Two bullets and a second capped off Team Beau Geste’s Sydney City Marine TP52 Southern Cross Cup round three victory and series hat trick, with one stage remaining.

Having experienced four seasons in three days, Sydney put its best foot forward for finals day; cool 10-12 knot sou’east breezes and picture postcard conditions for the deciding three windward/leewards on a short course from Taylors Bay, Mosman to a top mark off Shark Island.

Karl Kwok‘s Hong Kong registered 52-footer, Team Beau Geste, sailed a quiet and classy series. They came to this Sydney round with a cherry-picked mostly Kiwi crew and impeccably prepared boat, strategically picked the nearest TP52 in terms of calibre and made sure that boat was jammed up at the start, then stayed between them and the finish line.

For round three Rob Hanna’s Shogun V from Geelong was fair game. Prior to this edition Marcus Blackmore’s Hooligan, now in transit to a new overseas owner, was the marked boat.

Shogun‘s impressive rear-guard of winning AC mainsheet trimmer Kyle Langford, tactician Stu Bannatyne and strategist Ben Lamb wasn’t enough to tackle the might of Brady’s bunch, though they did take two wins off them to finish second overall with 11 points, three points off the gun boat.

The closing stage of the inaugural four-part TP52 Southern Cross Cup will be hosted by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club on Sydney’s northern beaches December 13th-15th, 2013. The class is hoping for a boosted final round of up to seven starters.

TP52 Southern Cross Cup 2013 Round 3, Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron

Provisional Results

1. Team Beau Geste, Karl Kwok, 8.0 points
2. Shogun V, Rob Hanna, 11.0
3. Vamos, Connel Mclaren, 18.0
4. Frantic, Michael Martin, 27.0
5. Quest, Bob Steel, 33.0