Hammo, IRC Nats, 505's, Cadets, foiling and more
by Rob Kothe and the Sail-World Team on 25 Aug 2014
2014 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week Andrea Francolini
2014 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - Interstate and international crews from 182 boats sailed in this year’s event and we have extensive coverage today.
As Crosbie Lorimer writes 'Hamilton Island Race Week closed with classic strong breezes and sun. It's been another great week of racing, offering a mixture of conditions and proving that the winners of this year's regatta are strong all-rounders.
Most memorable moments this year included seeing Bob Oatley not only sailing aboard Wild Oats XI on several days in his specially designed chair, but better still, steering the AC45!'
2015 IRC Australian Championship will be heading to Hamilton Island. The premier national IRC racing event was last held there in 2012. Marcus Blackmore took out the IRC Australian Championship with his TP52 Hooligan, making it back-to-back wins following his success in 2011.
Racing will again take place in three classes (Division One, Division Two and Division Three) allowing similar-sized yachts to compete in their relevant division and offering fairer racing. The 2014 event attracted 30 boats across the three division when sailed out of Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club.
2014 Cadet World Championship - For the first time in 27 years an Australian crew has won the International Cadet World Championship, with brother and sister Thomas and Sophie Alexander from Royal Geelong Yacht Club winning the 2014 championship at Weymouth, England, on the weekend.
SAP 505 World Championship 2014 - Mike Holt and crew Rob Woelfel, (USA) won this year’s title from young Western Australians, Pete Nicholas and Luke Payne racing with another 171 crews.
Luke Payne commented ‘We were aiming for a top 10, and anything more than that a bonus, very excited to get second. We were improving the whole regatta and managed to find some really good speed by the end. Now we’ve got to see if we can win a world title!'
Scarlet Runner back in Oz The proud owner Rob Date reports that in the early hours of Tuesday morning Scarlet Runner his Reichel Pugh 52 will arrive in Sydney completing a circumnavigation of the world. She was last in Sydney for the 2013 Sydney to Southport and has sailed on her own bottom across the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.
She competed in Cape to Rio (second place), St Thomas race week, St Barths race week, Antigua race week, Guadeloupe to Antigua race ( first), Around Antigua race (second) and Pacific Cup (San Francisco to Hawaii) (first place in division and overall ). The boat captain Brett Averay, and the crew of Disco, (Rowan Leaper) and Tim Kenner have been with her all the way.
Glide Free - foiling for the Mob. It’s virtually impossible to look at imagery from the high-flying 34th America’s Cup and not have a serious 'I wish!' conversation with your mates.
While the foil-bound AC72 class of wing sail-powered catamarans look truly outrageous, sadly, these rarefied America’s Cup class yachts cost tens of millions of dollars to design, build and maintain, and represent the absolute pinnacle of experts-only sailing hardware. Even the tiny Moth class, which also uses hydrofoils to fly, comes bundled with a hefty investment requirement (although here the 'cost-per-knot' is considerably lower than that of an AC72!), not to mention the need for world-class sailing skills and an acute sense of balance.
But before you go hunting online for a used AC72 (and good luck with that project, mate!), spend some time familiarizing yourself with the Glide Free Foiling Kit from Glide Free Design, which is designed to be retrofitted onto an old Laser, and which can be acquired for a fraction of the cost of a new Moth…let alone an AC72.
The Australian made Glide Free Foiling Kit doesn’t require any permanent changes (read: holes, bolts, or other fixed hardware or attachments) to the Laser, meaning that your boat is still class-legal, provided, of course, that you remove the foiling kit prior to your next regatta. Simply remove the toggle pin on the centreboard-truck insert, remove the centreboard assembly, unclip the rudder from its pintles, and you’re off to the One Design races as a legitimate Laser sailor. Easy!
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