Quantum Racing leads Boag’s Sailing South

by Peter Campbell on 3 Jan 2007 Ocean Racer of the Year for 2006, Ray Roberts, today demonstrated his flat-water fleet helming skills and tactics in steering his Cookson 50 Quantum Racing into the overall lead in the IRD Division of Boag’s Sailing South Race Week on Hobart’s River Derwent.

Although beaten in today’s morning race by the Victorian yacht Flirt, skippered by Chris Dare with expat Tasmanian Roger Hickman calling tactics, Quantum Racing scored an impressive win in the fresher conditions of the second race.

Roberts has chartered the 50-footer, a canting keel ocean racer built in New Zealand to a Farr design, for 18 months and has been joined by most the crack crew of his former Quantum Racing, a DK46.

The professionalism of Roberts and his crew is clearly apparent – first out on the water for pre-start practice, excellent starts and smart tactics and highly efficient sail-handling techniques, notably on the downhill spinnaker gybing.

With three of the six race series sailed, Quantum Racing has scored 1-2-1 for 4 points, just one ahead of Flirt, an imported Corby 49 which has placed 2-1-2 for 5 points.

CYCA Vice Commodore Matt Allen’s Jones 70 Ichi Ban has spreadeagled the fleet in all three races, but has not broken away sufficiently to win on her high IRC rating, compounded just before the Rolex Sydney Hobart by a penalty for the big boat’s unusual-looking square mainsail head.

Ichi Ban is equal on 11 points from IRC handicap placings of 5-3-3 with the Hobart-based Farr 40 One Design Wired, skippered by Stephen Boyes, with a scorecard so far of 3-4-4.

Flirt, an imported Corby 49, picked the wind shifts and best breeze in a fluctuating nor’easter blowing down the river to take advantage of her lower IRC rating in finishing third across the finish line astern of Ichi Ban and Tuesday’s first race winner Quantum Racing.

Today’s racing has been windward/leeward courses, 12 nautical mile in the first race and 14 miles in the second race of the day.

Ichi Ban led virtually all the way in both races today, getting the gun by just under 12 minutes in race two, but not far enough in front to beat Flirt and Quantum Racing.

The breeze varied up and down between 8 knots and 12 knots with Flirt picking the best of small wind shifts, but more importantly, the fresher gusts of breeze, taking first place by 68 seconds from Quantum Racing with a further 2 minutes 12 seconds to Ichi Ban.

Race two this morning was sailed without incident, but in race three Principal Race Officer ‘Biddy’ Badenach called three yachts for breaking the start in race three, Red Back, War Games and Mirrabooka. All returned and re-started but lost valuable time.

In race three Ichi Ban got the gun by some 13 minutes from Quantum Racing, Flirt seven minutes further astern over the longer course with the nor’easter kicking in to 20-22 knots.

Well astern of them came the first of three Farr 40s, Wired, Euro Central and War Games, with the newly launched Farr 42 Laurelle (Ray Borrett) sailing well to finish seventh across the line and seventh on corrected time.

In the PHS Division, Moonshine, Bruce Palmer’s North Shore 38 followed her second place in yesterday’s race with a win in the morning race today while Dick Knoop’s home-built Magellan enjoyed the fresher afternoon breeze to win race three.

After three races, the provisional pointscore for the PHS division has the big Beneteau Trecento (David Bean) on 7 points from a 3-2-2 score leading from Moonshine on 10 points (2-1-7) and David Creese’s X-Rated, also on 10 points (4-3-3) and Andrew Sutherland’s Silver Mist on 11 points (1-6-4).

The IRC and PHS divisions tomorrow will sail a distance race taking them from Castray Esplanade down the river and out into Storm Bay, probably around Betsy Island, starting at 9.30am