Radix claims first EHC win as corrected times reshape Group B final race

Racing group B's final race produced a handful of results with the potential to shake up the series standings considerably.

Akatea and Snatch again sat out the race. Their series totals will be calculated across the four races each completed.

What unfolded on the water told three very different stories.

On line honours, there was no contest at the front. Daisy Duke stamped her authority on the division with a dominant display, stopping the clock at 1 hour 56 minutes 30 seconds. Pace and control defined her race from start to finish, and the gap she opened on the fleet was unambiguous.

Second across the line was Mustang Sally, though she arrived 22 minutes and 36 seconds after Daisy Duke, underlining just how commanding the leader's performance had been. Yet Mustang Sally's own position was far from secure. She edged Blackout by a bare two seconds, the pair locked in genuine boat-on-boat racing right to the line.

Further back through the fleet, the gaps tightened again. Chain Reaction crossed sixth on elapsed time in 2 hours 23 minutes 14 seconds, with Radix finishing just three seconds in her wake. Even as Daisy Duke sailed away from the field, the middle of the fleet was producing its own compelling contest, with margins measured in single-digit seconds.

The visual impression was of a runaway. The reality, for most of the fleet, was anything but.

Once corrected times were applied, the picture changed entirely. Radix took the EHC win in 1 hour 53 minutes 41 seconds, claiming the first race victory of the series for the boat. The top four on corrected time, Radix, Chain Reaction, Margaritaville, and Daisy Duke, were separated by just 1 minute 25 seconds across the lot.

The most striking detail in that result was Daisy Duke's position. Despite winning line honours by more than 22 minutes, she fell to fourth on corrected time, finishing only 25 seconds short of the win. The sailing was sharp throughout, but the rating system did precisely what it is designed to do, drawing the fleet back together.

The compression extended well beyond the top four. From The Farm in fifth through to Blackout in ninth, five boats were covered by just 2 minutes 4 seconds on corrected time. In handicap racing, that kind of compression means every tactical call matters and no one can afford to sail their own race in isolation. The closest margin came between Mustang Sally and Physical Favours, separated by two seconds after nearly two and a half hours on the water. That is as close as racing gets without a dead heat.

Race 7 in Line Racing B captured the dual nature of handicap competition perfectly. On the water, a dominant front-runner. On corrected time, a knife-edge contest where the entire competitive field remained connected despite the visual gaps, with performance differences measured in seconds rather than sailing legs.

The PHRF result offered a third interpretation of the same race. Men At Work 3 took the honours in 1 hour 54 minutes 45 seconds, winning through consistency rather than outright pace. Chain Reaction followed 1 minute 12 seconds later, and Blackout arrived just 22 seconds behind that, confirming a genuine podium battle decided by fine margins.

Lower down the order, the closeness persisted. Physical Favours finished sixth in 2 hours 1 minute 57 seconds, just one second ahead of Apparition in seventh. The application of ratings had drawn competitors together into margins that bare elapsed time had never suggested.

Race 7 of Line Racing B displayed the full breadth of what competitive sailing can offer. Daisy Duke delivered another commanding display on line honours. Radix converted steady sailing into a long-awaited corrected time win. Men At Work 3 executed cleanly to claim PHRF honours. The race was won clearly at the front, but the real contest played out in the compressed battles behind, where seconds separated finishing positions and every decision carried weight.