Marlborough Sounds Marinas Spring Twilight Series – Race 4

A steady 20 knots of breeze greeted the fleet for race 4 of the Marlborough Sounds Marinas Spring Twilight series. With overhead conditions far more pleasant than a week earlier and many boats and crews looking for a final shakedown ahead of Friday’s WineWorks Wine Race to Wellington, numbers were well up on race 3.

Division 3 saw Greg Cornish’s Easterly 9.1 Acamar take the win ahead of Mac Post’s Townson 9.6 Pipe Dream in second, edging out Supertramp, John Oswald’s 8m Lidgard only 9 seconds back in third place.

Division 2 was disrupted with a collision on the start line eliminating Olmari and On Appro from the contest. With leading contender Raconteur absent from the starting line-up the door was left open for those on the water to improve their positions on the points table. Clive Harrigan took full advantage, bringing his Raven 26 Settimio home in first place a minute clear of Sequin  Bill and Adrienne Crossen’s Jeanneau 36 a scant 9 seconds ahead of Terry Allen’s Hanse Imagine It in third. Andrew Wilson took line honours aboard Rapport, the Farr 1104 finishing a minute ahead of Imagine It  with Matt Michel’s Bump n Grind third on line.

For the second consecutive week, Division 1 belonged to Chris Williams, his Farr 38 Flying Fox taking the win from Global, David Grigg sailing a strong race to place 18 seconds behind Flying Fox with Northern Rebel handling the variable conditions well, Ash Davey’s Beneteau First taking out Third. Back on the water in time for the WineWorks Wine Ravce, Matt Kerr helmed Satellite Spy  to line honours, the Ross 40 finishing nearly 9 minutes clear of Bluebird, Bob and Jenny Crum’s J120 30 seconds clear of Flying Fox.

 With a win this week, Acamar move to the top of the Division 3 points table, two points clear of Free Rein with the ever consistent Playwright in third. A change at the top of Division 2 with Settimio moving ahead of Raconteur while Freaky moves to third, two points clear of Bump n Grind. The Division 1 table is still extremely tight, Global moving into first place alone, two points clear of Khamsin with Flying Fox one point further back in third.