| Tevake II takes Line Honours and sets Race Record |
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Fletcher as Commodore of the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria has been one of the main forces behind the organisation of this unique and ambitious race, along with some other dedicated individuals. Fletcher spoke about this final leg of the odyssey, ‘the race didn’t actually go as per the script, the first couple of days were sort of to the script but then the wind banged around to the south west, definitely not in the brochure. Instead of a nice reach it became a windward slog making it pretty bouncy going.’ Fletcher believes that the track they followed was just about the optimal one despite the fact that the only assistance they have for weather is the one that comes at the normal sked time and a finger held in the air. They don’t have weather fax or a satellite phone and yet they have clearly got it right this time. When asked how special this victory is for him Fletcher said, ‘We had hoped to nail something, either Line Honours or Corrected Time, we were obviously disappointed to just miss out in Vanuatu, it’s a huge satisfaction to achieve this.’ Fletcher sees a great future for the race, the feedback he has received from the participants has been extremely positive and he has been encouraged to put the next one into the sailing calendar now for two years time. ‘Ken Gourlay, (Spirit Silver Edition) Commodore of the Tamar Yacht Club (Launceston, Tasmania), loved the race to Vanuatu and has encouraged us to do it again in two years time.’ Fletcher thanked his co-committee members, ‘George provided the inspiration for this race but then everyone who knuckled down and put in the hard work to make the race a reality. 'To do this from scratch is an enormous undertaking. George Shaw, Bob Tanner, who has done so much work and Peter Coleman who added so much enthusiasm and so disappointingly damaged his boat not far out from Melbourne. Of course we also thank the Queensland Government for their sponsorship which made the race possible and hope they will continue this in the future.’ Fletcher now faces a nail biting wait to see how his Radford designed 45 footer will fare in the prestigious IRC handicap with the Mike Welsh skippered Alien still to finish. At this morning’s 6am sked Alien was just 29 minutes behind Tevake II on corrected time with still some 157 nms to the finish. They will finish in the small hours of the morning tomorrow and like Tevake II are likely to suffer with the breeze dropping out over night. Gusto, the Open 60 is expected to be the next boat across the line and with just 100 nms to go and the breeze building it is expected to arrive later this evening. Robin Hewitt’s Yoko continues to lead the performance handicap division and is not expected to finish before late tomorrow, they are followed in this division by Ingenue.
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