By Ian Grant.
Stephen Ainsworth’s high performance Sydney sloop Loki has been the star performer in the International Audi Hamilton Island Race week regatta.
Loki raced by a very talented crew under the guidance of principal helmsman Gordon Maguire has recorded an impressive light wind performance winning the opening three races to set up a commanding lead over the defending champion the Michael Hiatt skippered Victorian yacht Living Doll.
The Living Doll crew kept their title aspirations alive when the tactically outpaced Loki in the ultra light wind to claim an important win in race 4 on Monday.
However Loki with her impressive 1-1-1-4 score holds a comfortable six point (6 place) buffer over Living Doll 5-5-2-1 while the Iain Murray skippered Wild Oats X with a 3-2-3-10 holds third overall.
This battle for supremacy in the Grand Prix IRC class is expected to intensify when the three crews select their tactical strategy when the sails are tensioned for the important races south of Hamilton Island tomorrow.
Naturally the Loki crew will protect their sailing space against the expected challenges from both Living Doll and Wild Oats X.
However all crews will be placed on notice to prepare for a challenging day on the race course as the weather bureau have issued a forecast of moderate to fresh South West winds with gusts expected to peak at 25 knots.
This expected wind change promises to test both the sail handling skills of the crews while the helmsmen will also have their steering skills challenged in a rough and bumpy sea.
It’s a challenging forecast which is complete contrast to the earlier races however the Loki crew who won the Sydney to Southport race in fresh wind are expected to remain the standout performer of the regatta.