Sunday, August 24, 2008

Tough at the Top - Audi Hamilton Island RW

[by Ian Grant]

The 2008 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, Australia’s premier blue water yacht racing regatta, started in testing 20-25 knot trade winds and lumpy 1.5m white capped wind waves in the windy Whitsunday Islands earlier today.

A typical winter trade wind which peaked at 27 knots before dawn presented the record fleet with a supreme torture test during the 23 nautical mile Lindeman Island race where the leading yachts power sailed to exciting speed on the spinnaker sailing leg from Spitfire Rock to the finish off Hamilton Harbour.

The race for line honours between the almost identical Reichel Pugh 66 class sloops turned into a match racing tactical dog fight with the new challenger the Peter Harburg owned and Mark Bradford helmed Black Jack staging an absorbing match race against Bob Oatley’s, Mark Richards helmed, defending champion Wild Oats X.

This was by far the most exciting line honours clash ever decided in the 25 year history of racing at Hamilton Island.

Interest naturally focused on this clash with each of the talented crews holding the winning edge at various turning marks of the course.

Black Jack with her superior clear wind start held the edge on the tough slog into the breeze while the Andrew Short skippered maxi Shockwave Club Marine utilising her sail power and waterline advantage was the first to weather Spitfire Rock closely pursued by the match racing Black Jack and Wild Oats X However it soon became evident that the smaller Black Jack and Wild Oats X were faster on the spinnaker reaching angles hitting speeds in excess of 18 knots.

Initially Black Jack looked poised to capture an upset when she power sailed away to a 32 second lead but that changed when Wild Oats X advantaged with a slight wind change was able to run deeper and recaptured the lead in the final 4 miles.

As expected the Black Jack crew never gave up drawing to within a boats length with the finish line in sight but the Wild Oats X crew cleverly maintained first use of the breeze to win by 29 seconds with another 3 minutes 45 seconds to the outpaced Shockwave Club Marine.

Former Hamilton Island Race Week champion Bob Steel and principal helmsman Jamie McPhail produced unmatched handicap rated speed over the final spinnaker run to claim the major IRC class corrected time points.

The skilfully sailed TP52 Quest rating 1.345 defeated the Geoff Ross skippered defending champion Yendys (1.377) by 1 minute 46 seconds with Ray Roberts Quantum Racing (1.355) another 2 minutes 23 seconds astern.

Results

http://www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au/

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