Etchells World Championship 2012

[mpowlison]

Feb 20 2012

Local hero leads on first day

The Australian team of Graeme Taylor, Grant Simmer and Steve Jarvin (Magpie) were back on form today in the first day of racing of the Etchells World Championship 2012.

Taylor finished fourth in race one and then a firm first in race two of the day to place first overall with five points. Into second place overall with eight points came the Iron Lotus team led by Olympic gold medalist Tom King ably assisted by two other Olympians, David Edwards and Owen McMahon, and fourth man Ivan Wheen.

In third place overall on nine points was USA skipper and former Etchells World Champion, Vince Brun with his Australian Menace team of Michael Coxon, Harry Smith and Paul Westlake.

Taylor had his work cut out for him today. He was challenged by some brilliant sailing in the 74-boat international fleet.

In the first race he led the fleet at the first mark, but then slipped back as the breeze shifted and gradually built.
Clever tactics from team member and America’s Cup legend Simmer helped get Taylor back up to fourth on the finish line.

In race two Taylor took hold of the race and never let go. Brun was on his stern, but it took until the upwind finish for him to settle into second. If there had been another leg, down to the finish, the results may have been different.

After a poor showing in the recent Australian Championships, Taylor had his starts and time on distance beautifully controlled. It was then a case of reading the wind shifts, the strong set and the tactics of his closest competitors.

The first race was delayed due to problems with the start line boats anchoring in about 100 metres. Then were more problems 10 seconds out from the first gun. Another line was set and the competitors lined up again for a 180 degree, 2.3 mile beat in about 11 knots with a southerly current running at 1.5 knots.

The long start line was tricky with the low pressure and strong current. The PRO, Ross Wilson, warned the competitors to plan carefully their starts due to the conditions. It still wasn’t surprising that there was a general recall. With the black flag up for the next start the competitors then approached the line cautiously.

The fleet was finally away with a clear start. Many of the highly rated teams were sitting near the middle of the start line, near the signal boat. Taylor, after suffering from some poor starts in the Australian Championship, consciously stayed well behind the line.

At the top mark first time it was Taylor ahead of King, Bertrand and Brun. Then at the bottom mark and after the top ten or so had rounded, the sound of boats hitting each other and crews screaming could be heard clearly by the spectator craft.

Taylor explained his team performed well on the beat. “Then Tom King and a few other guys got really deep down the run and gybed and got some good wind inside of us.”

He did loose going from first back to sixth letting in Jud Smith (Roulette), John Bertrand (Triad) and Alastair Gair (Velsheda). Smith kept the heat on leading around the bottom mark and then the top mark second time around.

“We managed to chip away back up the second beat getting back to fourth. There was lots of current out there. In terms of the pressure, we came out of the middle left both times and a couple of guys came out of the right,”
Taylor said.

But the first prize of the championship went to Australian Murray Gordon’s Hydrotherapy. With an average age on board of 23 years, Gordon’s team made their way through Taylor, Smith and King with cunning.

On the final run Gordon’s team took distance out of Smith who then found himself unsuccessfully trying to keep King out of second place. Taylor also had a last mile down wind private battle with John Bertrand (Triad).

Into second was King who said he and his team struggled to get a handle on the current. “There was crazy current out there all day. It made starting really challenging. We had cautious starts and came out clean both times. There was also some lucky calls on the shifts and excellent kite trimming by David Edwards.”

The fleet was then given a rest while the race committee set up a new start line. The upwind finish course was set at 180 degrees in the flicking 13 knots.

At the start four boats were OCS. One was James Howells who continued to sail the course and finish in third place. The others were Jake Gunther (The Boat), Peter Gardner (Vincero) and Philip O’Connor (J for Jig). The moral of this part of the story is that sailors need to remember to keep a listening ear on the competitors channel.

At the top mark first time, Taylor was in the lead ahead of Tonner-Joyce (Dawn Raid) and Peter Merrington (Odyssey). Taylor never let anyone in from then onwards.

Interestingly Smith chose to gybe away and then seemed to struggle get his kite set and boat speed up.

The breeze built to 15 knots and the swung left to about 160 degrees. By the top mark second time around Taylor held a boat length lead on Merrington, then came Brun, Howells, Tonner-Joyce and King.

King said on the second run he gybed and then over-stood the mark and just couldn’t get back. “It was frustrating.” But for King the day was still a good one with the team placed in second overall.

