ACO 14th Musto Skiff World Championship 2025, Sydney, Australia - Day 3
by Jamie Hilton 8 Jan 23:48 NZDT
2-10 January 2025
Following a night of heavy rain, the fleet arrived at the club knowing a new weather system was now in play. The wind had swung round to a little west of south, a fairly rare thing in these parts, and the skies were heavy, again, way off script.
With gusts up to around 30 kts recorded around the local weather beacons, the race officer put up the AP and ventured out with her team to get eyes on the situation. The fleet looked on from the club gallery with the usual chitter-chatter, some talking it up, some getting twitchy. Before long, news came in that the wind had abated to around 15 kts and that we'd be unshackled from the shore and let loose to enjoy whatever the harbour would throw at us.
Around 15 boats made it to the water before a few screamers came through and put a halt to those waiting to launch. Those already on the water were none the wiser and had a rip-roaring time sending it down to Chowder Bay, putting on a 'crash test dummies' show for the spectators aboard the viewing yacht arranged by main event sponsor ACO. They loved it. We loved it. But it was clearly not happening, and the sight of the AP over A nearly being ripped off the committee boat mast made it official. We were to return to base camp. No easy feat but a fun one, nevertheless. A proper fleet effort catching boats as they arrived in proximity to the slip was very much appreciated.
Back ashore, the club put on some beers, and that teed things up nicely for the rest of the evening and into the small hours. With a planned lay day to follow and no real change in the forecast, this was the ideal opportunity to mix it up a bit with mates from around the world.
If the weather improves, Thursday's race schedule is currently planned to go ahead with racing moved forward by 1 hour to allow for 4 races. Until then, the leaderboard remains unchanged with Aussie Jon Newman at the top and Andy Tarboton and Matthias Houvenagel sitting very close behind.
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