Wild West enjoys windy day on Derwent

by Peter Campbell on 17 Jan 2010 An exhilarating spinnaker run down the River Derwent in a freshening 25 knot nor'easter, gusting to 34 knots, proved a winning factor for Michael Denney's 30-footer Wild West in Bellerive Yacht Club's long distance pennant
race.

The wind proved too strong for several boats, among them Bellerive veteran member Terry Bragg's Galapagos Duck, dismasted during a spinnaker gybe near the Iron Pot. Other boats flew out spinnakers, including Division 1 PHS and AMS winner Wild West.

Wild West completed the race with the remnants of her big spinnaker streaming as a pennant from her masthead, but maintained her early good position to finish sixth in the fleet and win both the PHS and AMS handicap divisions.

Wild West, a 'composite' design - a Mount Gay 30 hull with an optimised rig and new keel - was third or fourth boat in Division 1 around the Iron Pot after a fast spinnaker run down the river, putting her in a strong handicap position as the lowest rating boat in the division.

She won the PHS division from Mark Ballard's 40 South and line honours winner David Creese's Dekadence, taking out the AMS division from Archie, skippered by Scott Brain, and Pisces (David Taylor).

The Division 1 fleet sailed a 42 nautical mile course from Bellevive down the Derwent to the Iron Pot, then to Black Rock and Yellow Bluff, before a leg to Kelly's Point and back up the river to Bellerive. Other divisions sailed shorter courses.

The long course legs and the strong nor'easter suited Helsal III perfectly and Tony and Rob Fisher's Adams 20 outsailed the fleet in the Performance Cruising Division, winning line and handicap honours from Cyclone (Stephen
Keal) and Blue Chip (Colin Denny)

In the 9m division, Grahame Inglis' Kaufman-designed 33-footer won on corrected time from Trouble (Dave Willans) and Just in Time (Mike Sheehan) while in the Half Ton Division the veteran Kamehameha (Frank Chatterton) won
from Silicon Chip (Walter Knoop) and Half Hearted (Chad Grafton).

Division 2 saw a win from Innovator (Ian Smith) from Miss Conduct, helmed by David Graney, third place going to John Hunn's Atilla. The cruiser/racer The Shack, Tony Hurd's Kaufman 33, was another boat to enjoy the fresh to
strong winds today, winning Division 3 from Odyssey 2001 (Steve Logan) and Alibi II (Rod Williams).

The yachts sailing back up the Derwent made a colorful background for the occasional down-river sweep by the cameras covering the cricket test at Bellerive Oval.