Audi Hamilton Island RW to be decided on final day

'Alegria downwind at speed - 2008 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week' Crosbie Lorimer

[by Lisa Ratcliff]

The momentous tussle at the top of the IRC Grand Prix Division 2 pointscore will go down to the wire tomorrow with Rod Jones’ Alegria and Ray Harris’ Honeysuckle still separated by just one point after six days of racing.
'We’ll just have to keep the throttle down' said Honeysuckle’s navigator Michael Spies this afternoon. The final result will depend on who beats who tomorrow...if it goes to a countback we will be better off.'

After scoring sixth and seventh in today’s two windward/leewards, Bob Steel’s TP52 Quest has moved the wrong direction in the podium placings. Quest, which was called OCS in the second race, has slipped from second to third on the series leaderboard whereas they need to be moving in the opposite direction if they are to have any chance of winning the prestigious Audi IRC Australian Championship which will be decided tomorrow.

With Quest no longer breathing down their necks, Alan Whiteley’s TP52 Cougar II from Melbourne has a more comfortable lead on 18 points from Michael Hiatt’s Victorian modified conventional keeled Cookson 50 Living Doll which has moved into second overall on 25 points in IRC Grand Prix Division 1.

The week’s line honours contest has been stamped Black Jack’s with their fourth and fifth fastest times from eight races in today’s two short course races. The score stands at five to Peter Harburg’s Black Jack, two to Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats X and one to Andrew Short’s Shockwave – Club Marine with one race to go.

Regatta director Denis Thompson sent the rest of the 225 boat fleet contesting the 25th anniversary regatta on a 21 nautical mile course around Long Island. There was plenty of colour and action on the Dent Passage start line and overhead with the Airforce Roulettes weaving their aerobatic magic for the on-water procession.

In the PHS Passage division, Mike Freebairn’s classic 1968 built S&S 49 MBDS Spirit of Koomooloo scored its first bullet of the series, the heavy 22 time Rolex Sydney Hobart entrant quick off the start line in the 10 knot sou’east breeze.

'Today we had a nice breeze and good crew work, and when we went around Long Island we think those behind us were hurting,' said Freebairn this afternoon. 'On the last work we had good height and just enough breeze to keep the boat pressured up. Short tacking into the finish is not our forte but the final results went our way.'

In the PHS Grand Prix division, Rob Reynolds’ Middle Harbour Yacht Club boat Pla Loma IV has found form in the second half of the regatta, continuing to hold a three point lead over Whalewatchingsydney.net which won today’s islands race.

Reynolds suffered fractures to his vertebrae and face when he fell down a set of stairs a few months back. He’s been out of action for the last ten weeks but with his doctor’s blessing he was not only allowed to contest Audi Hamilton Island Race Week but has helmed his DK43 in every race, taking the opportunity to steer sitting down whenever possible.

And the plan for tomorrow’s decider? 'Sail as well as we have been sailing for the past couple of days and keep a close eye on Whalewatchingsydney.net and Hitchhiker,' said Reynolds this afternoon.

Tomorrow, Saturday 30 August, is the final day of competition at the 25th anniversary Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.

The 23.3 nautical mile race Molle Islands Race for all classes will signal the close of Australia’s most awarded keel boat regattas.

The Club Marine Cruising Division 1 fleet will lead the fleet out of Dent Passage following the 9.30am start in what is usually the ‘cover shot’ of the week.

Between 9.30am and 10.35am 11 divisions will peel off, most likely under spinnaker, creating a stunning spectacle that is published worldwide as the showcase image for Audi Hamilton Island Race Week and Hamilton Island.

Trophies will be presented tomorrow evening at the Convention Centre prize giving dinner.

Results

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

Squark arks up after false start

'Audi Hamilton Island Race week 2008,BLACK JACK' Andrea Francolini / Audi ©

[by Lisa Ratcliff]

A jittery IRC Grand Prix division 1 fleet lined up for this morning’s Whitehaven Beach Race off the Eastern starting line in Fitzalan Passage in a lighter sou’east breeze and lumpy seas.

In the countdown to the 10.30am start signal the race committee was calling out those over the start line but for some it was already curtains, even for the headlining acts.

Peter Harburg’s Brisbane based Reichel Pugh 66 Black Jack was 'a bit eager trying to get to the boat end of the start line' then found they couldn’t manoeuvre in amongst the smaller end of the grand prix fleet and had to re-start.

Despite suffering at least a two minute penalty and a couple of other minor issues around the track, the dynamic duo of Etchells and 2007 America’s Cup sailor Mark ‘Squark’ Bradford and his tactician, round the world sailor Peter ‘Billy’ Merrington, managed to peg back the rest of the fleet to claim line honours by 20 seconds from Andrew Short’s 80 foot maxi Shockwave – Club Marine.

