Event Schedule
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Pacific Cup San Francisco to Hawaii. RP63 "Limit" Alan Brierty. July 10th thru 18th.
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www.pacificcup.org www.limitsailingteam.com.au
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SFYC Summer Keel Boat Regatta
San Francisco, USA. Melges 32 "Pegasus" Philippe Kahn. August 14th
and 15th. |
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California Cup
San Francisco, USA. Melges 32 "Pegasus" Philippe Kahn. August 20th
thru 22nd.
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Big Boat Series San Francisco, USA. Melges 32 "Pegasus" Philippe Kahn. September 16th thru 19th.
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Melges 32 World Championship
San Francisco, USA. Melges 32 "Pegasus" Philippe Kahn. September
22nd thru 25th.
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Twirler trimming up at LBRW for Helmsman Chris Dickson.
News
Limit dominates IRC in the USA.
June 2010
Visiting Australian yachtsman Alan Brierty
today won overall IRC in the 2010 Long Beach Race Week.
Brierty's home is in Perth. He
is retired from the mining business in Western Australia. After winning the Rolex Regatta in Sydney Harbor and placing fifth
in the annual Sydney-Hobart race, he shipped his boat and brought his crew to what he calls "a different part of the
world" for some different sailing experiences. From here he plans to move on to San Francisco to race in the biennial
Pacific Cup to Hawaii as the first leg the trip home.
Brierty, by the way, has little appreciation for this side
of the world's PHRF handicapping system. He's ninth of 11 boats in Fast 50, but won first place in a separately scored IRC
class with Flash, a TP52 finishing 2nd.
As for his boat's name … "When it was being built my wife
said, 'So if you're building a $5 million boat, I'd say that's the (bleeping) limit!' I said, 'That's what we'll name it.'
"
It's also the third and last stop on the Southern California Ullman Sails Inshore Championship Series,
following the Ahmanson Cup at Newport Beach and Cal Race Week at Marina del Rey. .
There were
147 boats in 20 classes, and all except J/120s, which didn't race Friday, sailed seven races over three days, and no winner
was more carried away than Janov, who was quick to concede that he had more help than in his singlehanded Sabot days.
The regatta was the third and last stop on the Southern California Ullman Sails Inshore Championship Series, following
the Ahmanson Cup at Newport Beach and Cal Race Week at Marina del Rey. Scoring for that was to be posted at
Ullman Sails is the title sponsor. Other sponsors and supporters are DISC Sports and Spine Center, Ayres Hotel
Seal Beach, Gladstone's Restaurant, the Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine Bureau, Long Beach the Aquatic Capital of
America, Macson Printing and Lithography, Mount Gay Rum and West Marine.
1st Limit
RP63 AUS
Alan Brierty
1.495 2.0 5.0 1.0 2.0 1.0
1.0 1.0 13.0
2nd Flash
TP 52 USA Mick Shlens/Mark Jones Shlens/Jones
1.360 1.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 4.0
2.0 3.0 16.0
3rd Rebel Yell TP 52
USA David O. Team
1.361 4.0 1.0 2.0 4.0 2.0
3.0 2.0 18.0
4th Cazador TP 52
USA Ernie Pennell
1.349 6.0 3.0 4.0 3.0 5.0
4.0 5.0 30.0
5th Wasabi Kernan
44 USA Dale Williams
1.261 5.0 4.0 6.0 5.0 3.0
6.0 4.0 33.0
6th Its OK
Andrews 50 USA Tres Gordo
1.336 3.0 6.0 5.0 6.0 6.0
5.0 6.0 37.0
Oh so Close for Limit
June 2010
Alan Brierty's
RP 63 Limit came oh so close to breaking the Coastal Cup Record.
A 280nm sprint from San Francisco
to Santa Barbara proved a perfect build up for Limit to this years Pacific Cup with following winds for the most part gusting
up to 30 knots.
After leading out of San Francisco Bay, Limit wasnt to be seen again as she revelled
in the building North Westerly breeze. All the way down the west coast of USA she was pushed to the limit touching 28 knots
boatspeed at times.
Initially setting into a masthead A4 Spinnaker the breeze quickly built and for
the most part they had up a Frac A5.
"It took allot of concentration in the trying conditions
with very short seas and our bow spending much of time under water" said onboard trimmer/helmsman Darren "Twirler"
Jones.
