Sparkling finale

Audi Winter Series 2009 comes to a close in Sydney

Audi Winter Series 2009 came to a close today with the final non-pointscore race of the season, the closing Ladies Day Race. A total of 54 yachts started the race for the Chris Lee Trophy in 5-8 knots of westerly breeze. Racing was conducted in four divisions: two spinnaker and two non spinnaker divisions, with the spinnaker divisions doing two laps of the course and non-spinnaker boats only doing one lap.

PRO John Hurley said that today’s racing was very good conditions for novice skippers. “It was a very pleasant day on Sydney Harbour today and the conditions were perfect for novice skippers. The breeze stayed in for most of the day between W and NW, having fluctuated quite a lot in direction during the first hour of racing between W and NW.”

“Given the wind conditions, lady skippers had a testing first beat up to Garden Island. The light spots in the breeze tended to favour the bigger spinnaker division boats. It was a great race in Spinnaker Division 1 with Vanguard skippered by Amanda Wilmot finishing first, after being dealt a hefty handicap. She was able to come from behind and overtake the Sydney 38s,” concluded John.

In Spinnaker Division 1, Amanda Wilmot onboard Vanguard came up with the win, followed by Kristin Short skippering Zen in second and Susan Geitz on Vino third.

“It was a magic day on water and it was great to get a first again season and my first win in a Ladies Day race. We didn’t get a favourable Director’s handicap today so I was glad that we had two laps to race and that the course didn’t get shortened,” said Amanda Wilmot

“On the second lap, we were able to catch those that had started in front of us and then come up with the win. The crew were in high spirits from the start of racing and the fun continued throughout the race with the crew managing to not make any mistakes,” concluded Amanda.

In Spinnaker Division 2, Erin Mander skippering Lady Bug finished first, closely followed by Alice Lydement on Huntress second and Shahrzad Vahebzadeh on Eye Appeal third.

In Non Spinnaker Division 1, Melinda Rippe skippering The Tavern finished first with Mary King skippering St Hilliers Quest second and Lynda Shelley skippering Sommer Breeze third.

In Non Spinnaker Division 2, Catherine Jones skippering Attitude finished first, with Gondwana second and Lisa Wilkinson skippering Out of Sight third.

A fabulous day on water was had by all to conclude another highly successful Audi Winter Series. A total of 217 yachts entered the series with an average of 140 boats taking to the water across 11 divisions, including two non-spinnakers divisions and a Sydney 38 One Design Division. Each week, placegetters had the opportunity to win an Audi A6 saloon to drive for a week which was a very popular additional prize to the Line 7 sailing gear provide for first, second and third place.

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, on behalf of all those entered into Audi Winter Series 2009, would like to thank Audi Australia for their continued support of the Winter Series, and the sport of sailing. Here’s to next year’s Audi Winter Series for all its colour and excitement!

Results in Spinnaker Division 1 here
Results in Spinnaker Division 2 here
Results in Non Spinnaker Division 1 here
Results in Non Spinnaker Division 2 here