Audi IRC Australian Championship round three overall

8:22 AM Fri 5 Aug 2011 GMT

'Last year's winner Loki finished second overall - Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race 2011' Andrea Francolini / Audi &copy

Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race, organised by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, started from Sydney Harbour on Saturday 30 July. This event was round three of the Audi IRC Australian Championship.

The penultimate round of the 2011 Audi IRC Australian Championship has been run and won with crews making a slow trip north in the annual Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race.

Light winds ensured that the race record set in 1999 by Brindabella remained intact for another year with 51 boats contesting the three IRC classes.

The battle for Class A was won by Michael Hiatt's Living Doll, taking the round three class victory ahead of Stephen Ainsworth's Loki and Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin.

Marcus Blackmore and his TP52 Hooligan continues to lead the way overall in Class A though Loki has closed the gap to be just one point behind heading into the final round of the 2011 championship, Audi Hamilton Island Race Week at the end of August.

Living Doll confirmed as the overall winner - Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race 2011 - Andrea Francolini - Audi &copy

Living Doll's win in the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race leaves this crew just two points further back, setting up an exciting finale in the Whitsunday's. Just four points now separate the top three contenders.

Class B was taken out by Darryl Hodgkinson's Victoire, with Exile, skippered by Robert Reynolds, and Paul Clitheroe's Balance, second and third respectively.

The same three boats top the Class B overall leaderboard with Victoire holding five point lead over Exile with Balance four points further behind.

The race to the Gold Coast saw Anthony Paterson's Aroona bring home the trophy in Class C, with Colin Kimmorley's Argus second and Andy Kearnan's L'Altra Donna third.

The Class C overall top three however, is a different story with Peter Sorensen's The Philosopher's Club in first after finishing the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race fifth, while L'Altra Donna is second and Ryan Walker's Peregrine, who did not contest round three, third overall.

The 2011 Audi IRC Australian Championship concludes at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, with racing set to begin on August 20 and run through until August 27.

The winner of each Class of the 2011 Audi IRC Australian Championship will receive the sporty and compact Audi A1 for a year.

Audi IRC Australian Championship TV coverage
The 2011 Audi IRC Australian Championship will go to air on ONE HD from Saturday 3 September at 6:00pm. This year's series will comprise of eight 30 minute episodes. The TV series is produced by Audi Australia and Fuzzy TV. Network Ten sports presenter, Rob Canning, is the host of the series and will be joined by expert commentators, Will Hagon and Neville Wittey.

Audi IRC Australian Championship website

by Craig Heydon