Audi Hamilton Island Race Week – Cruising thrives in winds of change

by Crosbie Lorimer on 18 Aug 2015 2015 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week – The ever-popular cruising divisions once again form the backbone of the fleet with 162 yachts of every size and vintage racing in seven divisions. But much has changed in the composition and character of that fleet over the last 20 years.

Michael Spies, a former 18 foot skiff sailor, winner of the Sydney to Hobart and Race Week administrator is well placed to offer some informed perspectives on this vital part of Race Week’s heartbeat.

“Twenty years ago the charter boats were the mainstay of the cruising divisions; anyone wanting to sail in Race Week would either be cruising in the area anyway or would opt for a charter. But these days there are more owners bringing their own boats to Race Week and the charter business has shifted more towards multihulls,” says Spies.

“The boats have also got bigger. Ten years ago Cruising division three would have mostly comprised 32 to 35 footers; these days the average length is closer to 45 foot; there is also a significant number of 55 to 60 footers in Cruising division one. Owners are also buying production boats and going beyond the ‘poverty pack’, by pimping them up to get better performance and a choice of fittings,” he adds.

Chris and Ren Barlow’s recent purchase of the beautiful Platinum, a Bordeaux 60 built by CNB in France is a reflection of the trend. “This is a bit of a step up for us, as the last boat we had was an Oceanis 45,” says Chris. “The beauty of the semi-production CNB boats is the endless choices. We’ve gone for a carbon mast for some extra sailing performance and we have washing machines where others probably have wine fridges.”

Michael Spies also highlights the difficulties of handicapping such a diverse fleet, particularly given the differing motivations of the crews coming to Hamilton Island. “Forty percent of the cruising division crews are here purely for the participation in what is a marquee event; another 30% are regular club racers who are quite handy sailors, and the remaining 30% are out-and-out competitors. But the problem is that you’re handicapping the boats, not the people, and the performance difference can be huge.”

For Craig Watson, publican of the Court House Hotel in Mullumbimby and skipper of the Jeanneau 53 Coopers, that handicapping system finally came good on day two, Monday August 17. “We’ve been coming here for 17 years and we’ve had plenty of seconds and thirds, but we finally got a win in Cruising division two so we’re pretty happy about that.”

The next trend that Michael Spies is hoping to witness is the growth of the multihull and trailable divisions, even if significant growth in the former is going to test the already challenged berthing capacity of the Hamilton Island Marina during Race Week. “The marina manager James Burrell is an absolute champion. What he does each year is like the parting of the waves to get everyone sorted for this event!”

On the racing front, day three – Tuesday Aug 18th – proved complicated, with light and shifty winds. PRO Denis Thompson set courses he hoped would get boats around the course using the tide gates, but that didn’t always work out. A few boats took half a dozen attempts to get through Fitzalan Passage this afternoon.

 Cruising Division one

Place	Boat Name	Sail Num	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	VIRAGO II	6813	Dave Rooke	18.0	3.0	8.0	7.0
2	ZOE	98	Wayne Millar	21.0	1.0	11.0	9.0
3	MISS MINX	0505	Chris & Lauren Thorpe	26.0	9.0	11.0I	6.0
4	TAKANI	6981	James Whittle	27.0	4.0	13.0	10.0
5	SHAZAM	PD447	Doug Ryan	30.0	5.0	3.0	22.0
6	ENCORE	00100	T.Lewis J. Milledge	30.0	8.0	10.0	12.0
7	MAXI RAGAMUFFIN	7007	Keith Batt	31.0	2.0	21.0	8.0
8	WHITEBIRDS	788	Bob Bird Paul White	32.0	11.0	18.0	3.0
9	ABRACADABRA	5612	James Murchison	32.0	12.0	4.0	16.0
10	SMOOTH OPERATOR	SB509	Russell Durham	33.0	10.0	5.0	18.0
11	PILGRIM	E226	Paul Ley	34.0	15.0	2.0	17.0
12	PLATINUM	SM76	Chris Barlow	35.0	22.0I	12.0	1.0
13	INFINITY	AUS52	Edward Fader	37.0	7.0	19.0	11.0
14	ONE O NINE	1109	Robert Salteri	39.0	19.0	7.0	13.0
15	PHARLAP	8885	Sandy Spencer	40.0	13.0	1.0	26.0
16	ALLEGRO	6723	Adrian Lewis	41.0	25.0	14.0	2.0
17	L'ESPRIT	7041	Peter Byford	47.0	18.0	9.0	20.0
18	CHRISTINE	S77	Paul Bunn	47.0	16.0	17.0	14.0
19	FIRST LIGHT	6666	P White/ C Stannard	49.0	6.0	28.0R	15.0
20	CONCERTO	SM5892	James Morris	52.0	14.0	15.0	23.0
21	HELSAL3	262	Rob Fisher	53.0	21.0	28.0F	4.0
22	XSCAPE	AUS501	John Foster	57.0	22.0	16.0	19.0
23	CONDOR	KB80	David Molloy	61.0	28.0C	28.0C	5.0
24	LE COCHON NOIR V	NA	Roman Guerra	68.0	24.0	20.0	24.0
25	SILVER LINING	SM1155	Andrew McGrath	69.0	20.0	28.0F	21.0
26	VANISHING POINT	22000	T Ryan	70.0	23.0	22.0	25.0
27	JOURNEY	SM61	Bryan Dorman	84.0	28.0C	28.0C	28.0C

