Overcoming a poor start, Mark Pitt’s Beneteau First 35 ‘Mulberry’ powered home in the final legs of last Saturday’s final race of the Fremantle Sailing Club’s (FSC) winter offshore Valmadre Series. While missing out on a podium place, the strong finish ensured the recently crowned HYC Senior Sportsperson of the Year, Mark, and crew, did enough to secure the runner-up position for the four-race series. Going into Saturday’s race sitting in second place Div 1 PHF, ‘Mulberry’ needed a strong performance in the 27 nm day race to maintain runner-up. With the fleet frustrated by a delayed start of more than an hour due to Fremantle Harbour shipping movements, no one could complain about the conditions, with the final race of the series sailed on a fine winter’s day with clear skies and a light to moderate northerly breeze. Despite a poor start and some issues rounding the Day Buoy, ‘Mulberry’ hung on to the pacesetters on the beat north to Fairway Landfall Buoy and then powered home with a Code Zero in the closing legs of the race along the North Fremantle coast to achieve a credible 4th in Div 1 PHF and 5th in Div 1 IRC. These results ensured Mulberry secured second place Div 1 PHF for the series behind James Halvorsen’s Farr 395 ‘Giddy Up’. While unable to successfully defend their 2023 Div 1 PHF title, Mark and crew can be proud of backing up last year’s outstanding result with a runner-up in FSC’s long running offshore winter series amongst a strong Div 1 fleet that included Simon Torvaldsen’s newly built JPK 11.80 and a couple of high-performance one design Cape 31s.