Nowhere near Bass Strait
by Rob Kothe on 12 Jul 2006
Solitaire Sail-World.com /AUS
http://www.sail-world.com
Built in the late 1970s, Solitaire is a 50 foot Bruce Roberts designed steel cruising ketch, which circumnavigated the world in the 1980’s. In the inaugural Queensland Government South Pacific Boomerang Yacht Race series, she is surprising her racing rivals.
Skipper Mark Folley confirms she is a serious long distance cruising boat, not at all designed for racing. In the early stages of the race, it appeared she might finish a week behind the fleet, yet in the 1,850 nautical mile Melbourne to Vanuatu race, the slowest boat in the fleet continues to sail up the rhumbline and is closing on her race-bred rivals.
She is still last boat in the fleet, she has closed within 6,900 miles of Robin Hewitt's Lexcen 50 Yoko and she is embarrassingly close to some of the touted down wind fliers. She is now only 100 miles behind the Ray Semmen’s Sayer 44 Outlaw and Jeff Otter’s Mummery 45 Icefire.
Folly and his three crew all have significant ocean sailing experience. ‘We have sailed the entire eastern seaboard quite a lot. We’ve been from Melbourne to Princess Charlotte Bay probably five or six times and done probably seven circumnavigations of Tasmania.
'For the crew the 1,850 mile race to Vanuatu is about the journey, the company and finally about a destination which is warm and nowhere near Bass Strait.’
The last piece they have achieved already, Solitaire is now 1,100 miles from the cold Melbourne start line.
In Performance Handicap division she is now fourth behind the Volvo 60 line honours winner Andrew Short Marine-Club Marine, the famous pocket maxi Nautilus Marine Insurance Helsal II and the CYCA Ocean Racing rookie of 2005 Geelong’s Tony Fowler Ocean Skins.
Ahead of the tortoise, the lead hare is currently Nautilus Marine Insurance Helsal II, now just 191 miles from Port Vila. Helsal II has open up a ninety mile lead on Gusto, now 36 miles east north east of the Isle of Pines. In fourth pace is Tevake II, another seven miles back.
On IRC Handicap Tevake II leads Moomba with Alien third. In the Double Handed division Gusto leads, Ingenue with By Order of the Secretary third.
The latest radio sked data is available at www.melbournevanuatu.com
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