Combined Clubs Harbour Pennant at Derwent Sailing Squadron - Race 4 Preview
by Liz Rountree 16 Feb 23:46 NZDT
17 February 2024
Arunga - Combined Clubs Harbour Pennant © Colleen Darcey
The Combined Clubs Harbour Pennant returns this Saturday for a 1:30pm start. The Derwent Sailing Squadron will be hosting the "short and sharp" style racing that keeps crews on their toes, as teams have to execute more fast-paced maneuvers in a smaller time frame, and of course with more traffic.
Heading into the penultimate instalment of the series, Divisions 1 and 2 winners are just about wrapped up, with Intrigue in Div 1 and IYKYK in Div 2 just about unbeatable in the series. Fork in the Road (Gary Smith) has a slight edge on the PHS scoreboard in Div 1, but not enough of a cushion to call it this early in the game.
Heatwave Fish Frenzy (Matt Keal), Joint Custody (Gary Cripps), Young Magic (Andrew Davison) and Wayne Banks-Smith's Wargames are all in a tussle to fill out the Div 1 podium positions, and with a drop of the worst score potentially kicking in when 6 races are completed, Jazz Player (Brent McKay) could climb the standings. Nothing is written in stone, with 4 more races on the schedule.
Latecomer to the series in Div 2 Bandwagon made a statement in the last round by plucking off the ORC win from IYKYK (Steve Chau). Andrew Crisp's crew on the Etchell will certainly liven up the competition, making podium hopefuls Wings Three (Peter Haros), Kamehameha (Dave O'Neill) and Xcite (Nathan Mills) keep the pressure on, and Serica (Charles Peacock) could nab the lead on the PHS scoreboard.
Div 3 is all action, with Peter Bosworth's Astrolabe leading Innovator only by a point, and a mere 9 points ahead of Neville Georgeson's Hornet in 7th overall.
Arunga, currently 3rd on Div 2 IRC will have a few new faces on board such as Kirsty Salter. Andrew Parker is one of many skippers who will be passing the helm over for the upcoming DSS Women 40 degrees Women's Regatta hosted by the Derwent Sailing Squadron. Salter will be one of many on the water this weekend on board boats across the fleet in preparation for the event.
With a sea breeze forecast, the racing is sure to be tight, tactical and an opportunity for any team to shine and climb up the rankings.
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