State Heat #4 – It’s Tight at the Top!
In near perfect conditions on the Swan River last Saturday, three boats completed the course with nine points lost, and their position could only be separated by countback.
The remarkable little “Blue Flash”, Guy Skinner’s little Pilot 24 Thanet, which trials at six knots, finally lived up to the promise she has shown over the past year or so to claim first place. Second and also remarkably, given that the skipper was forced to drive a borrowed boat when his own suffered a mechanical failure, was the CPYC Chairman, Troy Dalglish. Claremont Yacht Club’s Liquid Asset was the third boat on nine points to place third.
Campbell Durrant recorded a very consistent ten points in When Two Become One, one point clear of Royal Perth Yacht Club’s Smith brothers Ray and Gary in Noah Gendah and Claremont’s ever-consistent Sansterre, skippered by Chas Milner.
A protest hearing later this week will determine the outcome for some other competitors, though is unlikely to affect the positions at the top of the table.
A great deal of interest will centre on the team’s result, which will not be announced until the end of the season, for at first glance it would seem that the steady improvement by Claremont Yacht Club members may well have been rewarded with victory over the all-conquering South of Perth Yacht Club team.
The next State Competition will be on 8th September – a doubleheader with the re-sail of Heat #3 (abandoned due to the weather) in the morning and Heat #5 in the afternoon. It promises to be a busy day on the Swan for checkpoints, officials and competitors!
Winners from South of Perth are 1st on countback. Thanet, Guy Skinner and Richard Evans, 2nd on countback Dalussional, Troy Dalglish and Dee Kelly and 3rd on countback Liquid Asset from CYC, Paul and Mairead Hodgson all with 9 points lost.
