7 back in the chocolates

As Thurlow Fisher Lawyers break their bobstay on day three of the 18ft skiffs' Winning Group J Giltinan Championship

The defending champion Gotta Love It 7 team gave a faultless display in the 10 knot northeast wind to win race 3 of the Winning Group 2013 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour today.

Seve Jarvin, Scott Babbage and Peter Harris crossed the fleet off Bradleys Head shortly after the start and from that point were never headed to record a 1m24s win over Coopers-Rag & Famish Hotel.

Coopers-Rag & Famish Hotel’s crew of Jack Macartney, David Witt and Mark Kennedy chased the leader all the way and were within 20 seconds for most of the course but just didn’t have the boat speed to close the gap.

Appliancesonline.com.au (Micah Lane, Paul Montague, Tom Anderson) were back to their best form to finish just 22s further back in third place.

New Zealand’s C-Tech (Alex Vallings) was fourth, followed by UK’s Pica (James Mears) and the wing-masted Lumix (Jonathan Whitty) in sixth place.

Gotta Love It 7, with two wins and a second placing from the three races so far, now holds a three point lead in the championship.

7’s total is four points, followed by Coopers-Rag & Famish Hotel on 7, C-Tech 15, Appliancesonline.com.au 18, Smeg (Nick Press) 21 and Pure Blonde (Tom Clout) on 23 points.

Race 2 winner Thurlow Fisher Lawyers had a day Michael Coxon, Trent Barnabas and Dave O’Connor would prefer to forget. They were 'buried' at the start then, after fighting their way through the fleet to the wing mark off Shark Island, broke their bobstay and were forced out of the race. Obviously using this as their discard keeps the team in contention, but puts more pressure on for the next four races.

The race behind the two leaders created most interest as Appliancesonline.com.au, C-Tech, Lumix, Pica and Smeg continually exchanged positions throughout the race.

The first windward beat was tight as Gotta Love It 7’s lead was just 8s from Appliancesonline.com.au, with Coopers-Rag & Famish Hotel, C-Tech, Lumix and Pica close behind.

7’s crew opened up their 20s lead on the spinnaker leg into Rose Bay as Coopers-Rag & Famish Hotel moved into second place just ahead of Appliancesonline, C-Tech and Lumix.

Race 4 will be sailed tomorrow with further races on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 24 February.