900 miles on a Tow Truck

by Brett Filby on 27 Jul 2006 Sydney To Mooloolaba / Mackay 2006. Brett Philby writes his race guide, from Fantasy Land, that is the back 600mm on the 9 metre Mumm 30 Tow Truck.

Decisions!! Decisions!! Whether to finish at the very familiar Mooloolaba or take the plunge and continue on for the challenging 500 mile extension to Mackay?

The majority of the fleet have decided that the 469 miles up to the Sunshine coast of Mooloolaba’s finish line is more than enough ocean racing, possibly finding the usually sunny deck area of the Mooloolaba Yacht Club just far too tempting.

The CYCA is continuing their scheduling changes to the long Offshore race calendar, such as the race to Mooloolaba moving to the August time slot and allowing for the first time in race history, a splitting of the race into two parts. This gives competitors the option to finish mid way in Mooloolaba or continue the additional miles up the Queensland coast to Mackay.

The starting fleet is very strong. In genreal only the larger boats, besides us and the Sydney 38 Hasta La Vista, are continuing on with the Mackay leg.

Grant Warrington has returned from the Volvo Around the World Race to join his Skandia (as if he hasn’t had enough sailing recently). It is the largest boat in the race, come to think of it, it’s the largest boat currently in Australia.

Keeping her honest is another 'reasonable' canting keeler, Steven David’s Wild Joe, which given the right conditions could be not much slower than Skandia. Michael Hiatt’s Melbourne based Cookson 50 Living Doll, again a canting Farr design, could also shine in strong running conditions.

The mid size boats again offer a very competitive section with the range from 40 to 50 foot; from the very fast although smaller Welbourn 42 Wedgetail being campaigned strongly by Bill Wild, Chris Dare’s Corby 49 Flirt, Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing, Syd Fischer’s well proven Ragamuffin seen on the harbour last Saturday trying out a new sail, Graeme Troon’s Reichel Pugh XLR8 and of course Living Doll.

The smaller boats in the 40 and below range number well over half the fleet, with the Sydney 38 fleet, with 65 boats launched, being the only one design class consistently racing offshore. This will be a tough class with even the new comers, like Alan Briety’s Limit, having a good record already.

The ‘38’s will also be racing IRC, lining up to race not only their class but the 40 footers as well, including the Beneteau 40.7’s, Phillip Child’s Knee Deep and the Ken Down’s well sailed Ticket to Leave.

The experienced Ed Psaltis sailing AFR Midnight Rambler has another Farr 40 to race against, even if it's only half way, new owner Robert Sheldon entering his Sticky Beak.

The wildcard entry is certainly the radical 40 foot Andrew Cape/Andrew Buckland’s Mr Kite. She retired in spectacular form in this year's Gold Coast race and could, judging by all her gadgets and given the right conditions, be an interesting watch on the CYCA yacht tracker.

There are many other IRC chances. Sailing Services Beneteau 47.7 Kioni is being optimised by Michael Spies and David Beak’s Beneteau 44.7 Mr Beak’s Ribs will need to be watched, and if it is a little boat race, you might want to have a rum and coke on Peter Mosely's Sydnye 36 Local Hero.

For’s and against’s for doing the race on Tow Truck.

For’s:

. It is the inaugural race to Mackay from Sydney
. The catering onboard has always been impeccable, so the extended opportunity to witness owner Anthony 'Pato' Paterson prepare meals
. The Tow Truck as some will know, is very luxurious, so now with the reduction of our usual seven crew by one will allow each to have a palatial cabin of their own.

Against:

. Anybody who has seen a Mumm 30 will understand
. Potentially spending a week on a small boat in the middle of winter
We have at times been very wet on this boat, often only getting dry at the finish, so now the race length could prolong this even further


Conclusion:

Madness!

Like the majority of the fleet (certainly exacerbated on the Tow Truck) the need to try and reduce weight added by the extra equipment and supplies needed for the additional 500 miles, is achieved easily for us by reducing crew by one, so immediately we have a spare 85kgs.

Using the two previous year's Mackay races from the Gold Coast as an example, the conditions could be extreme; the 2004 race was mostly light and variable followed by last year where it was a total contrast, with a savage southerly sweeping through the fleet making conditions at times dangerous and several boats sustaining damage.

The current race forecast from this Saturday’s start looks light, which could easily change, especially as it's a few days before we even get to the half way point off the Sunshine Coast for those continuing onto Mackay.

We on Tow Truck, expect the moment we pass through the finish line off Mooloolaba, over a hundred miles behind the leaders and attempt to 'settle down' and continue on with the additional 500 miles to Mackay, will be the moment when the realization sinks in - 'what have we actually got ourselves into?'