While Portsea didn't live up to its usual reputation for huge seas, it certainly threw up enough to cause some carnage in Round 2 of the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series on the weekend.
Race 1 of the double sprint race ran smoothly with Courtney taking it out ahead of clubmates Liz Pluimers and Bonnie Hancock.
Race 2 saw Liz Pluimers take a commanding early lead with a strong first board leg only to be pegged back at the conclusion of the board leg when several competitors pulled down a large wave behind her. Leading in to the final ski leg BMD Northcliffe were looking good with Liz, Courtney and Kristyl Smith in the top 3 until a nasty collision in the shore break saw all 3 lose their craft and relinquish their lead. Kristyl and Courtney managed to catch back up to 3rd & 4th place respectively but for Liz Pluimers, who fared the worse from the earlier collision, her Portsea curse from last season continued, ending up in 20th.
This dissapointing finish added with her 2nd place in race 1 meant that she ended up in 11th place for the round. Courtney's 1st & 4th gave her the overall Round win to make it two from two in the series and Kristyl Smith finished with another 3rd place. Other BMD Northcliffe athletes to finsh in the top 10 were Bonnie Hancock in 6th and Harriet Brown in 8th. Courtney now has a comfortable lead in the overall standings with 50 points followed by Kristyl in 2nd with 40 points and Liz Pluimers in 3rd with 32 points.
In the mens race, Shannon Eckstein showed he was re-gaining form, claiming a win in the 3rd and final mens race. A 4th and a 5th placing in the earlier races meant that he was back on the podium for Round 2 with a 2nd placing behind Kurrawa's Ky Hurst. The mens overall pointscore still remains tight with only 5 points seperating the top 6 competitors. Shannon sits in 4th place, 3 points off the lead.
Round 3 heads to Newcastle on the 22 January for the eliminator format.
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