Wild times at Heaven Can Wait 2012

by Heaven Can Wait media on 29 Sep 2012

Kiteboarder Chris Argent wins the Heaven Can Wait 2012 start Sail-World.com /AUS http://www.sail-world.com

The seventh annual Heaven Can Wait regatta started at 11am this morning and the weather was wild to say the least, with gusts of 35 knots reported as some stages.

Three races ran in conjunction, the iconic 24 Hour Race, the One Lap Dash around the full 30 Nm course, and a new 12 Hour Challenge, with participants able to compete in any or all of the three events.

Principal Race Officer Blake Middleton gunned the fleet away in building north westerly, scudding winds of 20-25 knots.

It was a wondrous sight, with an incredible mixture of boats amongst the record 70 that blasted away.

Kite boarder Chris Argent had a blinding start on the pin, while Bob Cowan’s Stealth 8 Stealthy started near the committee boat and stayed on the shore line, and quickly led Tom and Belinda Braidwood and John Anderson’s Nelson Marek 43 Quest and Mark Langford’s Farr 40 Forty. Rum Bucket, Shane Guanaria's 505 was away to a flier too while in constast Moth world champion Josh McKnight had an awful start, badly miss-timed in about the third row.

Breezin’ got caught out by just that - the breeze! - Heaven Can Wait © John Curnow

Stealthy was on fire by Coal Point, behind her Peter Winter and his Buckle Up crew were well advanced but they took a bath in the gusty conditions then shortly after they capsized and with the mast buried in the soft Lake Macquarie mud were forced to retire.

Buckle up crew needed to do just that - Heaven Can Wait 2012 © Sail-World.com /AUS http://www.sail-world.com

Buckle Up - Heaven Can Wait 2012 © Margare French

The kites were crashing and burning, over powered with just too much sail area. They did not stay on their feet and one by one the kite boarders got exhausted and retired.

In the heaviest of gusts Andrew Waugh’s Zippier dismasted near Wangi Point. But the wind was beginning to drop.

McKnight and Babbage disappeared into the distance, behind them the other moths were struggling in the heavy conditions. Babbage retired after a particularly savage crash and McKnight went on to an impressive victory; the only one of the seven Moths to finish.

After some hiccups early, newly crowned Moth World Champ, Josh McKnight put the hammer down and was only a couple of minutes outside the record. - Heaven Can Wait © John Curnow

Exhausted after the finish McKnight admitted he had hit the water more than twenty times. ‘At one stage I was foiling sideways in a big, big gust before my biggest prang...’

It was an impressive performance from McKnight who sailed a five percent longer course than that of the 2010 record set by Nathan Outteridge in just three percent more time, so definitely faster but a new 30 mile record.

On handicap Sydney sailor Shane Guanaria’s 505 Rum Bucket won from another 505, Joel Castle’s Yeah Buddy, with McKnight’s Flying Hellfish third.

The 5o5 know as Rum Bucket got away to a flyer and was only beaten by McKnight around the 30 odd nautical mile track. - Heaven Can Wait © John Curnow

In Division 2 Sydney sailor Andrew York’s Tachyon new VX One sports boat took both line honours and the handicap result from Lake Macquarie’s Noel Gough’s Northshore NSX38 Excapade with Neil Hamilton’s Slingshot.
In division three Bob Bower’s Sonata 7 Bosun won on line honours and handicap.

A total of 22 retirements from the One Lap Dash fleet was a testament to the strong conditions.

The 12 hour and 24 hour race fleet continues with one high profile retirement. The Yellow Brick tracker showed Bob Cowan’s Stealthy sailing back home up Dora Creek.

A tragic tale; after a giant broach, pitching two crew into Lake Macquarie, half of their refreshment provisions - some 120 cans of beer - went the same way. It seems after some indecision the crew were rescued ahead of the beer.

But Bob explained with a sob, ‘There was a lot of water inside the boat and the electronics were shorted out, with no navigation lights and no instruments there was nothing to do but go home and drink the 120 remaining cans.’

The 12 hour race finishes at 11pm today and the 24 hour race at 11am tomorrow. A big moon tonight amongst the breaking clouds and winds now more westerly 10-15 knots, with gusts up to 20.

