RORC IRC National Championship – Round 3 of the FAST40+Race Circuit

Peter Morton's Girls on Film swept the board on the first day of the RORC IRC National Championship – Round 3 of the FAST40+ Race Circuit. Girls on Film won all three races today.

Ed Fishwick's Redshift racked up a 2-3-2 to finish the first day in second place. Filip Englebert's all-Swedish team racing Elvis, recovered from being on course side at the start of Race 2 to finish fourth by a few centimetres from Tony Dickin's Jubilee in the race. The point saved was enough to put Elvis into third after three races, just a single point ahead of Steve Cowie's Zephyr.

“The left hand side paid at the starts, but with significant tide with us, the lay-line came pretty early - too early to cross the fleet, even if you won the pin,” commented Girls on Film tactician, Dave Lenz. “We planned to keep clean at the start, and have a good controlling position for that first tack. Several boats opted to win the pin but got bunched up boats got in a bunch up, resulting in some getting called over. Downwind, this fleet is very even, and on a one-sided race course because of the tide, you still have to manage your position on the course, especially avoiding 'dirt' from other boats. All in all, after the first day, the Girls on Film team is happy with the performance.”

“Our strategy for the start was to go low risk and keep it simple, especially to not get boxed in on the port lay-line,” commented Redshift tactician Nick Cherry. “In Race 3 we did manage to cross in front of Girls on Film but couldn't hold onto the lead. It's great to be racing in the class, and we feel we are over-achieving , but we inherited a very well prepared boat and we are managing to avoid making any big mistakes.”

Racing continues tomorrow at the RORC IRC National Championship – Round 3 of the FAST40+ Race Circuit.