Passing Point Conception in the early hours of the morning, Limit was well ahead of the record
clocking up 250nm in 16 hours.
This was to be the end of a great run as with 20nm to go the breeze
shut down and along with it any chance of setting the record for fastest elapsed time.
Limit's owner
Alan Brierty was disappointed the chance of getting into the record books went missing with the wind at the end, but, commented
post race that it was an amazing ride and one not to be forgotten.
Next for Limit is Long Beach
Race Week. A series of windward leward races of Long Beach California.
Estate Master Wins 2010 Farr 40 Pre Worlds
April-2010
The sailing conditions off the Casa de Campo resort in La Romana, Dominican Republic lived up to expectations
as the Farr 40 fleet finished up a five-race series for the Rolex Farr 40 Pre-Worlds. Ten boats and teams from four countries
– United States, Italy, Australia, and Germany – are in the Caribbean to tune up for the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship
which will run from April 21 – 24, 2010.
After five races for the Rolex Farr 40 Pre-Worlds, it was Lisa
and Martin Hill’s Estate Master (AUS) that finished on top, with Doug Douglass’ Goombay Smash (USA), and defending
Rolex Farr 40 World Champion, Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad (USA) in third place.
Though the fleet is smaller
than in recent Farr 40 Worlds, the racing was just as tight and competitive: in the five races, eight teams posted scores
in the top three, the shifty conditions over the weekend giving all teams a shot at coming out on top.
On Saturday,
Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio and his race committee ran three races -- two nautical mile leg windward/leeward courses
-- that gave the fleet of ten boats a taste of the local conditions.
The 2008 Rolex North American Champion Doug
Douglass and his Goombay Smash team won the first race of the regatta and went on to finish the first day of racing at the
top of the leader board. Lisa and Martin Hill’s Estate Master took second in race one and held off the Nerone (ITA),
steered by Alberto Signorini to finish second. Defending Rolex Farr 40 World Champion Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad took
the gun in race two ahead of Enfant Terrible (ITA) crossing in second and fellow Italian team Alessandro Barnaba’s Fiamma
(ITA) sliding into third.
n Sunday, two more windward/leeward races were run, and going into the fifth
and last race, Estate Master was tied with Goombay Smash for first place overall. Both boats had a plan to start at the pin
end, but it was Estate Master that pulled it off. Added to that, at the top of the first windward beat, Goombay Smash incurred
a penalty for a port-starboard incident and had to do a 7200 turn, which effectively ended their chances of catching Estate
Master.
Owner/helmsman Martin Hill plan to start at the pin end paid off, 'We noticed there’s a trend at
the bottom of the course -- there’ s a right breeze and you get to the top mark and it goes left, so ideally you try
to start on starboard as far as you can towards the pin, and then tack onto port and go for the top mark. That was our plan
and we got down there and no one was around us, so happy days! I don’t know what was wrong, so we tacked and led the
entire race. We’re not stupid enough to know that this is a practice race for the Worlds. Still I take any win, and
it was lovely – the wind, the sunshine, and just being in the Caribbean, it’s just fantastic here.'
Hill, clearly enthused about his teams Pre-Worlds win, cautioned, 'The only thing is there’s always a type of voodoo
about winning the Pre-Worlds, it’s bad luck. But I said, ‘I’m not into superstitions, I’ve got to
take any international regatta that I can’.
Hill’s wife, Lisa, sails on the boat in the pit position.
Apparently a quick learner, she’s only been sailing six years, four of them on their Farr 40. After raising three kids
in Sydney, she was looking around for something to do to fill her time. Hill said, 'So I thought, well Martin’s not
going to stop sailing, and so I sort of turned up one day and said ‘I’m here boys, and they sort of looked horrified’.
And I thought, ‘I’ve brought up three kids I think I can do this. Just be patient.’'
Given the
distance they had to travel from Australia, Hill and his crew arrived in the Dominican Republic last Saturday a full week
before the Pre-Worlds began, to get acclimatized to the time difference. They put the days to good use, sailing in the local
conditions. Hill said, 'We had a new mast and things to test out. It gave us a lot of confidence in testing the breeze and
also we’ve been recording for the last month the wind direction, so we’ve been watching the trend.' 'It’s
a little obsessive', he said with a laugh, 'but you need a certain amount of confidence. We had the patience to wait for the
shifts, we knew that it would come.'
