Defending champion tech2 team of Jack Macartney, Charlie Wyatt and Lewis Brake, take a narrow lead in the Australian 18ft Skiff Championship.
The tech2 team produced a last-minute victory in Race 7 on Sydney Harbour, to take a narrow lead in the series with just two more races to be sailed.
Tech 2 (5, 1) with 10 points after discard, are just one point ahead of Smeg (3, 3) of Michael Coxon Jnr, Ricky Bridge and Trent Barnabas, with third placed Noakesailing (2 ,6) of Sean Langman, Ed Powys and Josh Porebski, 15 points adrift.
The two windward-return races on Sydney Harbour produced a wide variety of results when conditions went from 12-14 knots in the early race (Race 6) to 15-20 knots in the latter one (Race 7).
In Race 6, Smeg was an early leader on the windward leg, but The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines team of Aron Everett, Courtney Mahar and Charlie Gundy grabbed a 10s lead from Smeg as the fleet approached the Rose Bay mark.
Once in the lead, the Oak Double Bay-4 Pines gave no other team a chance, and despite a late challenge by Noakesailing took out the race by 13s.
In Race 7 the four leading teams as they approached the first windward mark, with less than 10s between them, where Andoo led narrowly from Smeg, Shaw and Partners and tech2.
Smeg capsized approaching the bottom mark on the first lap of the course giving tech2 with a narrow lead over Shaw and Partners in the freshening wind on the work back across the harbour into Rose Bay.
Shaw and Partners of Jim Colley, Harry Bewhwaite and Shaun Connor, was the only top team with the smaller #2 rig on the day, and were now at their best in the new conditions, atking a 25s lead.
But the larger spinnaker on tech2 enabled them to over-power the rookie team and cross the finish line 17s ahead.
Frank Quealey
2021 Australian 18ft Skiff Championship – Leaders after 7 races, 1 discard (18 entries)
1st Tech2 (Jack Macartney / Charlie Wyatt / Lewis Brake) 1 1 1 2 4 5 1 – – 10 pts
2nd Smeg (Michael Coxon Jnr / Ricky Bridge / Trent Barnabas) 2 2 2 1 1 3 3 – – 11 pts
3rd Noakesailing (Sean Langman / Ed Powys / Josh Porebski) 3 5 4 6 6 2 6 – – 26 pts
4th Finport Finance / Breene & Breene Solicitors (Keagan York / Matt Stenta / Phil Marshall) 6 3 5 7 3 4 10 – – 28 pts
5th Shaw & Partners Financial Services (Jim Colley / Harry Bethwaite / Shaun Conner) 19 7 6 4 2 10 2 – – 31 pts
6th Winning Group (John Winning Jnr / Seve Jarvin / Sam Newton) 4 6 7 3 18 9 7 – – 36 pts
