A near perfect drive from Zac Welch saw the local favourites claim the President's Dash for the second year running, earning third place in the line-up for yesterday's main race.
Starting fourth at Five Mile, the team edged out fellow Unlimited Inboard competitor Tempered by just one 10th of a second to claim the race.
The time of 6.58:1 was mere seconds slower than last year's 6.55:9.
An elated Welch could only laugh at the tiny margin between first and second place.
“It's a game of inches,” he said.
“Unlimited racing with the 115mph cap causes a lot of close results. We always felt like we were in it, even though we knew we'd be racing crews who have been together for two or three seasons.
“So to have two new skiers and pull the team a weekend out from the race, to get the chocolates by such a slim margin, we couldn't be happier with the outcome.”
Welch said the conditions had been good for the race.
“It's not too bad out there,” he said.
“There was a little breeze, but it was as good a set of conditions as you could have asked for. It was a really fast track and allowed for not only us but a few teams to put down really good runs.”
Carrying the third overall position into the main race last year saw The Mistress break the unlimited inboard record.
And winning the Dash again gave Welch a sense of confidence for the main race.
“We're very happy within our team,” he said.
“It was just a game of smooth and consistent for us, we went out there with no plans to break records or be world beaters, we went out there to set ourselves up as well as we could for tomorrow, and hopefully this gives us the best chance.”