took the lead on the first work to windward and was never headed, despite being pushed hard by another local, 'The Face Place', sailed by seasoned veteran and former Australian Champion, Gary Bruniges. 'The Face Place' eventually only finished 6 seconds behind 'Mitre 10'. Third place went to another Belmont skiff, 'OAS', sailed by Danny Anderson.
Whilst still early days in the series, the current leader on points is 'Fluid Building' on 14 points (2-5-7), followed by 'Net Kiosk' on 16 points (1-2-13) and 'Brydens Compensation Lawyers' on 17 points (4-3-10).
After a lay day on Tuesday 5th January, racing continues on Wednesday 6th January and runs through to Saturday 9th January.
www.16s.com.au/skiffs/
by Michael McMahon
Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:
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