Indicative of several teams whose scores trended up through the series, Alex
Roepers’ Plenty (USA) had a second in the last race. Tactician Tony Rey said, ' We pulled some magic out there. We had
a reasonable start and hit the first two shifts and sort of put our elbows out from there and tried to put everyone behind
us.'
About the upcoming Worlds, Rey said, 'It’s going to be shifty enough, especially if we sail close to
land – they’ll be plenty of lead changes to follow. This week is about getting off the starting line and being
able to go straight for the first eight minutes. If you can do that, without tacking, you’re going to be in the top
four at the top mark.'
Added to that is the fleet size which makes it even more critical to sail well, Rey said,
'With ten boats you have to be very fast and you have to get a good start, it’s very hard to come back.'
1. Estate Master, Lisa & Martin Hill (AUS), 2-4-4-1-1, 12
2. Goombay Smash, Doug Douglass (USA), 1-5-3-2-6,
17
3. Barking Mad, Jim Richardson (USA), 4-1-6-4-4, 19
4. Fiamma, Alessandro Barnaba (ITA), 9-3-1-7-5, 25
5. Nerone, Massimo Mezzarona/Alberto Signorini (ITA), 3-6-2-9-7, 27
6. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi/Roberto Strappati
(ITA), 6-2-7-5-10, 30
7. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut & Evan Jahn (USA), 10-9-9-3-3, 34
8. Struntje Light, Wolfgang
Schaefer (GER), 5-7-5-8-9, 34
9. Plenty, Alex Roepers (USA), 7-10-8-10-2, 37
10. Transfusion, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis
(AUS), 8-8-DNF-6-8, 41
Estate Master leads after day one of 2010 Farr 40 Australian
Championship
March 2010
Sydney (AUS) – The highly competitive Farr 40 class
put everything on the table today when the fleet sailed four races on day one of the 2010 Farr 40 Australian Championship.
Defending champion Guido Belgiorno Nettis and his team on Transfusion started the day out with a win in the first race.
Lisa and Martin Hill’s Estate Master, who is in the lead after the four races, won
the second and fourth race of the day. The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron race committee set the harbour course with Sydney’s
famous Taronga Zoo as a backdrop for the start line.
The fleet sailed a windward leeward course across
the harbour to Point Piper in a breeze that fluctuated between East South East and South East and increasing in strength over
the afternoon to reach 17 knots. The flat water harbour racing will be in contrast to the offshore swell that the fleet
will race in for the next two days.
“We’ve had four really close races today and we only
have the lead by one point so it will be tough competition tomorrow and Sunday. Both ourselves and Transfusion are travelling
to the Dominican Republic next month for the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds and this event is a great opportunity for us in preparation”,
said Hill after racing.
The strict one design class rules of the Farr 40’s has developed very capable
owner drivers who are “rock star” helmsmen in their own right. Being able to steer a Farr 40 while following
the directions of the tactician produces extremely close one design racing and with every result counting towards the final
point score every manoeuvre on the course needs to be perfect and the smallest mistake can be costly.
New
Zealander Brett Neill, who is chartering a boat for this event, won race three of the series leading the fleet from start
to finish. Neill and his White Cloud team finished third in the Australian Championship in 2009 are enjoying their return
to class racing after some time away.
Racing continues tomorrow with the fleet heading offshore to race off
Sydney’s heads. The course the fleet will race on offshore will be the race course for the 2011 Rolex Farr 40
World Championship which the Australian fleet will host next year.
2010
Farr 40 Australian Championship Day 1 Provisional Results:
1
Estate Master Lisa & Martin Hill
MHYC 7
2 Transfusion
Guido Belgiorno-Nettis MHYC
8
3
Easy Tiger II Chris Way
RPAYC 12
4 White Cloud
Brett Neill
RNZYC 14
5 Edake
Jeff Carter
MHYC 19
Crown Series Bellerive Regatta - Melges 32 Tasmanian racing debut
Feb 2010
One of the
world's newest and exciting one-design racing yachts, the Melges 32, will make its Tasmanian racing debut in this weekend's
Crown Series Bellerive Regatta with Hobart international yachtsman Greg 'Enzo' Prescott
on the helm.
The
Melges 32, which Prescott has descriptively named 2Unlimited, heads a fleet of nearly 100 keel yachts and trailable yachts
entered for the Regatta, which starts on Friday evening with a non-spinnaker twilight race and continues over the weekend
with four full-on spinnaker races on the river.
