2015 Airlie Beach Race Week Ichi Ban consolidates the lead

by Di Pearson on 13 Aug 2015 Matt Allen pulled off his fourth straight win at Airlie Beach Race Week today to consolidate his lead in IRC Racing division one, after a long day on the water, with racing starting at 9.30am this morning in 20-25 knot winds with big gusts.

Only one more race remains to be sailed at the Whitsunday Sailing Club’s popular annual regatta, and Allen is in an almost unbeatable situation with Ray Roberts’ Farr 55, OneSails Racing, four points in arrears after finishing the maiden again today.

OneSails moved back up into second place yesterday following a protest against the race committee in regards to race four, which resulted in Zen, Quest, The Goat and Hartbreaker being scored TLE (Time Limit Expired).

Ichi Ban, a TP52, and OneSails Racing share the same handicap, and although Roberts won the opening race, he hasn’t been able to get a look in since, with Ichi Ban getting faster by the day. In today’s race, which took Ichi Ban four hours 23 minutes and 36 seconds to complete, Roberts trailed by two minutes.

More Noise (Jason Close) in IRC racing two and Trumpcard (Blake Boulton) and Belle (Doug Painter) both in IRC Passage, were given redress for going to the assistance of Cool Change, Bob Critchley’s multihull which capsized on the course today.

The redress keeps More Noise in the lead of division two, as it had already won four out of five races, placing the Archambault 31 just over seven points in front of its nearest rival, Roger Hickman’s Wild Rose.

Wild Rose, a 30 year-old Farr 43, has been in a tight tussle with the more modern Sydney 36 Cruiser/Racer, The Philosopher’s Club (Peter Sorensen), throughout the event. Following today’s win, Sorensen is now in third place overall, just one point behind Wild Rose, which finished second today.

“What a fantastic race,” Sorensen said this afternoon. “It was 22 knots going up the beat and big seas, making it a tactically difficult race, but my boat loves those sorts of conditions. By the time we were running for home, the seas had flattened out, so life was easier.”

‘Sorro’ said it has been a tough week trying to beat both More Noise and Wild Rose.

“Finally a win, I can’t believe it. More Noise keeps winning and there is never more than 200 metres between us and Wild Rose - every day we have a battle with them - I wish they’d go away,” the champion Sydney yachtsman said with a grin.

“I thought they had us, but they couldn’t get their (spinnaker) pole down at the last bottom mark and we took advantage from a slight left hand shift,” Sorensen finished.

Jason Close was disappointed not to be able to continue in the race which took the boats from Pioneer Bay to Dent Passage, the Molles, to Whitsunday Passage and home, as the heavier 20-25 knot winds that gusted to 30 knots, were right up his alley.

Instead, Close stood by a fellow competitor, the multihull Cool Change (Bob Critchley) which capsized at North Molle. “It wasn’t a choice, that is what you do in sailing,” Close said.

Sports Boat promise kept
Graham Sherring, the owner/skipper of Stay Tuned, made good his promise at Airlie Beach Race Week today, when the Sports Boats contested four windward/leeward courses and the Queenslander moved to within one point of the lead with a day of racing remaining.

This morning Sherring said the predicted 30 knot south-easterly would play right into his boat’s hands, giving him hope of beating his two main rivals, Vivace (John Rae) and fellow Southport Yacht Club member, Noel Leigh-Smith with Viper.

Vivace led the Series going into the day, while Stay Tuned was sitting in third. Sherring sailed his Leech 650 to 3-1-2-1 results, which leaves him in second place overall and one point adrift of Vivace, which was favoured to win the event coming in and posted 1-4-1-2 results today.

Tyee III looking the goods in Multihull Passage
With a scorecard showing he has not strayed outside the top three, John Williams and his Tyee III look to have the Multihull Passage title stitched up. Tyee III is four points clear of his nearest rivals – three of them are tied on 14 points apiece.

With just one day remaining, tomorrow’s final race will decide the fate of Fiona Kermeen’s Mon Amie, Richard Jenkins’ Kestrel and David Davenport’s Misty Sea, which won today’s race five. One will miss a podium place in this hotly contested class.

Hosted by the Whitsunday Sailing Club, racing at the ‘Tropical Festival of Sailing’ comes to a close tomorrow.

 IRC Racing Division 1

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	AUS001	ICHI BAN	Matt Allen	6.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	[3.0]	2.0
2	AUS8899	ONESAILS RACING	Ray Roberts	10.0	2.0	3.0	2.0	2.0	[5.0]	1.0
3	64221	ZEN	Gordon Ketelbey	13.0	3.0	2.0	4.0T	3.0	1.0	[4.0]
4	7075	QUEST	Bob Steel	17.0	[7.0R]	4.0	4.0T	4.0	2.0	3.0
5	421	THE GOAT	Sebastion Bohm Bruce	22.0	4.0	5.0	4.0T	5.0	4.0	[5.0]
6	B330	HARTBREAKER	Alan Breidahl	27.0	5.0	6.0	4.0T	6.0	6.0	[6.0]

 IRC Racing Division 2

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	SM3131	MORE NOISE	Jason Close	6.4	2.4G	1.0	[8.0]	1.0	1.0	1.0
2	4343	WILD ROSE	Roger Hickman	14.0	2.0	2.0	[6.0]	3.0	5.0	2.0
3	MH20	THEPHILOSOPHERS CLUB	Peter Sorensen	15.0	1.0	3.0	4.0	[5.0]	4.0	3.0
4	SYD8	TULIP	Bernie Van'T Hof	16.0	3.0	5.0	1.0	[6.0]	3.0	4.0
5	5845	BOTANY ACCESS COCOMO	Justin Brownbill	19.0	5.0	4.0	[7.0]	2.0	2.0	6.0
6	11044	KERAZY	R Curtis G Tailby	21.0	4.0	6.0	2.0	4.0	[6.0]	5.0
7	B52	B52	Daniel Farmer	31.0	6.0	8.0	3.0	7.0	[8.0]	7.0
8	RQ432	DEKADENCE	Stephanie Kerin	36.0	9.0F	7.0	5.0	[9.0O]	7.0	8.0

