Defending champions, the Honda Marine team of David McDiarmid, Matt Steven and Brad Collins sealed the overall 18ft Skiff JJ Giltinan championship victory on Saturday.
Despite a brilliant performance by the other Kiwi team, ASCC of Josh Porebski, Jack Simpson and Dave Hazard, to win Race 8 on Sydney Harbour, Honda Marine took overall victory with 17 points (15 points, net) from the eight races sailed to date.
The skill of the ASCC team was on display throughout the race as each challenge was repelled before ASCC crossed the finish line 2m 3s ahead of Honda Marine, with Finport Finance (Keagan York, Matt Stenta, Charlie Gundy) just 6s further back in third place.
The consistent Winning Group (John Winning Jr.) finished in fourth place, followed by the Australian champion Asko Appliances (James Dorron), and Smeg (Michael Coxon).
With only Sunday’s race still to be sailed to complete the championship, Honda Marine lead with a net 15 points, followed by Winning Group on 22, Smeg on 25, ASCC 31, Asko Appliances 32, and Finport Finance on 53 points.
Early wind predictions for tomorrow are for 18-20 knot NE winds which should some of the most spectacular racing of the entire championship.