Hamilton Island Race Week - Beneteau leading production boat builder

by Beneteau on 28 Aug 2014 Light conditions early on during the Hamilton Island Race Week regatta had the 28 strong Beneteau fleet battling for leading positions across the Divisions. Increased breeze and better sailing conditions later in the week seemed to favour the Beneteaus as overall results improved after the lay day, with a number of Divisional wins and outstanding performances.

Great performances weren’t limited to the sailing either, with special mention going out to the crews of the Rio Olympics themed Holy Cow, Where’s Wally inspired Carpe Diem from Sandringham Yacht Club, the Sense 50 Silver Minx and all those who went to great efforts for the Grand Prix d’Elegance.

Beneteau performances by Division

IRC Division two
'Eagle Rock' Ross Wilson's Beneteau FIRST47.7 toiled all week to finish between her more fancied rivals 'Forty' and 'Secret Mens Business'. Under the guidance of Beneteau sail master Ian Short, she showed composure all the way to the end to record a fantastic second place for the week, after sitting in fifth prior to the lay day.

IRC Division three
Rob Howards 'Schouten Passage' proved the longevity of the Beneteau First 40.7 design finishing second to multiple event winner 'Local Hero'. Her consistency across the wind range was a hallmark of this result, with the conditions later in the week seeing her rise from fourth before the lay day. Special mention also goes to David Redfern's First 40 'Not A Diamond' which won the last race of the series.

Performance
Ben McGrath and his team aboard their Beneteau First 40 'Peter Lehmann Breakthrough' were a model of consistency through the last half of their series to just edge out the Volvo 60 'Spirit of the Maid' on count-back for the win in their regatta, arguably the best Beneteau performance of the week. In a competitive Division it was great to also see John Quinn’s First 40 Leeward jump from sixth to fourth overall.

Cruising Division one
Greg Newton and his Beneteau Oceanis 45 'Antipodes of Sydney' won the final race on their way to a solid eighth in the strong 33 boat fleet, also improving on their mid week 12th position.

Cruising Division three
Ron James and his Oceanis 41 'Synergy' and Bob Penty's Oceanis 41 'Great White' staged a series long battle highlighted by a tacking duel coming into the Hamilton Island Yacht Club finish in race five. 'Synergy' emerged the winner in this race by seven seconds and retained her overall lead to finish second of 21 entrants. A terrific effort in the second half of the regatta from both yachts and crew, with Synergy earning second from seventh and Great White moving from 10th to sixth overall.

Non Spinnaker Division one
'Still Dangerous' Ivor Burgess's Oceanis 45 took out Non-spinnaker Division one by the smallest of margins recording a one point victory, thanks to a consistent performance earlier in the week. A fantastic result from the only Beneteau yacht in the Division.

Non Spinnaker Division two
'Super Tramp' Beneteau Oceanis 46 owned by Sue And Alan Pick from RPAYC recorded a huge winning margin of 10 points over the Beneteau Cyclades 'Czech Mate' to comfortably snare the title in Cruising Non-Spinnaker two, with Lachlan Jackson and Renata rounding out the top five.

Beneteau once again sponsored the very well supported pre-race 'Shoot The Breeze' Briefings with a lot of thanks going to Michael Spies and the Race Committee for securing guest speakers offering invaluable tips and advice for all competing Event website