Tahiti sounds nice but Audi Hamilton Is. is better

by Rob Mundle on 14 Aug 2008 Andrew Short could hardly believe what he was hearing when he called the crew delivering his recently purchased 80-footer, Shockwave 5, from Bermuda to Audi Hamilton Island Race Week. Realising that they were making excellent progress, Short telephoned from his Sydney office and said: ‘Hey guys, you’re doing a great job. Why don’t you take a break in Tahiti on the way’ … and the response was, ‘No thanks!’

Their reason was simple. It was far more important to ensure that the Grand Prix racer would be at the 25th anniversary celebration of Race Week, rather than stopping in Tahiti and running the risk of missing the great event.

This week, safe in the knowledge that his new yacht would be on the start line, Short lodged his Race Week entry, and much to his delight it was the 217th to be received – making Shockwave 5 the one that took the number of competing yachts into record territory. Last year the largest fleet ever, 216 yachts, took part.

Short bought the yacht in Newport, Rhode Island, three months ago then competed in the Newport to Bermuda Race, taking line honours in his division. He then put a delivery crew aboard and pointed them in the direction of Hamilton Island, 10,500 nautical miles away. Since then the Reichel/Pugh design, with Dave Haines as skipper, has made remarkable time, clearing the Panama Canal without incident and logging more than 300 nautical miles a day traversing the Pacific Ocean.

The latest report at the weekend had Shockwave 5 west of Fiji and due to arrive at its destination later this week. Short will change the name to Shockwave 5 - Club Marine for Race Week.

While Shockwave 5 heads in from the east, one of Australia’s most famous ocean racing yachts of the 1980’s, Peter Briggs’ Hitchhiker, will be heading across the continent from the west. The 41-footer – which represented Australia in the 1981 and 1983 Admiral’s Cup regattas in England under his ownership, and was also the winner of the inaugural Hamilton Island Race Week in 1984 – is being trucked 3500km from Perth to Hamilton Island to be a centrepiece at the Silver Jubilee celebrations.

Also present this year will be Rudy Weber’s Two Tonner, Too Impetuous, which when owned by Graeme Lambert finished second to Hitchhiker at the inaugural Race Week in 1984.

Race director for Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2008, Denis Thompson, announced today that late entries for Race Week will be accepted for at least one more week. The regatta is scheduled for August 23 - 30.

“We are now at 222 entries, so it would be nice to get the fleet to 225 for the 25th anniversary series,” Thompson said.

All regatta information is available on the website www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au