West Australian and South Australian crews dominated top results on day two of the 73rd Sharpie Australian championship sailed from Sandy Bay Sailing Club on the River Derwent yesterday.
Bullit, skippered by Andrew Gabrielson from WA, won both races while Warpig, steered by SA veteran Geoffrey McCloud, twice finished runner-up in close racing .
On a day in which sailing by the compass rather than going for long tacks and gybes upwind and downwind paid dividends. Another SA boat, Nude (Ryan Kelly) took third place in race two.
In race three Tasmania came into the action when former national champion Drew Latham steered One Hump or Two into third place.
Results are provisional as one boat has protested the Race Committee, seeking redress for being ordered to tack to avoid possibly interfering with an incoming ship. The hearing is scheduled for this morning.
Provisionally, Bullit (WA) has 12 points from a score of 10-1-1, as has Zulu (Derek Milligan, ACT) from a score of 2-4-6.
In third place overall is Don’t Poke the Bear (Tony Turton, SA) with placings of 3-5-5; Warpig (Geoffrey McCloud) is fourth overall on 13 points (11-2-2) with the first Tasmanian boat One Hump or Two (Drew Latham, TAS) has 16 points (4-9-3).
Race one winner, Sandy Bay Sailing Club’s Alec Bailey in Gentlemen’s Relish (TAS) had a 12th and a 15th yesterday to be seventh overall
Peter Campbell
5 January 2015
