Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race - Tamar River yachts eye line honours

by Peter Campbell on 20 Dec 2012 The Good Guys Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race 2012 will have five Tamar River yachts of the 35 entries, which includes Peter Rae-skippered cruising yacht Genevieve. The Launceston to Hobart race is set to start from Beauty Point at 11a.m on 27 December.

Among the northern entrants is Peter Rae, the 80-year-old former senator and past chairman of the Hydro-Electric Commission, who will skipper his cruising yacht Genevieve.

The crew of Genevieve, a Jeanneau 42DS from the Port Dalrymple Yacht Club, includes three of the crew, Peter Rae, his then 18-year-old son Jamie and Charlie Youll who sailed aboard Rae’s yacht Sarnia the 1976 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Next week Peter and Jamie Rae and Charles Youll will join forces again to sail Genevieve in the L2H, with two 15-year-olds, Peter Rae’s grandson Elliott and a school friend, Matthew Watson, making up the crew.

This will be the first race, albeit in the cruising division, for Genevieve, with Rae planning to sail the boat in the Van Diemens Land Cruise circumnavigation of Tasmania next February.

Other northern boats in the fleet are Andrew Jones’ Inglis 47 AdvantEDGE, and David Allan’s Sydney 38,Obsession, both from the PDYC, and the Tamar Yacht Club entrants Allusive, a Lyons designed pilot house cruising yacht skippered by John Joyce, and Careena, Ross Carey’s Van Der Stadt 40. Genevieve and Careena are both entered in the Cruising Division of the L2H.

The well-sailed Allusive made the most of her favourable rating (handicap) to place second on corrected time to overall winner Masquerade in last year’s race. AdvantEDGE was sixth boat to finish but 10th on corrected time.

Masquerade, Tony Harmsen’s Morgan 35, will be lining up again, along with past handicap division winners Host Plus Executive (Jeff Cordell), Pisces (David Taylor) and Footloose (Stewart Geeves).

Returning to the L2H race after a break of two years is past line honours winner The Fork in the Road, a fast Bakewell-White 45 skippered by former Olympic yachtsman Gary Smith from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.

Another interesting entrant is Sea Quest, the Radford 14 in which Hobart yachtsman Joshua Fahey had planned to sail solo around the world in less than 180 days and break Launceston yachtsman Ken Gourlay’s fastest solo circumnavigation by an Australian boat.

Fahey, a member of the Derwent Sailing Squadron, had to abandon his attempt because of battery problems only days into the voyage and returned to Hobart last week.

He plans to set sail again on the circumnavigation in October next year but in the meantime has decided to sail, with a crew, in the Launceston to Hobart Race.

Full details of the race fleet, including crew lists, can be viewed on The Good Guys Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race web site: Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race 2012

Progress of the fleet can be viewed in real time on the Ocean Tracker web site: Ocean Tracker