Sail-World.com : Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race 2012 - Sea pilot goes all out for win
Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race 2012 - Sea pilot goes all out for win
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'The Fork in the Road starting in the L2H race two years ago'
Peter Campbell ©
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Port Phillip ships pilot David Ellis is not only returning for a second bid to win The Good Guys Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race but is bringing with him two other Victorian yachts to contest the 285 nautical mile race around Tasmania’s rugged North-East and East Coasts.
The Mayor of Launceston, Alderman Albert van Zetten, will start the seventh annual Launceston to Hobart (L2H) race from Beauty Point on the Tamar River at 11am on Thursday, December 27.
The record 35 boats will then sail a challenging coastal course that includes passing through notorious Banks Strait between the north-east tip of Tasmania and the Furneaux Islands and through the Mercury Passage between elongated Maria Island and the Tasmanian mainland between Swansea and Orford.
Ellis will skipper his striking Archambault 31, Penfold Audi Sport, in its second L2H after an outstanding season with wins at the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta and the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week. A Tasmanian crew also borrowed the boat to win the Australians women’s keelboat regatta on Port Phillip.
'The L2H is a fascinating offshore race, a real challenge to tactical navigation between these islands and the Tasmanian coastline as well requiring good seamanship in the open waters of the Tasman Sea,' Ellis said when he visited the Derwent Sailing Club for the official launch of race. 'As a bonus, we have a close-up view of that rugged but magnificent scenery.'
Ellis, who trained at the Australian Maritime College in Launceston and later worked and coached young sailors in Hobart, shares his seagoing experiences between piloting 190 metre LOA tanks through the notorious Rip at the entrance to Port Phillip and skippering his 9.5 metre LOA racing yacht.
His enthusiasm for the Launceston to Hobart Race has seen two other yachts from his club, the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, enter for this year’s event: Rick Pacey’s Beneteau 36.7, Salty Dog and Sarah Allard’s Elan 410, Saltair.
Penfold Audi Sport is one of the favourites to perform well on corrected time after placing third in the IRC category last year. However, the Tasmanian competition will again be keen, with past overall and division winners Host Plus Executive (Jeff Cordell), Pisces (David Taylor), Footloose (Stewart Geeves) and Masquerade (Tony Harman) among this year’s fleet.
 | Kaiulani will again be one of the smallest boats in the fleet - Peter Campbell © |
In a very open race other strong contenders for the AMS and IRC rated handicap categories include Robin White’s Rocket 31, Xcite, Justin Barr’s Farr 1104, Rumbeat, Steve Chau’s Sydney 38, Ciao Baby II, Ian Marshall’s Farr 1104 Hot Prospect, the powerful Beneteau First 40, The Protagonist, skippered by Stuart Denny, and David Allan’s Sydney 38, Obsession.
The Overall Winner of the L2H will be the winner of the AMS handicap category with 23 boats in the fleet rated for AMS scoring, eight rated for IRC and all 35 having a PHS arbitrary handicap.
Favourite for line honours is the Bakewell-White 45, The Fork in the Road, skippered by former Olympian and world champion sailor Gary Smith, who has returned to the race after a break of two years. Smith sailed the same boat, then named Crotty Legal & Dental, to a line honours win in the L2H race in 2008 and could also be a strong contender for a line and handicap double.
Other front runners are expected to be Tobias Fahey’s Radford 50, Sea Quest, Mark Ballard’s Beneteau 44.7, 42° South, and Stephen Keal’s modified and re-named Farr 50, Fish Frenzy.
Full details of the fleet can be views on the official web site for The Good Guys Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race:
www.l2h.com.au/category/2012-entrants/
Progress of the fleet in real time can be followed on the web site:
http://oceantracker.net?event=l2h2012
by Peter Campbell
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6:35 AM Thu 20 Dec 2012GMT
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