Prescott, who notched up his 25th Sydney Hobart Race on the West
Australian-owned yacht Limit in December, describes sailing it as 'like a Laser but with more sails and more crew.'
'I've done most of my racing out of Sydney for the past 12 to 15 years so I thought it was time to do some racing back on
the Derwent,' Prescott said. 'I've put together a strong crew, including some keen 18 to 20-year-olds, to
race the boat,
but for the Crown Series I'll be joined by another expat Hobartian, Darren 'Twirler' Jones, a 5 times world champion crewman.'
2Unlimited is the sixth Melges 32 to be imported to Australia, the others being raced in Sydney by a number of
wellknown yachtsmen, including Farr 30 world champion Guy Stening. The 32-footer weighs only 1,750kg and carries a 41.3 m2
mainsail, a 23.6m2, 105% jib, while its biggest asymmetrical Cade 2A running spinnaker is a massive 121 m2.
Innovative
features include a retractable 9hp outboard motor that fits into a well admidships and direct steering without a rudder stock.
2Unlimited's opposition in Division 1 of the Crown Series Bellerive Regatta will include recently successful yachts
Auch (David Bean), The Fork in the Road (Gary Smith), Intrigue (Don Calvert) and two two Bellerive Yacht Club
champions
from last year, Jeff Cordell's Host Plus Executive and Harold Clark's Invincible.
Estate Master Dominate Sprint Series
After two days of racing on Sydney Harbour Lisa and Martin Hill’s
Estate Master have won their second Farr 40 regatta in a row, taking out the 2010 Farr 40 Sprint Series.
Hill commented 'It may have looked easy from the results but we didn’t have it all our way', he continued,
'we had to work hard and the team we have now is coming together well'.
Estate Master finished day one of racing
with a picket fence on their score card winning all four races. The Farr 40’s joined the mêlée of boats
racing on Sydney Harbour on Saturday making for challenging racing as they threaded their way across the harbour on the short
sprint style windward leeward race course set by PRO Denis Thomson.
Rejoining the Farr 40 class was New Zealander
Brett Neill’s White Cloud team sailing on Orion. Their return from a 12 month hiatus is in preparation for the upcoming
Farr 40 Australian Championship being held March 12-14.
Teams have used this weekends racing in preparation for
the 2010 Farr 40 Australian Championship which will be hosted by Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. As the fleet converged on the
marks each crew was put through their paces and given plenty of opportunities to practice crew manoeuvres in the very close
racing enjoyed by all.
Day two of racing was a little less congested on the harbour and the Farr 40 fleet waited
for the Royal Australian Naval Sailing Association regatta to get under way before wrapping up the eight race Sprint Series
with the final four races. Estate Master kicked off the day with another first place and scored their only blemish on a near
perfect score card of a second place in race seven of the series.
'We are looking forward to racing in a few weeks
time at the Nationals, we’ve used this weekend and will also use Audi regatta for our Nationals preparation', remarked
Easy Tiger II owner Chris Way as he accepted his third place trophy.
The next event in the 2009 2010- Australian
Farr 40 Circuit will be the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta, being hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club on March 6 & 7, which
will be used as the 2010 Farr 40 Australian Championship warm up.
1
615 Estate Master Martin/Lisa Hill MHYC
9.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 1.0
1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
2
8877 Orion Brett
Neill RNZYS 20.0 2.0
4.0 2.0G 2.0 2.0 3.0
2.0 3.0
3 5585 Easy Tiger
II Chris Way RPAYC 21.0
3.0 1.0 2.0 4.0 4.0
2.0 3.0 2.0
4 51408
Edake Jeff Carter
MHYC 29.0 4.0 3.0 4.0
3.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Limit wins Rolex Trophy Rating Series
They judged the Shark Island start perfectly, were the third yacht heading out of Sydney Harbour and then Alan
Brierty and his Limit crew mowed down the JV 72 RÁN, gybing inside her under spinnaker, with the finish line in sight,
catching a nice puff to beat RÁN, and more importantly, Loki, their main adversary for the series.
Although Limit
(CYCA) finished Race 6 second overall behind Michael Hiatt’s Living Doll, it was enough to give Brierty’s yacht
the Series by one point from near-sistership and major rival, Loki, Stephen Ainsworth’s RP 63, which finished today’s
19 nautical mile Passage Race third overall after the two went into the decider on equal points.
