Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Race - Alive claims overall IRC victory

by Lulu Roseman on 7 Aug 2016 The Reichel Pugh 66, Alive skippered by Duncan Hine from the Derwent Sailing Squadron in Hobart, was declared the overall IRC winner in the 10th Anniversary Edition of the Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race.

The 10th anniversary edition of the 343 nautical mile race was the fastest on record for both line honours winner Wild Oats XI and the last yacht to cross the finish line, Charlie’s Dream, the double handed entry owned by Royal Queensland yacht Squadron Member, Peter Lewis and all the entries in between.

The Oatley Family’s Super maxi Wild Oats XI demolished her own line hours race record previously set in 2011 by just under 7:30 hours with an elapsed course time of 16 hours, 56 minutes and 30 seconds.

Peter Harburg’s Modified Volvo 70, Black Jack was only about 90 minutes behind Wild Oats XI followed by Duncan Hine’s, Alive just another hour behind them, giving all three new line honours race records.

The Tasmanian boat owned by Philip Turner, Skippered by Duncan Hine and sailed by a gun crew including Volvo Ocean Race competitor Stacey Jackson, Moth Champion Rob Gough and Sunshine Coast Navigator David Turton, excelled in the stunning conditions racking up an average boat speed of 19 knots all the way up the Queensland coastline.

Along with the rest of the fleet they surfed upwind along the coast and into the record books with an elapsed time of just 19 hours, 56 minutes and 24 seconds.

“Our goal was to get there in one piece and with the boat intact. We suffered from no major damage and we just wanted to sail safe. It was a fantastic race and we got some great bursts of 25-30 knots of boat speed going past Polmaise Reef and for half an hour we maintained a boat speed of 25 knots,” said David Turton.

“It’s the fastest we have ever left Moreton Bay or shot up the coast and we made Cape Capricorn at dawn which was incredible. We had a few ‘Oh My” moments at Breaksea Spit near Fraser Island where a whale was just sitting there and came very close to the boat. It’s fantastic to successfully defend our overall handicap win from 2015 and we will definitely be back for another crack at it next year,” he added.

Corum, the Mumm 36, owned by father and son team of Geoff and Todd Anderson from the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron won IRC Division Two and PHS Division Two.

“We fought hard all the way despite blowing three kites. The beauty of this boat is that is sails quite freely however we did it a bit tough at Caloundra as we blew out two shoots just after we left Moreton Bay,” Geoff Anderson said.

“We never took the pressure off and just kept pushing all race. We kept pace with some of the 40-46 footers. But by Saturday lunchtime we had blown our other kite and were left with a masthead code zero so trying to run VMG to the finish line with that really slowed us down. Everyone put in an incredible effort to get us to the finish line. As always the hospitality at the Keppel Bay Marina was awesome,” Todd Anderson said.

For Steven Proud, owner and navigator of Swish, the Kernan 44 from Middle Harbour Yacht Club, this race remains unfinished business, however a third in IRC overall was a great result.

“It was a tough race in very challenging conditions and certainly the only race I have done where we averaged 14 knots the entire time. We got our boat up to the low 20’s and peaked at 31 knots. We were just launched. We have a great team aboard and they just kept pushing hard the entire time,” Proud said.

“We had a shocker in 2014 so it’s very rewarding to get a better result. The boat has recently undergone some major modifications including a longer bowsprit and the inclusion of some larger spinnakers to the sail wardrobe by Billy Sykes and his team at North Sails. Having said that we didn’t quite have the right sail configuration for this race and could have done with an A6 so that made it a bit harder for us,” he added.

Despite finishing second over the line to Wild Oats XI, Black Jack (RQYS) Skipper Mark Bradford was stoked to pip the bigger maxi on the start line and lead for the first part of the race. Once they deployed their spinnaker the Modified Volvo 70 owned by Peter Harburg accelerated from 10 to 20 knots.

“It’s an unusual sight when Wild Oats XI isn’t leading the fleet. We stayed between WOXI and Alive for the majority of the race. The wave train off Fraser Island pretty much dictated the boat speed so everyone – apart from WOXI - was doing similar speeds because you are locked into those waves. That type of seaway makes it easier to do gybes in 20-25 knots,” Bradford said.

“We are pretty happy with our result given a 30 meter longer yacht only beat us by 90 minutes. That’s close and they are very hard to get close to. We reduced our crew down to 10 in an attempt to reduce weight and make the boat go faster.” he added.

Mark Gallagher, Vice Commodore of the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron said this year's race attracted an outstanding and diverse fleet including many were doing it for the first time.

'It's great to see a number of younger sailors being given the opportunity to dip their toes in the offshore racing waters by competing in this race, It's a great introduction not just for many of our members at RQYS but for all young talented and emerging sailors to gain offshore racing experience,” Gallagher said.

“You couldn't ask for better conditions and to see the smiling faces of the competitors as they arrived into Keppel Bay Marina is what this event is all about. It's fun tropical racing and this year's 10th edition was the best ever for fleet numbers. With our friends at Keppel Bay Marina we're are looking forward to hosting many more races in the future,' he added.