Flirt lifts her skirts - Sailing South Race Week

by Peter Campbell on 3 Jan 2007 The Victorian yacht Flirt, skippered by Chris Dare with expat Tasmanian Roger Hickman calling tactics, today scored a hard-fought river victory in race two of the Boag’s Sailing South Race Week on Hobart’s broad Derwent River.

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 the Jones 70 Ichi Ban (Matt Allen) and yesterday’s first race winner Quantum Racing (Ray Roberts).

Flirt and Quantum Racing have each had a win and a second in first two races, with race three currently finishing – Ichi Ban again taking line honours with a powerful performance in the nor’easter, now kicking in at 20-22 knots.

Today’s racing have been windward/leeward courses, over 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.

Fourth place on corrected time went to the Farr 40 OD Wired, skippered by Stephen Boyes, from X-Rated (David Creese) – members of two long-time Hobart sailing families, with the two other Farr 40s, War Games (Wayne Banks-Smith) and Euro Central (Hughie Lewis) placing sixth and seventh.

Race two was sailed without incident, but in race three Principal Race Officer ‘Biddy’ Badenach called three 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. Well astern of them came the first of three Farr 40s, Wired, Euro Central and War Games, with the Farr 42 Laurelle sailing well to finish seventh across the line.

Footnote: An estimated 320 sailing craft have been sailing on Hobart's Derwent River today, including 180 Lasers, 80 International Cadet DInghies, B-14s and NS14s sailing their Australian championships.