Chilled Champagne racing on the Derwent

by Peter Campbell on 19 Jul 2015 On the water, Richard Grant’s Knoop 39 Magellan looks every bit a comfortable cruising yacht, wide beamed with a large cockpit and long coach house that obviously provides lots of space below decks.

Below the waterline, the design concept is quite different, a sleek hull and fin keel with bulb that makes her a fast and efficient racing yacht, particularly in a light breeze – as she showed on Hobart’s River Derwent today.

Magellan took out first place on corrected time in Division one of the Bellerive Yacht Club/Tilford Auto Group Winter Series on a cool but sunny Sunday morning, conditions described as ‘champagne sailing’.

Both the temperature (from 6º to 9º C) and the breeze (six to ten knots northerly) rose during the morning providing close racing in the three divisions.

Grant brought Magellan, a one-off design by Tasmanian Walter Knoop, to Hobart as a competitor in the last Launceston to Hobart Race and recently re-located to Bellerive, where he joined the Bellerive Yacht Club.

The Winter Series is Magellan’s first racing series on the Derwent, today scoring a comfortable handicap win in Division one from Gavin Adamson and Janene Frawley’s Mumm 36 Madness. Third place went to another Mumm 36, Ian Stewart’s Tas Paints, that also took line honours.

Division one saw the usual close racing between the three Mumm 36, with Tas Paints beating Jeff Cordell’s Host Plus across the finish line by just 20 seconds.

Madness came in fourth in fleet but beat her Mumm 36 rivals on corrected time.

Division two saw a close battle for line honours, with Steve Harrison’s sports boat Temptation from Southport Yacht Club, getting the gun but having to yield first place on handicap to Dave Willans’ Trouble. With Temptation placing second third overall went to Pyxis (Chris Hadrill).

Veteran Tom Kirkland sailed Ragtime to line honours in Division three but had to be content with second on corrected time, the winner being Quabrada (Tim Maddock) by just 18 seconds. Kama (Don and Rod Cushion) placed third.