Racing is heating up as we hit the halfway point of the Australian Yachting Championship, hosted in Port Lincoln as part of the Teakle Classic Lincoln Week Regatta.
All divisions are tight at the top with three races left to close out the regatta.
DIVISION 1
In Division 1, Geoff Boettcher’s Secret Mens Business holds a slender one-point lead over Gordon Ketelbey’s Zen, with Nick George’s Another Hooligan a further seven points behind in third.
Boettcher and his team took the win in the Adelaide to Port Lincoln race, which counts towards the championship, and took two of the three race wins yesterday.
Ketelbey and crew took the win in the second race yesterday, while Boettcher slipped to third, making things interesting heading into the bay race today.
DIVISION 2
The Tasmanian team on board Cockwomble, skippered by Andrew Smith, holds a one-point lead over Port Lincoln boat Fresh, skippered by Andy Dyer.
Divisions 2 and 3 had a round-the-cans race yesterday to kick things off, followed by a bay race in the second.
A fleet-wide redress hearing was held after racing that saw the results in Race 2 juggled around after a mix up between the Sailing Instructions and information provided over the radio about the course for the day.
Fresh ended up taking the race win after the redress hearing while Cockwomble held onto a second.
Alan Woodward’s Reverie currently sits in third overall, a further two points behind Fresh.
DIVISION 3
The top two boats in Division 3 on IRC are currently separated by just one point with Alex Newman’s Arch De Triomphe on four points and Brett Averay’s Bacardi on five points after three races in the championship.
Sitting in third is local Sydney 32 Lincoln Mentor, skippered by Matt Stephens, which holds a one point lead to fourth over its sister ship Born to Mentor, skippered by Simon Turvey’s.
Division 3 also hosted a race round the cans, followed by a bay race yesterday, after fitting one race in on Monday.
MULTIHULLS
In the Multihull OMR division, Peter Hawker’s Carbon Credit leads the way, two points clear of Craig Unthank’s Sknot in second and a further two points to Gerald Valk’s Crosshair in third.
Adelaide-Lincoln race line honours winner Venom, skippered by Bob Dunn, is still in the mix in fourth however the more in-shore optimised multis look to be taking control.
The multihull racing yesterday saw some incredible speeds with Carbon Credit confirming boat speeds of well more than 20 knots downwind, lighting up on the picturesque Boston Bay.
EVENT: Australian Yachting Championships at Teakle Classic Lincoln Week Regatta
CLUB: Port Lincoln Yacht Club
DATES: 20-23 February 2023
AUTHOR: Harry Fisher
PHOTOS: Alex Dare
