1:34 AM Fri 12 Mar 2010 GMT
Day Six of the Club Marine Series on Melbourne's Port Phillip will be the penultimate round for the season. It looks to be marvellous conditions with a gentle SE seabreeze filling in to 15 knots as racing gets underway: all on a mild little one metre or so sea. Perfect.
Division Zero could have a little more squirt in the morning, possibly out of the NE, but it will be abating quickly.
Leading Division Zero is Cougar II and her owner tells me, 'Sure. It's good to be in front, but there's still a lot of racing to go. We're as keen as ever!' Alan Whiteley should be happy to, for they lead IRC and now have a small lead in the Event Handicap over XLR8 and Veloce, as well. Veloce sits in third place in IRC, behind Living Doll, who will not be out this Saturday, so may be able to do enough to get into second place. We'll see.
Scarlet Runner returns to the Port Phillip track after being in SA. 'We loved the trip. Sad not get the regatta win, but delighted with the Port Lincoln result. What a great regatta.', was how Rob Date put it to me. The crew are pretty happy with their work as well, so they'll be hoping the 15knots arrives to ensure they have all the horsepower they could need to be right up in the tussle at the front.
No report would be complete without a mention of Executive Decision, who has dominated Division One, all season. Well done to Grant Botica's team from the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria. Incidentally, RYCV well and truly lead the club's championship in both IRC and AMS. Sandringham Yacht Club is making a late charge on the IRC Division, however.
The Doyen, Lou Abrahams is second in IRC with Challenge and Reverie is third. Peter Coleman's Just a Minor Hick Up lies in a very close fourth there and they will be hoping for good strong seabreezes tomorrow.
In AMS, the front two are the same, but Swordfish Trombone from RYCV gets up for third, presently. In the Event Handicap Class, Windspeed leads Executive Decision and the Sydney 38, Clockwork, comes in for third.
Division Two has the very well sailed Surprise leading IRC with Apache and Watermark II falling in behind. Apache, Godzilla and Watermark II are on the podium for AMS at this stage. Both classes have strong performers just outside the top three, like Hush, Top Gun and Stitched Up. The latter actually leads EHC over Apache and Where's Wal?
Intrusion, Footloose and Double Malt effectively own Division Three IRC. Rhiannon leap frogs those three to be a clear leader in AMS. They also lead EHC over Footloose and Double Malt, but there are boats like Robbie Feigan's Jack Tar that could yet still do some damage to the leader board from where they currently sit in sixth.
So it is certainly not over, just yet. The truly delightful conditions that seem virtually a shoe-in for tomorrow, should make it spectacular and wonderful sailing for all. See you there.
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These two, Cougar and Scarlet Runner, will be leading the boats around the track tomorrow. - Club Marine Series - John Curnow
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by John Curnow
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