SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week 2013 - The last day of winter

by Sealink Magnetic Island Race Week Media on 31 Aug 2013 28 degrees and blue skies, the very last day of Australia´s harsh northern winter. Just another great day on the water, for the 2013 Magnetic Island Race Week feature event, the Zodiac sponsored Round Magnetic Island Race.

22 nautical miles anticlockwise around the granite island, with Bay Rock as a side dish for the IRC and Multihull racing fleet, 20 miles for the Cruising divisions, both mono and multi as they keep West Head to port.

First up was the Grand Prix fleet - IRC Racing. The 2008 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner Quest blasted off the line and once again took monohull line honours by a healthy margin and was much less disadvantaged by the building breeze.

Quest owner Bob Steel commented 'We were knocked off by the little tri Carbon Credits, he passed us 100 metres from the finish.

'We just have to keep up the good work and relax. We are a bit over trained. That’s the problem. We will probably relax this afternoon, have a bet at the TAB. Have a drink at the pub and away we will go tomorrow.

'But seriously, it was a glorious day. We had 14/15 knots of breeze. We had a good downwind run on a lovely day. We are all happy.'

On handicap Leon Thomas' Guilty Pleasures XI won by 48 seconds, with Quest second ahead of the two Beneteau First 40´s, David Redfern´s Not a Diamond, who edged out Howard Piggot´s Flying Cloud by 10 seconds.

In the series Guilty Pleasures IV leads with two wins from David Redfern´s Not a Diamond, with Quest in third place. Howard Piggott´s Flying Cloud which needs a second overall in this regatta to take the Queensland Season of Sailing Cup is fourth overall.

Leon Thomas and his crew were smiling again this afternoon, taking their second handicap win.

Thomas explained 'We had a great start. There was a fair bit of bias at the pin end and we had the best of it. We had a good windward work and peeled to the gybe top and we were able to hold off the Beneteau First 40´s and then it was just a square run down the back of the island. Those behind us bought breeze. Once again Quest had the worst of it. We were sailing in a very different breeze to what they were. The guys behind us were sailing in a different breeze to us and it was all just coming down the race course.

'We probably only saw 10-15 knots for most of the day. Again it was a beautiful day to go sailing in North Queensland. The race round Magnetic Island is just spectacular.

At the Multihull Racing division start most of the racing multihulls had screechers rolled up ready to go, but in 12/15 knots the boats that used them lost height, that included both Peter Berry´s J’Ouvert and Alasdair Noble´s McMoggy.

Andrew Stransky´s Fantasia and Peter Hawker´s F32 Carbon Credit went further seaward and popped spinnakers and did much better. As the boats came into the west channel Carbon Credits was able to hold off Fantasia. Just powered up in the light conditions.

One of the smallest boats in themultihull fleet Mike Willcock´s Hot Option sailed some really hot angles under spinnaker and was well placed until the beat home, when the short chop brought them undone.

Another impressive line honours for Peter Hawker´s Carbon Credit, she crossed Fantasia in the West Channel and beat her rival by six minutes. Third across the line was McMoggy. Fantasia scored another handicap win from McMoggy, with Hot Options third.

Cruising Spinnaker Division 1 Robert Green´s Pacific 50 Dream overcame the handicapper, taking line honours and handicap wins again. Trevor Mudge´s Beneteau First 50 Nellie Myra was second across the line, ahead of Peter Byford´s Jeanneau Sun Oddesy 42iJ Joie de Vie. Second on handicap was Bob Gray´s Bavaria 42 Chalkies Chariot, with Tony Muller's Jeanneau Sun Oddesy 409 Brava third. After two races, Dream with two bullets leads Chalkies Chariot with Joie de Vie third.

Robert Green commented ' We saw 16 knots on the run down the other top of the island, it was a nice ride. This is our first time here, it’s a lot of fun, we are almost all from Melbourne with a Kiwi thrown it. . There was a guy I met in Fiji last year when we were cruising who lived at Maggie Island and said it’s a beautiful place.

You have got to come. So that’s why we have come and it’s a blast, it compares very well to the other regattas a little south.

In the Cruising Spinnaker Division 2 David Marshall´s Beneteau 47.7 Femme Fatale took line honours from Mike Steel´s Dufour 34 Boudicea and Paul Jackson´s Duncanson 28 Run Run Run.

Colin Clark´s Unbealeievable won on handicap from Jack Maguire´s Cav 35 Zen with Stan Barne´s Supersonic 27 Librian third. Unbealeievable leads the series with two wins from Jack Maguire's Zen and Barry Smith's Noelex Tide Up.

Vicky Hamilton´s Akarana, the very first Farr 1104 out of the mold from Royal Akarana Yacht Club did not trouble the scorer much after running aground on the reef in West Channel today. A great embarrassment for the local crew.

Cruising Non Spinnaker - Nick Small´s Huahine took the gun and also won on handicap from Russell Kingston´s Falcon ahead of Jacinta Cooper´s Mistraal. After two races Huahine leads from Falcon and DreamMagic.

In the Multihull cruising fleet Barbarella took line honours and won on handicap, ahead of Salacia and TwoShea and same sequence after two days racing.

The wrap from Principal Race Officer Denis Thompson. 'Weatherwise that was a keeper. Tomorrow is a relaxed day. The IRC and Multihull Racing fleets will be on the water. Everyone else will be kicking back'