F18 Australian Nats 2023: Report by Max Puttman

Photo: Gordon Kemp / KCC- No racing yesterday, three more races pending for today. Report of the F18 Australian Nats sent by Max Puttman who is dominating the regatta along Brett Burvill on their own designed & built Windrush Edge / Nxt Gen Sails winning combo.

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2023 F18 Australian Nats report by Max Puttman

“The last two days have been really great racing in a steady 6-12 knot breeze. Brett and I continued our winning streak on the 2nd day up to race 6 where we scored a 4th.

The 3rd day of racing brought some interesting results. We were ocs on the first race and had to dip the line to re start. Unfortunately we misjudged the current by a few seconds and got pushed over. With so many boats piled up on the boat end we were sandwiched in and couldn’t tack or gybe cleanly so had to stop the boat completely and let everyone past before we could bear away and go back to the line. We ended up so far upwind I was able to pull the kite up to get us back to the line.

We then sailed our ass off to get back to third position. A real highlight for us as it showed how fast the new 2023 main and jib are. We were able to mince through the fleet and even the top boats in light conditions which we’ve never been able to do before.

Gav and Kai are sailing really well and going fast as always. The 1D/ exploder combo being consistent as always. We love racing against these guys as they’re always on the pace and it’s rare to see them make mistakes. but special mention needs to go to newcomers Eli and Kris.

These boys are killing it and having a great regatta, always getting great starts and sailing really smart to put themselves in top positions and even winning a race. Thursday is Australia Day, a national day of reflection, so no official racing. Friday is last day and with only 6pts between 3rd and 5th and three races scheduled in light wind the final spot on the podium is still wide open”.

Curent top ten. Complete results here