2025 J/70 Australian Championship at Sandringham Yacht Club - Day 4
by Alex Dare, Down Under Sail 17 Jan 23:19 UTC
13-18 January 2025
Chris Dare's Ambition is in the box seat heading into the final day of the J/70 Australian Championships today, with a four-point lead to second-placed Matador, skippered by David Doherty.
Dare and his team have sailed a consistent series, never falling outside the top three and banking three race wins in the nine races so far.
It gives the Ambition team a solid lead to protect heading into the final two races, with a top three result in either race guaranteeing the title.
The penultimate day of racing yesterday saw fresh to frightening conditions on Port Phillip Bay, with the J/70 class showing its close upwind racing, and exhilarating downwind speeds.
Ambition clinched two seconds and a first in the strong winds, a slightly better day than Doherty's Matador.
"The last race was pretty fruity, we had a fair bit on, there was a fair bit of wind and sea," Doherty said.
"The sea state's very hard to get used to for us, we've just never seen that with our J/70 so we've just had a lot to learn here."
Sitting in third overall is Steve Proud's Swish, which like Matador has made the trip from Sydney.
Crew member Billy Sykes said this regatta had been one of the most enjoyable J/70 regattas he'd done.
"It's been good breeze in Sandringham, it's a great venue to visit and we've had anything from 15 to 25 knots pretty much every day," he said.
"They're like a keelboat upwind, they're a bit like a skiff downwind, with lots of different modes you can sail downwind so that's lots of fun.
"There's been really good camaraderie amongst all the owners and the sailors in the fleet, we have a good beer after sailing and joke about and it's just a really fun class to be in."
For regatta results, head to syc.com.au/j70-nationals