Airlie Beach Race Week – Competitors offered challenging final race

by Di Pearson on 14 Aug 2015 Airlie Beach Race Week came to a close today in shifty 8-18 knot winds on the Pioneer Bay race track, keeping competitors on their toes again.

IRC Racing 1, IRC Passage and Cruising Division 1 sailed a 24 nautical mile course around the Bay, while the remaining seven divisions sailed 16 miles. Conditions did get testing, especially at the wing mark where gybing under spinnaker was not for the faint hearted.

Event Chairman, Jim Hayes, said: “The racing was fantastic. We were blessed with very good weather. There was one light day and one of strongish wind that gave competitors a chance to flex their muscles. The rest was champagne sailing.

“The whole race organisation and those working on the water worked so well together so the sailors could have the best regatta. We have a great team here.”

IRC Racing
Matt Allen sailed his recently purchased TP52, Ichi Ban, to the overall win in IRC Racing Division 1. Allen skippered the yacht for the first time at Airlie Beach and the boat got better as the week wore on.

Ichi Ban won four out of six races, but did not race the final day. With the same handicap as OneSails Racing, Ray Roberts’ Farr 55, Ichi Ban had some great boat-on boat competition and defeated his rival, by two points. OneSails won the opening and closing races.

“The boat is going much better in light air than we expected. We were so pleased to see Ray (OneSails) entered, they were our benchmark. They’ve been together a while, so their crew work is very good. If Ray hadn’t been here, we wouldn’t be where we are. They made it an excellent regatta for us,” Allen said.

Allen, the president of Yachting Australia, also praised the volunteers. “Where would we be without volunteers? They are the backbone of our sport.”

Gordon Ketelbey’s Farr 40 finished third overall ahead of the Farr 40 Worlds in Sydney early next year.

Bob Steel selected Airlie Beach Race Week to launch his new Mat 1180, Quest, which did not race today and finished fourth overall. Crew member Mike Green said they missed the race “because we have some tinkering to do to finish the boat off.

“This week has been good for us, to get to know the boat and put in some sailing time on it. We’re getting there and I think it will be very competitive,” ended Green, a long term crew and friend of Steel’s.

Jason Close sailed his Archambault 31, More Noise, to first overall in Division 2. The Victorian yachtsman was surprised to do so well against the likes of champions Wild Rose (Roger Hickman) and The Philosopher’s Club (Peter Sorensen).

Close bought More Noise to Airlie Beach Race Week from Sandringham Yacht Club. “I haven’t raced the boat outside Melbourne, so I didn’t know how we would go against boats like Wild Rose and The Philosopher’s Club. It couldn’t have gone better,” he said.

More Noise beat today’s race winner, Wild Rose, by just over five points after being awarded 2.4 in a redress situation. Sorensen’s boat was a further four points behind. The latter two boats went head-to-head all week.

IRC Passage
Tony Horkings from Southport Yacht Club skated home to win IRC Passage by one point with his Northshore 38, Lee-Way. Skippered to three wins (including today) from six races, by 20 year-old Sophie Lahey, Horkings was proud of the four younger crew on his yacht, mixing it with the older members.

David Currie’s modified Farr 40, Ponyo, was second overall and Stewart Lewis maintained third overall with his Marten 49, Ocean Affinity.

Cruising
By far the largest entry, the cruising boats were split into three divisions. They also make the prettiest picture with their colourful spinnakers. There is no better sight than seeing a mass of colour with the backdrop of the Whitsunday Islands with whales breaching and dolphins playing thrown in – all for nothing.

Cruising Division 1 went to Paul Bunn and his Beneteau First 44.7, Christine. Bunn, from Victoria, proved the theory that you don’t need to win a race to win the series, you just need to be consistent.

Christine edged out Charles Cupit’s Bedfordca Three Cs, a Bavaria 45, by three points. Doug Painter’s Belle was third.

“What a brilliant regatta,” said Bunn. “We’re the only boat here from St Kilda, so we are proud to win. I only bought the boat 18 months ago and this is our first regatta out of Victoria.

