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RSYS member Ivan Wheen’s Sputnik has won the Farr 40 Sprint Series after eight intense races over weekend, off the Heads and on Sydney Harbour.
Racing on Saturday was off the Macquarie lighthouse outside Sydney Heads and with five sprint races in a constant 15 knot sou’south east breeze the ten teams racing maintained maximum effort until the end.
Each race, which took on average 35 minutes, was a case of constant manoeuvres with the fleet in boat for boat contact for the entire length of the one mile legs.
Sputnik led the way after winning three of the five races on day one with Brett Neill’s White Cloud winning race two of the series and Lang Walker’s Kokomo winning race three.
Day two on Sunday saw the race course moved to Sydney Harbour with the Sunday harbour traffic adding extra challenges as the fleet raced from Taylor’s Bay across the harbour to Rose Bay.
Marcus Blackmore’s Hooligan won the first race of day two with the rest of the fleet in close contact.
Sputnik took its fourth win of the series after a large cargo ship split the fleet in two and had the ten boats rounding the bottom mark in quick succession.
The breeze fluctuated in strength as the fleet raced their final three lap race, the gun going MHYC Commodore Martin Hill and his wife Lisa’s and Hill’s Estate Master.
“It’s been very close but fair racing over the two days. There was a variety of conditions and we really enjoyed the inshore racing,” Ivan Wheen said at the end of the Sprint Series.
Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron will host the final event in the 2007-08 Australian Farr 40 Circuit, the 2008 Hamilton Island Farr 40 Australian Championship next weekend, February 22-24. – Sam Crichton/Peter Campbell
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