The Heemskirk Consolidated Melbourne to Hobart x 2

by John Curnow on 4 Dec 2009
For the second year now, the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria will get away two fleets to Hobart on December 27, 2009. It all started in 2007, when for the first time ever, the Hobart fleet was 'diverted' through the finish line of the Melbourne to Launceston (M2L) race to mark that race’s Centenary and the fact that it is our marvelous country’s oldest ocean race.

The Hobart fleet then continued on down the East coast of Tasmania. It was such a success, that it resulted in the Eastcoaster race being born. Just last year it ran for the first time as a stand alone event, with the course modified, as boats no longer had to complete M2L first.

This year, the start off Portsea Pier is set to be alive again, as all the competitors from the Cock of the Bay race the day beforehand, come out to watch all three ocean fleets, amounting to some 40 boats, depart through the Heads of Port Phillip. This is a mini race-within-the-race as well, with the first out receiving the coveted Port Phillip Sea Pilots Trophy.

Last year, the traditional and very demanding, Melbourne to Hobart Westcoaster (M2HW) record was smashed by Matthew Short’s former TP52, ‘Shortwave’. He and his extended family took an amazing five and a half hours off the previous time, which had stood for over a decade. In a clean sweep, they took the Cock of the Bay and the Port Phillip Sea Pilots Trophy, along the way.

This two coast race system also sets up a fantastic race-within-a-race environment, for although they are separate, there are always plenty of bottles of red bet on which coast will get to Hobart first. The ORCV’s Commodore, George Shaw, is one of the major proponents in the annual 'red' battle. He is taking his J44 ‘The Secretary’ on the M2HE, 'It’s one of those things that adds so much flavour to our racing. I’m going down the East coast this year. It was the turn of the Westcoasters’ with the weather last year, so it has to be the East this year! Skippers have until the briefing, on Sunday December 20, to nominate in which race they will be partaking. So just maybe there’ll be a late switch, when the weather pattern has been analysed' George commented.

'For sure the M2HE is about 20 nautical miles longer, but if it is blowing hard out of the Southwest, then going down the East coast of Tasmania will offer many benefits – drier would have to be one of them!' the irrepressible Commodore went on to add.

Sticking their nose in it for the first time this festive season will be ‘Biddy Hu II’. Paul Lindemann and his crew literally decided to get off the beach and have a go at ocean racing. They have completed all of the ORCV’s training and education programmes, as well as making a very safe crossing of the notorious Bass Strait in the annual Melbourne to Stanley (Northern Tasmania) race, which is a qualifier for all the Christmas time races. 2009 also marks the first year that our Cat2 races have required each crewmember to have a Personal Locator Beacon (or PLB) and this is only going to add to the ORCV’s already impeccable safety record.

Last year, that 'first-timer' mantel belonged to ‘Pretty Woman’. This year, there will also be the ‘Battle of the Big Cruising Boats’ to look out for during the M2HE race. ‘Biddy Hu II’, ‘Dream’ and the aforementioned, ‘Pretty Woman’ comprises that little race-within-a-race gang. At the front of the M2HE fleet will be ‘XLR8’ and ‘Veloce’. Depending on the conditions, they will tussle for the lead and keep each other charging hard. ‘XLR8’s near sister ship, ‘Shamrock’ won the M2HE last year, so ‘XLR8’ will have plenty of motivation on those cold overnight watches, as they try to beat her time from last year.
[Sorry, this content could not be displayed] The M2HW has been around since the early Seventies and has the potential to be very demanding indeed. Whilst it requires a very high skill level, participants are rewarded with some of the most amazing views of this dramatic and unspoiled coastline. If the breeze is strong and very South, then ‘Yoko’, in her 28th consecutive M2HW, will be hard to take on. With more favourable conditions, ‘Spirit of Downunder’ may be able to surf and open up a lead. ‘Audacious’ and ‘Jazz Player’ may be a little smaller, but will keep them honest all the way and are genuine chances for a significant upset. The Derwent Sailing Squadron’s own ‘Hummingbird’ is taking on this testing event and we will be backing the local entrant all the way, especially when traversing Storm Bay and the Derwent River itself, on the way to the finish line. Local knowledge of these areas can add significantly to your final position, as any past competitor will testify to. The Derwent Sailing Squadron is the host of the ORCV whilst in Hobart and every year on January 2, they run the very well regarded King of the Derwent.

It was the team at our major sponsor, Heemskirk Consolidated that came up with the acronyms for these races. Melbourne to Hobart Westcoaster and Melbourne to Hobart Eastcoaster are almost as well known as M2HW and M2HE. They’ve been so popular, in fact, that other events have started using a similar format. Heemskirk is a global mining conglomerate that draws its name from the ship of the early Dutch explorers of Southern Australia. There is a Mt Heemskirk on the West coast of Tasmania that the fleet goes past and Salamanca Place in Hobart is truly famous. Heemskirk have operations in Salamanca, Spain, so it is all really rather fitting that they are our major sponsors.
M2HW and M2HE are also the third races in the prestigious McConaghy Melbourne Offshore Championship.

McConaghy, the makers of the fastest boats in the world, have placed one of their sensational and very cool carbon fibre wheels as the prize for the season’s winner. Traditionally, prizes to go to the top of the fleet, but this highly sought after prize is being awarded in the performance handicap division, which allows all entrants to be in the running. Look out for the boats flying the 'Yellow Ribband' from their forestay, which denotes the winner of a race for the wheel.
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