Lightning storms, shifting and gusting winds, and the infamous Sydney swell all contributed to a topsy-turvy third day of the Rolex Trophy Ratings Series. Neville Crichton was back on board Alfa Romeo, recovered from his illness and ready to do battle.

However the 98-foot Super Maxi failed to find space on the busy start line of the morning race and started too early. Crichton's crew recovered well and was making up lost ground, when an exploding jib block near the windward mark forced her off the course for a few precious moments. All the while her rival, Bob Oatley's Wild Oats XI was romping away down the run, with the older but still potent conventional Maxi, Konica Minolta in hot pursuit. To compound Alfa's problems, her gennaker then exploded and the gap grew even bigger. "The only person smiling at that point was Michael Coxon," said Neville Crichton of his tactician - and sailmaker. Wild Oats sailed away to an untroubled victory, although Alfa did a good job of catching and overtaking Konica Minolta before the finish.

The weather took a nasty turn for the worse before the second race got underway. A lightning storm sent sailors running for their wet-weather gear as the sky turned apocalyptic and the seas rose to 3 metres. Some yachts seemed to revel in the conditions however. On Alfa Romeo, Crichton put all the morning's errors behind him and stormed
around the lumpy race course in commanding style, while Wild Oats retired from the race with technical issues, and headed home early. Crichton won the race from Stephen Ainsworth's 60-foot canting-keeler Loki by almost 12 minutes on corrected time.

The Kiwi owner was all smiles on arriving back at the Cruising Yacht Club in Rushcutter's Bay. "The boat felt great today," said Crichton. "We've put on a new rudder and keel bulb constructed of tungsten and it feels like a different boat." However, her canting bulb struck a sunfish, a worrying theme in recent races out of Sydney Heads. "It was just as well it was the keel," said Crichton. "If we hit a sunfish with the rudder, that will be the end of the race."
 

In the fixed-keel Division 1 fleet, Stewart Thwaites' Konica Minolta had a clean sweep. The Kiwi yacht won the morning heat by just under a minute from Geoff Ross's Judel/Vrolijk 52, while she stormed the afternoon race, winning by just over six minutes on corrected time from Richard Cawse's 60-footer Vanguard. Ray Roberts has won five out of six heats so far in Division 2 of the Rolex Trophy. His DK46 Quantum Racing is shaping up as one of the big favourites for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race just over a week from now. Olympic medallist Michael Blackburn was pleased with their two wins today. "We did well strategically today. There was a big persistent shift going on with the storm that came through, and we came out the right side of that."

With just two races remaining tomorrow, Quantum Racing should wrap up with the series to spare, with Leslie Green's Swan 45 Ginger looking equally comfortable in second place overall. The closer battle is for third place in this division, with Wedgetail and Fuzzy Logic separated by just a couple of points. On coming ashore for the daily prizegiving, CYCA vice-commodore Roger Hickman paid tribute to John Bennetto, who at the age of 79 died in hospital yesterday, just nine days before the start of the 61st Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, in which he had hoped to compete for the 45th time. Bennetto first competed in the race in 1947, and his record of 44 races is believed to be unmatched in the history of ocean racing.

Provisional placings after six races, Division 0: 1st Alfa Romeo, Reichel/Pugh 98 (Neville Crichton) 1-1-DNC-1-3-1, 7 pts; 2nd Wild Oats XI, Reichel/Pugh 98 (Bob Oatley) 3-2-1-2- 1-6, 9 pts; 3rd Loki, Reichel/Pugh 98 (Stephen Ainsworth) 2-3-2-3-2-2, 11 pts