For sure there was plenty of excitement at the pointy end of the fleet as there always is, but just a bit further back from the Division 0 mob were ‘Schuss' a Beneteau First 45, ‘Mistress' an RP36, ‘Veloce' an Elliott 44CR, ‘Wicked' a Beneteau First 40, ‘Soiree Bleu' an Archambault 40 and ‘Dream' a Pacific 50.

A bleak day greeted competitors with rainy showers and a solid SW wind of 14knots. The wind got icier along the cloud fronts and the breeze picked up to a robust wall of around 20knots or so.

09:30hrs arrived and it was time for the CASA and AMSA approved flare shoot training. Most of the fleet turned out for this great annual event, armed with a myriad of white, red and orange handhelds. Of course there were many crews scrambling to get their hands on the parachute flares and the fun of firing that they bring.

No matter how many flares you have fired in practice and hopefully not anger, this event always serves to remind us that there are different firing procedures for each type and manufacturer. Accordingly, reading the instructions is crucial, just like holding them in the correct position and firing downwind for handhelds and upwind for the exciting rockets.

With wet hands, we found out again that successfully holding them whilst discharging can be difficult, as they tend to slide out of our hands with the recoil. One notable exception is the 'Comet' brand, which has ribs on the bottom of the tube. Hopefully if any of us have a distress situation, it will be daylight and not raining or with spray about! Yeah like that's going to happen!!!!

The course was in the general vicinity of Green Point and Sandringham, with a work out to Fawkner Beacon at 225°. The start was reasonably orderly, although three boats were over and a few early tacks to port causing some hasty manoeuvres. Alan Saunders' 'Ninety Seven' won the start, being right on the line at the gun - just a matter of centimetres it would seem.

Five minutes later, Division 2 approached the line and as the gun fired it was a good solid wall of boats, just a length behind the line and so no boat really got any specific advantage.

At the gybe mark after the work to windward, two of the Three Musketeers were leading onboard 'Calm', ahead of 'Audi Centre Melbourne' and then 'Shogun'. 'Living Doll' was next, having recovered from their re-start for being over and then 'Goldfinger' and 'Chutzpah' followed close astern. A bigger gap appeared with a larger Division 1 bunch led by Phil Simpfendorfer's new 'Veloce'.

Amazingly, there were few kite set adventures both at the windward mark set and the gybe, which is altogether a little unusual for the first race of our annual winter series.

'Ninety Seven' - got it right on the start line

Practice, practice, parctice is part of any
good education programme

Only Slotty and Willow from the 'Calm' Consortium
were onboard on Sunday...

The Division 2 leaders at the gybe mark were 'Addiction', 'INXS' and then Rod Miller's newish Archambault 32, 'Gienah'.

At the third windward mark rounding, a shower swept down just North of the course as 'Rush', 'Chutzpah' and 'XLR8' approached. Some shifts were there for the wise and big gains were on offer, as a result. The breeze had by now dropped to a mere seven knots, which slowed progress considerably, with many kites struggling to open, as a result of packers putting way too many bands on them, in the expectation of the 20knots continuing.

The Doyen, Lou Abrahams with 'Challenge', led the Sydney 38's all day long and had a close duel with 'Slinky Malinky'.

By the finish, 'Living Doll' had made a spectacular gain to jump three places in a hot field and take the gun comfortably. It would seem that Grandpa's new axe has done the job for 'Audi Centre Melbourne', who got a commendable second to 'The Doll', just a bit over two minutes behind. A pair of Division 2 yachts elected to do another lap of the course, although the course flags were clear and also announced on radio, which was verified from the tape recorder! Still, it was great day's sailing, so why not enjoy it then! 'Calm' had some typical new boat issues, the headsail would not go up correctly and kept coming out of the foil, so naturally left the course. They were happy to get out there and would have been on the podium, so given they had a goal to get to the MWS start line, they are actually thrilled. There were several close finishes, as crews battled for supremacy, but none more so than 'Mirrabooka' and 'Slinky Malinky' desperately trying for a dead heat. 'Addiction' received the Division 2 gun to cap off an excellent sailing start for the series.

Father and Son duo, Mike and Mark Welsh must be happy with their new Beneteau 'Wicked' getting second in both AMS and IRC in its first major stoush. In Division 2, the little 'Godzilla' grabbed a first in AMS and a third in PHS, which gives them a great launching point for the series.

'Addiction' did well in Division 2.

"Living Doll' powered up and ran through the Division Zero fleet.