For Taylor, in the second race and on the first beat, the left was definitely better. “We led around the top and on the run. Then we gybed off and got the shift right, but lost the pressure. Billy (Peter Merrington) and Mark Tonner-Joyce got in front of us. And then we probably got a better lay line at the bottom and then got back in front of Mark. Then we managed to push to the left of everyone as the breeze started to march to the left. Billy let us get to the left of him.

“The last run was pretty easy as the shift and the current was sweeping us down,” Taylor said.

There are six protests to be heard tonight including one lodged by the British skipper, James Howells, seeking redress for his OCS in race two.

The line-up of the top ten placegetters makes for interesting reading. Four Etchells World Champions, an Olympic gold medalist, a winning maxi boat skipper and a couple of quiet achievers including skipper Matthew Chew who raced with Jason Muir and won the 2009 Etchells World Championship.

The full results are available from the event website, go www.etchellsworlds2012.yachting.org.au

The provisional top 10 places after two races are –
Place, Country, Sail, Skipper, Total
1, AUS, 947, Graeme Taylor, 5
2, AUS, 925, Tom King, 8
3, USA, 1227, Vincent Brun, 9
4, AUS, 875, Murray Gordon, 16
5, AUS, 1356, Michael Manford, 19
6, AUS, 1306, Cameron Miles, 20
7 AUS, 1377, Jud Smith, 22
8 AUS, 1383, John Bertrand, 26
9, AUS, 1358, Mark Richards, 30
10, AUS, 864, Matthew Chew, 32


The Etchells World Championship 2012 will be conducted by Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron in conjunction with the Sydney Etchells Fleet from February 16th to 25th.

The Etchells World Championship is sponsored by Telstra, Oatley Wines, Nautica Watches, Gill, North Sails, CUB/Peroni, Barz Sunglasses, Hamburg SUD, Jackson Shipping, PredictWind and Yachting NSW Boat Insurance.

Event general information website - www.etchellsworlds2012.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/297301023652500/
Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/etchells2012
Racing live with TracTrac - http://www.tractrac.com/index.php?page=eventpage&id=193
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/EtchellsVideos

[mpowlison]

Feb 21 2012

Racing abandoned in heavy conditions

On day two of the Etchells World Championship 2012 being held offshore of Sydney Heads, racing has been abandoned for the 74-boat fleet due to large seas and heavy wind conditions.

PRO Ross Wilson said, “the conditions when we first went out were reading about 23 knots with a big set which was whipping up the seas to about a four metre swell; certainly unsafe for the Etchells sailors.

“We were hoping on a forecast of the breeze easing for the day, but as we went out the second time, just before 1300 hours, we recorded over 36 knots. So it was an increase of another 10 knots and the seas were worse.”

The race committee then announced abandonment of racing for today.

It is intended that there will two races tomorrow. Then two races on Thursday, two on Friday and one on Saturday.

“The forecast for tomorrow looks absolutely perfect and improving as the week goes on. We are confident we can get back on track,” Wilson said.

[mpowlison]

Home town team leads internationals



Tom King stamped his name on Sydney back in September 2000 and it seems like he intends doing it again in 2012 as he steered his Iron Lotus team to overall lead on day three of the Etchells World Championship.



Australian skipper King and crew of Ivan Wheen, David Edwards and Owen McMahon have delivered consistent results in the first four races of the championship with a second, sixth, third and second. Many an expert sailor will argue that the pathway to success is just such a scorecard.



Into second place overall comes the Roulette team of USA skipper Jud Smith and Australian crew of Mark Johnson and Nik Burfoot. After a rollercoaster first race day, then no racing yesterday, Smith grabbed a confident first in race one of today and then a third in the shifty second race. His scorecard reads 3, 19, 1 and 3.



Into third overall is Australian Graeme Taylor with crew Steve Jarvin and Grant Simmer. Taylor seemed to have struggled with the heavier breeze today after finishing in 12th and then 10th place. This has given him total points of 27, just one behind Smith. With lighter breezes expected tomorrow, Taylor will be back on pace as long as he can handle the pressure on the start line.



The weather was far more kindly today for the 74-boat fleet contesting the Etchells World Championship 2012. The sea had calmed considerably and the wind was in the range that suited small boat, offshore racing.



