Southern Ocean Multihull Regatta, Days 4 and 5

by Stuart Bloomfield on 20 Jan 2006 A fresher breeze on day three of the regatta saw some exciting sailing, a little too exciting for some. Day three of the regatta changed formats from passage racing to two shorter triangle races.

The morning race started in moderate breeze with a forecast for building pressure. Most of the fleet elected to go with full main, with a few competitors sporting a single reef off the start line. Again Raw to the Core set the early pace and showed that their choice to go with a single reef was the right one for their boat. The second leg out to the wing mark turned out to be too tight for most competitors to carry spinnakers, but made for some exciting two sail reaching with Wilparina II showing how effective her foils were as she sped along in second place. Down to the bottom mark the first time it turned out to be deeper than expected and the boats had to gybe downwind to get there. As the boats came up on to the second upwind leg Raw to the Core had established a solid lead almost half a leg ahead of second placed Wilparina II, who were finding that their full main was not too effective, with the upper part of the mainsail completely de-powered and gently flapping.

As Raw to the Core bore away around the top mark she slowly capsized sideways and ended up with the tip her 15m mast, which was still intact, sitting on the 9m deep bottom. It later turned out that some confusion on the boat and the fact that the crew are still becoming acclimatised to the handling of the boat were the reasons for the capsize. Fortunately no one was injured, but the site of the fastest boat in the fleet upside down was an interesting spectacle for all of the other boats as they rounded the top mark for the first time. A local fisherman who saw the whole incident came to the aid of the stricken vessel and after some skilled manoeuvring righted the vessel. Raw to the Core was sailing again before the fleet reached the top mark after the second lap of the course, with one of the crew not even getting wet. The owner Martyn Riley, who is known for his determination in the face of adversity, was later quoted as saying 'that’s sailing'.

The rest of the fleet, now a little more cautious, had a largely uneventful remainder of the race, with Willparina II taking out line honours, followed by Slick Willie, who sailed another solid race in trying conditions, and Redshift. Cat’s Chorus, a Shionning designed cruising catamaran, took out the Performance handicap, followed by Wilparina II and Redshift. OMR honours went to Slick Willie, followed by Redshift and Wilparina II.

Raw to the Core found some minor damage to the hounds fitting, after sending one of the crew up to check the rig before the afternoon race, and although the boat was hitting speeds a high as twenty knots with two reefs and headsail following the capsize, she prudently opted not to contest the afternoon race, although she sailed across the start line to avoid a D.N.F. result.

The afternoon race had a much larger proportion of the fleet carrying one reef in the main. Following some exciting racing and many of the crews having difficulty with the trying conditions, Alex MacNaughtan’s Cascade, a 30 year old Crowther cruising catamaran emerged as the PHS and OMR victor; Cascade was reportedly flying her hull at stages of the race, pretty impressive for a seven tonne cruising catamaran launched in the 1970’s; Alex is the original owner of Cascade and a very experienced multihull sailor. Second on PHS was Redshift, followed by Mara Chachs on Highly Strung. Slick Willie is shaping up to be the OMR favourite with a second on OMR followed by Redshift.

Day 4 racing was limited to the Stern Chaser in the afternoon, a handicap start race that does not form part of the overall regatta results. Many of the boats decided to take this as a rest day, and as a result only seven boats contested the race. Cascade was looking strong early in the race, well suited to the fresh breeze. In the end the wind faded and she dropped back in the field. Wilparina II sail to a victory from the back of the fleet. She was followed by David Guy on Pacifica and John Hardy on The Tribe.