Amazingly the torrential downpour stopped as quickly as it
started two minutes before the start and the sun came out for
the rest of the day making for very pleasant conditions.  The
16 boat fleet got away in a light southerly breeze with poled out
headsails the order of the day.

The boats that started on the leeward end of the line got away
in clearer air than the crowded start boat end, and made a clean
break for the North Head.  Geoff and Vicky Player’s
spectacular Beneteau Sense 50 Silver Minx reported seeing
a large sunfish basking on the surface during the race north. The
breeze filled in as the day progressed and by the time we reached
Barrenjoey Head, boat speed was up to around 8 knots in perfectly
flat seas.

On PHS, Paul O’Connell’s Katinka continued its winning
streak by claiming another first place followed by visiting entry
Silver Minx and Paul Wood’s Tahoe Blue was
third.  On IRC, Jon Short & Miles Bastick’s MRX
took out a seven minute corrected time win over Ian & Shane
Guanaria’s Beneteau First 35 One More No More, with
Katinka third.  It is great to see a number of new
entrants in the Short Haul Fleet – as well as Silver Minx,
the fleet was joined this time by Murray Howard’s First 40
Leeward and Andrew Butler’s Dufour
Astral. 

After the traditional well attended dinner at the RMYC, and
several hangovers being cured by the big breakfast offering on
Sunday morning, the second race was shaping up to be a slow one
with a fickle 0-5 knot easterly.  Race Officer Denis Thompson
aboard Offshore warned of the outgoing current which made
the prospect of an OCS very real.  Fortunately, it was a clean
start and 14 yachts drifted out of Pittwater, at times tacking
through 180 degrees trying to find the breeze.

It was a long slow crawl to Long Reef before the sea breeze
finally filled in to allow a reasonable pace to the finish at
Watsons Bay.  On PHS, little more than a minute separated the
first three placings after 4.5 hours of racing.  Shaaron
Walsh’s Trim scored first with Robert Hunt’s
Attitude coming in second and Silver Minx
third.  On IRC, MRX managed to again sneak in front
of One More No More by eight seconds for first with Rob
& Sue Segaert’s Quatre Quart coming in third.

Sunday’s race marked the final race of the Grant Thornton Short
Haul Passage Pointscore, and what a nail biting finish it truly was
in both handicap categories.  On PHS, Attitude and
Paul Billingham and Pete McGee’s Elusive tied for first on
15 points with Attitude taking the pointscore on a
countback. Katinka was tied for third with Paul
Wood’s Tahoe Blue but Katinka claimed the third
place honours, again on a countback.

On IRC, MRX came first on five points with One More
No More coming second on six points and Tahoe Blue
third.  The battle for first place was effectively settled by
one second in the Australia Day Botany Bay race, when MRX
beat Tahoe Blue by the closest of margins in that race,
and then eight seconds in Sunday’s race.

With just 1.5 points separating MRX and One More No
More in the overall IRC season pointscore, and three more
races to sail, it is sure to be a close finish to the season.

Thanks again to the crew of Offshore for starting and finishing
both races.  At least the sea conditions for motoring up and
down the coast were much better than they have been in prior
races.

By Jon Short