The first race start was not without drama. With the top mark laid at 190 degrees for a 2.5 mile upwind leg, the race

committee were ready to send the fleet off on time. Just after the start gun the PRO, Ross Wilson, called a general recall due to problems on the start boat.



Ensuring the fleet got away on the second start, the Black Flag went up. Just thirty seconds before the start there was plenty of pushing on the line with most of the fleet choosing the right hand side of the mid-line signal boat.



Four boats were called over – 7PS (Ian Anderson), Anamchara (James McHugh), Dragon Lady (Bill Steele) and Racer X (Mark Thornburrow).



On the start line there was more drama for Marco Cimarosti with a port and starboard incident which resulted in damage to his boat and an end to his World Championship campaign.



Smith) took control of the race from the start leading around each mark and finishing in commanding form.



The fleet enjoyed a steady 12 knots at 190, but found the swell made steering difficult downwind. The pressure held at the top mark, but softened towards the bottom. By the second work the front markers were well spread out across the course with more pressure towards the top end.



King said his team sailed well downwind in this race. “We made a few boats at the bottom of the first run, got around the bottom cleanly and then stayed where we were after that.”



Cameron Miles had a brilliant race, shining in the heavier sea conditions and riding the waves on the downwind legs. He finally finished second, but with plenty of day light between Smith and himself.



Thornburrow kept racing finishing across the line in third place. Unfortunately his Black Flag penalty took him out of the placings and gave third place to Iron Lotus (Tom King).



Smith said of the first race of the day, “there wasn’t as much current today. The big thing was getting off the line and holding the lane for a while. When it got a bit light and we got a good setting, we got going. Up the top we tried a shift here and there and we happened to get the shift at the end.”



The race committee then set up the second race promptly after watching the breeze swing to 170 degrees before going further left to 165 at 15 to 17 knots. This was when the breeze reached its strongest for the day.



The first start was a general recall so the race committee went straight to a Black Flag start.



Triad (John Bertrand) looked to get the best start at the leeward pin. To windward was Smith.



There were three BFDs called – The Whole Way (Cameron Miles), Avalon (Michael Bellingham) and J for Jig (Philip O’Connor).



At the top mark with 17 knots, a long swell running and even with a slow kite hoist, Boat X (Noel Drennan) was in the lead with King about one boat length astern. The rounding was fast and the ride downhill exhilarating. At the bottom mark Smith had moved up to second place followed by The Croc (Michael Manford) and then King in fourth.



The crowd arrived after that with the waves catching them, surfing through the bottom gate and then into each other.



Back at the top mark for a second time, Drennan had his lead, four boat lengths ahead of Smith and King.



On the run King over-took Smith and then closed the distance on Drennan, but Drennan held on for the last gasp effort of riding the swell across the line to finish first.



“There were some quite big shifts from side to side in the second race. We basically went up the middle of the course and so we were able to use a little bit of each shift. The first beat was long and felt quite lonely in one respect as there were only a few boats in the middle.



“With only a few boats around us we could tack when we wanted to. The second beat was pretty similar. There was three or four of us and then a gap to the rest of the fleet so we were able to somewhat control where we were. We extended a bit on this leg. Both runs we lost a little bit.



“On the last run boats had pressure on either side of us so we had to make a commitment to cover one. Fortunately we chose Tom and we ended up quite close.” Drennan said.



There was more pressure on the left hand side of the course which helped King to finally get through Smith. “We started sailing a bit lower than Jud right from the top mark and we slowly separated. Down towards the finish we had a little more pressure than he did and we just slipped around in front of him,” King said.



Smith was complimentary of King and his team’s skills on the race course today. “On the two races they (Iron Lotus) passed us on the run. They are sailing a really consistent regatta. They are doing a little bit better technique, something that we need to improve on. They did a better job of surfing



“It was lumpy upwind and downwind. It seemed like the second race was worse, but that might have been because I was getting tired,” Smith said.



Smith and King are cautious about tomorrow’s forecasted light easterly. Smith thinks this will be the hardest day for this team with easterlies tending to be unpredictable while King is waiting for his luck to turn. “We are very conscious about getting off the line cleanly out there today and so we were pretty conservative about where.”


There are seven protests being heard tonight. None should affect the top 10 placings.



Top six places in today’s race and top six overall after a total of four races:

Race 3. Roulette (J Smith, AUS) 1, The Hole Way (C Miles, AUS) 2, Iron Lotus (T King, AUS) 3, Triad (J Bertrand, AUS) 4, Velsheda (A Gair, NZL) 5, Menace (V Brun, USA) 6.

