Victoria’s yachting boom - offshore and in the Bay

by Peter Campbell on 22 Oct 2006 Keelboat racing is booming in Victoria, both on Port Phillip and in races into Bass Strait and beyond, with many yachts preparing for the major summer ocean races to Tasmania followed back here by the Skandia Geelong Week and other bay events.

Last weekend saw the opening race in the popular Range Series, with some 80 boats from all the major clubs on the northern part of Port Phillip competing.

This weekend more than 40 boats from the two Williamstown-based clubs, the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria and Hobson’s Bay Yacht Club, contested the Portarlington Race on a chilly spring day.

The Melbourne Cup weekend in November will see the offshore fleet head into Bass Strait in the race to Stanley, the little port on the north-west coast of Tasmania, which is a qualifying event for this year’s Heemskirk Consolidated Melbourne to Hobart Race and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

The Ocean Racing Club of Victoria conducts the Stanley Race and also the upcoming Christmas-New Year races across Bass Strait to Launceston and down the Tasmanian West Coast to Hobart.

Both races from Melbourne are expected to attract larger fleets this year, while there will be a strong contingent of Victorian boats in the Sydney Hobart.

The ORCV, which earlier this year successfully staged the inaugural Melbourne to Vanuatu Race, is running another of its innovative offshore races – the Latitude Race, to be held on 25 November.

Starting at Queenscliff, near the entrance to Port Phillip, the fleet will sail out through the Heads to a pre-determined Latitude in Bass Strait, and return to finish at Portsea on the flood tide.

The race includes competitor support and a mentoring program to encourage skippers and crew to venture into long ocean racing.

The opening race of the Range Series attracted more than 80 starters with Michael Hiatt’s Cookson 50 Living Doll taking line and first place overall in the IRC division, beating Flirt, Chris Dare’s imported Corby 49, the Sydney 38 Challenge (Lou Abrahams), the DK46 Shogun (Rob Hanna) and Chutzpah (Bruce Taylor), another Sydney 38, on corrected time.

Living Doll, Flirt, Challenge and Chutzpah are already nominated for the Rolex Sydney Hobart, with prominent CYCA yachtsman Roger Hickman joining the crew of Flirt as sailing master for the Hobart and other races, including Hobart’s Sailing South Race Week.

Living Doll took line honours in the 21 nautical mile race from Williamstown to Portalington on the Bellarine Peninsula, but had to be content with third on IRC, first place going to the Adams 10 Executive Decision (G.Botica) which also took out AMS honours.

The three top boats in the IRC division sail for the organising club, the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, while the PHD winner Harmony (S.Chaney) hails from the nearby Hobson’s Bay Yacht Club.

The ‘Royals’ have another have another innovative event coming up – the Lipton Cup Regatta from Friday 17 November through to the Sunday, 19 November.

This new Regatta will be a high standard four race series, especially for Victorian boats tackling this year’s Sydney Hobart, Westcoaster and Australian keelboat titles.

It will embrace Victoria’s top grand prix racers down to cruisers and even the beautiful classic wooden boats from the major keelboat clubs on Port Phillip.

Entries are now flowing in with the first paid up entry being received from Richard Gate’s RYCV-based wooden classic the 10.5m Laurent Giles Wanita. It was followed closely by Lou Abrahams’ Challenge and Chris Dare’s Flirt that are both doing this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart.

Five leading Bay clubs, including Sandringham Yacht Club, Royal Brighton Yacht Club, Royal Melbourne yacht Squadron and Hobson’s Bay Yacht Club, together with RYCV have rescheduled their weekend sailing programs to ensure their boats are on the start line.