Brierty was once again
wearing the trademark grin, which was not in evidence yesterday after Limit’s fourth place finish which briefly cost
them the lead of the four-day Rolex Trophy Rating Series.
Limit’s helmsman, Ian ‘Barney’ Walker, said
a rope twisted on their furler while rolling up their Code Zero and cost them the race and the series lead yesterday. 'Alan
had a dummy spit and made us go out early this morning and do some training so there’d be no problems today,' said Walker
with Brierty nodding his head in agreement.
Walker said today was a lot smoother: 'We timed our start well; we were
four lengths from the Committee Boat and got clear air and everything went well after that.
As confirmed by others in
the fleet, Walker said: 'We had to work hard in the shifty pressure and it was a difficult seaway.
'We opened up a good
lead on Loki working the southern side of the course coming home, there was less current there. In the last 15 minutes of
the race we took more out of Loki.'
It was a difficult day, with light 5-8 knot east-south-easterly breezes that were
patchy at best. The race started at Shark Island and took the fleet to an offshore mark 9.5 nautical miles seaward from North
Head and return under spinnaker to the finish in Watsons Bay.
Of the ongoing battle between Limit and Loki, Walker confirmed:
'There’s little between us. While we’re both very competitive, we show each other respect. When two boats are
so close it’s all good, it works to your advantage, as long as you respect each other.'
Both Barney Walker and
Hiatt agreed that the yachts in the 50 to 60 feet range would be the most difficult to beat come the Rolex Sydney Hobart,
citing Loki, Yendys (Geoff Ross’ RP 55), Quest and Ragamuffin among them.
Commenting on Rolex Fastnet Race overall
winner, RÁN, Niklas Zennstrom’s JV 72, Walker said: 'We know it’s fast in breeze, but it struggles in light
air as we all saw today. It seemed faster upwind, but we were definitely faster downwind today.
'If Hobart is a completely
upwind race in moderate conditions, I’ll put a wager on her, as it will make its time on the other yachts.'
A
well-sailed Shogun finished the Series a good third overall. Victorian yachtsman Rob Hanna only purchased the former Wot Now,
a JV 52, in November and adding a few new crew to his solid core of Melbourne sailors, sailed his first race series on the
boat at the Rolex Trophy Rating Series. He says he and the crew are ready to tackle the Rolex Sydney Hobart which starts in
six days time.
In the light airs of today’s race, the current Farr 30 world champion Guy Stening and his Farr
30 Optimum revelled in the light breezes to steal the Division 2 win from Paul Clitheroe’s Balance, with Chris Dare’s
Audi Centre Melbourne third. 'A fantastic regatta, really well organised,' enthused Stening. 'It’s terrific to come
away with the win after a great tussle with Balance and The Philosopher’s Club.
'Friday really was the glamour
day on the water, the boat relished in the conditions. The light conditions today also suited the boat, which showed in our
performance. We had great teamwork aboard for all four days.
'I’m very happy to add another title to the ever-growing
list (apart from his Worlds win, Stening also won the Farr 30 Nationals and finished second in the in the 2008 Rolex Trophy).
'I was very happy to go one better this year,' Stening said.
'If I had to be beaten, I’m glad it was by a world
champion; we’ll get him next time,' quipped Clitheroe, a fellow CYCA member.
Place Sail No Boat Name Skipper
Score Race 6 Race 5 Race 4 Race 3
Race 2 Race 1
1 98888
Limit Alan Brierty
RP63 9.0 2.0 [4.0]
2.0 2.0 2.0
1.0
2 AUS60000 Loki
Stephen Ainsworth RP62 10.0 3.0
1.0 3.0 1.0
[9.0F] 2.0
3 6952
Shogun Rob Hanna
TP52 14.0 5.0 2.0
1.0 5.0 1.0
[5.0]
4 52566 Black
Jack Peter Harburg RP66 18.0
4.0 3.0 4.0
4.0 3.0 [4.0]
5
R55 Living Doll Michael Hiatt
Farr 55 21.0 1.0 5.0
9.0F 3.0 [9.0F] 3.0
6
GBR7236R Ran
Niklas Zennstrom JV72 45.0 9.0C
9.0C 9.0C 9.0C 9.0C
[9.0C]
6 NZL80
Alfa Romeo Neville Crichton RP100 45.0
9.0C 9.0C 9.0C 9.0C
9.0C [9.0C]
6 AUS1836
Yendys Geoff Ross
RP55 45.0 9.0C 9.0C
9.0R 9.0R 9.0R [9.0R]
Limit Match Races Loki for Rolex Trophy Rating Series
Lead
After heavy rain that left a millpond, delaying racing by nearly two hours
today, the two Divisions contesting Day 2 of the Rolex Trophy Series finally started with breeze just before 1.00pm on the
Macquarie Circle off Sydney Heads.
