Multis v Monohulls in Three Peaks Race - A Great Leveller

by Peter Campbell on 12 Apr 2001 The Australian Three Peaks Race is the 'great leveller' of offshore sailing in Australia, according to multihull yacht designer, Robin Chamberlin, who has sailed his own catamaran from Queensland to compete for his sixth time in Tasmania's Easter sailing classic.

'It is the only offshore sailing event in Australia in which multihulls and monohulls compete against each other on the same terms, boat for boat,' Chamberlin said today at Beauty Point aboard the 38-foot catamaran, Excess, he owns in partnership with Devonport pharmacist Terry Travers.

'The course is also a great leveller, as we will be sailing around the compass rose, running and reaching and beating to windward,' added Chamberlin

The Governor of Tasmania, Sir Guy Green, will start the fleet of 13 monohull and multihull yachts from Beauty Point wharf at 2pm tomorrow.

He and Lady Green will then fly to Flinders Island to meet the sailors and runners at the end of their first sailing leg across south-eastern Bass Strait from Beauty Point to Lady Barron.

Australia's ultimate endurance challenge, the Three Peaks Race is a three to four-day combination of non-stop short-handed sailing and endurance cross-country and mountain running and climbing around the magnificent coast of Tasmania.

Open to both monohull and multihull yachts, yachts in the Racing Division are sailed by a crew of three with two specialist runners, although the sailors have at times also run, while in the Cruising Division yachts may be fully crewed.

Described as 'more an event than a race' by Robin Chamberlin, the Three Peaks comprises 335 nautical miles of sailing, 135 km of cross country and mountain running and 2646 metres of climbing the Three Peaks - Mt Strzelecki on Flinders Island, Mt Freycinet near Coles Bay on the East Coast, and Mt Wellington in Hobart.

Racing as API Mersey Pharmacy, Excess has probably logged more sea miles than any boat in the fleet, designer/skipper Chamberlin estimates between 28,000 and 30,000 nautical miles.

Launched in 1994, she has done four Tasman Sea crossings, four trips to Tasmania for the Three Peaks, and Rob Chamberlin and Terry Travers sailed her to Antarctica - the first multihull to sail south of the Antarctic Circle.

With a highly experienced team of sailors and runners - Rob Chamberlin, from Caloundra, Queensland, has sailed in six Three Peaks, Terry Travers (3) from Devonport, Peter Fletcher (5) from Hobart, Andrew Kromar (4)from Mount Beauty, Victoria, and Nigel Aylott (2) from Melbourne, API Mersey Pharmacy must rank as one of the favourites.

The catamaran itself has notched up two second places overall (sailing and running) and a dismasting in its three previous Three Peaks.

Chamberlin ranks another of his design, Slingshot, a 30 foot catamaran from Devonport, racing as Cameron Walshe, as one of his main competitors.

The experienced sailng crew comprises Phillip Marshall from Devonport, a veteran of eight Three Peaks, Steve Walker (5) from Wynyard, Tony Guy (5) from Launceston, and Mark Guy (4) from Southport, Queensland.

Favourites among the monohull yachts in the Racing Division are Tamar River yachtsmen, brothers and 12 year veterans Richard and Nick Edmunds in their Radford 15-metre sisterships, Southern Cross and Haphazard, and Tasmania's newest racing yacht, Josh Ey's bright yellow-hulled Jones 40, Quetzalcotl, sailing in the Three Peaks as Tasmanian Craftwoods.

Richard Edmunds is looking for a back to back win with Haphazard, while brother Nick hopes to make up for the dismasting of Southern Cross when leading the final leg in last year's race.

Other entries are:

Rosevears Tavern, Chamberlin trimaran (Marc Ellingsen, Launceston).
Camp Quality, Blazer 9.5m monohull (Ben Parsons, Ulverstone).
Club Marine Youth Team, Jarkan 9.5m monohull (Matthew Ramsden, Launceston).
Sea to Summit, Simpson 15.2m catamaran (Richard Clennett, Hobart).
Tartan, Northshore 38 monohull (Mark Ballard, Hobart).
Scotch Oakburn College, Bounty 43 monohull (John Joyce, Launceston).
Brigitta 5, Adams 10 monohull (Peter Crawford, Scottsdale).
Madness in Motion, Mount Gay 30 monohull (Keith Dunn, Beaumaris, Victoria).

The start of the Three Peaks Race will be the focal point of the Beauty Point Lions Club's Three Peaks Good Friday Festival, with activities centred at the Inspection Head wharf, including a rally of traditional yachts and motor boats from 12 noon to 1pm.