Mates claim Hamilton Island PHS victory

by Lisa Ratcliff on 27 Aug 2005 A ‘bunch of mates in their 60s’ sailing a Jeanneau 40 called Night Owl have claimed victory in the Performance Handicap division of Hamilton Island Hahn Premium Race Week.

While celebrating his first win at Hamilton Island from four years of contesting Race Week, skipper Ken Hart commiserated with the second placed PHS overall boat, Jeff Mitchell’s Cavalier Express which broke a halyard in today’s 22 mile South Molle/Daydream Race, forcing them to retire.

‘We hung on today and sailed a safe race. We are very pleased with the result,’ said Hart this afternoon.

‘The crew has been sailing together for sometime and while things still go wrong, it doesn’t happen often. Everything pretty much ran like clockwork for this regatta.

‘This is my fourth Hamilton Island Race Week and obviously I enjoyed it a lot more for winning!’ said the delighted Rockhampton based skipper.

John and Deborah Balderstone’s Sydney 47 Jem overcame a broken bowsprit in today’s heavy weather race to finish off a superb regatta which delivered them an overall win in the Premier Cruising class.

‘We had a really great week, it was a lot of fun,’ said John this afternoon as he celebrated with his crew.

‘The crew on the boat was fantastic, not only in getting the boat around the course but in imparting their knowledge to the less experienced crew. It was a good learning curve’.

Ross Wilson’s Beneteau 47.7 Eagle Rock placed second in the Premier Cruising class and Steve and Mary’s Chiodo’s Sydney 47 Gomez from Sydney placed third.

Michael Spies’ Dimension Polyant proved too strong for the rest of the IRC Cruising Class with a clear win over Stephen Mackay’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Warwick Sherman’s Occasional Coarse Language.

In the Cruising class, the largest division to contest Hamilton Island Race Week, Robert Maidment’s Jeanneau 45.2 Le Bateau, clocked up two wins, two seconds and third which gave her enough points to this afternoon be declared the overall division winner.

Michael Milne’s Jamata finished second overall in the Cruising class and Greg Maguire finished third with his Jeanneau 54 Rex.

Full results for the 2005 Hamilton Island Hahn Premium Race Week are available from www.hiyc.org.au

Stories and photographs are available from www.hamiltonisland.com.au