Big fleet races to Lion Island and return

by Peter Campbell on 15 Sep 2008 Sydney Amateur Sailing Club each season conducts just one ocean race and last Saturday provided perfect offshore conditions for the race north from Sydney Harbour to round a mark laid off Lion Island that stands sentinel at the entrance to the Hawkesbury River.

An excellent fleet of 34 yachts from most Sydney clubs set sail in the 25 nautical mile race in a light but freshening nor’easter that swung between nor’east and nor’west during the day, gusting at times to 25 knots.

A beat to windward to Broken Bay was followed by a rollicking spinnaker run down the coast and a final run to the finish line inside the Harbour, with the leaders back by mid-afternoon.

Line honours went to Expresso Forte, now owned by Peter Schwarz, with an elapsed time of 5 hours 16 minutes 55 seconds, while John Cameron’s More Witchcraft and Noel Cornish’s St Jude crossed the line just over a minute apart, about 21 minutes astern of Expresso Forte.

The freshening breeze in the afternoon favoured the smaller boats, with the handicap results being decided under Performance Handicaps for the two divisions.

John Maclurcan, who skippered his yacht Morag Bheag, said the race began in an 8 knot nor'easter. ‘There was a big hole at the Heads and Morag Bheag and Eos went to the north and led all but the very fastest yachts out the Heads,’ he recalled after the race.

‘The breeze settled into a 15 knot nor’easter in a sloppy sea and most yachts were able to get to Avalon in one tack. The breeze died off the Hole in the Wall if you stayed in too close, while those a little further out held onto the nor’easter. Off Whale Beach the breeze swung 120 degrees to a very hot nor’wester with gusts of 25 knots. It was a struggle to get to the mark east of Lion Island with the outgoing tide.

‘Running away from Pittwater with the outgoing tide, it was easy to break back into the nor'easter which was strongest before Avalon, then backed and eased off to a pleasant 15 knots but with a very sloppy sea.

‘Gybing towards the heads, the breeze backed to the north and strengthened briefly to 25 knots for a blast with a shy kite through the Heads, squaring away for the run to the finish,’ Maclurcan added.

In Division 1, the winner was Windy Passage, a Northshore 38 Sports model skippered by Shaw Russett, which was one of the first yachts to break through the hole at the Heads at the start of the race.

Second place went to Nine Dragons, a Northshore 369 from Middle Harbour Yacht Club and third was Ian McDiarmid from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron in his newly acquired Farr 36 Hellrazor.

In Division 2, and the overall winner of the Lion Island race, was Indulgence, a modified Young 88 from the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club, sailed by Michael Tomaszewzki. Second place went to the classic Buchanan-designed Eos, skippered by Brain Wilson from Manly Yacht Club and third to the Young 88 Breakfast, skippered by Angus Murnaghan. It was a small boat race.

In the race within a race, for the RSYS Short Ocean Series, Morag Bheag claimed first place on handicap, 42 seconds ahead of the Jarkan King Billy (Phil and Elisa Bennett) with the Northshore 32 Groove (Hugh Torode) third.