The regatta was established by Lake Macquarie sailor and cancer survivor Shaun Lewicki to raise funds for men's cancer research and support programs through the Cancer Council of NSW.

Lewicki commented, ‘It was a huge buzz today to watch that big fleet streaming across the line. It’s the wonderful mix of boats that participate in this race that make it so special. I am really proud to see the event going from strength to strength. ‘

Full results from the One lap Dash below:

RACE 1 [9/29/2012] Heaven Can Wait 2012

Division 1 Keel TOT HC results Start : 11:00
Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Elapsd	AHC	Cor'd T	BCH	Fin Tim	ETOrd	DidNot	Class
1	8840	Rum Bucket	Shane Guanaria	03:05:46	0.930	02:52:46	1.101	14:05:46	2		D1
2	8893	Yeah Buddy	Joel Castle	03:25:01	0.930	03:10:40	0.998	14:25:01	4		D1
3	3776	Flying Hellfish	Josh McKnight	02:11:00	1.500	03:16:30	1.562	13:11:00	1		D1
4	8001	Forty	Mark Langford	03:23:21	0.980	03:19:17	1.006	14:23:21	3		D1
5	M3000	YES	Phil King	03:45:39	0.900	03:23:05	0.907	14:45:39	9		D1
6	3535	J Walk'n	Greg/Linda Torpy/Rob	03:47:21	0.900	03:24:37	0.900	14:47:21	10		D1
7	9090	Quest	Belinda Braidwood	03:29:52	1.000	03:29:52	0.975	14:29:52	5		D1
8	14	My Kindy	Paul Sharp	03:48:11	0.940	03:34:30	0.897	14:48:11	11		D1
9	M242	Storage King Wallop	Peter Hewson	03:36:43	0.990	03:34:33	0.944	14:36:43	7		D1
10	RQ202	Stealthy	Bob Cowan	03:32:42	1.010	03:34:50	0.962	14:32:42	6		D1
11	AUS183	Breezin	Brad Sewell	03:36:51	1.000	03:36:51	0.944	14:36:51	8		D1
12	M60	Whitewash	Mark Scharfenberg	04:00:44	0.930	03:43:53	0.850	15:00:44	12		D1
DNF	7	Magic	Lachlan Doyle		1.750					DNF	D1
DNF	15	Kite & SUP2	Matt Vandervoort		1.750					DNF	D1
DNF	22	Buckle Up	Peter Winter		0.970					DNF	D1
DNF	69	Alex Aguera	Chris Argent		1.750					DNF	D1
DNF	99	KitePower	Jordan Girdis		1.750					DNF	D1
DNF	219	Mr Munter	Ken Saladine		0.930					DNF	D1
DNF	238	Release the Hounds	James&Kirsty Nichols		0.950					DNF	D1
DNF	3700	3700	Reece Tailby		1.750					DNF	D1
DNF	3783	Peanuts Dream	Warren Sare		1.500					DNF	D1
DNF	3832	Stonecutter	Les Thorpe		1.500					DNF	D1
DNF	3904	East Coast Marine	Scott Beeby		1.500					DNF	D1
DNF	3905	Harmony	Phil Stevenson		1.500					DNF	D1
DNF	6311	Zippier	Andrew Waugh		0.980					DNF	D1
DNF	AUS2	Gotta Love It 7	Scott Babbage		1.500					DNF	D1
DNF	AUS543	Where's Wendy?	Ayden Menzies		1.750					DNF	D1
DNF	AUSRB31	Out of Town 4WD	Ric Black		1.750					DNF	D1
DNF	EMPTY	EmptyJets.com.au	Rob Flanagan		0.930					DNF	D1
DNF	HOTONDO	Hotondo Homes	Scott Schutz		0.920					DNF	D1
DNF	KITESUP	Kite & SUP	David Sorensen		1.750					DNF	D1
DNF	MOTH	Wasp	Bruce Gault		1.500					DNF	D1
DNS	1635	Furr Ball	Andrew McLachlan		1.450					DNS	D1
DNS	EB	Ella Bache	Greg Paterson		1.150					DNS	D1

