Audi Hamilton Island Race - Tiny Tassie boat triumphing in paradise

by Lisa Ratcliff on 20 Aug 2013 A tiny Tasmanian entry which was first sailed by its new owners on the delivery from Airlie Beach last Saturday morning is cleaning up in Performance Racing II division at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.With back-to-back race wins the husband and wife team of Piers and Sarah Findlay are leading their division by four points.

The Elliott VII Rum To Paradise is a new acquisition for the Findlays from Port Dalrymple Yacht Club, one of nine entries from the state with a vast maritime history that has always been a great supporter of Race Week, despite the massive distance competitors have to travel.

'Today was a magic day on the water, really special,' said Sarah post racing. While surprised by their second win they are a highly experienced team with plenty of on-water credentials.

'Piers and I have done a lot of sailing and we have also built boats,' she said adding, 'We are just here to have fun.'
In 2008 the couple did the same thing, bought a boat en route to Hamilton Island and went on to collect a trophy for their efforts with a second in division.

With the daytime temperature peaking at 13 degrees when they left home, the Tassie component of the crew are pretty happy to be wearing shorts and T’swhile enjoying balmy winter conditions at Hamilton Island.

The crew of four, including Sarah’s brother Cameron Gibson and another crew Jack Wells from Brisbane, are in very close company at Hamilton Island, racing all dayon the 23-footer and sleeping on the boat at night until a very kind neighbour on the marina noticed their cramped living conditions and offered them a bunk on his larger boat.

Well-known Australian boat builder John McConaghy’s Second Time Around is leading Performance Racing Division 1 from Philip Grove’s Sydney 39 Huntress and Matt Allen’s Farr 400 Ichi Ban.

Cruising Division II winner Darryle Dransfield was delighted with his race on day two of Audi Hamilton Island Race Week yesterday.

Cruising Division I and II boats sailed a 17nm course around White Rock and Denman Island, arriving back at Dent Passage to wrap up another beautiful day on the water.

The winning skipper steered his boat, called ‘That Boat’, to first place in light conditions, relying on momentum to carry the boat over the course when the wind eased and picking up speed nicely when the breeze peaked at 12 knots from the NNW.

'We didn’t challenge the start because there was a current in the passage, but we had to get it right,' said Dransfield from the Royal Motor Yacht Club Broken Bay.

'A couple of the guys had to fire their engines up when they were caught out in the tide,' he said.
Dransfield is lapping up his time on the island and is looking forward to enjoying what the rest of the week has in store.

'We love coming here. It’s my fourth year.I’m very happy with how we are going,I couldn’t be happier!'

Racing continues today with 11am starts for all divisions on different Hamilton Island Race Week

Full results from yesterday and series scores are available here.

Cruising Div 1

Hosted By Hamilton Island Yacht Club

PROVISIONAL RESULTS

Updated:  19/08/2013  15:48:15

Series Results [EHC Div1] up to Race 2

Place	Ties	Boat Name	Sail Num	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 2	Race 1
1		LIMITLESS	6995	Bill Hili	10.0	9.0	1.0
2	4.0S	SALACIA	RQ1600	Stephen Everett	13.0	4.0	9.0
3		INFINITY	AUS52	Richard Fader	13.0	6.0	7.0
4		CONDOR	KB80	David Molloy	15.0	12.0	3.0
5	5.0S	ENCORE	00100	Tim Lewis Jim Milledge	17.0	5.0	12.0
6		SOLUTIONS	3242	Stephen Dadour	17.0	11.0	6.0
7		ABRACADABRA	5612	James Murchison	18.0	16.0	2.0
8	1.0S	ONE O NINE	1109	Robert Salteri	19.0	1.0	18.0
9	2.0S	VIRAGO II	6813	David Rooke	19.0	2.0	17.0
10		HAMMER OF QUEENSLAND	7	Gerry McGann	19.0	3.0	16.0
11	5.0S	WHITEBIRDS	788	Paul White	22.0	17.0	5.0
12		KATE	R53	John Raff	22.0	7.0	15.0
13		VELOCE	1027	Dean Corbett	23.0	15.0	8.0
14		MISTRAAL	6515	Brett Cooper	24.0	10.0	14.0
15	4.0S	BROADSWORD	Q40	Adrian Castle	25.0	21.0	4.0
16		EUREKA 11	6037	Chris Stockdale	25.0	14.0	11.0
17		CIRCE	SM91	Ross Johnston	26.0	13.0	13.0
18		PROTEUS	USA52855	Timothy Macintosh	29.0	8.0	21.0
19		MISTA GYBE	W888	Peter Carr	30.0	20.0	10.0
20	18.0S	SIR THOMAS SOPWITH	6892	David Edwards	38.0	18.0	20.0
21		JOIE DE VIE	6702	Peter Byford	38.0	19.0	19.0

