Escapade wins Cruising 3 at Hamilton Island

by Ian Grant & Sail-World on 27 Aug 2007 David Berry's Beneteau First 310 Escapade finished ninth in the Lindeman Island race and then showed the benefit of her all angle sailing speed in a mixed range of winds to complete the following five Island passage races with the remarkably consistent 2-1-1-1-2 score to win the Gold Medal by 11points from Paul Melling’s Beneteau Oceanis 390 Morning Mist (18pts) while Brisbane skipper Jim Shannon steered Meltimi into third with 19pts.

Skipper Berry was proud of his crew including ‘Old Salt’ John McMinn of Noosa who complimented the local knowledge of Hobart winning tactician Damien Suckling.

'Both those guys have sailed a lot of miles and their collective knowledge was the key to the success of Escapade'

'They certainly made my job a lot easier steering Escapade for speed and deserved to enjoy a quite celebration in the cockpit at the end of the regatta for a job well done'. Berry Said.

Six out of the top ten boats in this class were Beneteau cruisers, a great result for a marque that has supported Hamilton Island's race week for many years.

Damien Suckling steered his Another Fiasco to a convincing Performance Handicap win in the 2006 Rolex Sydney-Hobart race. Damien was more relaxed but equally competitive last week when he contested the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week Division 3 Cruising class championship with a group of good mates on David Berry’s Beneteau First 310 Escapade.

He played a major role in selecting the best possible tactical options and his knowledge of the swift flowing current allowed his proud skipper to claim his best career result when Escapade scored a convincing win in her class championship.

Cruising Division 3

Entries: 27     Races Sailed: 6     Discard: 1

Provisional Results

Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2007

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6
1	5489	Escapade	Beneteau First 310	David Berry	326	7	9	2	1	1	1	2
2	4760	Morning Mist	Beneteau Oceanis 390	Paul Melling	337	18	1	3	9	2	7	5
3	RQ40	Meltemi	S&S 34	Jim Shannon	348	19	8	10	2	6	2	1
4	B411	Interlude	Beneteau Oceanis 411	Tim Lewis	302	23.5	2	5.5	3	9	4	9
5	B88	Ingenue	Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 40	Rosie Colahan	318	26.5	4.5	8	4	4	8	6
6	212	Nessie	Sonata 8	William McMillan	389	35	3	13	8	3	11	10
7	Z20	Lady Elizabeth II	Beneteau Oceanis 423	Richard Whyte	348	41.5	11	5.5	15	8	10	7
8	Z16	Stargazer	Beneteau Oceanis 361	Gary Cripps	394	43	6	7	5	10	15	18
9	8041	Lorna Rose Too	Clubman 8	Michael Wearne	328	48	19	25	17	5	3	4
10	Z9	Stealing Beauty	Cyclades 43.3	Meryl & Steve Simpson	360	50	14	11	11	7	9	12
11	RQ11	Helter Skelter	Northshore 340	William Andrews	344	52	12	18	6	18	5	11
12	Z7	Falcon	Beneteau Oceanis 423	Brian de Vries	344	56	7	4	10	25	16	19
13	R12	Wind Spirit	Norseman 447	Terry Ohare	328	64	22	20	12	12	6	14
14	Z12	Ocean Princess	Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 45.2	Anthony Twibill	347	64.5	4.5	9	13	15	28	23
15	389	Montego	Roberts 17.0	Monty Blomfield	378	67	10	1	14	21	28	21
16	Z02	Silhouette	Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 40	Michael Freeman	335	68	16	16	23	14	14	8
17	F111	Inca	Vickers 41	Noel Sneddon	310	75	21	19	7	23	13	15
18	WS55	Happy J	Jeanneau Sun Odyssey	Roger Johnstone	365	80	13	15	21	26	18	13
19	Z17	Dreamer	Beneteau	Colin Kelly	380	82	17	14	24	24	28	3
20	Z5	Redline	Jeaunneau Sun Odyssey 54	Mark Burton	390	85	23	21	19	11	17	17
21	Z6	Rumba	Oceanis 42.3	Philip Cormie	350	88	20	17	16	16	19	20
22	H15	Aquarius	Sun Odyssey	Neil Sellars	348	94	28	22	18	20	12	22
23	Z01	Scallywag	Oceanis 411	Michael Silcock	380	104	18	23	26	13	28	24
24	6583	Goondawindi	Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37	Kevin Brandt	385	107	25	12	20	22	28	28
25	356	Grateful	Hunter 356	Paul Laurence	390	110	26	24	27	17	28	16
26	Z03	Latitude	Oceanis 393	Shane Wilkinson	375	112	15	28	22	19	28	28
27	6657	Pantomine IV	Moody 35	Michael Kelly	400	132	24	28	25	27	28	28