13th
SMU-RM Western Circuit Sailing Regatta 2010
AY
Race Report 3
13th
SMU-RM Western Circuit Sailing Regatta 2010 |
Slow
and steady wins the day...
The contenders in the IRC B class had a similar course to the big boats but shorter as they did not have the outer dogleg. Shaun Toh's Farr Platu 25 SMUmad led the fleet all day and was even ahead of some IRC A boats before they broke away for the finish line. Fidelis Tan's Farr Platu 25 sistership SMUve came in ten minutes behind SMUmad to take second place. A further 22 minutes passed before Christopher Lim's J24 SHENGLI crossed the finish line to secure third spot but deposes them from the top of the leaderboard. After today's race all three SMU boats are in the podium positions - SMUmad 1st, SHENGLI 2nd and SMUve in 3rd.
More info, results and photos will be posted at: http://www.westerncircuit.com/ Check out AY
Race Report 6
at: http://asianyachting.com/news/WC10/6.htm This WCSR - AY Race Report is proudly sponsored by:
AsianYachting
Ventures Sdn. Bhd. (Co.
No. 627106-T) |
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August
21st: All morning the sky was
heavily overcast and releasing light drizzling rain, even the Malaysian
coastline was shrouded in fog. Then as if on queue, a light SSW breeze
sprung up on the way to the start line. Enough to send the IRC A &
B, PY and Catamaran classes on a passage race in the approaches to the
Johor Strait, while the Laser SB3 and the International Moth classes continued
on with the short windward/leeward race program. Ten IOM remote-controlled
yachts also kicked off on a two day racing campaign. As it turned out
the breeze did not get much above 6 knots the whole day and probably averaged
around 3-4 knots leaving big patches of little or no wind to contend with.
When the breeze fluctuates up and down it also changes direction, so it
is paramount that tacticians keep there head out of the boat and pick
the best wind lanes to sail the boat in.
All week the IRC A skippers have been working on ways to improve the boats
performance including bringing in specialist crew members to bolster their
confidence. This was evident right from the very start, when David
Ross' Kerr 32 KUKUKERCHU nailed
the line on starboard tack, just as Sarab Singh's Sydney 40MOD WINDSIKHER
entered on port tack, only to get run over by the fleet and consequently
caught up in a short tacking duel with KUKUKERCHU.
When they finally released themselves from the tight cover, it was pedal
to the metal and WINDSIKHER rounded the starboard outer marker
for the Tanjong Pelepas channel, four minutes in front of KUKUKERCHU.
At every mark rounding they extended their lead to finish up a whopping
46 minutes in front and take out the daily double by 17 minutes. The old
fox Bill Bremner is enjoying a stint as tactician on WINDSIKHER
reiterated "That it was important to get into sync with the wind
and go for boat speed in these conditions". Steve Manning's Beneteau
First 44.7 WALA WALA finished a distant third as the wind strength
dropped to 2.5 knots and the rest of the fleet fell even further behind
and run out of time. The race committee are deciding on awarding places
from the times taken at the last rounding mark.
Once
again Adriaan Smit's X99 POWER PARTNERS completely outclassed
the more heavy displacement PY Class racers by 20 minutes at the first
mark and go on to secure the daily double by a country mile. Finishing
an hour and a half behind, Leslie Fung's Hanse 315 TODAK 2 slotted
into second place and Dieter Trau's heavily modified Jeanneau Sun Fizz
WATERMELON hung on in for third place which ties them on points
with TODAK 2 for second overall.
In
the world famous Moth Class, James Cole added two wins to the tally and
lift his Bladerider BLITZ KRIEG BOP to the top of the leaderboard.
While Paul Runyan's Mach 2 CALLALA and Will Berney's Bladerider
MOC DHOO 2 shared second places, it was Nicholas Leo Francis
ASSASIN that consistently scored two 3rd places and in the absence
of overall leader Mark Robinson's Mach 2 VIVA LA VIDA has lifted
ASSASIN to second overall.
Last
week Guy Markham's Nacra 20 RED ROCKET completely dominated the
off the beach catamaran class but today the defending champions Nicolas
Gillier and Jeremy Perrier's Viper F16 ISDOO bought the fight
to them and ran away with line honours. However it was Uli Braun's Taipan
4.9 808 that came 1st on corrected time relegating ISDOO
to second place and David Lee/Goh Ah Soon's Taipan 4.9 282 to
third spot. Fourth place for RED ROCKET leaves the door open
for ISDOO to take over top spot on the scoreboard.
Three
more short course races in the Laser SB3 class, saw Fabrice Piard's ALIDADE
pull off the trifecta with three bullets and go to directly the top of
the leaderboard. With a 2, 3, 4 scoreline Wallace Cuthbertson's GLASGOW
KISS puts them in contention for the overall podium places. A slip
up in Race 6 saw Bob Comstock's COMPASS RISING drop to second
overall and can't afford any more mistakes. Two boats that did not race
last week Ola Strand Andersen's XOCO and John Priestly's SUME
rapped up the placing's and threw a spanner into the very completive fleet
by mixing up the pointscore.
Ten boats weighed in for the exciting International One Metre (IOM) radio
controlled class. The competition is fierce and the atmosphere tense as
the skippers frantically operate the toggle switches to guide their boats
around the course in the marina. Several close calls and near misses resulted
in the jury being called into action during the pit-stop period between
races. Ervin Scully 31 challenged Calvin Tang 80 which
seemed to get the adrenaline flowing in this usually quiet discipline.
They managed to hold ten races on the first day of racing and can expect
plenty of excitement before the series is completed.
Racing
continues tomorrow with the SMU President’s Cup being
awarded to the winner of the combined IRC A & B classes on another
passage race around the same course. Lets hope and pray there is
more wind...