Cruising Div 2

Hosted By Hamilton Island Yacht Club

PROVISIONAL RESULTS

Updated:  20/08/2013  14:33:52

Series Results [EHC Div2] up to Race 3

Place	Ties	Boat Name	Sail Num	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		CEILIDH	237	Peter Williams	16.0	1.0	2.0	13.0
2		JEMSON	SM301	Andrew Molnar	24.0	15.0	3.0	6.0
3		NEXT LIGHT	35000	Chris Ryan	24.5	5.0	18.5	1.0
4		VANILLA	BOW19	David Perkins	29.0	7.0	4.0	18.0
5		TRUE LOVE	999	Roger Down	30.0	9.0	11.0	10.0
6		THAT BOAT	6782	Darryle Dransfield	32.0	17.0	1.0	14.0
7		SAILING ADVENTURES	BOW05	Brian Pozzey	37.0	12.0	17.0	8.0
8		RHYTHM & BLUES	BOW03	Brenton Pegler	38.0	11.0	10.0	17.0
9	5.0S	THE POACHER	MK6	John Foster	41.0	21.0	5.0	15.0
10		SINEWAVE	5436	Greg Mason Barb Maunsell	41.0	13.0	9.0	19.0
11	2.0S	SOUTHERN MAGIC	633	Mark Tobin	43.0	33.0	8.0	2.0
12		SUNSHINE SAILING AUS	6590	John Bankart	43.0	25.0	6.0	12.0
13		PLANET PEUGEOT	9197T	Mike Hulbert	44.0	18.0	22.0	4.0
14	6.0S	MOHAWK	5978	Tony Byrnes	47.0	6.0	30.0	11.0
15		CEO1	BOW04	Ray Sweeney	47.0	14.0	12.0	21.0
16		CAMPEADOR	5758	Jonathan Thelfall	48.0	10.0	29.0	9.0
17	4.0S	LUNACY	SB445	Matt Shepherd	50.0	4.0	23.0	23.0
18		HOLY COW!	6797	John & Kim Clinton	50.0	27.0	7.0	16.0
19		COOPERS	BOW15	Craig Watson	51.0	8.0	16.0	27.0
20		GEOMATIC	M495	Adrian Lewis	54.5	31.0	18.5	5.0
21	3.0S	TONIC	6842	Robert Pizzie	59.0	3.0	25.0	31.0
22		KITE RUNNER	11000	Dave Simpson	59.0	19.0	20.0	20.0
23		TEAM SUNSAIL	CHART161	Mark Thompson	61.0	2.0	35.0O	24.0
24		AVANTI	BOW08	Philip Cormie	62.0	32.0	27.0	3.0
25		ENTOURAGE	5176	Lyle Borlase	64.0	20.0	15.0	29.0
26		SUMMER'S LEASE	B500	Glenn Fitzgerald	71.0	24.0	14.0	33.0
27		MALAGUENA	648	Roger Prout	72.0	23.0	27.0I	22.0
28		THE HEALER	RQ367	Mark Hipgrave	73.0	34.0	32.0	7.0
29		ALLUSIVE	TYC407	John Joyce	74.0	29.0	13.0	32.0
30	21.0S	TILT	H400	Peter Cretan	75.0	28.0	21.0	26.0
31		MISS DEVEREAUX	BOW07	Doug Reed	75.0	22.0	28.0	25.0
32		NORTHERN MOMENT	C192	Vic Stevens	80.0	26.0	26.0	28.0
33		SECOND NATURE	BOW09	Paul Mentiplay	83.0	16.0	33.0	34.0
34		ISLAND LADY	V42	Andrew Pusey	91.0	30.0	31.0	30.0