“I’ve never been to a northern regatta, and I’ll definitely be back to this one. We sailed 1600 nautical miles from Melbourne to be here. It feels like we’ve been away for a month.”

Bunn said he found Race Week “A real challenge. From the light day where you had to give your full attention to the racing, to yesterday’s bumpy day, to the shifty conditions today. It was brilliant,” he said.

Christine’s crew included locals from Melbourne and a couple from Tasmania. “To come and race in the warm weather with the great and scenery is fantastic.
I thank my crew - they were cool, calm and collected – it was a real team effort.”

Bunn said they particularly enjoyed today’s conditions. “It started out at around 8 knots, but built to 18. The wing mark was a bit hairy for a few when we came to gybe. We just missed Helsal’s stern,” he said laughing.

“The best part was the run; it was fantastic getting the kite up and romping downwind,” he said.

Cruising Division 2 went to the Hanse 430, Huahine, owned and skippered by Nick Smail from Whitsunday Sailing Club. Smail pipped Sandor Tornai’s Farr 30, Skeeter (NSW) by one point. Another local, Charlie and Betty Preen’s Dehler 39, ‘Dehler Magic’, which had earlier led the series, finished third.

Two yachts from North Queensland Cruising Yacht Club fought it out for first place in Cruising Division 3 and finished on equal points. Greg Hudson’s Catalina Capri, Salty Dog, was announced the winner from Peter McKenzie’s modified Ross 7.8, Le Rossignol.

“I couldn’t believe it; it was a bit of a surprise. I didn’t realise until I saw the results and that put a smile on our faces,” Hudson said.

“The crew worked hard, it was a great team effort. I had two guys join the crew from Melbourne, and the rest of us are from Bowen. We had great competition with Le Rossignol too,” said Hudson who competed at Airlie Beach last year too.

Cruising Non-Spinnaker winner was Dewi Hughes with his Anthea from WSC. Hot on his heels was Victorian Geoff Adams’ True Colours, just one point behind. John Galloway’s Queensland Marine Services, also from WSC, was third.

Sports Boats
In the end, John Rae’s Bethwaite 79er, Vivace, was too good. Apart from claiming line honours every race, the biggest boat in the sports boat fleet also claimed five overall wins from nine races.

Graham Sherring stayed true to his word, and kept Stay Tuned up in a podium place, finishing second overall, three points adrift of Vivace and with three wins in the bag. The mostly Queensland fleet was bolstered by Rees Howell’s Octopussy, which came all the way from Perth to contest Race Week.

Multihulls
Peter Wilcox held on by the skin of his teeth to claim the Multihull Racing series with Mojo. The Schionninggforce1500 from the Multihull Yacht Club Queensland, defeated Tony Considine’s Grainger 10, APC Mad Max, skippered by George Owen by one point and Andrew Stranksy’s Seven Seas 50, Fantasia by a further point in this close series.

Hats off to those boats that travel great distance by road from Adelaide to compete each year: Carbon Credit (Peter Hawker); Crosshair (Gerald Valk) and Dux Nutts (Peter Boyd) and to all those who also travel the distance to make the competition so good this year.

“This is the best competition you will see in the multis, so it was really satisfying to win,” Peter Wilcox said.

“After all the work and preparation Craig Humphries at Signature Yacht Services and Ben Kelly at Quantum put in. The boat’s been out of the water for a refit since we got back from Asia, and all is working well.

“I couldn’t have done this without my crew. There are no egos on the boat; it’s a real team effort. I’d especially like to thank Steve Lord who’s been with me from day 1 and been instrumental in keeping the boat running. He’s totally dedicated,” Wilcox added.

To Bob Critchley and his Cool Change crew, we hope to see you back on the water soon after the unfortunate capsize of Thursday.

In Multihull Passage, John Williams was just too good with his Tyee III. He finished four points clear of his nearest rivals, second placed Mon Amie (Fiona Kermeen) and third placed Kestrel (Richard Jenkins), which finished on equal points.

