IN Hillarys Yacht Club’s final winter race on Sunday, skippers opted for the use of the spinnaker in strong and gusty winds, pushing their boats to the limit.
It paid off for Helga, skippered by Mark Taylor, finishing first in the race and the series.
Greg Hill on Not Negotiable (second) and the Youth Squad on Xtreme (fourth) drew level on points with the outcome favouring Helga on a countback for the series win. Covert Operation (Bart Brouwer and Graham Atkinson) was fastest in division two. Ron Marian returned to winter racing with an impressive win on First Impression in division one with back marker Mulberry (Mark Pitt) second and Jack Tar (Bill Gilbert) third.
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READ NOWDespite their success the results were not enough to catch Hard Evidence (Des Riley and Marshall Fox) who won the series ahead of Mulberry and First Impression.
In the strong winds and despite sailing with only two on board, Surfer Rosa (Roric Smith) showed she is suited to those conditions by recording the fastest time.
Brett and Lynda Bailey on Sensei completed the double of first and fastest in division three to secure third place in the series whilst Catabatic was second in both the race and the series with Chris Kelly and the Women on Water team on Pandora coming first in the series.
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