NSW Championship, Race 4
Sunday, 16 February 2014
Sydney Harbour
Gotta Love It 7’s Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and Scott Babbage gave another outstanding display in difficult conditions to easily take out Race 4 of the NSW 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour today.
Coopers 62-Rag & Famish Hotel (Jack Macartney) won the start and crossed 7 on the first two tacks but once Gotta Love It 7 grabbed the lead the crew continually drew away from the fleet to win by 4m.
Nick Press, Dan Phillips and Dave Ewings also gave a great display to take second place in Smeg, with Andrew Chapman Mike McKensey and Ricky Bridge a further 22s back in Mojo Wine.
Coopers 62-Rag & Famish finished fourth, ahead of Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Michael Coxon) and Sydney City Marine (David Witt).
Gotta Love It 7 heads the point total on 3, followed by Smeg on 8, Thurlow Fisher Lawyers 9, Sydney City Marine and Coopers 62-Rag & Famish on 12 and Mojo Wine on 16.
The race was sailed over the South course with all teams using their smaller #2 rigs.
Gotta Love It 7’s crew showed the skill that makes them so hard to beat as they grabbed a 30s lead on the shory windward leg from the start in Athol Bay to the windward mark off Clarke Island.
Thurlow Fisher Lawyers, Smeg and Coopers-Rag were together with Fisher & Paykel (Grant Rollerson), Mojo Wine, Sydney City Marine and Yandoo (John Winning) close behind.
The long spinnaker run to Obelisk Bay YA Buoy divided the thoughts of the fleet with some teams setting their extras immediately while others chose a 2-sail reach half way along the run before setting a spinnaker.
7 increased her lead to 1m over Smeg and Thurlow Fisher Lawyers then virtually put the race out of reach for her opposition as the margin was 1m45s after the next windward leg into Rose Bay.
Thurlow Fisher Lawyers and Smeg were only 4s apart at this point with Yandoo now up to fourth ahead of Coopers-Rag & Famish and Mojo Wine.
The wind dropped away to almost nothing over the next two legs of the course and Team Seven were brilliant as she took the lead out to 3½m at Clarke Island.
Smeg also established her position in second place, with a break of another 1½m to Coopers 62-Rag & Famish.
The light wind persisted on the next spinnaker run to Obelisk then freshened for the beat back into Rose Bay.
Smeg reduced 7s lead to 2½m at Rose Bay, while Andrew Chapman, standing in for regular skipper Chris Nicholson, had Mojo Wine up to third.
These placings didn’t change over the final two legs of the course although Gotta Love It had increased her margin to 4m at the finish.
Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and Scott Babbage left immediately after the race to fly to Singapore where they will sail Pindar in the Extreme Sailing series regatta.
Video coverage of the race can be seen on www.18footerstv.com.
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Race 5 of the NSW Championship will be sailed next Sunday.
The club’s regular spectator ferry will follow the race, leaving Double Bay Wharf at 2.15pm.
Frank Quealey