Following the retirement after finish (RAF) of all other competitors from last Saturday’s RSYS Offshore Division race, the Sailing Office has declared James Connell and Alex Brandon’s Farr 1020 Zephyr the winner under both PHS and IRC handicaps.
The Offshore Division raced as part of the CYCA’s combined Short Ocean Point Score (SOPS) and Ocean Point Score (OPS), with the event being sailed within Sydney Harbour because of heavy weather conditions off the Heads.
After the race, Zephyr lodged a protest, claiming that a number of yachts had failed to sail the correct Alternative Course, in that they rounded Shark Mark (SM) but failed to round Shark Island (SI) itself.
All boats in Division 1 of SOPS have now retired from the race, with Mr Beak’s Ribs (David Beaks) receiving a disqualification that is not to be discarded for failing to take proper action to avoid a collision with a 13ft skiff.
In SOPS Division 3, all but the three boats that sailed the correct course have also retired. This leaves Zephyr as the PHS winner of SOPS Division 3 from Cool (Phil Odouard) and King Billy (Phil & Elese Bennett). Under IRC handicaps, Zephyr is the winner from King Billy, with no third place.
The CYCA has yet to finalise its OPS results for the race, but it is expected that most boats will retire.
In a statement following the protest hearing, James Connell, co-owner of Zephyr, said: “I am sorry for the chaos that our protest caused following last weekend’s SOPS race. I certainly take little pleasure in winning a race in this fashion but in the end I owe allegiance to my own crew, and given that we sailed the correct course I cannot justify being penalised for doing so. I think my crew are going to trade in their oilies for flak jackets and helmets before this weekend’s race...”
Middle Harbour Yacht Club will be conducting the second SOPS race this Saturday. – Peter Campbell
Close Window »
|