Race 4: Boat X (N Drennan, AUS) 1, Iron Lotus (T King, AUS) 2, Roulette (J Smith, AUS) 3, Gen XY (M Chew, AUS) 4, Critical Balance (M Langford, AUS) 5, Triad (J Bertrand, AUS) 6.

Prog pts: Iron Lotus 13 Roulette 26 Magpie 27 Triad 36 Hydrotherapy 45 Boat X 50.

[mpowlison]

Feb 23 2012

Etchells coalition holds slim Worlds lead

At the end of day four of the Etchells World Championship 2012 the overall leader name may have changed, but the racing is far from complete.



The top of the 74-boat scoreboard is very tight after six races and one drop.



Roulette (Jud Smith, Mark Johnson and Nik Burfoot) is in the lead with 13 points. The Roulette team is a coalition of talented sailors. On the helm is 2006 Etchells World Champion and American sailor, 54-year-old Jud Smith. On the sheets and braces is Australian Mark Johnson and on the foredeck, New Zealander Nik Burfoot. And the team’s coach is former Australian Olympic and America’s Cup coach, Mike Fletcher.



Moving back into second place is Australian team Iron Lotus (Tom King, Ivan Wheen, David Edwards and Owen McMahon) on 15 points. Then in third place is another Australian team, Triad (John Bertrand, David Giles and Tom Slingsby) on 26 points. An Australian team also fills fourth place; Magpie (Graeme Taylor, Grant Simmer and Steve Jarvin).



With the next two boats sitting just another two points behind and two more days of racing and three more races, the podium that can filled by one of these teams.



Two races were conducted today, both of them on the Manly Circle. The nor-east had arrived, the current was minimal, the sea swell had lessened considerably and the breeze eased to about eight knots.



On the first race start the fleet were ready for battle; no holding back as they charged for the start line and into a general recall. PRO Ross Wilson was clearly still of the opinion that one chance of a start was enough so the call went out for the Black Flag to be raised.



Luckily the second start was called all clear as the fleet headed off on a 025 degrees, two nautical mile beat to the top mark.



Current Australian Champion, Fifteen (David Clark, Andrew Smith and Alan Smith), torched the fleet in the first race leading from the start, seemingly in control of every leg.



At the top mark Clark was being chased by Menace (Vince Brun), Iris III (Peter McNeil) and Triad (John Bertrand). Down the run the breeze was swinging between 50 and 35 degrees. It finally settled and course change to the top mark was made for 35 degrees. Clark’s crew called the shifts and took distance out of the fleet by the bottom mark. Iron Lotus (Tom King) was next around, then Bertrand, McNeill, Brun and Roulette (Jud Smith).



But then Clark’s lead was in danger. “We had a failure on our jib halyard as we were coming into the bottom mark for the first time. We went to hoist the jib and the halyard blew off so we had to run with one halyard for half the race which meant when we got to the top mark next time round we did a bare-headed change.



“What was a pretty comfortable lead then became quite tight,” Clark said.



The breeze kicked over 10 knots and the boats headed back down the course to the finish. Clark battled to hold first, catching a wave and holding off King and then Bertrand by just half a boat length. Brun was next then Smith and a disappointed McNeill.



The second race was set-up quickly for 030 degrees, 2.2 nautical mile first beat for Course 1 with the boats finishing upwind.



It was another case of general recall for the first start, the Black Flag for the second start and an all clear at the gun.



Are We There Yet ? (Mark Richards) started closest to the leeward pin and then tacked to port and weaved his way safetly, luckily, across the fleet to head to the right.



King was seen bearing away and heading back across the line to complete a 720 turn. “We got lee-bowed by Ante (Swedish Blue) then tried to duck his transom. We surged forward on a wave and stuck our nose into the back of his boat, through his transom. There was a little bit of bark off. It didn’t slow him down; it probably sped him up,” King said.



The leaders worked across to the left hand side of the line looking to pick the lifts. Smith was quickly in the lead. His boat speed was good on the left hand side of the course. Clark followed closely then the young team of Gen XY (Matthew Chew), Southern Light (John Savage) and The Croc (Michael Manford). Smith gybed quickly after the turn then Magpie (Graeme Taylor) and Clark and The Hole Way (Cameron Miles) followed.



