Race leader Ichi Ban concedes course record safe

by Lisa Ratcliff on 25 Mar 2007 While the new Audi Sydney Southport race leader, Matt Allen’s Jones 70 Ichi Ban, is revelling in the fast downwind conditions, navigator Will Oxley has good news for course record holder George Snow.

Based on their current speed of 21.1 knots with 59 nautical miles still to sail, Ichi Ban is more than two and half hours away from a finish while the course record is one hour and 40 minutes away. Oxley predicts they will finish around 7pm this evening.

Oxley has revealed that Ichi Ban, which is sailing in 30-35 knot south sou’westerly winds and drizzling rain 13 miles NE of Evans Head, south of Cape Byron, busted their boom vang overnight and have a tear in the mainsail.

'A snap shackle on the spinnaker went which transferred the load to the main. There will be plenty of work for the sail makers after this race!'

When asked were they enjoying the white knuckle ride north, Oxley laughed; 'it’s always fun doing 20 knots!'

Skandia also suffered further sail damage in the early hours of this morning.
'Last night we were sailing along nicely with our laminate chute up and one reef in the main, and the halyard gave up, bringing the sail down,' said skipper Grant Wharington. '

'Ichi Ban is sailing under her most favourable conditions and we have no laminate chute.' At 1345hrs this afternoon, Skandia was only half a mile astern of Ichi Ban.

With their deep drafts, neither Skandia nor Ichi Ban can enter the Gold Coast Seaway so after recording a finish time sometime this evening they will both head to Brisbane.

Steve McConaghy from Quantum Racing, currently third in the fleet some 18 miles astern of Skandia and 23 miles ahead of its nearest rival, Graeme Wood’s Wot Yot, reported hitting a top speed of 31.4 knots today in the 25-45 knot southerly. 'There is water everywhere, its exciting stuff,' he said.

Ian Thomson, skipper of Identity Crisis which pulled into Newcastle for six hours to untangle their spinnaker and collect themselves, has revealed the reason their spinnaker was in such a mess they had to head to port.

'We were hit with 50 knot gusts and we couldn’t get the chute down in time…we made a real mess of it…it’s in about 15 pieces,' he said this morning.

Not long after the spinnaker wrapped around the forestay, the Catalina from Raby Bay in Queensland clocked its fastest boat speed, 'we hit 16.5 knots of boat speed…and that was with the spinnaker wrap!'

While he’s delighted a new record has been set, he acknowledges, 'we are not looking good for the case of Verve'. Identity Crisis had a pre-race bet with next door neighbour Lloyds Business Brokers Too Impetuous on a case of Verve Cliquot. 'I’m so far behind when we get there I think we’ll just buy the case and drink it on the spot,' laughed Thomson this morning after they rejoined the now 41 boat fleet.

Andrew Buckland’s Mr Kite has this afternoon withdrawn from racing with rudder and Warwick Sherman’s Occasional Coarse Language has retired with boom damage bringing the total number of withdrawals to four with John Cameron’s Fincorp