Full results
 IRC Racing Div1

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 7	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		AUS001	ICHI BAN	Matt Allen	9.0	[7.0C]	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	3.0	2.0
2		AUS8899	ONESAILS RACING	Ray Roberts	11.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	2.0	2.0	[5.0]	1.0
3		64221	ZEN	Gordon Ketelbey	15.0	2.0	3.0	2.0	4.0T	3.0	1.0	[4.0]
4		7075	QUEST	Bob Steel	24.0	7.0C	[7.0R]	4.0	4.0T	4.0	2.0	3.0
5		421	THE GOAT	Sebastion Bohm Bruce	25.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	4.0T	5.0	4.0	[5.0]
6		B330	HARTBREAKER	Alan Breidahl	31.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	4.0T	6.0	6.0	[6.0]

IRC Racing Div2

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 7	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		SM3131	MORE NOISE	Jason Close	8.4	2.0	2.4G	1.0	[8.0]	1.0	1.0	1.0
2		4343	WILD ROSE	Roger Hickman	15.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	[6.0]	3.0	5.0	2.0
3		MH20	THEPHILOSOPHERS CLUB	Peter Sorensen	19.0	4.0	1.0	3.0	4.0	[5.0]	4.0	3.0
4		SYD8	TULIP	Bernie Van'T Hof	22.0	6.0	3.0	5.0	1.0	[6.0]	3.0	4.0
5	2.0S	5845	BOTANY ACCESS COCOMO	Justin Brownbill	24.0	5.0	5.0	4.0	[7.0]	2.0	2.0	6.0
6		11044	KERAZY	R Curtis G Tailby	24.0	3.0	4.0	6.0	2.0	4.0	[6.0]	5.0
7		B52	B52	Daniel Farmer	39.0	8.0	6.0	8.0	3.0	7.0	[8.0]	7.0
8		RQ432	DEKADENCE	Stephanie Kerin	43.0	7.0	9.0F	7.0	5.0	[9.0O]	7.0	8.0

IRC Passage

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		135	LEE-WAY	Tony Horkings	9.0	1.0	[7.0]	2.0	4.0	1.0	1.0
2		6838	PONYO	David Currie	10.0	3.0	2.0	1.0	1.0	3.0	[5.0]
3		RQ64	OCEAN AFFINITY	Stewart Lewis	14.0	[5.0]	1.0	3.0	3.0	4.0	3.0
4		6669	CARBON CREDITS	Trevor Bailey	15.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	[5.0]	2.0	4.0
5		1986	TRUMPCARD	Blake Boulton	22.3	4.0	5.3G	5.0	[8.0]	6.0	2.0
6		4913	TILT	Peter Cretan	25.0	6.0	5.0	7.0	2.0	5.0	[7.0]
7		M25	HASTA LA VISTA	Mark Jacobsen	31.0	7.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	[7.0]	6.0
8		6037	EUREKA 11	Mal Robertson	35.0	8.0	4.0	8.0	7.0	8.0	[8.0]

