At our last update in January, we were half-way through the Farr 9.2 Metro Series, with four of eight heats completed so far. Competition has been fierce, with a different over-the-line winner for each of those races. Farrlap (Andrew Hossen) stands at the sharp end of the championship ladder, with Itinerant (Mark Hansen) two points behind.
With another three heats done now, the series results are still very close, with yet more members of the fleet taking home the coveted fastest flags.
Heat five was the first for the new year, hosted by Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club. Very light winds tempted the crews to bring out their larger genoas in the pre-start area. However, a sea breeze coming in up just minutes before the start caused some last minute sail changes, and the consequent bustle of activity on foredecks across the fleet. At the start, Itinerant broke away to a quick lead, and held it through the race, finishing first across the line, as well as on handicap. Chasing behind was Lionheart (Warren Westaway) and Elusive (Richard Brisbane-Cohen), second and third respectively. Handicap results matched the over-the-line sequence for those first three boats.
With this win, and our first drop added to score calculations, Itinerant overtakes Farrlap as first on the progressive results, but only by a single point. This also gives us a fifth winning boat over the five heats so far.
The next heat in the series, on the 8th of February, was hosted back at Royal Perth Yacht Club, as the Farr 9.2 Association’s Max Hayes Memorial Trophy. Max was highly regarded by the Farr 9.2 fleet, and his name appears on various items of the Association’s silverware, as a previous owner of The Black Smoke.
Conditions for the day’s racing were quite variable, with small but unpredictable shifts keeping the fleet busy. Very keen to get racing, almost all of the fleet crossed early, causing the start team to have to shoo the spiders off the first substitute flag for a general recall. Much better behaved the second time around, the fleet made a clean start, with Elusive and Farrlap sneaking away from the crowd and staying ahead for the rest of the race. Elusive managed to hold out for a 16 second lead ahead of Farrlap at the finish line, finishing fastest. The Black Smoke (Jeremy Kerr) crossed next, in third. Handicap results had Elusive also at first, Farr Fetched (Bruce Meakins) second and both Seahawk (Pat Jones) and Farrlap equal third.
That makes yet another boat taking fastest for the metro series – six for six! With their win in this race, Elusive jumps to the top spot in progressive results, but only on countback, as Farrlap sits in second with equal points. Only one point away, Itinerant places in third.
Changing tack from the metro series, the next event in the Farr 9.2 Association schedule is the Lady Skippers’ Championship, held as part of a RPYC Thursday night twilight. The original forecast was for a straightforward light sea breeze, but the wind has its own plans, turning up much stronger and gustier than expected; the smaller jibs and reefing lines were brought out, and the competition getting serious. After a quick refresher on what a number 5 course flag looks like, the fleet sailed a course around the Matilda Bay area, with two laps of Matilda, Poplar and Crawley marks. Farr Fetched (Sarah Liddiard) broke out to the front of the fleet early, finishing first. The Black Smoke (Jen Leen) chased closely in second, and Farr Far Away (Helen Baker) finished third. A lot of credit to Helen, this was her first race skippering, and in tough conditions too!
Back in the metro series, the fleet sailed over to Claremont Yacht Club for their Commodore’s Cup event, as heat seven. Quite a polarising race for the fleet, the course, run since 1905, has us sailing laps around Freshwater bay. Lacking a solid upwind leg, this race is often decided on both quick crew work and shifts in various parts of the bay. As if by an unspoken round-robin arrangement, the race lead changed multiple times during the race, but Lionheart made excellent use of a couple of lucky lifts, as well as some clever spinnaker runs, to take first and fastest. Itinerant finished second across the line, and Seahawk third. Handicap results had Farr Fetched at second, and Seahawk third. Evidently the fleet had a fantastic time out on the course, with our reporters spotting a couple of curious spinnaker arrangements during the race, some minor unscheduled sail repairs, and a few instances of boats sailing around in small circles.
With their win in this race, Lionheart becomes the first boat in the 2019/2020 Metro Series to win two heats. For the championship results, their second place at CYC brings Itinerant back to the top of the ladder, Farrlap second and Elusive third, with only one point between those top three placings. The next heat of the Farr 9.2 Metro series is the Allan Coutts Memorial Trophy, scheduled for the 18th of April. However, with the upheaval of sailing plans due to COVID-19, we can’t be certain that that heat will go ahead. Will the results from heat seven be the final standings for the series? Stay tuned for updates!
Sadly, we at the Farr 9.2 Association have made the decision that our state championships event will not run as planned on the 28th and 29th of March, to protect the health of the fleet and the wider community. We’re currently looking at options to reschedule a replacement regatta at a later time, once there is more certainty for community events. Until then though, the sailing plans have lightened-up significantly – if you see any forlorn-looking, landlocked Farr 9.2 sailors around, be sure to remind them that we’ll be back out on the water soon.