Pongo gets clear air.
By Morgan Vaudrey, 24 January 2003

Heat 5 saw an end to the German domination of the Hellenic Cup.

Luckily, the strong winds predicted yesterday did not arrive, and instead the Dragons experienced one of the most beautiful days of sailing so far, with the conditions even being described as “champagne sailing.”

Although visibility was poor at the start of the race due to the fires that are burning around Hobart; once the sea breeze settled in, the visibility improved. The wind strength started off at around eight knots, increasing during the race up to 12 knots.

There was a little controversy today. The three boats leading the series as of yesterday, Chrisco (GER) sailed by Dieter Schoen, Vincent Hoesch and Andreas Huber, Chimaera (IRL) sailed by Andrew Craig, Claus Hoj Jensen and Graham Elmes, and Kirribilli II (AUS) sailed by David Graney, Martin Graney and Murray Jones, were all over at the start and did not return. Kirribilli II was later re-instated due to a miss-identification.

The disqualification of Chimaera, which had crossed the line first, left first place open for Britain’s Pongo, helmed by Patrick Gifford and crewed by Michael Hayes and James Mehew.

Although Pongo did not cross the line first, they deserved their first place. They maintained their position from the start of the race, and showed form which had them improving on their previous best fourth place.

Karabos VIII (Nick Rogers, Leigh Behrens and Peter Lilley) placed second ahead of American Dragon Clairvoyant (Edward Sawyer, Ron Rosenberg and Martin Payne).

Series Scores still have Chrisco ahead on 34 points (no drops) of Pongo (50.7) with Kirribilli II in third on 53.1. Carl Ryves’ Sidewinder is holding fourth on 56.4.

Tomorrow is the second scheduled lay day of the Hellenic Cup. It may be just as well, as the weather bureau has predicted strong winds and poor visibility due to dense smoke, as the temperatures soar to a predicted 36 C in Hobart tomorrow.

Source: Dragon Worlds Official Site