eXtasea dominates Winter Series on Port Phillip

'Dekadence and eXtasea - ORCV Winter Series, Melbourne, Victoria' Teri Dodds &copy

The winter chills on Victoria's Port Phillip Bay didn't discourage the crews racing in the ORCV Winter series, over the weekend. A fleet of 42 yachts competed in back to back races, beginning shortly after 10.30am, in a light northerly breeze, which strengthened as the day progressed.

Paul Buccholz's DK46 eXtasea excelled in the varying conditions, coming up with a rare trifecta in the final race with wins in all three divisions. Though Paul was absent today, his crew were determined to come up with some good results. With Brian Kennett at the helm, and tactician Brenton Carnell in his ear, they and their crew, battled it out in a virtual match race, with another very competitive DK46 Dekadence skippered today by Matt Hannaford.

eXtasea - ORCV Winter Series, Melbourne, Victoria - Teri Dodds&copy

Race one was shortened, due to lightening airs and need to complete a second race within the time limits. Challenge finished over the line, well up in the fleet and consequently came up with a win on IRC, and second on AMS. Retired pilot, Rod Miller took out top honours in PHC, with his Reichel Pugh 36 Gienah.

The second race of the day, was fun and games for all on the course. Starting in 12-14 knots of steady breeze, the darkening clouds hovering low over Melbourne's CBD looked threatening. A brief squall then hit the fleet midway through the race, with several retirements as a result. With reported gusts of up to 28 knots, crews suddenly found themselves in trouble. The retirees Hasta La Vista, Island Trader, The Young Ones and The Works reported no injuries or damage as reasons for their retirement. Unfortunately for The Secretary, a torn headsail 100 metres from the finish was a disappointment, but continued on to finish the race. Goldfinger, eXtasea and Dekadence enjoyed the heavier breeze and completed racing a full leg ahead of Fuzzy Logic, Ninety Seven, Sierra Chainsaw and Challenge who crossed the line within two minutes of each other.

Racing was tightly contested up until then, according to Principle Race Officer Dennis Livingstone, recalling 'when the weather change came through, bringing squalling winds and rain it took the shine off everything, as the nasty cold air hit the fleet'. He added a that after a series of round ups from Sierra Chainsaw and The Bookmaker, he wasn't surprised with calls on the race radio with retirements. As the weather abated, the remainder of the fleet completed racing in around 12 knots of breeze, though somewhat rained drenched for their efforts.

Race 5 of the ORCV Winter series is on Sunday, 17 August.