| Australia. Hahn Premium Race Week: Sydney 36 Greater Springfield tops IRC Cruising pointscore |
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| Wednesday, 23 August 2006 | |
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Lisa Ratcliff: With the start of the scheduled 20 mile race for the Premier Cruising, IRC Cruising and Cruising divisions delayed for two hours, some crews took the opportunity to cool off by diving into the warm turquoise water of the Whitsundays. The scheduled start time of 11.00am came and went before the course was moved closer to Whitsunday Island. As race organisers waited for the breeze to settle in from one direction so the starting sequence could begin, the large cruising fleet crisscrossed the starting vessel, crews patiently watching for the postponement flag to be dropped. Finally the light nor’wester clocked around the dial before settling in from the nor’east at around six knots which allowed racing to get underway. The Premier Cruising and IRC Cruising fleets were sent on a four mile work to the top turning mark, an altered and shortened course, before a lovely spinnaker run to the finish in Dent Passage. After a great start by Matthew Percy’s Alacrity, Phil Edmiston & Friends’ Liesl and Stephen Mackay’s Cabernet Sauvignon, the Premier Cruising Class split tacks, some heading close to the Whitsunday Island shoreline while the rest tacked off to the right, prepared to take on the opposing tide in the search for greater pressure. Laurence Freedman’s Espresso Forte and Graeme Wood’s Wot’s Next went left and snuck along the beach which paid handsomely, rounding the top mark in first place ahead of the Swan 82 Ipixuna and Greg MacMahon’s Afternoon. This manoeuvre set them up for the rest of the race although Wot’s Next managed to climb over Espresso Forte to finish first on handicap, their third from four races in the Premier Cruising class which puts them equal first in the pointscore with Paul Clitheroe’s Balance. In the IRC Cruising division, Luke McGrath’s Sydney 36 Greater Springfield sailed an exceptional race to be firmly placed at the top of the pointscore ahead of Ray Harris’ Beneteau 44.7 Honeysuckle which finished third in today’s race. Following the second start five minutes later, the red, white and blue Cruising classes tacked away towards Hamilton Island on a separate shortened course. As this fleet headed towards Dungurra Island, John Clinton’s Holy Cow reported a whale and calf on the racetrack. The information was relayed to the fleet with all skippers advised to keep a watch out. Holy Cow, with The Wolverines country band front man John Clinton at the helm, has the perfect thing for scaring away whales which stray onto the racetrack - a cow bell mounted on the stern rail to complement their cow print headsail! By 3.00pm, as the IRC Cruising and Premier Cruising divisions cutting a swathe through the IRC fleets preparing for the start of their second windward/leeward race, a decent sou’easter had finally filled in and there was excitement in the air. After a slow start to the day, with spinnakers filled the cruising divisions enjoyed a lively downhill run to the entrance of Dent Passage. But this is where the race restarted for many. “Everyone came around the corner with their spinnakers up and we all stopped dead in no wind and with the tide against us,” said Adrian Cass, crew member on Ross Muir’s Beneteau 47.3 called Muir. “There were some sudden dramatic changes in positions; we dropped 20 places just in the passage.” Muir is being campaigned at Hahn Premium Hamilton Island Race Week by three brothers, Ross, John and Greg Muir, who are from the famous Tasmanian sailing family of boat builders, ship chandlers and sailors. They also have a father and son combination on board. Results for the Premier Cruising, IRC Cruising and Cruising classes are available from http://www.hiyc.org.au/results06/html/home.html |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 23 August 2006 ) |
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