A somewhat reduced fleet sailed what turned out to be an enjoyable race - including Shazam who came down from Sydney to have a sail.
The handicap start saw Poseidon get away first followed by Southern Cross, Wilful Intent, the other three Sharpies and then Skulker leaving last. With the gusty conditions the fleet spread out a bit - for most of the race it was hard to see who would end up winning ! Occasional strong gusts made some of the spinnaker rides interesting.
Skulker led going into the last lap and managed to hold on to win on handicap followed by Mainiac and Wilful Intent - a Richardson trifecta ! The rest of the boats came in pretty close together. It was great to see that noone had any major difficulties in what was quite a challenging breeze.
Jim Curry stood in for Hayden as sheethand on Mr Freeze - he was looking somewhat weary at the end of the race - will be interesting to hear if he manages to get out of bed on Sunday morning.
Next weekend the Sharpies will be attending their state titles as Gosford - good luck to all those participating.