First win for RMW

A report from heat three of the 18ft skiff's Ssangyong JJ Giltinan International Championship in Sydney

Defending champion Rob Greenhalgh and his RMW Marine crew showed a return to form today to win Heat 3 of the Ssangyong JJ Giltinan International Championship on Sydney Harbour.

Today brought about a southerly wind which gradually built throughout the morning to reach 15-20 knots in time for the race start at 3pm. The fleet got away cleanly with only an unfortunate crash between Panasonic and Churchills taking place just to leeward of the line.

The first beat saw a big split in the fleet with some tacking close in to Bradley’s Point and others beating out into the bay. The right hand side paid and at the first mark it was AAPT helmed by veteran skiff sailor Trevor Barnabas leading followed by Casio, Computer Associates and Rag and Famish.

RMW Marine got off to a slow start having followed the left hand side of the beat and rounded in about 15th position but didn’t stay there for long.

The first downwind leg saw the wind freshening and changing direction slightly meaning that the early hoisters were struggling and all ended up dropping kites half way up the leg. At the first leeward mark the order was AAPT, Casio, Club Marine, Computer Associates, CT Battens, Rag & Famish and then RMW Marine who had climbed to seventh just 30 second behind having shown good speed downwind.

The group rounded Shark Island and the next mark saw the order change again with AAPT, Casio, Club Marine and RMW Marine now hooking into 4th place. These four battled it out with the next group of Computer Associates, Rag & Famish and Howie Hamlin not far behind.

The next leeward mark rounding saw RMW Marine tack immediately on the mark and get the shift right to close up on the leaders and round the top mark in third, they hoisted immediately whereas the two boat ahead of them waited for a short time. RMW managed to pull into the lead and then remained there comfortably to the end of the race.

RMW Marine crossed the finish line 32secs ahead of Aussie champion Michael Coxon's Casio Seapathfinder with Euan Mc Nicol's Club Marine a further 1min 57secs back in third place.

With Rag & Famish and Computer Associates having top five results they are still in first and second overall on 8 and 13 points respectively with RMW creeping into 4th place one point behind Hugh Stodart's Asko Appliances and one point ahead of Tony Hannan's Maytag.

Heat 4 will be sailed tomorrow (Wednesday, 23 February) at 3.00pm loca time.

Top six results after three heats

1. Rag & Famish, John Harris – 3rd, 1st, 4th = 8 points
2. Computer Associates, Anthony Young, 1st, 7th, 5th = 13 points
3. Asko, Hugh Stodart – 2nd, 2nd, 10th = 14 points
4. RMW Marine, Rob Greenhalgh, 6th, 8th, 1st = 15 points
5. Maytag, Tony Hannan, 8th, 4th, 7th = 19 points
6. Club Marine, Ewan McNicholl, 13th, 5th and 3rd = 21 points

More pics on the following pages...