Dorade finished today’s race in third place and currently holds second place overall in IRC Division 2 at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week. However, the competition is far from over with the fleet embarking on three more days of racing after tomorrow’s scheduled lay day.
Full Tuesday Race Report: Tactician Kevin Miller
“Yesterday was meant to be the long race, however the wind was not cooperating, so we ended up getting one race in after a three hour delay.
“The conditions were great with 6-10 knots of wind and flat seas. We got a great start near the pin end of the line and after a 45 minute battle with the other boats we arrived at our first mark – Pentecost Island. We rounded the island and set spinnakers for the six mile run to the finish. The finish was crazy as over 200 boats were trying to make their way down the narrow channel to the finish in front of the yacht club. Fortunes were made and lost here, we made out ok. However, we missed second place by 15 seconds, which I can attribute to getting pushed into bad water by one of the cruising fleet boats. We were hoping for more but the Sydney 38 is a very quick and well sailed boat. We need some more reaching courses to have a shot at those guys.
“We’re currently in second for the Regatta and first place is within reach if we get some race courses that favor us. Today is the lay day so we’ll take a break, rest up and get ready for the final three days of racing.”