  Cruising Division two

Place	Boat Name	Sail Num	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	THAT BOAT	6782	Darryle Dransfield	16.0	3.0	2.0	11.0
2	VITESSE	1021	Ian Thomson	24.0	5.0	5.0	14.0
3	KATE	R53	John Raff	26.0	7.0	13.0	6.0
4	LUNACY	SB445	Chris McSorley	30.0	16.0	12.0	2.0
5	LEE-WAY	135	Stephen Humpeis	30.0	8.0	3.0	19.0
6	MORTGAGECHOICE RUMBA	6232	K Burke/R Carr S Cook	33.0	6.0	11.0	16.0
7	VANILLA	BOW17	David Perkins	34.0	20.0	10.0	4.0
8	AVVENTURA	7044	Peter Mumford	34.0	18.0	9.0	7.0
9	BUNDABERG	G16	John Kint	36.0	17.0	16.0	3.0
10	KITE RUNNER	11000	Phil Jobe	36.0	10.0	4.0	22.0
11	COOPERS	3810	Craig Watson	37.0	24.0	1.0	12.0
12	BEDFORDCA THREE CS	B45	Charles Cupit	37.0	19.0	17.0	1.0
13	CEILIDH	237	Peter Williams	37.0	11.0	8.0	18.0
14	AVANTI	B19	Philip Cormie	40.0	25.0	6.0	9.0
15	UPSTART	L41	Michael Daly	40.0	9.0	14.0	17.0
16	ERESSEA	6590	John Bankart	43.0	13.0	15.0	15.0
17	WIDE LOAD	4198	Elaine William Alan Mcclintoc	48.0	2.0	20.0	26.0
18	HOLY COW!	6797	John & Kim Clinton	51.0	22.0	21.0	8.0
19	ELUSIVE	R6608	Rick Pacey	51.0	12.0	18.0	21.0
20	BARUCH	SB560	Glenn Watson	52.0	23.0	24.0	5.0
21	FLYINGFISH LET LOOSE	M604	Walter Jorgensen	54.0	4.0	26.0	24.0
22	CHANTILLY	R56	Timothy Dutton	56.0	1.0	28.0F	27.0
23	CHARM OFFENSIVE		James Permezel	56.0	21.0	22.0	13.0
24	KICKATINALONG	1317	Graeme Poole	57.0	27.0	7.0	23.0
25	LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE	SM501	Sam Pavic	59.0	26.0	23.0	10.0
26	SYNERGY	RQ410	Ron James	59.0	14.0	25.0	20.0
27	LLOYDS TOO IMPETUOUS	3663	Rudy Weber	59.0	15.0	19.0	25.0

 Cruising Division three

Place	Boat Name	Sail Num	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	D'EUPHORIA	6956	Mike Selbie	10.0	2.0	3.0	5.0
2	SEA WAFER	R473	David Pascoe	11.0	4.0	5.0	2.0
3	WINDSONG OF M'TON	M5	Jim Watson	11.0	3.0	4.0	4.0
4	RHYTHM	BOW29	Ray Sweeney	18.0	7.0	1.0	10.0
5	OASIS	662	Merv Stephensen	19.0	1.0	9.0	9.0
6	ENGARDE	B55	Roger Johnston	19.0	10.0	6.0	3.0
7	NORTHERN MOMENT	C192	Vic Stevens	20.0	9.0	10.0	1.0
8	KAYAMI	BOW28	Brian Pozzey	21.0	12.0	2.0	7.0
9	OSCARS RIDE	RQ1982	Peter Driml	21.0	8.0	7.0	6.0
10	QUATTRO	F8	Jason Daisley/ C&C Monaghan	25.0	6.0	11.0	8.0
11	KARMA	BOW27	David Angus	28.0	5.0	12.0	11.0
12	ESCAPADE	C200	Mike Schmidt	31.0	11.0	8.0	12.0
13	CONDESA	BOW19	Mark Gaskell	47.0	17.0C	13.0	17.0C
14	PLUNDER	191	Ry Spalvins	47.0	17.0C	17.0C	13.0
15	SATISFACTION II	RQ725	Malcolm Wallace	51.0	17.0C	17.0F	17.0C
15	SANUK 11	547	Harvey Michael	51.0	17.0C	17.0F	17.0C