Elan Sisters Perform well in Whitsundays

by Gael Moldan on 21 Sep 2007 The Elan 340 and Elan 37 put in a mighty fine performance the recent 2007 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach and Audi Hamilton Island Race Weeks.

These great sailing Australian regattas serve up a jammed packed exciting time themselves but we are well and truly back behind the desks now from the tropical climes of the Whitsundays.

Did I say tropical – well more about that later….!

Elan Designer, Rob Humphreys is renowned for his ingenious integration of elements that present a yacht not only with great eye appeal, impressive performance and handling but extra style comfort below deck too. The Elan 340, winner of the European Yacht of the Year in her class and the popular Elan 37 are impressive examples of just that.

Firstly, the Elan 37 Cruiser/Race, Sunrise, took 2nd place overall to Storm 2, a 66 ft Warwick in the Cruising Yachts with Spinnaker Division in the Airlie Beach Race Week. That was a great start and our congratulations go to the owners of Elan 37 Sunrise, Jeff and Helen Shipsey for their super result.
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‘Sunrise’ then sailed into the huge Cruising Division at Hamilton Race Week which saw entry numbers of some 120 boats in all this year, achieving 15th overall in the six race series of Cruising Division 1 with a best result of sixth place in Race 6.

Jeff and Helen bought the second Elan 37 in Australia and have been enjoying making the most of just what they purchased the boat for; cruising, twilighting and racing around the Whitsundays.

A lot of energy goes into competing in these races, especially back to back, but look what’s on order – great sailing in one of Australia’s stunning sailing playgrounds heartily mixed with a mighty good time with cruising buddies.

In the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, with one of the biggest fleets seen yet, it could be said that we did set the Elan 340, Gwhizz, a tough test entering her in the IRC/CR Division. This was the 340’s first campaign here in Australia and Gwhizz positioned 18th overall over the 6 days of racing with a best result of 8th place in Race 4.

'For a 9.99m true Cruiser/ Racer, and right here I say again - a true Cruiser /Racer – as this Division did end up with a couple of entries of the straight racing boat kind, the Elan 340 did very well indeed. She’s not a stripped out Cruiser/Racer; the boat has all the cruising requirements on board, including extra batteries and windlass, hot water etc.

We were more than happy with the performance; the Elan 340 did everything it was asked to.' reports skipper, Rod Parry.

'Overall this was a great exercise to really work out what this model is able to do. It was a tough Division to put the boat and the crew in. The crew of six had not experienced sailing together beforehand, only just coming together for this regatta and coupled with the absence of local knowledge, it was a good result.

We all know if we had a works team on board there would have been a completely different result.' he adds

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Beforehand, ‘Time’ was the ever precious commodity not to be had for us at Navsail. Following the decision to enter the Hamilton Island Race and the showcasing of the 340 at the Sydney International, the mad rush was to immediately prepare and truck the boat to Airlie Beach where she was to be re-rigged and sailed to Hamilton to register for the race in time.

Sailing in the tropical Whitsundays…well …? The Audi Hamilton Island Race Week greeted all with grey windy, choppy seas and scattered rain. Not impressed at all. Constantly forecasted 20 -25 kts of S/SE winds, not all days did it top those figures but there were days when it did and there were times of virtually standing still. The sun and the much awaited blue skies and those magical blue waters of the Whitsundays finally arrived on the day of Race 4. And yes there was a blue skied sunny Whitehaven Beach Party to be had.

Strong winds, white caps, grey skies and rain presented on the first day the crew stepped on board together. Race 1 and 2 saw good starts; long beats into the wind and crew were rummaging for warmer clothes. Still no blue sky with Race 3 but improved conditions came with Race Day 4, when we came in with our best, in eighth place ahead of many of the big boats. Little wind resulted in a shortened course and an excruciating windless but exciting edging to the finish line.

A great start to Race 6 and Gwhizz was doing super well up among the front boats when it all ran away 2/3rds into the race, sailing into surely the Whitsundays biggest hole! No wind for a long long time and a somewhat disheartened finish to what was shaping up to be the 340’s best race.

But spirits were not to be that dampened for long, the crew unanimously praised the boat - the Elan 340 is ‘one fantastic boat for her size’.

With all crew on their way home, Rod and I set out from Hamilton Island to Mackay in conditions far worse than the first two days of racing. While some other boats arrived in Mackay a little worse for wear with an array of damage, Gwhizz’s only ‘damage’ was from race week a slightly bent stanchion when one of our larger crew members fell against it.

The passage from Hamilton to Mackay, for me, was to be my preplanned leisurely Whitsunday cruise through the islands down to Mackay as stage one of the return journey home.

Well, I would call it more akin to a bronco ride down the coast or for the skiers at heart….straight days of skiing moguls. With weather worse than the first two days of racing; 20 -25kts of S-SE winds and high seas, breaking waves and occasional rain, Rod and had what one would call… ‘quite an interesting time’ taking the boat down to Mackay with some equally wild choppy, banging anchorages en route.

This was not what I would call my ideal sailing conditions. I am not the Racer of the team but taking the helm, I watched Gwhizz cut through those big waves, just so consistently with great ease. I was happy with my trust in the boat and we truly thanked her for doing such a great job. Gwhizz now sits patiently and proudly in great condition waiting for somewhat calmer conditions to return to Pittwater.

Rod and I heartily thank our crew for their great team effort and contribution at the 2007 Hamilton Island Race Week: Elan 37 ‘Sirocco’ owners (Royal Prince Alfred YC): John & Sue Ellis, Elan 37 ‘Just Quietly’ owners (Drummoyne YC): Donald & Sue Swanson, and crew members: Greg Dudman and Nigel Pyemont.

It was a great mix of great sailing adventures, great company and good humour - all washed down with good food and wine.

…… in summary… it all says a great deal.

We look forward to seeing more enthusiastic Elan owners join the competitive spirit and camaraderie next year.

For more information on the Elan range of yachts contact and new releases: Rod Parry or Gael Moldan at Navsail, Bayview, 02 9999 6730, elan@navsail.com.au, www.navsail.com.au, www.elan-yachts.com