Crown Series Bellerive Regatta – Treble victory for Invincible

by Peter Campbell on 26 Feb 2012 Crown Series Bellerive Regatta was held on Hobart’s River Derwent over the weekend. According to owner Harold Clark ‘I just went along for ballast’ when his son Darren helmed the family yacht Invincible to a treble handicap victory.

The ‘invincible’ Invincible won all seven races in Group 1 under AMS scoring and notched up five firsts and two seconds under her IRC rating. Under PHS corrected time results, the score was not quite as dominant – 5-4-2-5-3-4 – but good enough to score another comfortable win.

Admittedly, Invincible was one of only five of the nine-boat Group 1 fleet to front up for the final race this afternoon as the hot northerly roaring down the Derwent Valley reached 32 knots, bringing an oppressive heat of 36 degrees.

Several had suffered damaged in the earlier races, other crew decided unanimously that a cold beer back at Bellerive Yacht Club was far more attractive than a seventh windward/leeward race.

Tony Lyall’s Transpac 52 had blown out its heavy spinnaker and other boats had suffered sail and rig damage.

The Farr 40s apparently felt the same, with none fronting up for the final race. In any case, Andrew Hunn’s Voodoo Chile was unbeatable winning all six races sailed through Friday evening to today.

In Group 1, under AMS, Invincible won by a massive 20 points from Don Calvert’s Intrigue which suffered a spectacular broach in the first race of the day when a spinnaker gybe appeared to go wrong. Host Plus Executive (Jeff Cordell) placed third, losing second place on a countback.

Tony Lyalls’ Transpac 52, Cougar II, won two of the windward/leeward races today, spreadeagling the Group 1 fleet but overall she finished 11 points behind Invincible. Masquerade (Tony Harman) finished runner-up to Invincible under PHS scoring with Cougar II third.

The result of Racing Group 2 went right down to the finish of race five, the second today, with five boats going into the last race with a chance of an overall victory.

A second place to Trouble (Dave Willans) by Derek Inglis’ Rousabout in the final race was just enough to win the regatta by one point from Hot August Night (Nat Morgan) which placed third in the race. Just three more points back was Just in Time (Mick Sheehan).

With a fleet of 21 boats, competition was also close in the Premier Cruising Group, also producing some close buoy roundings with the windward mark today set under Kangaroo Bluff.

John Hall’s Sagittarius took overall PHS honours, winning three of five races on corrected time, including the last race today. Insatiable (Lisa Guy & Patrick Hym) finished second overall with Affinity (Rob Watchorn) third.

Under AMS scoring, Peter Haros’ Wings Three won from Colin Denny’s new Beneteau First 40, The Protagonist, with BYC Commodore John Mills third overall with Total Locks and Alarms, Wings Three and The Protagonist each won two races, but Wings Three had the edge with an additional two seconds and a sixth to The Protagainst’s other placings of seventh and fifth.

Performance Cruising Goup 3 saw three wins in five races to Craig Escott, sailing the Sailability yacht, Combank, a result that earned him the coveted Don Rust Memorial trophy. Combank won on a countback from Another Toy (Greg Rowlings) with third place going to Street Car (Peter Bingham).

Temeraire IV (Rick Ware) took out the Cruising Red Group without winning a race, her three seconds, a seventh and final race sixth being sufficient to take the trophy from Innovator (I Smith and M Jones) and Steve Mannering’s Camlet Way.

The Cruising non-spinnaker division attracted a fleet of 15 and saw four different boats win the five races, but again first place overall went to a boat that did not win a race. Pierrette (Garry Kennedy) sailed consistently well to win from Sundance (Don Bailey) and Twilo (Rob Westland).

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