Prime Time in good time

by Peter Campbell on 27 Nov 2004 While the first race of the Savills Short Ocean Racing Championship did not provide the type of sailing weather enjoyed by the super maxi Konica Minolta or the other high-rating boat in the fleet, Wild Joe, a freshening nor’easter and longer course gave them both excellent results in race two.

Konica Minolta placed 27th on IRC corrected time in race one, Wild Joe was somewhat better with a 9th. But in race two, Wild Joe placed first, with the New Zealand 98-footer second.

However, heading the IRC leaderboard at the end of day one is David Mason’s Beneteau 44., Prime Time, which won the first race and placed 4th in the second to tota 5 points with the John Bacon’s smart Sydney 38CR, Hussy, holding second place on 7 points with a 4th and a 3rd. In third place on 8 points, following a 2nd and 6th, is Austmark, skippered by MHYC member Gunther Schmidt-Lindner. Stephen David’s Wild Joe is next on 10 points.

Despite the light morning seabreeze, it was a great day of sailing in the sunshine for the 100 competitors in Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s Savills SORC, with close racing in rated and one-design classes sailed on two courses north and south of Sydney Heads.

Stewart Thwaites’ Konica Minolta showed distinct signs of ‘stickiness’ in the morning race, sailed in only 5-7 knots, but she certainly picked up speed in the 10-12 knots of the afternoon race, taking line honours by some six minutes from Wild Joe and, despite her 1.6130 rating, placing 2nd on corrected time to Wild Joe, with Hussy third.

Wild Joe, the former Admiral’s Cup champion Wild Oats, now owned by Stephen David, showed Konica Minolta her transom for half of the first race and for most of the first windward leg of the second race.

Helmsman Iain Murray did better than the 98-footer’s driver Craig Satterthwaite at both starts and that gave the Reichel/Pugh 60, with its canting keel and canard, a distinct advantage to windward.

Top honours in race one went to David Mason’s Beneteau 44.7, Prime Time, with Neville Wittey vigorously called the shots. Despite having to spin away in a hotly contested start to race one, Prime Time made the best of her excellent 1.1170 TCF to win by more than four minutes on corrected time.

Already seen as a strong IRC contender for the 60th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Prime Time has been improving with every race and today’s first race victory was a convincing effort.

Middle Harbour boats came in next, with Gunther Schmidt-Lindner’s Lyons 46, Austmark sailing an excellent to take second place by a mere two seconds on corrected time from former MHYC Commodore Rob Reynolds skippering his new boat, Pla Loma, a DK 43 from South East Asia.

Owner Stewart Thwaites and his crew of Konica Minolta, which included the super maxi’s New Zealand designer, Brett Bakewell-White, were far more pleased with the boat (and crew) performance in the afternoon race – and even more pleased when they saw the results.

Despite giving much of the IRC a two to three minute start when a 45 degree windshift caught the big boat (and others) unable to lay the starting line on starboard tack (and no slot on port), the NZ super maxi was up with Wild Joe by the first windward mark.

Flying her massive APR100 asymmetric spinnaker on the first downwind leg, she opened up a six minute margin on the fleet at the finish.

‘We had a nice 10-12 knot breeze in the afternoon and everything went well, apart from the start,’ Bakewell-White said, adding that this was the first sail on the boat for most of the crew. The improved water ballast and bowsprit worked most efficiently, he added.

On corrected time in race two, Wild Joe won by six minutes from Konica Minolta, with just 12 seconds to Hussy, followed by the consistent Prime Time and the Swan 48, Loki (Stephen Ainsworth) and Austmark.