The sailing pedigree of the well-established Friends School from Hobart was on display yesterday after a dominant day that saw it steal the regatta lead from Perth's Scotch College.
After losing their round one race on Day 1 to Scotch, the Friends team has not dropped a race since, and now sits on the top of the table with 14 wins from 15 races, two wins clear of second place.
Prolific sailors in the round-robin series, the Friends team is showing a similar performance to last year where they dominated in the lead up to the finals, however they will look to improve on last year's result where they bowed out and failed to qualify for the grand final sail off.
Scotch College remain in the hunt and were in second place heading into the penultimate day of racing with 12 wins, while South Australia's Westminster School had a good day yesterday and are now in outright third with 10 wins and are sure to be a trump card come the finals.
Tasmania's Hutchins School remain a dark horse sitting equal fourth on nine wins, tied with Perth's Christ Church Grammar and Sydney's Scots College who both had great days yesterday to find themselves in the mix.
It has opened itself up for what is sure to be an exciting finals series tomorrow afternoon where the top eight teams will sail off for a shot at the title.
However after last year's event it is clear that the result is by no means decided and the Friends School will need to be at the top of its game when the business end of the regatta takes place.
Round robin racing continues today and tomorrow morning before the overall finals series and the all-female grand final kicks off at about lunch time tomorrow.
Stay tuned to Down Under Sail for all the updates throughout the event, as well as the live stream of the finals racing via our Facebook page.
Harry Fisher
Down Under Sail
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