There was high drama on the waters of Lake Macquarie Saturday for the final day of the Australian 16ft Skiff Championships.
Two false starts followed by a sudden and complete drop in the wind on the first lap saw the race abandoned before top honours were ultimately awarded to Ronstan and its seasoned crew, Nathan Wilmot, Brett Davis and Malcolm Page.
It was a vindicating victory for the Manly 16s crew, who only the previous day had victory snatched from their grasp just 300 metres from the final downwind mark when a spinnaker failed, offering clubmate IMEI a brief window on which to capitalise.
Ronstan had initially seen off its primary threat - Daniel Turner's Moonen Yachts - and had engaged IMEI in a two-vessel fight to the finish Friday afternoon before misfortune befell the crew in the final sprint, leaving its crew to hold on for the final few metres to claim second going into the final day of racing at the weekend.
The result left Saturday's title in hot contention, with only two points separating the top three vessels - Ronstan, IMEI and Moonen.
Photographer Peter Lorimer was on the scene Saturday afternoon to capture the drama of the final day of racing.
The details of this report are developing. It will be updated.
