Targé on target in Rolex Trophy

by Peter Campbell on 17 Dec 2004 Sydney yachting supremo Iain Murray has steered Steven David’s Reichel/Pugh 60 Targé to an overall victory in the third race of the Rolex Trophy Rating Series off Sydney Heads.


In light south-easterly winds this morning Murray sailed a superb tactical race to cross the line less than four minutes behind the line honours winner, Stewart Thwaites’ 98 foot New Zealand super maxi Konica Minolta.


Konica Minolta finished 45 seconds ahead of her arch rival and the other supermaxi in the fleet, Grant Wharington’s Skandia, giving the New Zealander a head to head lead of two races to one in the four-day series.


Skandia got a mediocre start and took a gamble on the inshore side of the course while Konica Minolta, along with a large part of the fleet, headed out to sea. It was a gamble that did not pay off for Wharington, with the offshore boats finding more pressure.


By the first mark, in just four to five knots of breeze, the Melbourne supermaxi found herself trailing not just Konica Minolta but the smaller Wild Oats, Targé and George Snow’s Brindabella.


Skandia picked up time on the downwind leg, but still trailed Konica Minolta and Wild Oats at the bottom mark. On a better second circuit around the course Skandia closed on Konica Minolta, but the latter picked up a little more pressure close to the line to get the gun.


Third across the line was Bob Oatley’s brand new Reichel/Pugh 66 Wild Oats. Wild Oats, with her radically canting keel, continued its marvellous regatta with second place after winning the first two races yesterday.


For Murray and the crew of Targé this morning’s win will be some balm after a disastrous second race yesterday in which she jumped the start, then, after restarting, her swing keel snagged a fishing pot, bringing the boat to a dead stop.


Today’s performance confirms that Targé is back on track and deserves to be taken very seriously as a contender for an outright win in the 60th anniversary Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.


Despite having to modify the extent of the swing of her keel for the big race, Murray and his crew have shown that they are getting used to the changed balance of the boat and have a rating that allows them to win races against more conventional competitors.


Another highly fancied contender for outright in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, Geoff Ross’ Yendys finished fourth on corrected time while Chris Lewin, the young Melbourne student with his University mate crew will be ecstatic about their fifth place overall in their chartered Sydney 38 Another Challenge.

The youngsters have beaten a swathe of more pedigreed yachts and their vastly more experienced skippers and crews.


The top six placings in the third Rolex Trophy race were:

1. Targé, Steven David

2. Wild Oats, Bob Oatley

3. Ginger, Leslie Green

4. Yendys, Geoff Ross

5. Another Challenge. Chris Lewin

6. Nips-N-Tux, Howard de Torres