Flirt’s last-race IRC overall victory

by Peter Campbell on 5 Jan 2007 The Victorian yacht Flirt has won the IRC division of the 2007 Boag’s Sailing South Race Week and the prestigious Charles Davies Memorial Trophy despite local Tasmanian yachts ending the dominance of local boats on the last day of competition.

Flirt, a Corbey 49 imported from the UK by Sandringham Yacht Club member Chris Dare, finished 11th in the final race after a fourth in the morning race five,but was able to discard the 11th place to give her a winning margin from two Tasmanian boats, Wired (Stephen Boyes) and X-Rated (David Creese).

Flirt’s major competition going into the final race, the Sydney grand prix racers Ichi Ban, Matt Allen’s Jones 70 and Quantum Racing, Ray Roberts’ Cookson 50, both their worst races of Sailing South. Quantum Racing had a tenth and a ninth on corrected time, Ichi Ban placed ninth and eighth.

Flirt finished Sailing South Race Week with a score of 14 points from placings of 2-1-2-5-4-(11) with Wired, a Farr 40 One Design, had 17 points from consistent placings of 3-4-4-4-6-2, while X-Rated, an imported X-42 from Denmark, had 19 points (9-5-5-7-1-1).

Quantum Racing ended with 20 points; Ichi Ban 21 points in a series that went right down to the line on a day of tricky light to moderate southerly breezes and a day in which the local Tasmanian boats outsailed the interstate visitors around the shortened windward/leeward courses on the River Derwent.

X-Rated and Quantum Racing were the only two boats to win two races in the six race Boag’s Sailing South Race Week, with X-Rated winning race five from another Tasmanian boat, Creative In-Tension, third going to the newly-launched Farr 42 Laurelle, skippered by Victorian Ray Borrett.

As with race five, race six was sailed over a shortened 8 nautical course, with X-Rated again winning, this time from two Farr 40s, Wired and Euro Central, skippered by Hughie Lewis.

The victory of Flirt continued the great success in Sailing South Race Week of expat Tasmanian Roger Hickman.

Now based in Sydney and a former flag officer of the Cruising Yacht Club, Hickman has competed in all seven Sailing South Race Weeks, winning the first as skipper of Bumblebee 5, followed by three wins as sailing master on the previous Ichi Ban.

Hickman, as usual, enlisted a host of local Hickmans and other Tasmanian relatives to crew on Flirt in yet another success in Sailing South Race Week. The Hickman family was out in force for tonight’s trophy presentation at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.

The final results of the PHS division are subject to a request for redress by one of the competitors, but the Cruising Division went to the veteran yacht Natelle II, skippered by Phil Jackman, which placed 1-(5)-1-2-2 to finish on 6 points, six clear of Tihany (Julius Szulvik) the winner of today’s fifth and final race for the Cruisers.

Tihany’s placings were 6-1-6-4-1 for 12 points, taking second place on a countback from Tarremah (Larry Duncan) which placed 3-3-2-(8)-4 also for 12 points.

Full results: www.ryct.org.au/results