'It’s difficult to build speed and start with the smaller boats when the boat’s not very manoeuvrable. That’s the sacrifice you make sailing a big boat,' said Bradford minutes after claiming his third line honours win from six races.

Describing their entire race as 'a bit unorthodox', Bradford paid full credit to ‘Billy’ Merrington. 'The tactics were superb...Billy got us out of trouble.'

It’s rare for Mark Richards to miss a start but today he misjudged the line and was also individually recalled, sending the Bob Oatley owned Wild Oats X back to the start line once they heard the ‘On Course Side’ call, which took a little time to filter through to the three-time Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours winning crew.

Bob Steel’s TP52 Quest threw off yesterday’s collision with Surprise Rock and subsequent damage, to record its second win on corrected time putting them one point behind Division 1 series leader Cougar II, Alan Whiteley’s Melbourne based sistership to Quest.

It’s a big effort bringing a boat to Hamilton Island from Melbourne and Whiteley is 'quietly confident' that it’s been well worth his while.

'We have no great expectations, we are just here to have a good series but having said that, the boys are not making any mistakes and the conditions have been similar to what we are used to on Port Phillip Bay,' said Whiteley this afternoon.

In IRC Grand Prix Division 2 Stephen Ellis’ modified Farr 40 Splash Gordon rallied to win today’s race on corrected time from Nick George’s DK46 Exile. Exile’s second today has put them into the top three on the progressive pointscore which still has Rod Jones’ Alegria leading Ray Harris’ Honeysuckle by one point.

There were barely two boat lengths between Honeysuckle and Alegria at any stage today, the two creating some action at the top mark rounding when Alegria tried to shoot the mark inside Honeysuckle and almost drifted back onto it.

Kevin Horne’s Elliott 9.6m Wild Spirit from Maroochy River beat the rest of the Performance Grand Prix fleet today, outsailing Garry Holder’s The Real Thing and Walter Carpenter’s Pacific 50 Samarkand.

As the IRC Grand Prix and Performance Grand Prix fleets kept themselves sensible for racing, the remaining divisions enjoyed their second lay day for the week. A steady procession of yachts of all shapes and sizes began heading out of Hamilton Island Harbour early this morning to join the locals and tourists who’d already taken up position on the award-winning Whitehaven Beach.

A huge crowd gathers annually to enjoy the spectacular white silica sand, turquoise waters and to be entertained by the many planned activities including beach cricket and volleyball.

Today the Airforce Roulettes RAAF Aerobatic team wowed the crowd with their twists and turns at the Whitehaven Beach Party, the biggest social gathering of Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.

Tomorrow the IRC Division 1 and 2 fleets will sail two windward/leeward races starting from Eastern start line and all other classes will sail a short around the islands race with the course yet to be announced.

Friday’s forecast has the breeze building back up to 15-20 knots from the SE/E for the penultimate day of racing.

In the nine race inaugural South Pacific Cup the Aussies have a handy 20 point lead over the three boat Kiwi team.

Results

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

Australia's secret weather weapon helps win gold medals

BORIS has never been to an Olympics before. Never hoisted a sail, never even set foot aboard a boat. Until now, in fact, Boris has been kept well and truly under cover.

But the '18th member' of Australia's gold-medal winning sailing team has been unmasked as the secret behind their success.

Commissioned two and half years ago by the CSIRO, the sophisticated weather program _ nicknamed Boris by the Australian sailing team for no particular reason - propelled Australia's most successful sailing team to their best Games since Sydney 2000. Read on…

Day 2 - Audi Hamilton Island RW

[by Lisa Ratcliff]

Today the formula one component of the 25th anniversary Audi Hamilton Island Race Week split from the bulk of the 225 strong fleet for some thrilling round the cans action in Fitzalan Passage, to the east of Hamilton Island.

The line honours battle continued at the front end of the fleet with Peter Harburg’s Black Jack gaining the upper hand, scoring two crucial wins over the Mark Richards skippered Wild Oats X.

The 2006 built Black Jack, named after the three time formula one world champion Sir Jack Brabham in honour of his sporting achievements and launched in Brisbane last month, is a slight development of the previous Wild Oats X model.

In race 1 the two got away side by side, Black Jack finally edging out Wild Oats to finish comfortably ahead of Wild Oats X, but in the second race just a boat length separated the two at the finish, PRO Denis Thompson reporting “in the end it came down to the best gybe”.

