THE Mistress continues to add titles to their S80 trophy cabinet.
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And have again strengthened their case for inclusion in superclass.
Starting third overall, the team ended just seven seconds behind second placed TR, taking out the unlimited inboard category by 21 seconds, while also earning a spot on the outright podium.
While the teams above them - TR and Superman - had both suffered boat issues at stages of their run, The Mistress was near perfect across the 80km course.
Driver Zac Welch said his team was excited to add another podium to their list of accolades.
“We're stoked,” he said.
“To have the lead up we've had and follow it with another unlimited win and a third outright is great. We also went close to the old record for the category in a much more challenging year.”
Welch held high praise for his team, singling out skier Craig Gordon .
“I take my hat off to him,” he said.
“We've essentially pulled him off the bench, he hadn't skied for the entire year, but we had faith in him and he put his faith in us.
“He did what we needed him to do, and it returned in spades for all of us.”
Welch said the course had been near perfect, allowing The Mistress to use it to their advantage.
“It was fantastic out there,” he said.
“A couple of spots were very disturbed with boat rollers, TR having some stops explains that. But you could see it in places.”
While the team accepted their fate in not being included in Superclass for the second year in a row, Welch said it wasn't on his mind when they hit the course.
“Speed caps didn't come into play today,” he said.
“We weren't chasing a time or a speed, we were just aiming to put down a good run. We wanted a good consistent race, to see what we could produce on the water today. As a team to break a 32, we are more than happy with that.”
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