Stealthy lives up to her name at Hog’s Breath Race Week

by Di Pearson on 17 Aug 2004 A young Queensland man by the name of Ben Carwardine is making a bit of a name for himself amongst the Sportsboat crews at Hog’s Breath Race Week this year.

The 21 year old is co-skippering the fastest sportsboat on the racetrack, aptly named ‘Stealthy’. His father, Alan, who designed and built the boat that nobody has been able to beat on water at this annual regatta is his co-skipper.

Also sailing with the father and son duo is Ben’s cousin Jamie. The three are having a ball, along with their other crew mates.

Alan Carwardine is also the designer/builder of two other Queensland entries in their class and both are doing well; So What, skippered by Brad Barker and Guided Missile skippered by John Hudson.

‘Our boat is set up well. It has a carbon mast and our main can be set up for boat speed or height,’ said Ben, when asked why their boat pointed so much higher and sailed faster than any other boat on the race track.

Ben and Alan decided to share the skippering of Stealthy at this event - that way everyone is happy, according to Ben.

‘Dad is a very good sailor and designer and he just updates our boats every now and again. Stealthy is three years old this week. She is state-of-the-art with a carbon rig and her hull is built of exotic materials. Dad just loves playing around with boats,’ he said.

Carwardine senior is a long time sailor who enjoys designing and building the family boats.

‘When we get sick of a boat, or feel we need something a bit faster, I go back to the drawing board,’ Alan says.

Watching them out on the race track is amazing. They bolt off the start line; lift up above everyone else in the fleet and take of like a rocket ship. Their elapsed result at the end of each day says everything, gaps of three and four minutes are par for the course, to whomever finishes second over the line, and quite often, it is Alan’s other two designs!

The Carwardine’s don’t travel to all the major regattas, which makes their exceptional boat and sailing results all the more extraordinary. Their last major regatta was the Trailer Sailer titles at Lake Macquarie last year.

‘Between you and me, Stealth has been sold and the new owners will take delivery after Hog’s Breath Race Week. I can only tell you they come from Adelaide,’ Ben said.

Whoever they are, I hope they are up to the challenge of this boat – she is frighteningly fast and exciting to watch.

‘Dad’s building a cruising boat next, so that will be a little bit different,’ Ben said when asked what was next on the agenda.

Going into Race 6 today, Stealthy leads the series with 11 points. Her tally includes three wins, a third and fifth placings. Their nearest rival is their former boat, So What, with 19 points.