Denis Thompson, the Principal Race Officer for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
series, sent the fleet off on a two-lap windward/leeward course in both Races 3 and 4.
Following a general recall, the
earlier race was sailed in a heavy 20-25 southerly wind on lumpy and confused seas, the wind monotonously increasing and decreasing
in pressure, making it hard for everyone to judge.
By Race 4, the wind had swung further to the right into more of a
south-easterly. 'By the end of the race, winds had dropped to around 14 knots,' Denis Thompson said.
The wet day did
not dampen the spirits of Limit’s owner, Alan Brierty, who was wearing a Colgate smile back at the CYCA after racing.
'I’ll let the boys tell you about our day,' said the West Australian who knew he and the crew had consolidated on yesterday’s
lead, even though they did not win a race today, instead scoring second and third places.
With a race drop now in place,
Brierty’s RP 62 leads Rob Hanna’s newly purchased JV 52 Shogun and Stephen Ainsworth’s RP 63 Loki by two
points each, the Victorian owned Shogun second on a countback.
Limit (CYCA) and near-sistership Loki (CYCA) put on a
show in today’s two races, match racing around the course.
Limit’s helmsman, Ian ‘Barney’ Walker
said: 'due to the crappy helmsman, we had a bad start in the earlier race – I stalled the boat! We had a great race
with Loki in Race 4 – we passed each other all throughout the race.'
Walker conceded: 'It was a tough day - hard
to steer the boat – the waves were more predictable yesterday, which made it easier, even though the seas were worse
yesterday. We’re looking forward to the passage race tomorrow and the lighter predicted conditions. It will be good
to test the boat. If we have a good race, I think we’ll be impossible to beat for the Rolex Trophy,' he said
Loki’s
sailing master, Gordon Maguire commenting 'They only beat us across the line by 14 seconds in the last race, it was exciting,
only a bowsprit in it at times.'
Maguire and the crew know they were lucky to be racing at all, after their shaft drive
dropped in the yacht yesterday, the reason still unknown. 'We’ve done a temporary repair, but the boat will have to
go back to McConaghy’s for a major repair when the series is over. Fortunately, just the shaft drive was damaged, though
it is fairly major in itself,' added Maguire.
McConaghy’s, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, will also come
to the rescue of Melbourne entry Living Doll, a Farr 55 owned by Michael Hiatt. 'We had to pull out of Race 4, we had a problem
with a rudder bearing which McConaghy’s will fix for us tonight,' Hiatt said.
Back aboard Loki, Maguire, an international
yachtsman of repute, told: 'We’re learning heaps, so it’s important for us to finish the series. We don’t
often get to race against our near sistership (Limit) and this is important.'
The Irishman went on to say: 'We were
looking forward to racing against RÁN today. They’re the overseas challenger and we wanted to see how good they
are. Hopefully they’ll be racing tomorrow. They started today, but peeled off at the end of the first leg of the first
race.'
RÁN’s crew elected not to finish the race, instead preferring to attend to the long work list on
the agenda to be race-ready for the Rolex Sydney Hobart start on December 26.
Second placed Rob Hanna is pleased with
the newly purchased Shogun’s performance and that of his crew, who had not sailed as a team before yesterday.
A
win in Race 4 gave Hanna confidence in his new boat. 'Yesterday was our first race on the boat and this is our first time
together as a crew. I have a few of my regulars and I’ve topped up with others like Steve McConaghy (calling tactics)
and Sean Kirkjian. Racing has been fabulous,' the Victorian owner said.
'The boat went really well yesterday and today.
Looking back, I’m glad we had these tough two days, because they put us under the pump and I feel more confident in
the boat now,' said Hanna who was disappointed they had blown up a No. 4 headsail in Race 3, which he says, 'cost us a win.'
Instead, they finished sixth.
'The boat’s fantastic and this has been a great learning curve so far,' Hanna enthused.