IRC Passage

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	6838	PONYO	David Currie	12.0	2.0	1.0	1.0	3.0	5.0
2	RQ64	OCEAN AFFINITY	Stewart Lewis	14.0	1.0	3.0	3.0	4.0	3.0
3	135	LEE-WAY	Tony Horkings	15.0	7.0	2.0	4.0	1.0	1.0
4	6669	CARBON CREDITS	Trevor Bailey	18.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	2.0	4.0
5	4913	TILT	Peter Cretan	26.0	5.0	7.0	2.0	5.0	7.0
6	1986	TRUMPCARD	Blake Boulton	26.3	5.3G	5.0	8.0	6.0	2.0
7	M25	HASTA LA VISTA	Mark Jacobsen	31.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	7.0	6.0
8	6037	EUREKA 11	Mal Robertson	35.0	4.0	8.0	7.0	8.0	8.0

Sports Boats

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Sers Score	Race 8	Race 7	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	B1	VIVACE	John Rae	MYC	12.0	2.0	1.0	[4.0]	1.0	3.0	3.0	1.0	1.0
2	L650	STAY TUNED	Graham Sherring	SYC	13.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	3.0	1.0	[5.0]	3.0	2.0
3	AUS200	VIPER QLD	Noel Leigh-Smith	SYC	18.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	[5.0]	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0
4	7002	MISTER MAGOO	Jason Ruckert	RQYS	27.0	5.0	4.0	2.0	4.0	5.0	1.0	6.0	[6.0]
5	658	CRANK	Andrew Wiklund	RQYS	32.0	4.0	6.0	6.0	2.0	4.0	[6.0]	5.0	5.0
6	7504	THE DUCKS NUTS	Mitch De Vries	SOPYC	34.0	6.0	5.0	5.0	6.0	[6.0]	4.0	4.0	4.0
7	014	BEER BALLAST	Ben Downey	SYC	63.0	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	[9.0C]
7	AUS008	OCTOPUSSY	Rees Howell	SOPYC	63.0	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	[9.0C]

Multi-Hull Racing

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	M165	MOJO	Peter Wilcox	MYCQ	9.0	2.0	3.0	2.0	1.0	1.0	[3.0]
2	V2	APC MAD MAX	George Owen	MYCV	11.0	4.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	[4.0]
3	641	FANTASIA	Andrew Stransky	MYCQ	13.0	1.0	2.0	[19.0R]	4.0	4.0	2.0
4	3002	MORTICIA	Chris Williams	RMYC	15.0	5.0	4.0	3.0	[5.0]	2.0	1.0
5	SA532	CARBON CREDIT	Peter Hawker	RSAYS	28.0	[19.0F]	5.0	6.0	3.0	8.0	6.0
6	N888	THE BOAT WORKS	Julian Griffiths	NYRC	29.0	3.0	8.0	4.0	7.0	7.0	[8.0]
7	M1480	RENAISSANCE	Mike Hodges	MYCQ	30.0	6.0	9.0	5.0	[9.0]	5.0	5.0
8	SA432	CROSSHAIR	Gerald Valk	RSAYS	35.0	7.0	6.0	8.0	8.0	6.0	[12.0]
9	N11	TWO UP TOGETHER	Justin Grunwald	RMYC	51.0	8.0	11.0	7.0	[17.0]	15.0	10.0
10	V3	BARE ESSENTIALS	Tim Pepperell	MYCV	52.5	[19.0F]	7.0	9.0	13.0	12.5	11.0
11	BFC55	BAREFOOT	Warren Innes	CYC	53.0	9.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	14.0	[15.0]
12	339	QUICK SKIPS	Peter Millar	WSC	54.0	10.0	[14.0]	13.0	11.0	11.0	9.0
13	WH3801	J'OUVERT	Stephen Barton	RMYC	60.0	19.0C	19.0C	[19.0F]	6.0	9.0	7.0
14	WH1093	COOL CHANGE	Bob Critchley	MYC	61.0	[19.0F]	12.0	11.0	15.0	10.0	13.0
15	449	DUX NUTTS	Peter Boyd	RSAYS	63.5	[19.0C]	13.0	12.0	12.0	12.5	14.0
16	PC101	NO PROBLEM	Ray Hobbs	PCSC	80.0	19.0F	15.0	14.0	16.0	[19.0R]	16.0
17	W111	SIROCCO	M Arthur	WSC	81.0	19.0C	[19.0C]	15.0	14.0	16.0	17.0
18	AUS57	EARTHLING	Glenn Rutherford	MYCQ	95.0	19.0C	19.0C	19.0C	19.0C	19.0C	[19.0C]

Multi-Hull Passage

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Sers Score	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	SM777	TYEE III	John Williams	SYC	10.0	3.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	1.0
2	BOW3	MON AMIE	Fiona Kermeen	WSC	14.0	2.0	1.0	6.0F	1.0	4.0
3	M321	KESTREL	Richard Jenkins	MYCQ	14.0	4.0	4.0	1.0	3.0	2.0
4	MYS09	MISTY SEA	David Davenport	EFYC	14.0	1.0	3.0	3.0	4.0	3.0
5	B112	A WHITER SHADE OF PA	Roger Jepson	RBYC	26.0	5.0T	5.0	6.0F	5.0	5.0