Cruising Div1

Place	Ties	Boat Name	Sail No	Skipper	From	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		CHRISTINE	S77	Paul Bunn	RMYS	21.0	6.0	5.0	[12.0]	4.0	4.0	2.0
2		BEDFORDCA THREE CS	B45	Charles Cupit	NONE	24.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	7.0	[14.0]	8.0
3		BELLE	SM700	Doug Painter	SYC	25.0	[12.0]	2.0	7.0	8.0	3.0	5.0
4	1.0S	WHALEWATCHINGSYDNEY	202	Charles Wallis	WSC	28.0	[18.0C]	4.0	14.0	1.0	6.0	3.0
5		ANOTHER FIASCO	Q999	Damian Suckling	APYC	28.0	10.0	7.0	[15.0]	2.0	2.0	7.0
6		HELSAL3	262	Rob Fisher	RYCT	33.0	8.0	1.0	13.0	[18.0S]	7.0	4.0
7	1.0S	RUNAWAY	B101	Drew Carruthers	RQYS	34.0	13.0	8.0	[16.0]	3.0	9.0	1.0
8		CONDOR	KB80	David Molloy	WSC	34.0	2.0	6.0	4.0	14.0	8.0	[15.0]
9		WITCHY WOMAN	MH777	Ian Griffiths	MYC	38.0	11.0	9.0	8.0	5.0	5.0	[13.0]
10		SILVER LINING	SM1155	Andrew McGrath	SYC	39.0	4.0	[14.0T]	10.0	12.0	1.0	12.0
11	1.0S	HOLY COW!	6797	John & Kim Clinton	CYCA	42.0	1.0	14.0T	5.0	11.0	[16.0]	11.0
12		VANILLA	BOW01	Fred Heavey	SASC	42.0	5.0	14.0T	2.0	10.0	11.0	[16.0]
13		KATE	R53	John Raff	RYCV	46.0	9.0	[18.0F]	11.0	6.0	10.0	10.0
14		BUNDABERG	G16	John Kint	RGYC	48.0	7.0	[14.0T]	9.0	13.0	13.0	6.0
15		CHARM OFFENSIVE	R83	James Permezel	RYCV	64.0	[18.0F]	14.0T	6.0	15.0	15.0	14.0
16		CHANTILLY	R56	Timothy Dutton	RYCV	66.0	18.0C	18.0C	[18.0F]	9.0	12.0	9.0
17		LE COCHON NOIR V	BOW2	Roman Guerra	NA	69.0	18.0F	[18.0F]	1.0	16.0	17.0	17.0

Cruising Div2

Place	Ties	Boat Name	Sail No	Skipper	From	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		HUAHINE	RQ300	Nick Smail	WSC	23.0	3.0	2.0	2.0	[13.0]	10.0	6.0
2		SKEETER	9997	Sandor Tornai	DSC/CYCA	24.0	1.0	[16.0]	13.0	1.0	7.0	2.0
3	1.0S	DEHLER MAGIC	633	Charlie Preen	WSC	31.0	8.0	[15.0]	14.0	5.0	1.0	3.0
4		TRUE LOVE	999	Roger Down	APYC	31.0	7.0	8.0	6.0	[11.0]	2.0	8.0
5		TWISTER	W407	Kevin Fogarty	WSC	33.0	[13.0]	10.0	8.0	6.0	4.0	5.0
6	4.0S	RUN RUN RUN	SM2800	Paul Jackson	RBYC	36.0	4.0	6.0	10.0	8.0	8.0	[11.0]
7		MATANGI	5350	Dave Turnbull	MYC	36.0	[14.0]	7.0	9.0	7.0	6.0	7.0
8	1.0S	RIFF RAFF	W440	Dan White Nicole Abb	WSC	37.0	11.0	3.0	1.0	[16.0]	13.0	9.0
9	3.0S	KICKATINALONG	1317	Graeme Poole	MYC	37.0	12.0	5.0	3.0	12.0	5.0	[15.0]
10		PACIFIC PHOENIX	4054	Alan Sneddon	WSC	37.0	9.0	9.0	5.0	10.0	[12.0]	4.0
11		FARGO	361	Keith McGuire	WSC	39.0	2.0	1.0	11.0	[15.0]	11.0	14.0
12	3.0S	WOBBLY BOOT	640	Craig Piccinelli	WSC	42.0	[16.0]	14.0	12.0	3.0	3.0	10.0
13		ELLA	5432	N/C Cox/Thomas	MYC	42.0	6.0	11.0	4.0	[14.0]	9.0	12.0
14		CROSSBOW	142	David Lund	WSC	43.0	10.0	4.0	[16.0]	2.0	14.0	13.0
15		FRANTIC.	M161	Graham Furtado	RQYS	47.0	15.0	12.0	15.0	4.0	[15.0]	1.0
16		SLINGSHOT	L1	Neil Hamilton	NYRC	58.0	5.0	13.0	7.0	[18.0S]	17.0	16.0
17		LAHARA	A121	Mike Warner	SASC	78.0	18.0C	18.0C	[18.0C]	9.0	16.0	17.0

