Racing group A’s Race 4 was the second completed race of the day and arguably the most revealing so far. On the surface, it followed a familiar script. Underneath, it showed just how tight this division has become.
On line honours, Wired remained the pace setter. The TP52 stopped the clock in 2 hours 1 minute 13 seconds, more than eight minutes clear of Equilibrium and over 13 minutes ahead of Georgia One. In pure speed terms, nothing has changed. Wired controls the front of the fleet and forces everyone else to race to a number.
| Result | Boat Name | Skipper | Elapsed Time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wired | Rob and Brett Bassett and Russell | 02:01:13 | 1 |
| 2 | Equilibrium | Graham Matthews | 02:09:50 | 2 |
| 3 | Explore Racing | William Goodfellow | 02:14:44 | 3 |
| 4 | Georgia One | John Muir | 02:27:01 | 4 |
The handicap results told a very different story.
Under EHF, Equilibrium took the win on 2 hours 13 minutes 51 seconds on corrected time, but the margins were brutal. Georgia One was second, just two minutes and 44 seconds back. Wired finished third, only two seconds behind Georgia One. Explore Racing followed eight seconds later. Three boats covered by eight seconds after more than 120 minutes on the water is as compressed as it gets.
| Result | Boat Name | Skipper | Corrected Time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Equilibrium | Graham Matthews | 02:13:51 | 1 |
| 2 | Georgia One | John Muir | 02:16:35 | 2 |
| 3 | Wired | Rob and Brett Bassett and Russell | 02:16:37 | 3 |
| 4 | Explore Racing | William Goodfellow | 02:16:45 | 4 |
PHRF tightened the screws even further. Equilibrium again converted its race plan into a win, but Wired was only 62 seconds away, with Georgia One another 18 seconds back. Explore Racing a five minutes further back but still remained part of the overall picture.
| Result | Boat Name | Skipper | Corrected Time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Equilibrium | Graham Matthews | 02:12:18 | 1 |
| 2 | Wired | Rob and Brett Bassett and Russell | 02:13:20 | 2 |
| 3 | Georgia One | John Muir | 02:13:38 | 3 |
| 4 | Explore Racing | William Goodfellow | 02:18:38 | 4 |
The pattern is now clear. Wired owns elapsed time, but the handicap fight is wide open. Equilibrium’s Race 3 bounce back is clearly repeatable. Georgia One continues to stack solid, low risk results. Explore Racing is close, but still searching for a small step change.
With no further attrition beyond Vixen Racing’s earlier DNS, Racing group A has settled into a precision contest. From here, mistakes will matter more than moments of brilliance.
Vixen should be back in the race tomorrow.
