SKIFF, Insight Building Services, may have an outside shot at the title heading into the last day of racing at Belmont's 16ft Australian Championship, but it looks like Manly will take the trifecta.
"We've been reflecting on the fact that we're the leading Belmont boat," Andrew Stone of Insight said.
"We've had a really inconsistent regatta but looking back at the racing, we're really happy with how things are going from a club perspective."
Friday saw the competition's "long race", with boats on the water for "well over an hour".
After four laps, Ronstan, with Olympic gold medallists Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page, along with Belmont's Brett Davis aboard, was sitting pretty - poised to stretch their table lead and wrap up the title with a day to spare.
"We were having probably our best race of the regatta - as we've finally learned how to sail with our smaller rig," crew member Nathan Wilmot said.
But it wasn't meant to be for the Ronstan crew, who had their spinnaker ripped apart unexpectedly several hundred metres from the finish. Manly clubmate IMEI was able to pass, with Ronstan holding on for second place.
"We could've had an early shower and a few beers to celebrate but now we have to sail again tomorrow. Keeps it more interesting."
The final race at Belmont kicks off at 1.55pm on Saturday January 8 with Ronstan, IMEI and Moonen each separated by one point at the top.
Insight sits in sixth, 11 points behind the lead, with all-star skiff Fluid one point ahead.
