Zimbabwean on the rise

Andy Rice reports from the second day of the Rolex Trophy One Design Series

Just his fifth day in the driving seat of Farr 40 Cydon, but Leon Christianakis posted the best set of scores on a difficult second day in the Rolex Trophy One Design Series. After a lacklustre first day, Christianakis lapped up the sloppy, big-wave conditions of Sunday to record an impressive score of 1,1,3. This has hauled Cydon up the rankings to second equal with reigning World Champion Evolution, skippered by Richard Perini.

Perini and America's Cup tactician Hamish Pepper were disappointed with their finishes of 7,5,2 as they have now lost touch with series leader Mascalzone Latino. Vincenzo Onorato notched up another good day with 3,4,1 and now goes into the final day's racing with 11 points to Cydon and Evolution's 22 points. Barring disaster the Italians should win tomorrow, although with a no-discard series things are never certain.

One of the greatest uncertainties out on the race course is the risk of hitting a sunfish. It was three times unlucky for Evolution today, and Ichi Ban also ran into one of the unfortunate fish. Venom gave their keel a severe knock on a sunfish on Saturday, but skipper Brett Neill managed to avoid the marine life today and posted a very respectable 2,3,7.

Despite extending his series lead, Mascalzone Latino skipper Vincenzo Onorato was surprisingly self-critical. "I'm very happy with the crew, but not very happy with myself. I think in the first race I was too nervous. I was not driving as fast as I know I can do, but by the third race I was back. It was choppy today, but beautiful conditions - difficult water and difficult wind. It was great to have such a beautiful crew and to have Adrian [Stead] calling such good tactics."

Onorato also paid tribute to Cydon's excellent day on the water, singling out tactician Jamie Wilmot for praise. "I think Jamie did very well today," he said. "I sailed with Jamie when we finished second in the World Championships in San Francisco, so I am not surprised to see him sailing so well."

Christianakis used to race Farr 40s in the UK a few years ago, so he is not in entirely unfamiliar territory, although he was delighted to be matching the World Champion for points in joint second place. "I'm very happy to be back in the Farr 40," said the Zimbabwean, now married and settled in Sydney. "It's only our fifth day racing the boat. New crew, new boat, and we're getting used to it. We were a little hesitant yesterday, but today we had a game plan and we stuck to it. We had a stronger conviction about what we were doing, and that worked for us."

Usually the more experienced crews dominate when the waves kick up, as it adds another level of difficulty, but Christianakis revelled in the lumpy Pacific swell. "I think it helped us. I quite like it when it's messy like that. I raced the Sydney 38 for quite a while out here, so I'm used to it." But the happy skipper said he'd be surprised if they could repeat their barnstorming performance on the final day. "The good teams sail beautifully all the time, and if we're going to be competitive we have to achieve that type of consistency. We've done well for one day, but that's it. We need to put in a lot more time before we can expect consistently good results."

If the Italians are looking dominant in the Farr 40s, Estate Master is even more so in the Sydney 38 fleet, with Lisa and Martin Hill now sitting on 11 points to the 28 points of second-placed Shining Sea, owned by Stephen Kulmar. Nathan Wilmot, the Olympic 470 World Champion, continues to display flashes of brilliance and started Sunday with a 1st and 2nd, only to post a 10th in the final heat of the day. Added to a 14th in the opening race yesterday, Wilmot and the Transfusion crew languish in mid-table. Surely it is only the curse of the sunfish that could stop Estate Master from winning the Sydney 38s when racing in the Rolex Trophy One Design Series concludes tomorrow.

Provisional placings after six races, Farr 40 OD class:
1. Mascalzone Latino (Vincenzo Onorato) 1-1-1-3-4-1, 11 pts
2. Cydon (Leon Christianakis) 7-2-8-1-1-3, 22 pts
3. Evolution (Richard Perini) 2-3-3-7-5-2, 22 pts

Provisional placings after six races, Sydney 38 class:
1. Estate Master (Martin & Lisa Hill) 1-1-2-5-1-1, 11 pts
2. Shining Sea (Stephen Kulmar) 6-6-4-4-5-3, 28 pts
3. Calibre (Geoff Bonus) 13-3-3-2-4-8, 33 pts