In the all important handicap stakes, the Victorians stole the show today. The crew of Michael Hiatt’s modified Cookson 50 Living Doll redeemed themselves beyond doubt with consecutive handicap victories after scoring OCS in yesterday’s regatta opener. Living Doll is a member of the Australian South Pacific Cup team and today’s bullets will stand them in good stead against the kiwis who were left in their wake in the heavy seaway.

“The crew work was fantastic and we worked hard,” said a delighted Hiatt this afternoon. “The boat has been prepared for this sort of racing.”

Alan Whiteley’s TP52 Cougar, also representing Victoria,finished runner up in the first and second race of the day and Graeme Troon’s Reichel/Pugh 46 XLR8, yet another Melbourne boat which is sailing this week with Ian ‘Barney’ Walker at the helm, rounded out the top three in race two this afternoon.

A number of kiwi boats had issues on the track today including Rob Bassett’s Bakewell-White 52 Wired which was in irons for a number of minutes when a button jammed in the canting keel’s control system leaving the keel stuck on the wrong side and the boat stopped in the water. John Meadowcroft’s stunning Marten 49 Carerra from Auckland ripped its kite at a bottom mark turning and couldn’t crack the top three in IRC Grand Prix division 2 in either race.

In IRC Grand Prix division 2 Rod Jones’ Alegria, also a member of the Hamilton Island Yacht Club team representing Australia for the South Pacific Cup, took the double with two firsts.

There was some drama on the course in the second race of the day with Stephen Ellis’ modified Farr 40 Splash Gordon losing 30 year old Sydney based crewman Sam Horgan overboard at the last top rounding. He was retrieved in less than two minutes, one witness describing it as one of the most perfectly executed man overboard recoveries he’d ever seen. The crew has nicknamed Sam ‘Splash Horgan’.

Tomorrow is the 59 nautical mile Club Marine Classic Hayman Island Race, the longest race of the series for the IRC Grand Prix, IRC Premier Passage, IRC Passage and Performance Grand Prix. It’s an early start ahead of a long day with the first division off the line at 8.15am from Dent Passage.

The cruising divisions will sail the 41 nautical mile Double Cones Island Race starting from Dent Passage at 11am.

Results

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

Images Day 1- Audi Hamilton Island Race Week

Day 1 images of Audi Hamilton Island Race Week by Crosbie Lorimer.

In surprisingly cool 18-20 knot southeasterlies and a nasty chop the fleet left the Fitzalan Passage to the north of the island on a tough beat to Lindeman Island. From there it was a fast and more relaxed kite run north to the finish at Dent Passage.

Wild Oats X heads south towards Kennedy Sound - 2008 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - Crosbie Lorimer

Pussy Galore at speed - 2008 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - Crosbie Lorimer

XLR8 and Audi Centre Melbourne round Spitfire Rock - 2008 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - Crosbie Lorimer

Living Doll loses a sheet - 2008 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - Crosbie Lorimer

Shockwave 5 leads the fleet - 2008 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - Crosbie Lorimer

Peter Harburgs Black Jack - 2008 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - Crosbie Lorimer

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/

Gitana 13 aboard the Indian Ocean Express

21/08/2008 - 11:00 - The weather window selected by the crew of Gitana 13 to set out on the Tea Route record has proven to be the right one. Heading off from Hong Kong on Thursday 14th August at 07h55’32’’(UT), following on from the influence of the tropical storm “Kammuri” and prior to the arrival of typhoon “Nuri”, the maxi-catamaran in the colours of the LCF Rothschild Group has racked up a great time to the Sunda Strait, despite conditions which did little to favour performance. Passing through the passage last night, less than a week after setting off, this strait marks the entry of Lionel Lemonchois and his nine crew into the Indian Ocean.

The Sunda Strait, which separates the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java, is now in the wake of Gitana 13. Last night, shortly after 0100 hours (UT), the 33 metre maxi-catamaran slipped into this narrow 12 mile wide passage: “The first part of this course was very tricky but we’ve come out of it rather well. Prior to setting out from Hong Kong, the most optimistic forecasts gave us 8 days to reach the Sunda Strait. In the end we covered the 2,000 miles of this initial section in 6 days 16 hours. It’s very satisfying, particularly as the weather didn’t really favour us; dishing out what felt like some rather interminable days sailing close-hauled and a rather long passage across the equator” resumed Lionel Lemonchois this morning.

