[by: Peter Campbell]
Melbourne yachtsman Michael Hiatt today steered his Cookson 50 Living Doll to a fine IRC handicap victory in the 29 nautical mile Molle Islands Race, race two of the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week.
Sailing a clever tactical race around this striking island group in the Whitsundays of Far North Queensland, Hiatt kept the conventional keeled 50-footer within a minute of the leading group of the canting keel’s yachts to finish a close fourth across the line and a clear winner on corrected time.
Today’s race was sailed in perfect ‘sponsored again by Queensland tourism’ weather, which brought out on the water some 800 sailors aboard 107 racing yachts, dozens of cruising boats and also a sun-baking whale and calf. ‘They were within a metre or so of us when we spotted them on the spinnaker run across to Grimston Point; we had to take some quick evasive action,’ skipper Hiatt said after the race. ‘We sailed a good all-round race, keeping out of the tide by going close inshore down past the Molle Islands and holding our own on the spinnaker run back up the eastern side of the islands where the tradewinds were a steady 15 knots plus,’ he added.
Provisional IRC corrected time results show Living Doll winning by a comfortable 3 minutes 21 seconds from Pussy Galore, skippered by New Zealander Anatole Masfen, with Sydney yachtsman Ray Roberts’ Quantum Racing just seven second further back.
All three are Cookson 50s, with Living Doll a conventional keeled boat, the other two fitted with performance enhancing canting keels.
After two races, Living Doll, from the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, heads the IRC Division 1 leader board with 4 points from a 3-1 score. Another Melbourne boat, Chris Dare’s Corby 49 Audi Centre Melbourne, is second overall on 5 points (1-4) followed by Pussy Galore on 7 points (5-2), Wired (Ray Bassett, NZL) on 8 points (2-6) and Quantum Racing on 9 points (6-3).
While he notched up a third today, Ray Roberts said he was looking for 15 knots plus in future races. ‘We need 15 knots and more to sail to our canting keel rating,’ he said. ‘Nevertheless, it was great to see five boats of similar size racing round the track together…it’s as good a fleet that you get anywhere in the world,’ the international yachtsman added.
In IRC Division 2, last year’s overall IRC winner (this year the fleet is split) Arajilla, Geoff Davidson’s Archambault 35 from Middle Harbour Yacht Club scored her second successive handicap win.
With former Olympic sailor Neville Witty calling tactics, Arajilla again sailed impressively from Treasure VIII (Harold Menelaus) from the Whitsunday Sailing Club and another MHYC entrant, Gordon Ketelbey’s Sydney 38 Zen.
After two races, Arajilla leads with 2 points from two wins, followed by Zen on 6 points (2-3) and Treasure VII on 5 points (4-2). After Friday’s problems with the light and flukey winds in Pioneer Bay, Principal Race officer Tony Denham moved the starting area further east toward Pioneer Rocks and also eliminated the first leg to windward from the course.
The IRC fleet and subsequent divisions enjoyed a windward start, heading straight out into the Molle Channel before tacking down the channel to circumnavigate the Molle Island Group. Once past Denman Island the IRC divisions set spinnakers for a long run back to Pioneer Bay and a leeward mark off Grimston Point, before beating back the finish just off Airlie Beach.
It was a perfect race, sailed in a south-easterly tradewind that varied from 10 to 12 knots in the Molle Passage, freshening to 15 knots as they ran back up the Whitsunday Passage.
Ray Roberts’ Cookson 50 Quantum Racing and race one line honours winner, Wired, Ray Bassett’s Bakewell-White 52 Wired, started well at the pin end of the line and took one long starboard tack to the east. Race one IRC winner, the Corby 49 Audi Centre Melbourne, with owner/skipper Chris Dare again on the helm, elected to tack inshore of Pioneer Rocks.
As the fleet converged to leave West Molle Island to starboard, a close tacking duel saw Quantum Racing briefly gain the lead from sistership Pussy Galore, skippered by New Zealander Anatole Masfen, with Wired back in third place, closely followed by the Melbourne-based Cookson 50 Living Doll (Michael Hiatt).
Pussy Galore led the IRC Division 1 around Roma Point and into the freshening breeze, just ahead of Quantum Racing, Wired and Living Doll, but on the long spinnaker run up the eastern shores of the Molle Island, Wired, with her longer waterline took the lead briefly.
However, a couple of less than perfect gybes saw their New Zealand compatriots regain the advantage. Little separated the leading four boats at the Grimston Point mark and the margins changed little on the final windward leg to the finish, Pussy Galore crossing the line 35 seconds ahead of Quantum Racing with Living Doll only 54 seconds further astern. In fourth place, a well within her rating, came the eventual IRC winner Living Doll, 1 min 06 seconds astern.
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