Four distinct size bands raced in today’s Racing B fleet, contesting the course through periods of heavy, at times pouring rain.
Our first look at the Racing B fleet
This marked our first look at the Racing B fleet today, with the weather having already thinned the numbers.
At the smallest end were the sub eight metre boats, with Snatch, Robbs Hielkema’s Shaw 6.5, and Daisy Duke, Matt Gottard’s Shaw 7, setting the baseline for the fleet.
The next group, spanning eight to under 9.5 metres, included Men at Work 3, Hans Wehmeyer’s Thompson 850, alongside Physical Favours, Ryan McCready’s Ross 9.1, and Blackout, Kevin Peet’s Ross 9.14.
The largest concentration sat in the 9.5 to under 11 metre range, featuring Radix, Paul Rudling’s Farr X2, Chain Reaction, Graeme Lucas’s Elliott 1050, Margaritaville, Finn Topzand’s Ross 1066, Mustang Sally, Bob Still’s Woolley 10.66, and Apparition, Marcel Vroege’s Ross 35.
At the top end of the fleet were the 11 metre plus boats, Akatea, Mark Malpass’s Cookson 12, and The Farm, Mike Bennett’s Ross 40.
Group B was scheduled to race twice on the day, with Race 2 the longer of the two. All twelve boats started Race 2.
Size doesn’t count
By the time Race 2 got underway, the rain had decided to settle in.
Nevertheless, Matt Gottard’s 7 metre Shaw 7, Daisy Duke, pushed through the fleet of larger boats, setting a clear challenge for the remainder of the day.
Daisy Duke split the fleet on line in Race 2
On elapsed time, Race 2 was not close.
Daisy Duke won on line by a margin that effectively split the fleet in half. She finished in 1 hour 8 minutes 40 seconds, while Blackout crossed the line 15 minutes 25 seconds later. From there, boats finished in a tight cluster between 1 hour 26 minutes and 1 hour 32 minutes, but by then the race had already been decided on the water.
At the finish line, the middle of the fleet was extremely compressed and provided most of the on water drama. Time was exceptionally close between Men at Work 3, Margaritaville, and Mustang Sally, with five seconds separating Men at Work 3 and Margaritaville, and another five seconds between Margaritaville and Mustang Sally.
| Result | Boat Name | Skipper | Elapsed Time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daisy Duke | Matt Gottard | 01:08:40 | 1 |
| 2 | Blackout | Kevin Peet | 01:24:05 | 2 |
| 3 | Akatea | Mark Malpass | 01:25:57 | 3 |
| 4 | Men at Work 3 | Hans Wehmeyer | 01:26:25 | 4 |
| 5 | Margaritaville | Finn Topzand | 01:26:30 | 5 |
| 6 | Mustang Sally | Bob Still | 01:26:35 | 6 |
| 7 | Apparition | Marcel Vroege | 01:26:55 | 7 |
| 8 | Chain Reaction | Graeme Lucas | 01:28:21 | 8 |
| 9 | Snatch | Rob Hielkema | 01:30:24 | 9 |
| 10 | Physical Favours | Ryan McCready | 01:30:34 | 10 |
| 11 | The Farm | Mike Bennett | 01:31:30 | 11 |
| 12 | Radix | Paul Rudling | 01:32:13 | 12 |
On EHC, Daisy Duke takes the race again
EHC preserved Daisy Duke’s win, but significantly reduced the margin. The gap between first placed Daisy Duke and second placed Apparition was cut to just over five minutes. Daisy Duke sailed strongly to the conditions, but again behind her the EHC race compressed dramatically. Positions second through sixth were covered by just 2 minutes 48 seconds!
Notably, Apparition jumped from sixth on line to second on EHC, a four place gain. Chain Reaction also climbed from seventh to fourth.
Look at those times! From second place back, this was a knife edge handicap race decided by seconds per mile.
| Result | Boat Name | Skipper | Corrected Time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daisy Duke | Matt Gottard | 01:03:06 | 1 |
| 2 | Apparition | Marcel Vroege | 01:08:14 | 2 |
| 3 | Blackout | Kevin Peet | 01:09:37 | 3 |
| 4 | Chain Reaction | Graeme Lucas | 01:09:42 | 4 |
| 5 | Margaritaville | Finn Topzand | 01:10:56 | 5 |
| 6 | Men at Work 3 | Hans Wehmeyer | 01:11:02 | 6 |
| 7 | Mustang Sally | Bob Still | 01:12:02 | 7 |
| 8 | Akatea | Mark Malpass | 01:13:24 | 8 |
| 9 | Physical Favours | Ryan McCready | 01:13:38 | 9 |
| 10 | Radix | Paul Rudling | 01:14:14 | 10 |
| 11 | The Farm | Mike Bennett | 01:15:29 | 11 |
| 12 | Snatch | Rob Hielkema | 01:16:23 | 12 |
PHRF flips the script
PHRF flipped the script again. Under PHRF, Apparition won, despite finishing sixth on the water and more than 18 minutes behind Daisy Duke in elapsed time.
| Result | Boat Name | Skipper | Corrected Time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apparition | Marcel Vroege | 01:09:32 | 1 |
| 2 | Blackout | Kevin Peet | 01:10:18 | 2 |
| 3 | Men at Work 3 | Hans Wehmeyer | 01:10:41 | 3 |
| 4 | Chain Reaction | Graeme Lucas | 01:11:23 | 4 |
| 5 | Mustang Sally | Bob Still | 01:12:33 | 5 |
| 6 | Physical Favours | Ryan McCready | 01:13:11 | 6 |
| 7 | Margaritaville | Finn Topzand | 01:14:34 | 7 |
| 8 | Radix | Paul Rudling | 01:15:54 | 8 |
The margins were again tight, with the top three separated by just 1 minute 09 seconds.
PHRF also reshuffled the midfield:
- Margaritaville dropped from fifth on EHC to seventh on PHRF
- Physical Favours improved from eighth on EHC to sixth on PHRF
- Chain Reaction held fourth across both systems