Division 2 Keel TOT HC results Start : 11:00
Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Elapsd	AHC	Cor'd T	BCH	Fin Tim	ETOrd	DidNot	Class
1	136	Tachyon	Andrew York	03:38:27	0.805	02:55:51	0.933	14:38:27	1		D2
2	5223	Excapade	Noel Gough	03:48:33	0.780	02:58:16	0.892	14:48:33	5		D2
3	L1	Slingshot	Neil Hamilton	03:48:04	0.805	03:03:36	0.894	14:48:04	4		D2
4	YC375	Serein	Jeff Payne	04:19:57	0.725	03:08:28	0.784	15:19:57	12		D2
5	M551	Windchaser	Mark Cherrington	04:44:16	0.670	03:10:28	0.717	15:44:16	21		D2
6	4114	Imagine	Warwick Nichols	03:52:02	0.830	03:12:35	0.879	14:52:02	6		D2
7	SB777	Fly Navy Too	Greg Brown	04:56:23	0.650	03:12:39	0.688	15:56:23	26		D2
8	N381	Full Frontal	Mark Travis	04:11:20	0.780	03:16:02	0.811	15:11:20	10		D2
9	7290	Le Frog	Greg Robinson	04:07:03	0.800	03:17:38	0.825	15:07:03	8		D2
10	2444	Slightly Underrated	Evan McHugh	04:46:51	0.690	03:17:56	0.711	15:46:51	23		D2
11	50	Nervous	Matt Bonser	03:45:12	0.880	03:18:11	0.905	14:45:12	2		D2
12	223	Mitchell Sails	Justin Mitchell	03:46:41	0.880	03:19:29	0.899	14:46:41	3		D2
13	4543	Brigus	Michael McFayden	04:10:03	0.800	03:20:02	0.815	15:10:03	9		D2
14	2665	X-Rated	Graham Booker	05:08:11	0.660	03:23:24	0.662	16:08:11	27		D2
15	M8	Wild Cherry	Alan Laverick	04:25:25	0.770	03:24:22	0.768	15:25:25	15		D2
16	3909	Young N Old	Glen Picasso	04:20:09	0.790	03:25:31	0.784	15:20:09	13		D2
17	M14	Nereus	Matthew Smith	04:53:41	0.700	03:25:35	0.694	15:53:41	25		D2
18	M777	Solly	Lewis Solman	04:46:14	0.720	03:26:05	0.712	15:46:14	22		D2
19	6744	Di'sy	Danny Gresham	04:35:33	0.750	03:26:40	0.740	15:35:33	19		D2
20	7007	Zip	Michael Tarrant	04:04:56	0.850	03:28:12	0.832	15:04:56	7		D2
21	510	Its All Good	John Longworth	04:52:04	0.725	03:31:45	0.698	15:52:04	24		D2
22	5808	Forever Young	Adrian Williams	04:25:12	0.800	03:32:10	0.769	15:25:12	14		D2
23	5687	Emmenar	Mel Steiner	04:32:40	0.780	03:32:41	0.748	15:32:40	18		D2
24	B4	Quattro	Chris Bland	04:30:36	0.800	03:36:29	0.753	15:30:36	17		D2
25	6568	Sobraon	Tony Burville	05:13:35	0.710	03:42:39	0.650	16:13:35	28		D2
26	8686	Crow Bar	Bruce Thomas	04:13:20	0.880	03:42:56	0.805	15:13:20	11		D2
27	R912	Papillon	Phillip Morgan	04:25:48	0.850	03:45:56	0.767	15:25:48	16		D2
28	9930	Dora Creek Workers	Ian Henderson	04:35:40	0.850	03:54:19	0.740	15:35:40	20		D2
DNF	5	SSORA	Mark Whittle		0.780					DNF	D2
DNF	58	Woof	Jim Walsh		0.880					DNF	D2
DNF	1640	Nitrogen	Troy Fortune		0.840					DNF	D2
DNF	M681	Plan B	Ian Leach		0.800					DNF	D2
DNF	M2080	Ambush	Nathan Frankiewicz		0.860					DNF	D2
DNF	SM1617	Barely Legal	Scott Kennedy		0.840					DNF	D2

Division 3 Keel TOT HC results Start : 11:00
Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Elapsd	AHC	Cor'd T	BCH	Fin Tim	ETOrd	DidNot	Class
1	68	Bosun	Bob Bower	03:53:43	0.650	02:31:55	0.650	14:53:43	1		D3
DNF	T916	Spindrift	Jim Gillan		0.630					DNF	D3