This entrance into the Indian Ocean marks a change of rhythm for the sailors of Gitana Team. After a week spent in the closed waters of the China Sea and Java Sea, tacking upwind, Gitana 13 is now slipping along downwind on the steeper waters of the Indian Ocean. Benefiting from some well-established SE’ly tradewinds, the ten sailors will finally be able to express the potential of the maxi-catamaran equipped by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild: “The SE’ly tradewinds are well and truly here! We’ve got 22 to 25 knots of breeze, which is enabling us to drive Gitana 13 at speeds close to 25-30 knots. The seas are building gradually and the atmosphere is wetter on deck now. The sailors on watch have swapped their T-shirts for foulies, which are better suited to these new sailing conditions. Everything seems to be in place to enable us to pass the Reunion Islands at a steady pace… some big surf awaits!” said the cheerful skipper of Gitana 13.

Weather analysis for the second part of the course: The Indian Ocean
Sylvain Mondon, loyal onshore router for the Gitana Team, explains the setting for the next 4,500 miles: “The SE’ly tradewinds are well established in the Indian Ocean. These highly favourable winds will enable Lionel Lemonchois and his crew to maintain an average speed of around 25 knots throughout the first half of this ocean crossing. This regular tradewind air flow is currently being produced by two vast zones of high pressure: the first close to Australia and the second close to Africa. These two systems are shifting slightly eastwards as they fill in and the second zone of high pressure will settle between the Kerguelen and Reunion islands and stretch right across the breadth of the Indian Ocean on Saturday 23rd August. A fine and slightly favourable SSE’ly swell is accompanying the maxi-catamaran so Gitana 13 should make fairly rapid progress over the next four days. Following on from that, they’ll have to line themselves up nicely in order to negotiate several passages of fronts to the south of Madagascar, prior to reaching the Cape of Good Hope. The second half of the crossing won’t be as direct and close-hauled sailing will prevail once more in increasingly big seas as they approach the African continent”.

A little history about the Tea Route
Beyond its commercial appeal, the Tea Route stood out during the XIXth century as one of the great nautical races. In 1868, Bernard Weymouth built the Thermopylae in Aberdeen, Scotland. On its maiden voyage the Thermopylae made it to Melbourne, Australia in 63 days, an incredible performance for the time. In order to challenge this record, the most famous clipper of all time, the Cutty Sark, was built in 1869, in Dumbarton, Scotland.

Today’s figures
Departure from Hong Kong: Thursday 14th August at 07h55’32’’ (UT)
Thursday 21st August at 07h46’ (UT)Latitude: 07°11.75 S – Longitude: 103°28.65 E
Speed over 4 hrs: 26.3 knots – average speed since the start: 13.29 knots
Distance left to go: 11,000 miles

http://www.gitana-team.com/en/gitana/index.asp

Quantum Racing takes IRC on countback - MMABRW

Quantum Racing winner IRC1 - Photography by Peter Campbell ©

[by Peter Campbell]

Sydney yachtsman Ray Roberts, at the helm of his canting keel 50-footer Quantum Racing, today outsailed an international fleet of grand prix racing yachts to come from behind in standings and win the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week IRC division 1 title.

Roberts, one of Australia's most successful ocean racing yachtsmen in recent years, won the final three races on corrected time but the last race was an outstanding combination between him, steering the Cookson 50, his tactician Steve McConaghy and a dedicated crew as they sailed the 20 nautical triangle course on Pioneer Bay in moderate but shifty breezes.

Quantum Racing, from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, led the IRC division 1 fleet around the course to take line and handicap honours to finish equal on points with Melbourne yachtsman Michael Hiatt's Living Doll, also a Cookson 50 but with a conventional fixed keel.
On a countback of placings in the seven races, Quantum Racing won the regatta with three first places to two wins by the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria's Living Doll.

Living Doll went in to today's final race with a one-point margin over Quantum Racing. To be assured of victory, Roberts had to win the race, with Living Doll second, or worse.
Roberts, who always steers his boats, gained a perfect start and at the end of the short first windward legs was 17 seconds clear of the New Zealand 52-footer Wired, with Living Doll in third place, closely followed by another Victorian boat, Chris Dare's Corbey 49 Audi Centre Melbourne.

'Our good start enabled us to consolidate our position on the first beat to windward and from there on we were able to dictate the way we wanted to go,' said Roberts, who recently took the line and IRC overall handicap double in the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Race. 'We were able to sail in clear air almost all day in the 12-15 knot breeze. We increased our lead on every leg except for halfway up the final work when Wired hung into a 35 degree wind shift and got in front of us. We took his stern and with Steve (McCOnaghy) again calling tactics superbly, we sailed into good pressure, coming back to regain the lead and get the gun.'

Living Doll lost time at the wing mark when pushed above the rounding buoy by the New Zealand yacht Pussy Galore. 'We went for the gap and they closed it - as was their right - but we had to drop our spinnaker and tack back to round the mark, probably costing us a couple of minutes,' a crew member said.