Cruising Div3

Place	Ties	Boat Name	Sail No	Skipper	From	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	2.0S	SALTYDOG	305	Greg Hudson	NQCYC	16.0	4.0	2.0	[10.0]	7.0	1.0	2.0
2		LE ROSSIGNOL	SM168	Peter McKenzie	NQCYC	16.0	7.0	1.0	3.0	2.0	[10.0]	3.0
3	1.0S	WICKED	326	Derek Foley	BSC	17.0	5.0	5.0	[8.0]	1.0	5.0	1.0
4		SYNCHRONICITY	8001	Tom Parker	WSC	17.0	2.0	3.0	2.0	5.0	[7.0]	5.0
5		KAMERUKA	8035	Bob Beale	WSC	21.0	6.0	4.0	5.0	3.0	3.0	[6.0]
6	1.0S	ROSSGO	SA142	Greg Hammon	WSC	31.0	1.0	6.0	7.0	8.0	9.0	[10.0]
7		GONE TOO FARR	SB7500	Ronda Brown	SIBYC	31.0	[12.0C]	9.0T	4.0	10.0	4.0	4.0
8		HEY JUDE	AUS876	Stan White	LKSC	33.0	3.0	9.0T	6.0	[9.0]	8.0	7.0
9		CHECKMATE	158	Don Bowden	MK	35.0	[12.0F]	9.0T	9.0	6.0	2.0	9.0
10		HARMONY	MB2	Roger Guest	MBBC	37.0	8.0	[12.0F]	1.0	11.0	6.0	11.0
11		UNTAMED	8	John Parkes	IYC	46.0	12.0C	[12.0R]	11.0	4.0	11.0	8.0

Non-Spinnaker

Place	Ties	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		ANTHEA	Dewi Hughes	WSC	17.0	2.0	3.0	2.0	7.0	[9.0]	3.0
2		TRUE COLOURS	Geoff Adams	RBYC	18.0	5.0	7.0	[9.0]	3.0	1.0	2.0
3		QMS	John Galloway	WSC	19.0	8.0	2.0	[8.0]	2.0	2.0	5.0
4	1.0S	KARM	Ray Nankervis	RYCV	20.0	3.0	1.0	1.0	9.0	6.0	[9.0]
5		AWESOME	Peter Harrison	WSC	20.0	6.0	4.0	4.0	5.0	[7.0]	1.0
6		FORTUNA	Greg Elliott	CYCA	22.0	1.0	[9.0]	5.0	4.0	4.0	8.0
7		SUNRISE	Jeff & Helen Shipsey	APYC/WSC	23.0	[9.0]	5.0	6.0	1.0	5.0	6.0
8		SERENDIPITY	Roger Boast	WSC	27.0	4.0	8.0	3.0	8.0	[8.0]	4.0
9		ELUSIVE	Rick Pacey	RYCV	29.0	7.0	6.0	7.0	6.0	3.0	[7.0]

Sports Boats

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Sers Score	Race 9	Race 8	Race 7	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		B1	VIVACE	John Rae	MYC	13.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	[4.0]	1.0	3.0	3.0	1.0	1.0
2		L650	STAY TUNED	Graham Sherring	SYC	16.0	3.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	3.0	1.0	[5.0]	3.0	2.0
3		AUS200	VIPER QLD	Noel Leigh-Smith	SYC	22.0	4.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	[5.0]	2.0	2.0	2.0	3.0
4		7002	MISTER MAGOO	Jason Ruckert	RQYS	33.0	6.0	5.0	4.0	2.0	4.0	5.0	1.0	6.0	[6.0]
5		7504	THE DUCKS NUTS	Mitch De Vries	SOPYC	36.0	2.0	6.0	5.0	5.0	6.0	[6.0]	4.0	4.0	4.0
6		658	CRANK	Andrew Wiklund	RQYS	37.0	5.0	4.0	6.0	6.0	2.0	4.0	[6.0]	5.0	5.0
7		014	BEER BALLAST	Ben Downey	SYC	72.0	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	[9.0C]
7		AUS008	OCTOPUSSY	Rees Howell	SOPYC	72.0	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	9.0C	[9.0C]

