Light Conditions in Race 13 - Audi Winter Series
'Wild Joe & Ragamuffin in action during Race 13, Audi Winter Series 2008'
ACE Marine Photography ©
With the Audi Winter Series drawing to a close (and Race 13 marking the second last race in the pointscore series) competition is tight at the top of the leader board in several divisions and the light conditions tested competitors.
Race 13 proved to be lucky for some and unlucky for others! A sunny winter's day with light conditions frustrated the 131 strong fleet, which lead to a shortened course being sailed.
Today marked another close finish for the competitors in Division A. Stephen David's Wild Joe (a casual entry for the Audi Winter Series) was first, closely followed by Andrew Banks & Geoff Morgan's You're Hired second and Andrew Short Marine Brindabella third. 
'Today's race was all about the start and the first leg,' said Andrew Banks, joint owner of You're Hired. 'With the wind conditions being so soft, we had to make sure that we weren't crowded at the start and then we needed to ensure that we were ahead of the fleet as we rounded the first buoy so that we could pick up the north-westerly as it came in'
'In these light conditions, Wild Joe is hard to beat with her keel and she snuck in front of us at the last leg. Our team did a great job again today, and have proved yet again if you don't make mistakes, you finish on the podium. This second place today, will probably be the Division leaders by one or two points,' concluded Andrew. 
In Division C, Warwick Sherman's Occasional Course Language placed first with Sal Ridulfo's Nerone second and Pacific Sailing School's Cadenza third.
'Today was a very delightful day of racing. We played hard and were very successful,' said Warwick Sherman, owner and skipper of Occasional Coarse Language. 'We were down two key members of our team - our tactician and our pit girl - and we came up with a fantastic result.'
'We managed to put the boat where she needed to be all the way around the course. We were battling hard with Cadenza, and when we got on top of them just near Manly, we realized that Nerone was still in front, which then basically re-started the race all over again for us!. We worked hard to catch Nerone and came up trumps!' continued Warwick.
'We have a relatively young crew with 4 new members joining us in the last twelve months. It's so enjoyable sailing with this crew as they are so enthusiastic and passionate about sailing. With such a great group of people, this makes this Winter Series one of my favourites,' concluded Warwick.
In Division K, Kevin O'Shea's Stormy Petrel placed first with Miles Bastick & Jon Short's MRX in second and Nicholas Hogg's Spirit of Freya third.
'It was an exciting race today,' said Kevin O'Shea, skipper of Stormy Petrel. 'Stormy Petrel is a big old boat and can be tough to sail in these conditions. We picked the right side of the course and were able to keep ahead of MRX and Spirit of Freya.' 
Other division winners were Jeff Carter's Revolution Edake (Division B), Michael Delaney & John Markos's Eye Appeal (Division D), Robert Bryden's Tojo Never Made It to Darwin (Division E), Ken MacKenzie's Mercury (a casual entry for this race) (Division F), Philippe Mengual's Paca (Division G), Leon Ratner's Jagged Edge (Division H), Trevor Jarrett & Damian Barker's Alpha Carinae (Division J) and Phil Barnes' Livewire (Sydney 38OD).
by Jennifer Crooks 
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Curl Curl, NSW
