Skandia Geelong Week – record numbers

by Di Pearson on 30 Jan 2007 A record 448 entries, a new series, fantastic racing, new partners, new big screen viewing, high profile entertainment and even bigger crowds to Geelong signalled to all that Skandia Geelong Week, Australia’s oldest and largest keelboat regatta, is set to take centre stage on the Australian sailing calendar as it continues to grow each year.

The event kicked off this year with a brand new event the Skandia Docklands Invitational, with 18 of Australia’s best known yachts invited to the beautiful Waterfront City location where holidaymakers could take in the sight of some the country’s best sailors doing battle for the inaugural series.

Skandia Geelong Week is an historic sporting event, hosting 110 races across many classes. In another record year, approximately 4500 sailors attended and an estimated 100,000 visitors came to Geelong to take part in the racing and enjoy the brilliant shore side entertainment.

Hardys Secret Mens Business wins Audi Series

The quality of racing in this seven race one drop series was excellent. There were 30 quality entries from Australia wide which made for a tough event.

A Reichel/Pugh owned and skippered by South Australian Geoff Boettcher and his core crew with a couple of well known Sydney sailors, Sean Kirkjian (tactics) and Michael Dunstan (mainsheet) won the event, but in the earlier part of the series had problems and didn’t look likely to win the series.

An eighth and a seventh mid regatta had the South Australian pulling his hair. 'We had the rig re-tuned before coming here and the boat has been dead in the water. Each day we have been fiddling and loosening it and finally we got it right. It had been strung up too tight,' Boettcher said afterwards.

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It was a great win for the well travelled boat and crew who contest most major races on the Australian calendar.

While it is the top boat in South Australia, Boettcher has had to frustratingly fill the role of bridesmaid on a number of occasions, including at the Hahn Premium Hamilton Island Race Week, which he looked set to win until Ray Roberts’ DK46 Quantum Racing made a bid at the end of the regatta and was successful in winning the event.

‘Boettch’ was a little nonplussed on discovering he had won. 'It hasn’t sunk in – maybe later,' he said. He and the crew did not realise they had won, as Chris Dare’s Victorian Corby 49 Flirt was sitting in the box seat, the South Australian’s winning on count back after scoring a win and a second on the final day.

'The wind Gods were definitely with us today. The boat loves big breeze and that’s what we got in Geelong,' he said after those two races. 'I have a great core crew of eight guys from Adelaide, topped up by a couple of Sydney guys.

'Sean got us out well today. He and I don’t always agree, but I go with what he says – he knows what he’s doing. And Michael did a great job – he reads me and the boat well. I thought Flirt had it, they sailed a good consistent regatta.'

For Dare it was a hard second place. 'Half way through the last race we had them (Boettcher’s crew) on toast. He got the trophy, we got the boiled toffees! In a lot of ways it was very disappointing.

'We didn’t know how close it (the series) was until we got back to the dock.

'When we left Melbourne eight weeks ago to go on the racing circuit, we set some goals and we have far exceeded them,' he said.

Early on, it looked as though Bob Oatley’s 98 foot super maxi Wild Oats XI would sweep all before her. Bob was aboard for the entire series and his wife Val joined for a few days too. Usual skipper Mark Richard was at the helm and Adrienne Cahalan did the navigating.

Three straight line and handicap honours wins later, with a crew line up second to none, the show looked over. Grant Wharington’s 98ft Skandia and Matt Allens’ Jones 70 (the former Volvo 70) trailed Wild Oats which looked as smooth as Audi’s cars around the course.

However, a kite mishap on the big boat in Race 4 and a new contender emerged in the overall stakes. Shogun, a DK46 owned by Rob Hanna and representing the Royal Geelong Yacht Club, the host for Skandia Geelong Week, topped the score board.

Then came the Passage Race, one of the slowest on record, Grant Wharington’s race record from last year of just under one and a half hours was completely safe. In wafting west-sou-westerlies, the big boats didn’t have a chance; not till 2 miles short of the finish did the breeze pipe in, by which stage the smaller yachts were coming home fast under spinnaker in an east-nor-easter.

It took line honours victor Wild Oats XI close to five hours to complete the course. Skandia came in some 10 minutes later, followed by Ichi Ban, another 20 minutes adrift. Bob Oatley said after the race: 'There was very little wind – only just enough actually for most of the race. At times we had nil wind, but we never stopped moving. Coming up to the finish was great though; the last five miles we were doing 17-18 knots of boat speed and managed to be the first boat home.'

A small boat race, the overall prize went to Lou Abrahams’ Sydney 38 Challenge who made the best of every shift and bit of breeze on the course. In winning, Lou took home the trophy named in his honour. Challenge’s win moved Lou into the top end of the score board.

Following were four races on Corio Bay in Geelong over two days. On both, winds were strong 15-25 knots with solid and regular gusts up to 30 knots. These conditions added others to the top of the board and going into the final day, any of the top eight could have won.

Disaster struck Wild Oats XI on the final day. In between the two races on windward/leeward courses, the boat broke its gooseneck. The boom was held by a strop, but that broke too, the boom injuring crew member Ian Smith as it fell. 'We raced the whole course under jib only, but at least we finished,' said crew member Barney Walker.

Smith was hospitalised overnight with a shoulder injury, but released the next day. The incident ended their opportunity of winning yet another regatta.

Shogun, the Geelong DK46 owned by Rob Hanna was also dealt a blow when they blew their main out just prior to Race 6, resulting in their retirement from that race as Quantum’s Brad Anson rushed ashore, did a quick repair and rushed back for Race 7, which ended their chance for the top prize. They did finish third, which is a great result for Hanna and his crew. Lou Abrahams finished fourth overall.

Graeme Troon’s Melbourne entry XLR8, and sistership to Hardys Secret Mens Business, was another contender, but hooked the top mark in Race 6 and out the back door they went, unable to continue the race.

‘Wharo’ had a hard time with Skandia too. Unable to keep up with Wild Oats’ in all but one race, the culprit was a new canard. Wharington explained there was a ‘fat bit’ which the crew had sanded down, but giving it a shove into the case, it hit the chock and had the effect of making the trim tab work in reverse; the boat sliding sideways on one tack.

The affable Victorian kept smiling though and continued to take out a number of corporate guests who enjoyed the once in a life time opportunity of racing on a faster super-maxi and line honours winner of the 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart race.

Skandia Docklands Invitational

Sydney’s Ray Roberts, the 2006 Ocean Racer of the Year, with his DK46, took the honours in the inaugural five-race Skandia Docklands Invitational on completion of the final race sailed on Corio Bay on the final day.

The event invited 18 high profile yachts from around Australia and all were keen to win the inaugural event.

A mixed breeze series, the first four races were sailed over two days at Docklands beautiful Waterfront City. Heavy rain pervaded the final day Docklands day. At that stage, the series was still wide open with at least five yachts in for t