On corrected time, Quantum Racing won the final race by almost 5 minutes on corrected time from Living Doll, third place going to Graham Jones' Beneteau First 45 Bluewater from Port Douglas Yacht Club.

Quantum Racing placed 6-3-3-3-1-1-1 to finish with a net 12 points, with Living Doll scoring the same points form placings of 3-1-2-1-4-3-2.Quantum Racing's three firsts to Living Doll's two wins gave her the series from the Victorian yacht, with Bluewater taking third place overall on 18 points , followed by Audi Centre Melbourne on 19 points.

IRC division 2 was sewn up yesterday with Arajilla, Geoff Pearson's Archambault 35 from Middle Harbour Yacht Club, winning six straight races. She was beaten in the final race by the Sydney 38 Zen (Gordon Ketelbey), also from MHYC.

Arajilla, the overall IRC winner last year, finished this year's regatta with 6 points, Zen tasking second overall on 11 points and third on 19 points to Treasure VIII, a new Sea Quest RP36 skippered by 79-year-old Whitsunday Sailing Club member Harold Menelaus with Chris Pomfret as tactician.

Crunching time for 50-footers at MMABRW

Living Doll. Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week Day 4 racing

Photography by Ian Grant ©

[by Peter Campbell]

The Melbourne yacht Living Doll has retained her pointscore lead in the grand prix IRC division 1 of the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week, despite a boat-crunching start, a broken headsail halyard and a blown-out spinnaker in today's heavy weather passage race.
Sailing in a 25-30 knot south-easterly, the IRC division 1 surfed northwards to Saddleback Island before facing a testing beat back into Pioneer Bay to complete the 34 nautical mile race.
International yachtsman Ray Roberts steered his canting keel 50-footer Quantum Racing to an impressive victory, taking line and handicap honours, as he did in the recently Audi Sydney Gold Coast Race, to move into equal second place overall.
Quantum Racing scored a massive 16 minute win on corrected time from Chris Dare's Corby 49 Audi Centre Melbourne, third place going to Graham Jones' brand new Beneteau First 45 Bluewater, with Living Doll, Michael Hiatt's Cookson 50, recovering well to place fourth.
Living Doll's problems began at the start when the CYCA-based Swan 45 Tulip, with Sean Kirkjian on the helm, appeared to push the New Zealand 52-footer Wired (Rob Bassett) above the barging buoy - as he was entitled to under the racing rules of sailing!
Living Doll, Michael Hiatt's Cookson 50, was close to windward of Wired and the two big boats crunched gunwales, Living Doll having two carbon fibre stanchions on her portside smashed. Living Doll took a penalty turn but both she and Wired were also forced to go around the end of the line and re-start.
As Living Doll and Wired set off in pursuit of the leaders, Living Doll's woes continued, with a headsail halyard breaking, forcing her to sail bareheaded for a minute or more. However, a freshening breeze in Pioneer Bay saw her planing downwind under her big spinnaker, hitting 20 knots in the 25 knots breeze, gaining considerable time on the rest of the fleet.
The crew of Quantum Racing was elated with their double win. 'Carrying out big spinnaker, we hit 22 knots on the downhill run to the islands,' tactician Steve McConaghy said. 'Beating back into 27 knots, with the fast-ebbing tide and lumpy seas, we started with a No 4 but later went up to a No 3. It really was a good day for Ray (Roberts) and the crew!'
Roger Hickman, sailing master on Audi Centre Melbourne, was also pleased with the Corby 49's second placing today. 'It was a lovely course, with the big tides kicking up steep seas,' Hickman said. 'While it's not like sailing on The Solent (off Cowes, England) the tides play a big influence here in the Whitsundays.
After five races, Living Doll has a three point lead in IRC division standings, on 7 points after discarding her worst race (today's 4th). Equal on 10 points are Bluewater and Quantum Racing while Audi Centre Melbourne is only 11 points after the one-race discard.
Tomorrow the IRC division 1 fleet will sail the long distance race of Race Week over a course of 40 nautical miles around several of the 74 islands in the Whitsunday Island Group.

http://www.airliebeachraceweek.com/

Ronstan Bridge to Bridge

Howie Hamlin and his 18ft skiff crew sponsored by Harken won the bridge to bridge on San Francisco bay on Friday beating a bunch of Formula Boards and Kiteboards. The kiteboards came in 2nd Chip Wasson , 3rd John Gomes and 4th Anthony Chavez.
Here are the overall results.
http://www.stfyc.com/Default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=229195&ssid=79094&vnf=1

All photos thanks to Christophe Favreau http://www.christophefavreau.book.fr/