1:49 AM Thu 15 Apr 2010 GMT
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'Copernicus crossing the finishing line. - Shorthanded Sailing Association Winter Series'
Shorthanded Sailing Association
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On Sunday April 10th the 2010 Shorthanded Sailing Association Winter Series got off to a start on a glorious autumn day. The race started from Grotto Point in Middle Harbour with a course to a turning mark just inside Botany Bay and return to finish at Junction Bell.
With a running start in very light conditions the fleet spread out across the mouth of the harbour looking for breeze with Peter McCorquodale's Torquil under masthead asymmetric heading out to sea, while Steve Barton's multihull Big Bird, which was late for the start, hugged the cliffs.
Positions changed as yachts gybed looking for breeze and by mid way to the turning mark Bruce Dyson-Smith on his recently purchased Rampage was running deep and definitely leading on handicap. By then Torquil was back inshore just as the breeze flicked to the North-East and started building, while Nick Ewald and Sue Rice on First Light were caught out to sea.
Big Bird was first around the turning mark, followed by Torquil, then Greg Zyner's Copernicus. At this stage Rampage and Tim Montague-Jones on Wideload were both well in contention both being sailed single-handed and therefore getting a justified handicap benefit.
The leg back found the fleet beating into a North-Easter that phased between 7 and 11 knots which made for a very pleasant afternoon. The single-handed Rampage was handicap winner which was a great result for Brian's first outing on the yacht, with Torquil second then Ian Westlake and his crew Brian Baker on Alabaster rounding out the top three.
The second race in the eight race series takes place in six weeks time on Saturday the 22nd of May. This is the Sydney-Newcastle race. So if you fancy short-handed sailing with up to three people on board check out all of the details on
www.ssaa.com.au
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1st Rampage Brian Dyson-Smith Steinman 31
2nd Torquil Peter McCorquodale Adams 10
3rd Alabaster Ian Westlake Adams 13m
by Mainsheet Media
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