2009 Living Colour 505 Nationals - Higgins and Spencer take title

9:30 PM Thu 19 Feb 2009 GMT

'Ups and downs at the wing mark' Crosbie Lorimer Click Here to view large photo

As you read this South Australian's Sandy Higgins and Jordan Spencer will be nursing hangovers at one of Manly's most fashionable coffee shops, their boat packed away and nothing to do but wonder what to have for lunch.

With a string of firsts and seconds they have won the regatta with a clear day to spare.

Their day yesterday was - well, perfect.

With the sun finally shining and Sydney providing the conditions promised in the brochures the 30 strong fleet headed offshore to the Macquarie Circle for two races. The breeze didn't settle most of the day with some vague storm activity, but it was around 8-12 knots from the Nor East.

The first race saw the left pay from the start and Sandy and Jordan were part of the group that did well out of there. So too did Carter Jackson and David Page from Sydney and Nick Deussen and Jono Bannister. By the end of the first run things had sorted themselves out a little and Sandy's superior downwind speed got him to the front - where he then stayed for the rest of the race/day/regatta.

Further back though, it was getting interesting - Nick and Jono were hanging on to the back of Sandy, but Adrian Finglas and Sam Heritage, Jackson and Page, Michael Quirk and Simon Reffold and Sandy's brother Mal Higgins with the Man mountain Camel Johnson on the wire attacked hard down the very tight reach.

By the gybe mark it was close but Finglas had to flog to the kite to get up and there was a disaster on the gybe on Jacksons boat that saw Pagey in the water, kites under bows and any number of curses emanating from their vicinity.

Deussen was oblivious to this though, and coolly maintained his second place. Quirk and Reffold and Higgins and Johnson took it to Finglas but, for a man who hasn't sailed a 505 for some years he has been quick most of the week and did enough to hold on to third from Quirk and Higgins.

The breeze was getting pretty fluky now and the PRO - Ken Anderson (who has done an exceptional job in trying conditions throughout the event) shifted the course out to seas to try and get truer breeze.

Off the start the left paid again but you had to go all the way over there and ring the corner shops bell. A number of boats did this and the top mark was crowded - but again, Sandy and Jordan just managed to squeak their nose in and rounded first.

Leading down to the wing mark - Crosbie Lorimer Click Here to view large photo

That's all it takes for these guys - from that point on they were gone. So too were Nick and Jono who's day was nearly as good as Higgins and Spencer. They held second comfortably all race to get two, two's from two.

The race was becoming very tough as the pressure started to drop and the sea state made finding a groove tough for many, but Mal Higgins and Camel did well to maintain third place, just ahead of Queenslanders Kev Cameron and Matt Bowden and their training partner Adrian Finglas.

So - with Sandy and Jordan watching the pretty girls of Manly and drinking Lattes - what does today hold in store for everyone else?

Plenty.

There are eight points separating second and eighth. Finglas and Heritage are in second, two points from Jackson and Page, who are one point from Mirsky and Langford. With two drops on the series today's scores could make a huge difference.

This event has been made possible by the generous support of

Living Colour Landscapes, Ullman Sails, Gill Clothing, Halcyon Daze Web design and Lewmar

by Simon Reffold

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