First weekend of surprises
The JJ always throws up some interesting racing, with the whole fleet stepping up a notch or three when the gun goes for race 1.
This year is no different.
Friday’s invitation race was an all-little-rig affair, and it started off fresh but then died for the last half of the race. 7 led pretty easily, and we had our moments but in the end finished 4th behind Project Racing and Yandoo.
Saturday’s Race 1 was a light and shite Easterly breeze. Given Hugh has always loved the shitty easterlies, it was no surprise to see the red Smeg out in front. We started well and went into the tide on the right, but the fleet pushed left and did better. We were deep early with Euan and 7, but slowly started to pick our way back through the pack. Project Racing led at the first bottom mark but went round the wrong way, then returned to unwind themselves without re-rounding correctly. As the race progressed, Smeg extended away, AppliancesOnline and Macquarie came back to the pack, and Euan stepped up into 2nd. We were rapidly gaining on Active in 3rd til we stuffed the last part of the work into Rose Bay and fell back to 5th behind Fisher & Paykell. A bit of a mixed race, but not a disaster.
Sunday’s Race 2 was a tricky South-Easterly, with the majority of the fleet going for #1 rig despite the forecast for plenty of pressure later in the day. Out of the blocks, Active, 7 and us headed off to the left, with Euan and Appliances heading to the right of the island. When we tacked on the bricks at Steele point, we just fell out of the line of left pressure and Active and 7 got away to a good break as we tacked back to get around. A good downwind put us back into contention, sailing around 7 and Active at the bottom mark to fight it out for the lead. We sailed a conservative upwind, looking for the left pressure that came through on the last work, but Active, Me and Kinder Caring did much better heading hard right and lifting to the mark. By that point, Active was too far ahead to do much about, but the racing for the minor placings was still tight.
The Farr40s made for a couple of interesting moments down the next run as they appeared behind our mainsail coming upwind, but we managed to stay relatively clear of trouble and battled away in about 5th. Despite our best efforts to stuff it up, we managed to stay in touch and move into 4th when Van Munster capsized on the last run, then took Me – having the race of the season – into 3rd for the final work.
And that’s where we stayed.
So after 2 races, Active Air is well in front on 4 points, with Euan on SX in 2nd on 6 (albeit with a protest pending against 7 and vise-versa). Smeg is in 3rd on 7 points, with us on the Rag on 8, and 7 on 9. AppliancesOnline rounds out the top 6 on 13 points, 7 clear of the next place.
But there is plenty of racing still to go, starting with low-hooks Tuesday.
Full results sheet here, with daily footage on Sailcam.tv.
