Another day of champagne sailing on day two of the Australian Flying Fifteen Championship with gentle 8 - 14 knots of breeze under clear blue skies. The fleet left Fremantle Sailing Club for an earlier start time of 12 noon for two more races using course 1 which is two laps, a sausage and a triangle.
After one false start the PRO Kevin Wilson produced the dreaded black flag for the first time in the regatta, catching out five competitors in the process. The fleet were split right across the course with huge separation. The crew that read the tricky conditions best was none other than current world champions Graham Vials and Chris Turner (GBR) who led the race from the first windward mark to the finish line. The battle for second place was a bit more intense between Grant Alderson and Luke Paterson from host clubs Royal Freshwater Bay YC / Fremantle Sailing Club and Ian Pinnell and Ian Cadwallader from Northampton SC in the UK. On the second lap around the triangle, Pinnell / Cadwallader got the better of the local Aussies claiming second spot. Philippa Packer and Dean McAullay from RFBYC backed up their win yesterday with an excellent fourth and another British team of Michael Wilson and Pete Greenhalgh representing Isle of May YC came in fifth.
The course was swiftly re-set for the second race of the day as the wind picked up a notch to a comfortable 12 - 14 knots from a bearing of 240 degrees. In this one the black flag stayed in the race officers pocket, however the U flag was used and caught out a couple of key competitors. Both Nick Jerwood and Brad Sheridan of Australia and Charles and Charlie Apthorp of Great Britain were penalised and both would have finished in top positions.
Race four was also sailed on course 1 but this time the left hand side of the course nearer the shore seemed favoured up the 1.5nm working leg. This one proved to be another battle of the British boats for the podium places. Hamish Mackay and Andrew Lawson of Royal Thames YC held off Ian Pinnell and Ian Cadwallader all the way round the course until the final leg. Mackay / Lawson seemed to have opened up a few boat lengths lead on the first reach of the triangle but Pinnell and Cadwallader caught a nice little puff on the approach to the wing mark and after the gybe sailed inside them to sprint to the finish for their first win of the regatta.
Vials / Turner as usual seemed to claim a couple of places on the triangle legs to take third and Packer / McAullay another fourth. A great race for Greg Tonnison and Nick Robinson of South of Perth YC finishing fifth and a solid performance by FFI Commodore Chris Waples and his crew Simon Hunt (GBR) in sixth.
Another notable crew sneaking up the rankings are the Irishmen John Lavery and Alan Green from the National YC in Dublin. They scored a sixth in race 3 to move up to 10th overall in the rankings. Also on the move are the young guns Lachy Gilmour and Ryan Donaldson who are up to sixth overall in the overall rankings.
Roll on day three of the regatta with two more races and a forecast of more sunny weather and a light SW breeze.
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by Jonny Fullerton - Regatta Services