Club Marine Pittwater to Coffs Race - Entries close Friday

by Lisa Ratcliff on 5 Dec 2013 The yearly on-water tussle for the Club Marine Pittwater to Coffs Race’s major trophies is set to play out in less than a month among the high calibre fleet.

At the same time a different kind of wager will resume between two boats almost identically named when they head to the start line on January 2, 2014 at 1pm off Barrenjoey Headland on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

Robert Alder, a long-term Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club member, bought the Cookson 12 Occasional Coarse Language One from Warwick Sherman in 2011 when the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia member upgraded to a newer Ker Gts 43, christening it Occasional Course Language Two.

The former Knox Grammar schoolmates were reunited during the transaction and now they are back in regular contact through ocean racing, and enjoying some good-natured rivalry on the racetrack.

Alder proposed a trophy for the better IRC handicap performer each time the pair meets on the start line of a major coastal race.

Last year Alder won by default when Sherman retired from the annual Sydney Gold Coast yacht race. This year OCL Two won its division but Alder finished up eight places higher on the IRC overall ladder, in fifth, meaning the RPAYC boat is undefeated.

When the duelling duo meets for the first time at the start of the Pittwater to Coffs race on the 2nd January the OCL Cup will again be on the line.

'We have a friendly rivalry,' acknowledged Alder who is preparing for his 15th race north. 'We started it as a bit of fun between the two crews.'

Sherman says he’s 'flirting with the devil' in the Coffs race by taking another Cookson owner, Sydney jeweller Julian Farren-Price on as crew. Alder is aware of the addition of Farren-Price and the quality of Sherman’s team and he’s promised to counter with his own experienced line-up, including his brother Andrew and co-owner Bill Bailey.

'We have to beat OCL Two to show Julian he should have entered his Cookson rather than sail with Warwick,' Alder joked.

OCL Two has had a hell of a season, winning its division in the Rolex Sydney Hobart then backing up with a Sydney Gold Coast divisional win. 'If we win Coffs I can retire because I’ll have all three trophies,' laughs Sherman.

On the lure of the 226 nautical mile Pittwater to Coffs race he says, 'I like the tactics and it can be an exciting race, quick or slow. If you make one error you can shoot yourself in the foot whereas in the longer races you can get out of jail'.

The fleet for the 33rd edition is diverse thanks to the addition of new recruits and the creation of a multihull division, which has attracted the racy red catamaran Indian Chief from the Royal Motor Yacht Club in Pittwater and Sean Langman’s double record-breaking Orma 60, Team Australia.

Syd Fischer’s defending IRC, PHS and ORCi winner, the TP52 Ragamuffin, is returning to the handicap fray. With the inclusion of Peter Harburg’s Juan K 70, Black Jack, line honours contention shall once again sit comfortably with the more substantially sized, rather than the cheeky 50-footers.

The multihulls will race for a separate line honours trophy and Team Australia is odds-on.

Interested boat owners have until this Friday, 6 December, to lodge an entry. After that late entries will be accepted until Friday 13 December.

Unlike sailing’s greatest trophy, the America’s Cup, which travels with tight security, the Occasional Coarse Language Cup will be stowed on OCL One for the New Year coastal sprint north.

Warwick Sherman is delighted with cup’s mode of carriage, 'The trophy travels with OCL One, that’s a bit more weight on their boat…'

The 2014 Club Marine Pittwater & Coffs Harbour Regatta Notice of Race and online entry is available from the event website.

For race enquiries and documentation please contact the RPAYC Sailing Office on (02) 9998 3771 or sailing@rpayc.com.au