Smith’s voiced uncertainty about how his team would fare in an easterly breeze was not necessary. They coped well and more “We were surprised by the breeze. None of the forecasts had it being that strong that early. They had it moving left, which it did, but not that strong.”



As the race progressed the and the crews tired, the fleet separated in the 12 to 14 knots. The last beat to the finish the top boats headed out left, hit the corner and then tacked to work the left shifts to lay the finish line with little effort.



Smith’s Roulette team got the gun, then Chew’s GEN XY finished in second.



After a 35th in the first race of the day, this second was a welcome relief for the Gen XY team and for their tactician, Darren Jones. “We went left in both races. The left was good on the second race and bad in the first race.



“There was a bit of head scratching after the first race, but quietly he (the tactician) went for the same strategy on the second race and it worked. Then we went left on every other windward and it worked.”



Clark finally moved up in third on the finish. “It was really tricky on the first run. We knew we wanted the left looking up, but there were a lot of boats reaching so made a bit of a call to gybe out which was the wrong thing to do so the Gen XY team got around us. Then at the bottom they won the right hand mark and that was the winning mark. We quite a bit of pace so we relieved to come back and recover to come third,” Clark said.



Racing continues tomorrow with two races scheduled for Manly Circle.



Top six overall after six races and one drop:

Race 5. Fifteen (D Clark, AUS) 1, Iron Lotus (T King, AUS) 2,Triad (J Bertrand, AUS) 3, Menace (V Brun, USA) 4, Roulette (J Smith, AUS) 5, Iris III (P McNeill, AUS) 6.

Race 6: Roulette (J Smith, AUS) 1, Gen XY (M Chew, AUS) 2, Fifteen (D Clark, AUS) 3, Critical Balance (M Langford, AUS) 4, Southern Light (J Savage, AUS) 5, The Croc (M Manford) 6.

Prog pts: Iron lotus 29 Roulette 32 Magpie 44 Triad 47 Iris III 63 The Hole Way 69.

[mpowlison]

Feb 24 2012

The art of yacht racing is being able to nail the breeze

Martini sailing was an expression shared around the fleet today as 74 boats headed out and north of Sydney Heads to the Manly Circle for the second last day in the Etchells World Championship 2012.

The sun shone, the swell and current were negligible, but the breeze returned to delivering massive shifts both left and right.

There were two races and three different teams on the podium in each race. But it is Australian teams in the first three places overall, for the moment.

The Iron Lotus team of Tom King, Owen McMahon, Ivan Wheen and David Edwards regained their overall lead with 33 points after eight races and one drop. It was a difficult day for the team as they delivered their worst regatta result to date with a 16th in the first race, then finished fourth in a tight group in the second race.

Into second overall came the relieved team on Magpie. Graeme Taylor, Grant Simmer and Steve Jarvin sailed well today to secure an 11th and a third giving them 46 points. Taylor attributed some of the success of the day to the team’s coach, Rob Brown. Tonight they will spend with Brown as he debriefs them. Taylor said after racing today that is the first time he has worked with a coach. “We bought him (Brown) in because we were struggling on the start lines and he has helped us a lot with that.”

Tomorrow expect them to come out fighting. They need a hole-in-one to knock off King’s hold on first overall.

The Triad team of John Bertrand, David Giles and Tom Slingsby became the new third place holder after an interesting day of one first and then one 31st. These results gave them a total of 48 points.

Fourth place must be mentioned here as the international team on Roulette – Jud Smith, Mark Johnson and Nik Burfoot –just couldn’t find their previous winning magic as they sailed into a 17th and then a 33rd to finish overall with 49 points.

John Bertrand aptly described the racing today as being one where you could easily get a bullet in one race and a feather duster in another. And he should know.

Before the start of the first race, the Triad team were heads down and missed seeing the New Zealand Bobby’s Girl boat skippered by John Melville. The boats collided and Bobby’s Girl came off badly with a bent mast and a sad end to their World Championship campaign. Luckily Phil Smidmore was on the course and with a radio call of “I have a spare mast back at the hardstand” jumped in to assist Melville’s team to get back safely into the harbour.

Ever the professional, Bertrand and his team quickly refocused as they headed to the line for the first start. The course was set for 040 in eight knots and the first beat was 1.8 miles.

