Rolex Sydney Hobart; The TP 52 Rule, Go Further Go Faster

by Crosbie Lorimer on 29 Dec 2008 Ask any successful tactician or skipper in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race where they think the winning move came and like as not they’ll tell you that the pivotal decision was made well before the race started, probably backed up by a strong strategic move on the first night at sea.

So it was no surprise when talking today to Michael Green, sailing master of Quest - the overall handicap winner of the Tattersall’s Cup, announced this morning – to hear that he thought their first winning move was made 96 hours before the race.

‘I felt that we didn’t have enough muscle in the Brains Trust so we decided to ask the highly successful navigator/tactician Carl Crafoord to join us, but on three conditions; firstly, that he didn’t touch a rope for the whole race, secondly that he think 6 hours ahead of the boat the whole time and thirdly that he sit with our navigator Bruce Baker and argue like husband and wife until they came up with the answers’.

‘Of course if they didn’t come up with an answer I liked we’d do it my way anyway’ added Green with a wry smile.

Move to the race itself and Green indicates that the big strategic move that secured them the win was indeed made on the first night.

‘In all the lead-up forecasts before the race it was clear there would be insufficient wind to risk sailing inside the local eddy off Eden’ said Green, referring to the counter current off Eden that all of the skippers were seeking to miss.

‘To our surprise, on the 11.30pm weather report during the first night at sea it became apparent that there would actually be wind inside the eddy. So we held the husband and wife debate in the nav station and decided we’d take the punt and turn for the coast, even though it was a losing gybe’.

‘In the final decision making, my rule was that we must never sail at less than 20 knots.’

Later discussion with Steve McConaghy of Quantum Racing indicated that this was a debate going on aboard several yachts at the time, an educated gamble that had not paid off in previous years, ‘they killed us with that’ said McConaghy, whose boat was later to lose most of its rudder.

Green continued ‘so, about 50 miles offshore we gybed back towards the coast; carrying breeze and about 1.5 knots of favourable set, whilst those offshore had negative current and less wind.’

‘We sailed as fast as we could towards the coast and as soon as we got inside the eddy we gybed back and sailed with the pedal to the floor to get out and cover the other 50 footers offshore.’
‘We probably covered 12 miles more than those offshore but we were sailing faster and we ended up getting in front; once there we looked to cover our competitors.’

‘The speed differences between the TP52s is very small, as the finishing times demonstrate, so once you’re in front you have to consolidate your position.’

‘Further down the coast we opted again for a decision that was to add another twenty miles to our distance covered, but always we were sailing fast.’

Co-helmsman Peter Messenger would testify to the speed factor. ‘We had the A3 set in 35 knots of breeze with the water coming thick over the deck and I saw something flash past us across the deck; I only discovered later that the cover to the shroud base had been swept off in the seaway.’

Standing on the dock with Messenger beside him today Green taunted his colleague 'he was a bit of a sook and opted to take down the A3 as the breeze hit 46 knots' said Green with a wide smile.

Getting no reaction from Messenger, Green confessed he was actually glad that the kite came down 'I was lying in my bunk and it was so noisy, I just kept thinking this is going to end badly if we don’t do something soon; we’d already blown the A4 kite after the first night; it simply gave up from overwork!’

Asked what changes they had made to Quest to keep her competitive against other TP52s Green laughed,

‘We have much to thank Jamie MacPhail for’, referring to Quest’s serious collision with the aptly named Surprise Rock at this year’s Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.

McPhail who was steering at the time was thrown forward with such force that he snapped the port steering pedestal clean off at the base. The keel was also damaged to a point that warranted a total rebuild.

‘The new keel is heavier in the bulb and lighter in the keel itself; we’ve also worked hard on getting our rating down’ he explained.

Much of the story of Quest’s race also says something about the nature of TP52 downwind sailing.

Green endorses the sailing adage that ‘speed is your friend’ explaining 'These boats just must be sailed fast, even if you cover extra miles' a technique well known to skiff sailors.

‘With an A3 asymetrical set we can get to down to 150s maybe 155s, but with our powerful A4 we can sail deeper, down to 157s even 160s, that gives the helmsman a wider angle steer through especially when trying to avoid sailing into the waves in front, which is critical where possible.’

Not surprisingly weight distribution is everything in these conditions and Green explained the crew positions when powered up downwind.

‘We have one guy on the vang sitting just aft of the companionway (easing the mainsail vang when there’s a chance of broaching), one guy on the fronts pumps (the forward grinder, grinding the spinnaker sheet) and he has to have his head down because that’s the wettest spot.’

‘The mainsail trimmer sits just forward of the helm’ continues Green, ‘the kite trimmer stands between the wheels and the rest of the ten crew are as far back against the pushpit as we can get them; when we look like we’re going nose down I yell at them to lean further back!’ laughs Greene.

Green who has now finished his twenty-ninth Sydney Hobart race clearly had a strong hand in the successful outcome of the pre race and first night strategies, also confirming that a good ‘husband and wife argument’ can sometimes be highly productive.