John Muir's Georgia One produced one of those satisfying handicap reversals that remind you why corrected-time racing exists. Out on the water, Rob Bassett and Brett Russell's TP52 Wired was comfortably the quickest boat in the Racing A fleet. On corrected time, though, it was the Farr 43 that walked away with the honours.
The fleet spans a meaningful size range. At the top end, Graham Matthews campaigns Equilibrium, a Marten 55 Botin Carkeek 55, and just behind on length sits Wired at 52 feet. William Goodfellow's Elliott 50 SS, Explore Racing, completes a clear fifty-foot-plus grouping at the head of the fleet. Stepping down from there, Georgia One occupies the lower forty-foot range, and the smallest entry in Racing A is Sharon Ferris-Choat's Verdier 40, Vixen Racing.
Wired made its superiority plain from the start. The TP52 crossed the line 10 minutes 21 seconds clear of Explore Racing, and from there the gaps stretched progressively down the fleet. Explore Racing beat Equilibrium by 5 minutes 25 seconds, while Equilibrium edged Georgia One by just 38 seconds. Georgia One in turn put 15 minutes 39 seconds into Vixen Racing at the back. The elapsed gap from second to fourth was just over six minutes, pointing to genuine competition among the chasing pack despite Wired's commanding margin up front.
| Result | Boat name | Skipper | Elapsed time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wired | Rob & Brett Bassett / Russell | 01:36:39 | 1 |
| 2 | Explore Racing | William Goodfellow | 01:47:00 | 2 |
| 3 | Equilibrium | Graham Matthews | 01:52:25 | 3 |
| 4 | Georgia One | John Muir | 01:53:03 | 4 |
| 5 | Vixen Racing | Sharon Ferris-Choat | 02:08:42 | 5 |
Handicap scoring turned that picture on its head. Under EHC, Georgia One climbed from fourth on the water to first on corrected time, winning by 4 minutes 41 seconds over Wired. To put that in perspective, Wired had crossed the line 16 minutes 24 seconds ahead of the Farr 43, meaning the ratings produced a swing of more than 21 minutes in Georgia One's favour. Explore Racing and Equilibrium finished closely matched behind the top two, with Vixen Racing trailing a little further back.
| Result | Bot name | Skipper | Cor’d time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia One | John Muir | 01:44:14 | 1 |
| 2 | Wired | Rob & Brett Bassett / Russell | 01:48:55 | 2 |
| 3 | Explore Racing | William Goodfellow | 01:50:45 | 3 |
| 4 | Equilibrium | Graham Matthews | 01:55:14 | 4 |
| 5 | Vixen Racing | Sharon Ferris-Choat | 01:58:32 | 5 |
PHRF confirmed the same story. Georgia One took the win again, this time by 3 minutes 33 seconds over Wired, and the finishing order across the full fleet was identical to the EHC result.
| Result | Bot name | Skipper | Cor’d time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia One | John Muir | 01:42:46 | 1 |
| 2 | Wired | Rob & Brett Bassett / Russell | 01:46:19 | 2 |
| 3 | Explore Racing | William Goodfellow | 01:50:06 | 3 |
| 4 | Equilibrium | Graham Matthews | 01:54:33 | 4 |
| 5 | Vixen Racing | Sharon Ferris-Choat | 01:57:07 | 5 |
Heading into tomorrow's races, the shape of the competition is clear enough. Wired is the fastest hull in the fleet by a considerable margin, while Georgia One has proven the most efficient boat relative to its rating. That tension between raw speed and handicap performance sets up the challenge for the races ahead.
