Hong Kong’s leading yachtsman Karl Kwok loves to race in Australia and today the 1997 Sydney to Hobart winner added the prestigious Skandia Docklands Invitational title to a string of yachting achievements with Beau Geste, his ninth yacht named after the famous French term.
The annual invitation-only event gathered fourteen of Australia’s best performed yachts at Waterfront City Docklands to compete in five races for IRC handicap honours.
The annual invitation-only event gathered fourteen of Australia’s best performed yachts at Waterfront City Docklands to compete in five races for IRC handicap honours.
They may be novices when it comes to yacht racing in Melbourne but Kwok’s international crew which included team members of the BMW Oracle America’s Cup team, and Alinghi trimmer Craig Satterthwaite sailed the New Zealand-built Reichel Pugh 45 superbly on Port Philip during the two-day event to post a top three result in each race. Tactitian Gavin Brady attributed the win to making big gains downwind while working the boat well. “Yesterday was flat and light and we’re a light boat so it suited us and today it was really physical out there. We were catching waves and working the sails all the time so the boat performed fantastic” he said.
Meeting for the first time at Skandia Docklands Invitational were two TP52’s, Bob Steele’s Quest from NSW and Victorian skipper Alan Whiteley’s Cougar II. Two metres longer than Beau Geste, the sleek downwind racers revelled in the 20 knot winds, slicing through the moderate chop and showing plenty of style as they enjoyed their “race within a race”. The fifth and final race in particular proved to be a thrilling duel with Quest edging out Cougar II by six seconds to take line honours in both races on day 2 but Cougar II’s IRC rating served to secure her second place on handicap ahead of Quest.
After Saturday’s frustratingly light breezes, all skippers were hoping for some stiffer winds for the final days’ racing and while a fresh southerly provided ideal conditions for the cutting-edge Invitational fleet there were some casualties out on the course. The crew of Georgia had their hopes of making it into the top ten dashed when backstay problems forced them to withdraw from race four. A quick repair job saw her make the start of race two with minutes to spare.
Chris Dare’s new Corby IRC 49 Flirt II enjoyed a better days’ racing in the moderate chop but it was Michael Hiatt’s Cookson 50 Living Doll which sailed consistently well over both days to take fourth place behind Quest. In the battle of the mid 40-footers Philip Coombs’ DK46 Dekadence performed the best, taking fifth position on the ladder ahead of Flirt II, and Tony Kirby’s Patrice Six. Chutzpah, Bruce Taylor’s sharp-looking new Reichel Pugh 40 showed that she wasn’t quite as competitive around the buoys as she has proven to be in blue-water events. The record-breaking Sydney-Hobart division winner finished mid fleet in the Docklands Invitational, beating Extasea, Shogun, Goldfinger, Pretty Woman, Georgia and Isuzu Marine on handicap.
But it was the pretty little beamy boat with the red dragon on her topsides which captured everyone’s attention at Docklands and the famous yacht name Beau Geste will now be inscribed on the Docklands Invitational Perpetual Trophy. Kwok is renowned for selecting iconic sailing events around the globe to compete in and while he can now tick the Docklands Invitational off his list, the Beau Geste crew will focus on repeating their impressive performance during the upcoming Skandia Geelong Week.
Skandia Docklands Invitational is presented by Skandia, the Victorian State Government, the City of Melbourne, The Age and the organising authority Royal Geelong Yacht Club.
[Source: http://www.docklandsinvitational.com.au/index1.asp]
Meeting for the first time at Skandia Docklands Invitational were two TP52’s, Bob Steele’s Quest from NSW and Victorian skipper Alan Whiteley’s Cougar II. Two metres longer than Beau Geste, the sleek downwind racers revelled in the 20 knot winds, slicing through the moderate chop and showing plenty of style as they enjoyed their “race within a race”. The fifth and final race in particular proved to be a thrilling duel with Quest edging out Cougar II by six seconds to take line honours in both races on day 2 but Cougar II’s IRC rating served to secure her second place on handicap ahead of Quest.
After Saturday’s frustratingly light breezes, all skippers were hoping for some stiffer winds for the final days’ racing and while a fresh southerly provided ideal conditions for the cutting-edge Invitational fleet there were some casualties out on the course. The crew of Georgia had their hopes of making it into the top ten dashed when backstay problems forced them to withdraw from race four. A quick repair job saw her make the start of race two with minutes to spare.
Chris Dare’s new Corby IRC 49 Flirt II enjoyed a better days’ racing in the moderate chop but it was Michael Hiatt’s Cookson 50 Living Doll which sailed consistently well over both days to take fourth place behind Quest. In the battle of the mid 40-footers Philip Coombs’ DK46 Dekadence performed the best, taking fifth position on the ladder ahead of Flirt II, and Tony Kirby’s Patrice Six. Chutzpah, Bruce Taylor’s sharp-looking new Reichel Pugh 40 showed that she wasn’t quite as competitive around the buoys as she has proven to be in blue-water events. The record-breaking Sydney-Hobart division winner finished mid fleet in the Docklands Invitational, beating Extasea, Shogun, Goldfinger, Pretty Woman, Georgia and Isuzu Marine on handicap.
But it was the pretty little beamy boat with the red dragon on her topsides which captured everyone’s attention at Docklands and the famous yacht name Beau Geste will now be inscribed on the Docklands Invitational Perpetual Trophy. Kwok is renowned for selecting iconic sailing events around the globe to compete in and while he can now tick the Docklands Invitational off his list, the Beau Geste crew will focus on repeating their impressive performance during the upcoming Skandia Geelong Week.
Skandia Docklands Invitational is presented by Skandia, the Victorian State Government, the City of Melbourne, The Age and the organising authority Royal Geelong Yacht Club.
[Source: http://www.docklandsinvitational.com.au/index1.asp]
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