Coffs Overdrive and B52 enter 27th race

by Damien Devine on 13 Dec 2007 Coffs Harbour Yacht Club will field two yachts in the fleet of at least 70 starters in the 2008 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht race, the 27th running of the event starting on the 2nd January, 2008. 'B52', a Sydney 41 owned by Emerald Beach resident Paul D'Olier and 'Overdrive', owned and skippered by the Coffs husband and wife team, Andrew and Meegan Johnson.

Both yachts have entered the five race Pittwater and Coffs Harbour series which begins on December 28th, 2007.

With Andrew having completed six and Meegan two Pittwater to Coffs race races as crew on other yachts, this year they will be racing their our own yacht for the first time, the recently acquire 'Overdrive', a Northshore 380 sport. 'The series takes on a different feeling since we now live in Coffs. The addition of the overnight race by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club is a great innovation and will certainly achieve the objective of helping crew get settled for the passage race.

Andrew and Meegan have been sailing in offshore events for some years and includes four Sydney to Hobart races for Meegan and three for Andrew as well as the testing Gosford to Lord Howe Is. race. 'We have sailed together on 'Wahoo' for a number of races including several Mooloolaba and Sydney - Gold Coast races. We enjoy the offshore aspect of sailing tremendously, which suits our move to Coffs', Andrew offers.

'Overdrive' will be competing in the PHS Division for this year's event. 'Overdrive' is the renamed 'Double Trouble', originally 'Removalist'; and has a long history of racing under the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) flag, most recently by Ron Hayden RPAYC club member. 'Both previous owners are RPAYC members, so the yacht is really a Pittwater local with a new Coffs Harbour name and address', says Andrew.

For this year's race and series, the boat has had the mandatory safety upgrades to meet Category 2 but has added a few new sails to the wardrobe for the season.

In terms of the crew, Andrew and Meegan commented, 'This year we have 8 crew aboard including ourselves with all crew have raced in the series before. It's a bit of a family affair, with all of the crew either related, married or sailed together many times!

They include Michael Phillip, the owner of 'Poppy', whom Andrew sailed on to Coffs on last year, finishing somewhere mid field. 'Michael will be racing with us this year and has competed in at least 8 races so has quite a bit of experience on the course .

Michael will be having HIS turn at sleeping in the bilge of MY boat this year, only kidding', he says. Also on board as crew include Peter Steindl, navigator who has clocked up plenty of offshore miles and is a regular racer on 'Marloo' in Sydney Harbour. John Watson, a Coffs local doing his 9th race and is known to many around town. 'John is also Meegan's boss, so we appreciate his and Fishburn Watson O'Brien's support for the series', comments Andrew.

Michael Watson, John's son who has completed the passage 4 times. Rounding out the crew of 8 will be Alan Clark, a veteran of Coffs races and is well known around Sydney and his wife Sue, who has sailed extensively around the country. They are co-owners of the yacht 'Marigot Bay'.

In terms of their expectations this year's series, Andrew says, 'We are looking forward to some success as the boat (and crew, I hope are in great shape. The usual close to shore battles in the light evening land breezes always provides the most challenging aspect of the race. Good navigation always helps as well. We'll see you in Coffs.'

The 2nd entrant is Paul D'Olier, a local Coffs yachtsman and an 11 year member of the Coffs Harbour Yacht Club, who has entered his yacht 'B52', launched in 1995 in the 27th Pittwater and Coffs Harbour Offshore Series 2006-07.

This will be Paul's 4th attempt at the Pittwater to Coffs race and 3rd in the overall series, after finishing a very credible 4th in the 2006-07 series in the PHS Division. Paul was aiming for a top 20 finish over the line in the Pittwater to Coffs Race in early 2007 but finished just one short of this dream when 'B52' finished 21st out of 55 starting contenders This was certainly an improvement on D'Olier's previous attempts. With another year of experience, they're hoping to go even better.

Paul has much experience with offshore yachting having completed a Sydney to Hobart, five Brisbane to Gladstone and now four Pittwater to Coffs races.

'Considering the crew were not seasoned yachties and most of them are students and graduates of our sailing school, Holiday Coast yachting we performed pretty well last year', Paul says.

'We like the passage race and the entire Coffs series as it enables us to compete, which we don't get a great deal of in Coffs Harbour. It provides us with good training, opportunities to race and it's a lot of fun. The Pittwater to Coffs Harbour passage race is great because it's not that long, it's warm and we are sailing to our home port which is always comforting. The local Coffs crowd and the festivities around the marina are always a welcome sight'.

The Commodore of CHYC, Darren Digney expressed his delight with the strong support the event continues to receive from the Coffs Harbour City Council and the local community. 'Strong fleets have sailed in the last few races to Coffs Harbour and it's great to see about 15 boats more boats entered than in this year's race. What a great achievement. It shows tremendous support for the race and exemplifies that more yachts want to experience the challenges of this great race and the warm hospitality of Coffs locals.