Stephen Ainsworth’s Loki got a ‘quick fix’ overnight and was back on the race course today in fine
form, turning the tables on yesterday’s Race 1 winner, Limit, Alan Brierty’s RP 62, to take out Race 3, Limit
this time taking second place. Since their inception, the two CYCA entries have been closely matched at the Australian regattas
they have contested.
Limit leads on day of drama at Rolex Trophy Rating Series
Two of the major players did not make the start line and two other highly
fancied entries did enough damage to warrant pulling out of Race 2 of the Rolex Trophy Rating Series which started today on
the Manly Circle just north of Sydney Heads.
A touch of start day nerves, some crew changes and lumpy seas all added
to an interesting day of windward/leeward racing in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia organised series.
Listed as
starters, Alfa Romeo and RÁN did not turn up at the race course area. Neville Crichton, the owner of the New Zealand
line honours challenger, instead decided to undertake crew training. The 100ft maxi was seen sharing Sydney Harbour with her
main adversary for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI, prior to racing this morning
RÁN’s
late Sydney arrival in the early hours of this morning after being off-loaded at Port Kembla following transportation
from the UK by ship, meant there was too little time to prepare the 2009 Rolex Fastnet Race overall winner for racing
today. The good news is, fellow competitors and spectators can expect to see Niklas Zennstrom’s JV 72 in action for
the remaining three days of racing.
Meanwhile, out on the course area, the 12 remaining yachts sailed in two divisions
on a lumpy sea that got rougher throughout the day in a 10-20 knot north to nor-easterly wind that gusted to 25 knots at times
with the odd shift thrown in.
Rolex Sydney Hobart pre-race favourites Stephen Ainsworth’s
RP 63 Loki (CYCA) and Michael Hiatt’s Farr 55 Living Doll from Victoria, were casualties of Race 2.
Loki, which
finished Race 1 in second, was looking well placed when disaster struck. According to crew member Adam Barnes, they were at
the top mark when they heard a loud bang. “We went below to check and found the shaft drive system had dropped –
we don’t know how it happened yet.”
The yacht was taken immediately to Sydney City Marine where it will be
hauled out of the water to reveal just how much damage has been done to the engine, propeller, gear box and bearings in the
hull of the yacht. At this stage it is not known if the yacht will be race-ready for tomorrow’s two windward/leewards.
On Living Doll, owner/skipper Michael Hiatt told of their own spinnaker woes. “We had a mishap with the kite. It got
a bit messy and we lost some time. It wasn’t worth continuing on in the race.”
However, Hiatt was at pains
to point out that although it was a hard day’s sailing with big lumpy seas, “We’re very happy with the boat’s
performance – the boat is going really well.”
The businessman, who owns the Living Doll clothing label, said
he had brought in four young guys from Australia and New Zealand and renowned ocean racing navigator, Andrew Cape, to compliment
an already solid crew that includes tactician Ross Lloyd.
Leading the series following Races 1 and 2, Alan Brierty’s
RP 62 Limit was not without dramas either.
Winning Race 1, things were not so simple in Race 2; losing control of their
heavy spinnaker at the first leeward gate, forcing the Limit crew to cut it away from the boat. It was rescued by Principal
Race Officer Denis Thompson and his on-water race management crew. Limit still managed to finish third in the diminished fleet.
Limit’s Kiwi tactician Chris Main told how: “We were left with the lighter kite and in the big breeze and the
seas up, it was out-ranged and blew up.”
Owner, Alan Brierty, was thrilled to be the leader on Day 1. “Considering
we have a pretty new crew from all over the world, I think we did a great job.” Like Hiatt, Brierty has some of his
regulars, such as Keenan, but others, including Gavin Brady, could not make it this year for various reasons.
“We’ve
got guys from Spain, England, New Zealand, America and Australia; it’s a boat of all nations,” said Limit’s
eccentric owner who is currently sporting dreadlocks.
Rob Hanna’s Shogun, the JV 52 formerly known as Wot Now,
is second overall in the series. Now based in Victoria, Hanna has also added some world champions in various classes to his
crew of local sailors, in the shape of Steve McConaghy and Sean Kirkjian. “Yep, we’re pretty happy with our day,”
McConaghy said.
Geoff Ross’ RP 55 Yendys (CYCA) was third overall. “Today was a good workout and reminds
us what to expect in the race to Hobart,” was his synopsis of the day.
