After a slow start, former World Champion Nick Rogers from Tasmania sailing with his crew Leigh Behrens and Simon Burrows this afternoon won the Regatta by covering their only rival to the title, Olga White from Russia. With the first two days of the event resulting in finishes of 4,4,8,4 the event was not looking like producing a great result for Rogers. However, they pulled the Easter Bunny out of the hat and with two wins on Easter Sunday and with mixed results from his main rivals, put him within striking distance on the final day. A win in the penultimate race put him two points clear on top and in the final race managed to put a loose cover on his only rival to win the event in light conditions on Port Philip Bay.

Richard Lynn recovered from a minor incident with a start mark in race 4 (”it hit me, I didn’t hit it”) to finish a consistent regatta in third place.

A big thank you to all the volunteers and staff at RBYC for their efforts in running a great Worlds warm up regatta, and we hope that all competitors took away a taste of what to expect at the Worlds next January.

Day 4 - Another day for the light weather sailors
The final day of sailing provided a different flavor for competitors with the wind 180 degrees from the previous three days. A warm northerly blew off the city and down the bay providing plenty of opportunities to move up and down the fleet. While the wind flicked around a small amount, it was more the changes in strength that provided the big gains. Again the team of Nick Rogers, Leigh Behrens and Simon Burrows led from the start and at the finish, but received a bit of a scare after local Brighton sailor Mark Woodland chipped in and led with one leg to go. However Rogers and Co held their nerve and managed to take the lead on the last downwind leg to take not only the race, but overall first place in the event. For only the second time in the event, Olga White found herself back in the back and struggled to get back in touch with the leaders. With only one race to go the two front runners cannot be caught, so a final race shootout was needed to decide the winner.

The final race was sailed in a moderate 8 - 10 knots with flat water courtesy off the offshore breeze. A warm day also meant that sailors had to keep the fluids in them to stay hydrated on what proved to be a long time in the sun. However a steady breeze allowed the race officer to start the race and the same trend continued with consistent direction, but inconsistent strength as gusts made their way down the course and picked up some boats but not others. However, the fleet was tightly compressed with the final downwind leg a dash to the finish. However, in the end, Nick Rogers team had done enough by covering their only rival and finished in 4th place which resulted in a 6 point overall in the series.

Day 3 - Roosters to the left, Feather Dusters to the right
With a light offshore breeze and a large separation of the fleet due to the long first leg, the split between boats at the end of the first beat was huge with those boats heading to the left gaining a huge advantage over those to the right. At the end of a 30 minute leg, there was almost eight minutes separating the first and last boats. Unfortunately two of the first three boats in the overall scores as of Saturday night headed right which had been the favored side late the previous day, but proved to be anything but favored for the first beat. Fortunately the wind then settled down, but this then proved a problem in that with not as much variation there were less opportunities to pick up places and the rest of the race ended resembling a procession around the course. Tommy Muller and Mikhail Mouratov were the two biggest scalps on the first leg and despite another three legs only managed to move up 4 and 3 places respectively, highlighting the tightness of the fleet.

The big winner from the race was the team of Nick Rogers, Leigh Behrens and Simon Burrows who not only lead the race from start to finish but moved up to 3rd place overall with the win in the race. Rogers has won the Prince Philip Cup (the Australian Championship) an unprecedented 10 times as well as the Dragon World Championships in 1995.

The second race of the day was also sailed in light but more consistent winds. Olga White and Nick Rogers boats were first off the line, and although the wind was consistent in direction, these two boats managed to find a little stronger breeze and pulled away from the rest of the fleet. Again it was tough back in the back with very little movement from the positions at the first mark. However it was Rogers who prevailed resulting in two wins from two races for the day - a good day at the office.

With the final day of racing tomorrow (Monday), it is getting tight at the top.

Day 2 - Tommy’s Day out
2007 Dragon World Champion Tommy Muller obviously learnt some valuable lessons from day one, winning both races on day 2 of the event. The second member of Muller’s team, Mario Wagner was also a late “fly in”, having sailed in the Italian National Dragon regatta from March 26 - 28th, then travelling almost straight from the presentation to the airport to make the first race in Melbourne. The boat they are using belongs to Sydney sailor Richard Franklin from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, by his own admission a “club sailor”. Franklin is the third crew member on the crew and with Tommy significantly reconfiguring the boat to his own settings it has provided Franklin with a fantastic opportunity to improve not only his own boat, but watch a former World Champion and Gold Cup combination in action. Muller and crew had such a good day that not one boat crossed their bows for the entire day - not a bad day at the office.

The day had more offshore, shifting breezes, providing many opportunities to move up or down the rankings. For the last two days, the Race Committee have run a course 1 (windward/leeward two laps) for the first race of the day, and a course 2 for the second race of the day, with the addition of a further upwind leg to the finish. Several teams wished the PRO had stuck with the shorter race this afternoon, with a big right hand shift changing several places on the last windward leg. The big winners were the Sydney team of Wolf Breit, Peter Crane and Roger Hickman moving from 11th to 3rd, and the Tasmanian team of Nick Rogers, Leigh Behrens and Simon Burrows moving from 10th to 4th.

The second race of the day was also the race that the West Australian team of Richard and Anthony Lynn and Ian Olson would probably prefer to forget. After sailing and holding down 5th place for most of the race, they dropped to 11th in the shift approaching the finish line. On returning to the dock they were then informed that they were being protested for touching the starting mark by the Race Committee. On learning that it was also witnessed by the on water Jury as well as the Race Committee, they decided that it was going to be pretty hard protest to defend, so retired from the race. However, after a couple of drinks back in the clubhouse and a BBQ on the balcony overlooking the bay, they seemed pretty relaxed.

Racing continues tomorrow at midday with two more races scheduled and the final two races on Monday.

Day 1 - Russian clean sweep
A long flight to Australia didn’t seem to affect the two Russian teams sailing in the event, with the teams finishing 1/2 in both races. In a breeze that keep building during the day, the team of Olga White, Vadim Statcenko and Mikhail Lipp lead the first race of the day at every mark with husband Mikhail Muratov and crew Vladimir Krutskikh and Valentin Uvarkin trailing in second place at every mark. In the second race it wasn’t all one way traffic with the Sydney team of Andrew York, Ben Sharp and Craig Young from Sydney leading at the first mark and holding on to second place for most of the race but unable to hold off the two Russian teams, ultimately finishing in third in a good solid breeze.

With the wind initially slightly offshore, the water on Port Phillip Bay was quite flat across the course, but later in the day it swung around to the prevailing direction of due south and in a short space of time the shallow waters whipped up the short sharp chop making it a tough day for all sailors. In particular, local sailor Don Blanksby and crew found their feet a bit wetter than they would like with the pumps on their new boat malfunctioning. Deciding that discretion was the best option, they headed in early for an early shower. With a tub of beer on ice on the dock, all sailors had a great chance to go over the races with other competitors before most retired for a quick shower before dinner at a popular restaurant in nearby St Kilda.