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19 February 2005, 08:42 am

Internationals Enjoy The Racing

Hamilton Island Farr 40 Australian Championship

Hamilton Island, Australia

Day two of the Hamilton Island Farr 40 Australian Championship had the fleet start the day in a steady Nor' East breeze which dropped out during race five. Top breeze of the day was 15 knots and the swell that caused a number of wipe-outs in the fleet yesterday dropped off.

The 23 boats racing in the fleet enjoyed a great first race after eventually getting away having had two general recalls.

Overnight leader Richard PERINI finished race four in the series in fourth after pulling back seven boats. Current World Champion Jim RICHARDSON, who led the fleet round the track, took the gun ahead of Steve and Fred HOWE's Warpath. Hasso PLATTNER's Morning Glory and David URRY's War Games had to make penalty turns at the top mark during the first race.

Race two had the breeze drop out and the race committee had to shorten the course to accommodate the shift. Warpath had lead the fleet around the track until they miscalculated a manoeuvre which allowed New Zealand's Venom skippered by Brett NEILL to get past them and win the race from Barking Mad.

Barking Mad's first and third places today has moved them into first place overall with the Italian team of Nerone, being skippered by Mark HEELEY for this regatta, maintaining their second place. Perini's Evolution slipped back to third after a fourth and twelfth places today. 'We managed to pull Warpath back and the second has helped our cause' commented Richardson.

After waiting to see what the conditions would provide the race committee decided to abandon racing for the day and sent the fleet home. The committee had been advised of a severe weather warning and the breeze had become unpredictable.

Top Ten After Five Races

Pos	Yacht Name	Nation	Owner	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Points
1	Barking Mad	USA 50995	Jim Richardson	12	5	2	1	2	22
2	Nerone	ITA 1972	Mezzaroma/sodo Migliori	1	3	9	3	7	23
3	Evolution	AUS 6422	Richard Perini	6	1	1	4	12	24
4	TWT	ITA13711	Marco Rodolfi	4	6	3	6	11	30
5	War Path	USA69	Steve and Fred Howe	9	2	11	2	16	40
6	Ichi Ban	6038	Matt Allen	5	7	10	8	13	43
7	Team Shockwave	5077	Neville Crichton	8	12	20	5	6	51
8	Sputnik	6040	Ivan Wheen	17	8	6	16	5	52
9	Emotional Hooligan	615	Marcus Blackmore	13	4	7	10	21	55
9	Morning Glory	GR40101	Hasso Plattner	15	13	12	11	4	55