Australian 505 Championships - Difficult conditions on day one

12:07 AM Tue 5 Jan 2010 GMT

'McCrae Yacht Club VIC host for 505's Australian Championship'

The committee held us onshore till they got 5kn of wind, then sent us out. Racing started at 3.15pm in a very light patchy breeze.

The first beat, whilst only short took forever, as boats were battling tide. Just how much tide was evident at the top mark, with boats having to sail well past if they wanted to round it . After a good 40 minutes plus of sailing, the fleet was spread across the course, with two boats fighting for the lead.

Michael Quirk and Simon Reffold, (who have no name for their boat, so arbitrarily I have decided to call theirs Hombre and Beefcake) managed to carry pressure a little longer and pass Carter Jackson and Jordan Spencer just before the top mark. However they tacked to early for the mark and got washed back by the tide. The extra tack cost them in the next to nothing breeze and they started travelling backwards. Carter and Spencer rounded first, from Quirk and Reffold, then Damien Carey and Marcus Cooper, (an old combination back together for this regatta) and Earle Alexander and Ian Gregg. From there, it was a huge gap as the light wind made it difficult for anyone else to get round.

Downhill was hanging kites until a small hit of pressure built from the West. Carey and Cooper rolled on to it first, then Carter/Spencer who had enough gap and angle to ensure they held the lead, but the Carey Cooper combo did pick up Hombre and Beefcake. At the bottom mark, the committee appeared with the S flag and it was all over. An hour plus of racing for one beat and a run. The forecast looks a little more promising today, so potentially three races.

Ronstan 52nd Australian 505 Championships

Progressive Results

505
Pos	Fleet	Class	Sail #	Helm	Crew	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pts	Drop	Nett	Pos	Equal	Tie Break	Ties
1		505	8853	Carter Jackson	Jordon Spencer	1									1	0	1	1
2		505	8783	Damien Cary	Marcus Cooper	2									2	0	2	2
3		505	8920	Michael Quirk	Simon Reffold	3									3	0	3	3
4		505	8781	Earle Alexander	Ian Gregg	4									4	0	4	4
5		505	8864	Hamish Jarrett	Chris Pearson	5									5	0	5	5
6		505	8795	Martin Pike	Dan Cowan	6									6	0	6	6
7	CLASSIC	505	8221	Andrew McCole	James Ryssenbeek	7									7	0	7	7
8		505	8628	Peter Croft	Gary Rushton	8									8	0	8	8
9		505	8648	Jeffrey Robinson		9									9	0	9	9
10		505	8682	Richard Hyde	Phil Edney	10									10	0	10	10
11		505	8877	Daniel Keys	Daryl Roos	11									11	0	11	11
12		505	8710	Brett Bowden	David Walters	12									12	0	12	12
13		505	8894	Paul Mitchell	Sam Haines	13									13	0	13	13
14		505	8840	Kevin Cameron	Ken Webber	14									14	0	14	14
15	CLASSIC	505	8292	Mark Scrymgour	Robert Gichrist	15									15	0	15	15
16		505	9022	Ian Burford	Jeff Burford	16									16	0	16	16
17	CLASSIC	505	8498	Jonathan Ross	Ian Scholes	17									17	0	17	17
18		505	8893	Ryan Menzies	Joel Castle	18									18	0	18	18
19		505	8637	Sam Cronin	Kevin Whitbread	19									19	0	19	19
20		505	8796	Nick Deussen	Jonno Bannister	20									20	0	20	20
21	CLASSIC	505	6819	Ian Taylor	Rob Bath	21									21	0	21	21
22	CLASSIC	505	8036	John Warren	Patrick Walker	22									22	0	22	22
23	CLASSIC	505	8038	Adrian Kiely	Darren Cooney	26F									26	0	26	23	EQ	0	(0)
23	CLASSIC	505	8277	Scott Watson	Antony Munro	26F									26	0	26	23	EQ	0	(0)
23	CLASSIC	505	8395	Tim Jeans	Tom Connell	26S									26	0	26	23	EQ	0	(0)