The penultimate race, Race Ten of the Audi Winter Series 2009 saw a beautiful, nice clear day on Sydney Harbour. The predicated light westerly breezes were present early in the morning but by the time racing started the breeze had swung to the south west and racing commenced in 15 knots. A fleet of 135 yachts made the start line with a full course being sailed on course A.
PRO John Hurley said that today's wind conditions were tricky as they persistently shifted left all day gradually moving to SE. “Today's racing was vital for most as the final drop of the series will be applied to the overall pointscore at the conclusion of racing. With strong conditions at the commencement of racing, the breeze persistently shifted to the left all day, with the last boats of the fleet finishing in SE breeze.”
“Those that fared the best in today's tricky conditions were those that were able to figure out the shifts in the breeze, which were sometimes up to 20?-30?. Sailing on course A also allowed for some long runs, works and reaches,” concluded John.
In Division C, Bruce, Lee, Warner & Sweetapple's Quetzacoatl finished first, with Howard Elliott's Gaia second and Pacific Sailing School's Kioni third.
“We are delighted with our win today,” said Antony Sweetapple. “Our crew work was sensational and we are very pleased to have a competitive end to the season.”
“Tactically, we sailed a good race and had some great mark roundings which helped us pick up some places. In the fading breeze, we managed to hold off some strong late finishers such as Gaia,” concluded Antony.
In Division D, Andy Kearnan's Wirrajund finished first with Justin Pelly's Crosshaven second and Chris Williams' Crusher third.
“It was a great day's sailing with testing wind conditions from 5 – 18 knots, which tested the crew and our capacity to manage those conditions,” said Andy Kearnan.
“With the leaderboard very tight in our division it was great to win today. The pointscore will go right down to the wire with the end result decided in next week's last race – so we'll need to be on our toes,” concluded Andy.
In Division H, Peter Campbell's Hornblower finished first with Peter Howes' Sea Rug Hoo Ha second and John Ackland's Imagine third.
Other division winners included Andrew Short's Andrew Short Marine (Division A), Warwick Sherman's Occasional Coarse Language (Division B), Ian Dencker's Sigurd (Division E), Greg Maughan's Syonara (Division F) Burke, Carr & Cook's Mortgage Choice Rumba (Division G), Shaaron Walsh's Trim (Division J), James Bevis' Tio Hia (Division K) and Larki Missiris' Wild One (Sydney 38OD).
For Full divisional results please log on to http://www.cyca.com.au/sysfile/downloads/2009/club/aws09/10RGrp1.htm
For provisional pointscores of Division A-K please log on to http://www.cyca.com.au/sysfile/downloads/2009/club/aws09/SGrp1.htm
For Sydney 38 One Design results please log on to http://www.cyca.com.au/sysfile/downloads/2009/club/awss38/10RGrp2.htm
For Sydney 38 One Design Handicap pointscore please log on to http://www.cyca.com.au/sysfile/downloads/2009/club/awss38/SGrp2.htm
German luxury carmaker, Audi, has started 2009 with record sales results for the first quarter of the year. Up more than 5%, this result follows another record-breaking year for the carmaker in 2008. This is now the fourth consecutive year of growth, up 30% compared with 2007. The company is the fastest-growing premium brand in Australia, and the Australian market is the number 1 growth market for Audi globally.
Audi is also the largest sponsor of competitive yachting in Australia, and a major partner of the CYCA for key regattas including the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race, Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Yacht Race and the Audi Winter Series. The company is also the principal sponsor of the CYCA's Youth Sailing Academy.
