Super maxis not invincible for IRC honours

by Peter Campbell on 27 Dec 2005 Light winds overnight for the fleet in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race have shown that the super maxis are not invincible for IRC handicap honours, but they certainly have an advantage when the breeze freshens.

Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats and Neville Crichton’s Alfa Romeo are this morning leading the fleet across Bass Strait and at 11:40 hours they also were first and second overall on IRC corrected time.

Wild Oats XI was then 85 nautical miles south of Gabo Island, sailing straight down the rhumbline towards the east of Flinders Island. Alfa Romeo had fallen 12 miles astern after Wild Oats XI, close inshore, and was the first to pick up the freshening new breeze earlier this morning.

However, the well-sailed 45 to 50-footers in the fleet are now showing up on the provisional leader board, with Geoff Boettcher’s Reichel/Pugh 46 Hardys Secret Mens Business from Adelaide currently third overall and first in Division B. At that stage she was lying 15th in the fleet, some 46 nautical miles east of Gabo Island.

'We are ahead and abeam of Yendys and Ichi Ban (now called Goldfinger); it seems we only have big boats ahead of us,' Boettcher told Sail-World this morning. 'Last night we had a south-easterly breeze with cracked sheets until about 3am. We mostly had 8-10 knots up to then.

'Then it began to swing. We went to the Code 0, then a full kite this morning…and now the wind is coming from the nor’nor’-east.

'It’s easy sailing now, but we are expecting to get hit tonight; so were are making sure everyone gets plenty of rack time today,' the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia member added.

Also doing well is Ray Roberts’ Quantum Racing, the DK46 from Sydney which last week won IRC Division 2 of the Rolex Trophy and with Stephen Ainsworth’s Reichel/Pugh 46, is representing Australia in the Rolex Challenge International Teams Series.

Quantum Racing is 19th in the fleet, ahead of several larger boats and fourth overall, and second to Hardys Secret Mens Business in IRC Division B. Syd Fischer’s Farr 50 Ragamuffin is fifth overall and third in IRC Division B.

Also well placed on IRC overall are the two Cookson 50 Farr-designs with canting keels, Living Doll (Michael Hiatt, Vic) and the Irish yacht Chieftain (Gerard O’Rourke) which are seventh and eighth overall and fourth and fifth in the strongly contested IRC Division B.

Jochem Visser, the Dutch navigator on Gerard O’Rouke’s Irish entry Chieftain, was clearly impressed by the start. 'It was very busy coming out of the Harbour, with some confused seas, but it was great to see such a huge spectator fleet.'

Visser said Chieftain was racing very close with her sistership, Michael Hiatt’s Living Doll from Melbourne. 'We are only 50 metres apart, we have been swapping the lead all night.

'At present we have the kite up in 10-12 knots, 30 miles north of Green Cape, but we are expecting a tough Bass Strait crossing.'

First place in Division D is being held by the newly launched Wot’s Next, Graeme Wood’s Sydney CR 47, which won her IRC division of the recent Savill’s Short Ocean Racing Championship in Sydney. Wot’s Next is sixth overall but there is a big gap to the next highest placed Division D boat in overall standings. Sirromet Life Style Wine, Michael Spies’ Beneteau 44.7 is 26th overall in IRC progressive results.

Heading Division C and the Sydney 38 One Design division is Star Dean – Willcocks, which normally races as Yeah Baby. Skippered by Ola Anderson, this boat is 22nd overall and leads Division C and the Sydney 38s, from Challenge, skippered by veteran Victorian yachtsman Lou Abrahams and (another Sydney 38) Zen, skippered by Gordon Ketelbey.

The smaller and older boats in this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart have not fared particularly well in the light to moderate running conditions yesterday and overnight, with Roger Hickman’s past Sydney Hobart winner Wild Rose heading Division E handicap results on corrected time, but only 31st overall. At 11:40 today Wild Rose, a 43-footer designed by Bruce Farr, was 25 nautical miles south-east of Bateman’s Bay and 172 miles astern of fleet leader Wild Oats XI.

Second in Division E progressive corrected time placings is the Mumm 30 Tow Truck, skippered by Anthony Paterson from Lake Macquarie, NSW. In third place is Chancellor, Ted Tooher’s Beneteau 40.7 from the CYCA in Sydney.

Handicap positions are expected to change during the day when the forecast northerly winds freshen to a predicted 20-30 knots, as the bulk of the fleet reach the far South Coast of New South Wales.