Multi-Hull Racing

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Sers Score	Race 7	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		M165	MOJO	Peter Wilcox	MYCQ	12.0	3.0	2.0	3.0	2.0	1.0	1.0	[3.0]
2		V2	APC MAD MAX	George Owen	MYCV	13.0	2.0	4.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	[4.0]
3		641	FANTASIA	Andrew Stransky	MYCQ	14.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	[19.0R]	4.0	4.0	2.0
4		3002	MORTICIA	Chris Williams	RMYC	20.0	[6.0]	5.0	4.0	3.0	5.0	2.0	1.0
5		SA532	CARBON CREDIT	Peter Hawker	RSAYS	32.0	4.0	[19.0F]	5.0	6.0	3.0	8.0	6.0
6		M1480	RENAISSANCE	Mike Hodges	MYCQ	35.0	5.0	6.0	9.0	5.0	[9.0]	5.0	5.0
7		N888	THE BOAT WORKS	Julian Griffiths	NYRC	37.0	8.0	3.0	8.0	4.0	7.0	7.0	[8.0]
8		SA432	CROSSHAIR	Gerald Valk	RSAYS	44.0	9.0	7.0	6.0	8.0	8.0	6.0	[12.0]
9		N11	TWO UP TOGETHER	Justin Grunwald	RMYC	58.0	7.0	8.0	11.0	7.0	[17.0]	15.0	10.0
10		V3	BARE ESSENTIALS	Tim Pepperell	MYCV	62.5	10.0	[19.0F]	7.0	9.0	13.0	12.5	11.0
11	10.0S	BFC55	BAREFOOT	Warren Innes	CYC	65.0	12.0	9.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	14.0	[15.0]
12		339	QUICK SKIPS	Peter Millar	WSC	65.0	11.0	10.0	[14.0]	13.0	11.0	11.0	9.0
13		WH3801	J'OUVERT	Stephen Barton	RMYC	79.0	19.0C	19.0C	19.0C	[19.0F]	6.0	9.0	7.0
14		WH1093	COOL CHANGE	Bob Critchley	MYC	80.0	19.0C	[19.0F]	12.0	11.0	15.0	10.0	13.0
15		449	DUX NUTTS	Peter Boyd	RSAYS	82.5	19.0C	[19.0C]	13.0	12.0	12.0	12.5	14.0
16		PC101	NO PROBLEM	Ray Hobbs	PCSC	93.0	13.0	19.0F	15.0	14.0	16.0	[19.0R]	16.0
17		W111	SIROCCO	M Arthur	WSC	95.0	14.0	19.0C	[19.0C]	15.0	14.0	16.0	17.0
18		AUS57	EARTHLING	Glenn Rutherford	MYCQ	114.0	19.0C	19.0C	19.0C	19.0C	19.0C	19.0C	[19.0C]

 Multi-Hull Passage

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		SM777	TYEE III	John Williams	SYC	8.0	1.0	[3.0]	2.0	2.0	2.0	1.0
2	1.0S	BOW3	MON AMIE	Fiona Kermeen	WSC	12.0	4.0	2.0	1.0	[6.0F]	1.0	4.0
3		M321	KESTREL	Richard Jenkins	MYCQ	12.0	2.0	4.0	[4.0]	1.0	3.0	2.0
4		MYS09	MISTY SEA	David Davenport	EFYC	13.0	3.0	1.0	3.0	3.0	[4.0]	3.0
5		B112	A WHITER SHADE OF PA	Roger Jepson	RBYC	26.0	6.0F	5.0T	5.0	[6.0F]	5.0	5.0