Living Doll wins Division 1 of Audi IRC Series

by Di Pearson / Skandia media on 26 Jan 2009
Michael Hiatt and his Living Doll crew had nerves of steel today, making a comeback to steal the Audi IRC Division 1 series from under the nose of Graeme Wood and his Wot Now crew – the two finished second and third respectively in Race 6 to finish the series on tied points, Hiatt coming out on top with one more win in his score to settle the series.

The final windward leeward race was put to bed this afternoon after a delayed start due to lack of breeze, but a nice 10-12 knot sea breeze filled in on Corio Bay just before midday, allowing racing to get underway.

Going up the first beat, tactician Ross Lloyd took Living Doll (Vic) hard right and Wot Now (NSW) rounded the first mark well ahead of Hiatt and crew.

However, by the time the yachts came up the work the second time, Hiatt, a Melbourne businessman, had a big lead over Wot Now and her crew could only look on as the Farr 55 kept up the momentum to score second place overall, Wot Now finishing third to seal the deal.

Hiatt was thrilled. Having had a couple of teething problems with his yacht, which forced him to cancel competing in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, everything came together in Geelong.

'We over rode Lloydy (tactician Ross Lloyd) on that first beat and Wot Now rounded in front of us, but we gybed inside them and caught up a bit of time on them on that first downwind leg. After that we picked them up bit by bit. We picked the shifts right – someone up there was looking after us.

'We got away from them after that and were able to sail our own race in clear air. It’s great to win,' said Hiatt who has confirmed he will be taking Living Doll to Sydney to compete in the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta in March and then the Audi Sydney Gold Coast race in July in an attempt to win the 2009 Audi IRC Australian Championship.

A Royal Yacht Club of Victoria member, Michael Hiatt had two reasons to smile today. Not only did he win the series and the Audi Perpetual Trophy, his former yacht, Shogun, A Cookson 50 he sold to mate and Royal Geelong Yacht Club member Robert Hanna, won Race 6 after a stunning start.

Like his friend Michael Hiatt, Hanna and his crew picked all the shifts right as the winds moved from left to right and back again across the course and kept their boat running like a train.

Sydney yacht, Loki, finished the series in third place overall. A brand new Reichel/Pugh 63 owned by Stephen Ainsworth, Loki performed well throughout the week and spectators were treated to some fine racing, particularly against a second new Reichel/Pugh design, Limit.

The six race-one drop series at Skandia Geelong Week was conducted by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club in Victoria.

Series Results [IRC] up to Race 6 (Drops = 1)

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Design	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	1.0S	R55	LIVING DOLL	Michael Hiatt	RYCV	Farr 55	10.00	2.00	3.00	3.00	[8.00]	1.00	1.00
2		6952	WOT NOW	Graeme Wood	CYCA	Judel Vrolijk 52	10.00	3.00	1.00	[4.00]	2.00	2.00	2.00
3		AUS60000	LOKI	Cameron Miles	CYCA	REICHEL PUGH 63	19.00	4.00	4.00	[13.00]	1.00	7.00	3.00
4		SM46	DEKADENCE	Philip Coombs	SYC	DK 46	26.00	9.00	8.00	2.00	[24.00R]	3.00	4.00
5		YC46	EXILE	Nick George	CYCSA	DK46	28.00	7.00	7.00	1.00	[24.00R]	5.00	8.00
6		R50	SHOGUN	Robert Hanna	RGYC	Cookson 50	30.00	1.00	5.00	7.00	[11.00]	10.00	7.00
7		98888	LIMIT	Alan Brierty	CYCA	reichel-pugh 62	33.00	5.00	2.00	19.00	3.00	4.00	[24.00Q]
8		G4646R	EXTASEA	Paul Buchholz	RGYC	DK46	39.00	8.00	11.00	[18.00]	7.00	8.00	5.00
9		52566	BLACKJACK	Peter Harburg	RQYS	Riechel Pugh 66	42.00	10.00	13.00	[21.00]	4.00	9.00	6.00
10		SM2008	AUDI CENTRE MELBOURN	Chris Dare	SYC	CORBY IRC 49	45.00	6.00	[24.00F]	6.00	6.00	17.00	10.00
11		SM5200	COUGAR II	Alan Whiteley	SYC	TP52	47.50	12.50	9.00	5.00	[17.00]	6.00	15.00
12		8880	GOLDFINGER	Peter Blake Kate Mit	SYC	Farr 52	53.00	14.00	[15.00]	9.00	9.00	12.00	9.00
13		M330	SHAMROCK	Tony Donnellan	MYC	Reichel Pugh	57.50	11.00	12.00	8.00	[16.00]	13.50	13.00
14		YC3300	SECRET MENS BUSINESS	Geoff Boettcher	CYCSA	REICHEL PUGH	61.00	[17.00]	10.00	11.00	10.00	16.00	14.00
15		CR1	OPTIMUS PRIME	Trevor Taylor	TCYC	Marten 49	63.00	[18.00]	16.00	10.00	15.00	11.00	11.00
16		B45	RUSH	John Paterson	RBYC	Farr 45	71.50	12.50	18.00	12.00	14.00	15.00	[18.00]
17		R33	CHUTZPAH	Bruce Taylor	RYCV	CAPRICE 40	75.00	15.00	17.00	14.00	13.00	[20.00]	16.00
18		AUS8888	VOODOO CHILE	Lloyd Clark	RYCT	farr 40 OD	76.00	16.00	14.00	16.00	[19.00]	18.00	12.00
19		M10	SKANDIA	Grant Wharington	MYC	Jones 98 Maxi	76.50	20.00	19.00	[23.00]	5.00	13.50	19.00
20		5226	ONESTEEL	Frazer Read	RYCT	Steiner 29 - Custom	83.00	19.00	6.00	20.00	21.00	[21.00]	17.00
21		SM1400	ISUZU MARINE	Jock Macadie	SYC	Jones/Hart 14	95.00	21.00	20.00	15.00	18.00	[22.00]	21.00
22		B2700	BELLE	David Currie	RBYC	IY60	97.00	22.00	21.00	22.00	12.00	[23.00]	20.00
23		SM460	XLR8	Ray Shaw	SYC	Reichel Pugh 46	102.00	24.00C	[24.00F]	17.00	20.00	19.00	22.00

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