Once again Lake Cootharaba turned on ideal sailing conditions, with a 12 to 15 knot south east breeze.
The breeze was well established even at todays 11:00 am start time.
The day belonged to Glenn Ashby who won both races.Steve Brewin and Dean Barker also had a very consistent , finishing 2nd ,and 3rd respectively in each race. Andrew Landenberger had a 5th and a 4th, whilst Darren Bundock had a 4th and a 5th. These five competitors seemed to have established a morgage on the top five positions.
The first race was underway after one general recall. Dean Barker showed excellent speed upwind, and rounded the top mark with handy lead from Ashby and Brewin. Barker who seems to have quickly mastered the skills of driving these boats upwind, could not withstand the downwind speed of Steve Brewin, who rounded the leeward in first place. Brewins lead however was shotlived. He found that he was soon on the wrong side of a shift, which well exploited by Ashby and Barker, who both slipped back into 1st and 2nd positions respectively . Ashby was never headed thereafter, but later in the race, Brewin passed Barker and bagged second place, with Barker finishing 3rd.
Ashby had the second race of the day claimed soon after the start. With a brilliantly timed pin end start,he quickly established a good lead and was never headed. Brewin finished 2nd, Barker 3rd, Landenberger4th ,and Bundock 5th.
After 4 races, Ashby is considered that fastest overall around the race track. Brewin is the clear downwind specialist, and on todays performance Dean Barker was judged to have the best upwind speed. At this stage Ashby has the overall lead. There are 5 more races planned over the next four days. Will Team New Zealand's skipper Dean Barker find a bit more speed downwind, and start beating Ashby and Brewin?
Report by Bob Griffits.
Comment: You see that in the lighter breeze some old boats could keep up with the DNA's but are left behind once the wind picks up. The same we have seen in Europe.
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