The pattern of first starts ending in a general recall continued as the fleet then lined up for the second start under a Black Flag. But it was another general recall as the port pin boats, which included some of the boats at the top of the overall point score, pushed themselves and their competition on the line. Then the start was reset to 035 and finally at 1325 hours the fleet was out of the gate and their way up the beat.

Bertrand grabbed the lead early as they sped up the work in the flat seas and under brilliant sunshine. At the top mark he led by just half a boat length from Fifteen (David Clark), followed by Boat X (Noel Drennan) and Animal House (Dirk Van Der Struyf).

Back in the fleet King was struggling with the shifts. “We had a good start and we were in the middle of the course in the leading group of boats and with John Bertrand coming back from the left side of the course. We then decided to go back left partly because Jud was over there and partly because we thought there was more wind over there. Then the wind shifted right all the way up to the top mark and that’s where Bertrand and Dave Clark got that big jump,” King said.

On the run Clark stayed on Bertrand’s transom until Bertrand gybed to port. At the bottom mark Bertrand had extended his lead over Clark and Van Der Struyf. This pattern continued so that by the finish Bertrand was more than two minutes ahead of Clark across the line. Finishing in third was Hong Kong’s Swedish Blue (Ante Razmilovic) who had slipped inside of Van Der Struyf on the last work.

“We nailed it in that race. But I don’t think that anyone out there today could lay claim to knowing exactly what was happening… even in race one,” Bertrand said.

It was a quick turn-around from the race committee for the set-up of race two. The breeze was up 10 knots and the course set for 035. The decision was made to lengthen the first beat to 2.2 miles and again run Course 2.

It was another false start as the fleet returned under a general recall and then were advised the next start would be with the Black Flag. There was only one BFD call – Bushfire (Jervis Tilly).

The port pin end was favoured as Smith, Velsheda (Alastair Gair), The Whole Way (Cameron Miles) and more crossed cleanly and headed left on the work.

At the top mark Taylor led, just, to Perfect Balance (Mark Bulka), Gelert (James Howells) and Ticket of Leave (Brett Ellis). The pressure was consistent down the course and the fleet split at the bottom mark gates.

Back in the early 30s Smith and Bertrand couldn’t seem to pick and play the shifts. “Not a good result. The first race wasn’t that bad. Then we went into the second race in the (point score) lead. We then switched jibs which was probably a mistake. We thought the left was going to be better. We then went the wrong way twice,” Smith said.

There were massive shifts on the course. “The right was pretty strong the whole race. We did well on the right on the first beat and then invested heavily in the left on the second beat. We got a very poor return for our investment,” Taylor said.

The separation in the fleet was obvious by the last work as Howells took the lead from Bulka, Taylor, Ellis and King.

On the run, it was heart-stopping tension watching the lead boats battle for top places. Howells stayed right with King on his transom. Taylor was out on the left.

But Bulka kept his cool and crossed cleanly leaving Howells, Taylor and King to finish with a millimetres between them across the line.

King had been hoping for another wave; just one more and he might have got ahead of Taylor and Howells. It was just that close.

Howells was introspective about his loss in the second race. “There seemed to be more pressure on the left hand side on the first run. We did well out of it, but due to where the boats were we had to gybe a bit later. We kept going and going and the other guys behind, 1387, gybed first and pretty well out of it. GT gybed as well and we got back on top of him before the finish.

“It has been a super hard week. It has been nice to get one decent result in it. What we are all struggling with is the chop. Downwind we are okay, but upwind we can not get the boat to go well,” Howells said.

The final and ninth race of the World Championship will be held tomorrow with the warning signal scheduled for 1200 hours.

Overall results after 8 races and 1 drop:
Race 7. Triad (J Bertrand, AUS) 1, Fifteen (D Clark, AUS) 2, Swedish Blue (A Razmilovic, HKG) 3, Perfect Balance (M Bulka, AUS) 4, Extra Bad Doll (T Braidwood, AUS) 5, Yandoo XX (JC Strong, AUS) 6.
Race 8: Perfect Balance ( M Bulka, AUS) 1, (J Howells, GBR ) 2, Magpie (G Taylor, AUS)3, Iron Lotus (T King, AUS) 4, Ticket of Leave (B Ellis, AUS) 5, Swedish Blue (A Razmilovic, HKG) 6.
Prog pts: Iron Lotus 33 Magpie 46 Triad 48 Roulette 49 Fifteen 56 The Whole Way 68