It’s rumoured that Dougie McGain must have gone home after the first day and written lines – ‘I must not go right, I must not go right, I must not go right, I must not go right, I must not go right, I must go left’. And clearly it worked because he came back with a vengeance yesterday, he didn’t go right at all, just banged the left corner every time and came home with 3 bullets.
Of course 3 wins helps every time and he has moved up the leader board from fifth to second. Sean Wallis had an almost equally consistent day with two seconds and a third and still holds a 9 point lead from Doug on current points score without the drop. A pretty clear picture you might think, but look again. Factoring in the drop changes the picture dramatically and gives Doug the chance to win if he gets another clean sweep.
This means that the Wetty Gripper guys will need to stay sharp and get another win or two if they want to take the trophy home. If Sean continues his current consistence he should just win the championship although some poorer placings than thirds and wins by Doug will make the points table as tight as Sean is likely to get after the presentation.
Doug already has his drop with a 10th in the first race so he has nothing up his sleeve there and can’t afford another bad one, Sean is dropping a 3rd at this stage so has a little margin for error.
If Doug does have another bad one he risks having a battle for second with David Suda and Hugo Ottaway and both these skippers still have the chance of being the bridesmaid this year if they can keep their noses clean and stay in contention for race wins or a second placings in the next 4 races.
The battle of the Seans is now a fizzer, with Sean Kirkjian although putting in some good performances yesterday now being 13 points behind allowing for the drop at this point. He will have to work hard and bring in some good finishes to get the money as he also already has a drop in his current results. Dave and Hugo can afford to have a bad one and still be in the race for 2nd and third.
Once again the ‘Hyper Girls’ are doing well, currently lying 6th although they have a 12 point gap off the back of Starpac.
The weather for the last two racing days looks good with forecast winds under 20 knots on both days and mostly sunny skies. Temperatures on Friday are forecast to get into the mid 30s so it will be a hot finish to a hot regatta.
Ron Thomson and crew are sailing like demons and are now guaranteed to be the first green boat in this years regatta
