The Club Marine Series is back on Watch

3:04 AM Thu 4 Feb 2010 GMT

'Ocean Skins, one of the Division Zero boats, seen here winning the Melbourne to Hobart. - Club Marine Series' John Curnow

The Club Marine Series returns to Melbourne's Port Phillip, this Saturday.

The Royal Brighton Yacht Club is hosting Day Four of the Yachting Victoria seven-day series, which runs throughout each Summer in Melbourne.

There are four divisions, all very hotly contested by members from the various clubs that surround the Bay. The Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, in Williamstown, is currently leading the club championship in both IRC and AMS.

Starts are always competitive and when there’s breeze it adds to the fun. - Club Marine Series - John Curnow

The format sees Division Zero, of which there are 12 Grand Prix boats, have a race in the morning. They are joined in the afternoon on their course by the 50 Division One boats, which start five minutes behind them.

Over on an adjacent course, the 54 boats of Divisions Two and 38 boats of Division Three, have their race. All in all, 154 boats of all manner, shapes and sizes will be out, which makes for a sensational spectacle for anyone enjoying walks, BBQs and the many other seaside activities.

The current series leader for Div0 is Calm, from the Sandringham Yacht Club. Fellow club boat, Challenge, leads Div1 in IRC. Of course, the Doyen of Victorian yachting and 44-time Rolex Sydney Hobart veteran, Lou Abrahams, is her skipper. Executive Decision is the AMS leader.

The TP52 Calm seen here racing on Port Phillip - Club Marine Series - John Curnow

Div2 is lead at the moment by Surprise in IRC and Godzilla in AMS. Both of these boats are from the series club leader, RYCV, where as both of the leaders in Div3, Intrusion and Rhiannon, are from Sandringham Yacht Club.

At 31 feet Godzilla may be small, but is always on the podium - Club Marine Series - John Curnow Click Here to view large photo

The weather appears to be fair to solid, for now, but then at this time of year, that can vary. The Bureau of Meteorology states 'Winds: South to southeasterly 15 to 20 knots tending east to southeasterly 20 to 25 knots during the late afternoon and evening. Seas: 0.5 to 1 metres increasing to 1 to 1.5 metres during the evening.' In all likelihood, the fleet should be in their pens when freshens up significantly. All in all, the Race Director of the day, Simon Dryden, feels that it 'Should be delightful and provide for marvelous racing!'

So I guess we'll be here on Saturday to find out. We trust all the crews are super-honed and recovered after their recent forays down at Geelong for Audi Victoria Week.