Hydro Tasmania Three Peaks Race - Second sailing leg underway

by Holly Ranson on 4 Apr 2010 The first boats of the Hydro Tasmania Three Peaks Race fleet have arrived at Coles Bay, ending the second sailing leg.

John Brierley’s catamaran Deguello docked at the jetty at 6.30pm after a slow and painstaking journey.

Sailing conditions were good for the first part of the leg but the breeze quickly died as the fleet sailed south, leaving the leading boats wallowing in a windless patch off Cape Tourville until a sea-breeze kicked in this afternoon.

The 10-knot north-easterly allowed the leading boats an ideal spinnaker reach through Schouten passage but forced them to beat toward the Coles Bay jetty. The breeze died to nothing as they approached the wharf making for frustrating spectating and even more frustrating sailing.

Deguello has maintained a small lead over Nick Edmunds’ monohull Haphazard after a game of cat-and-mouse earlier today.

The long sailing leg has given the runners a much-needed rest before the 38km run over Mt Graham and Mt Freycinet, which they must now tackle in the dark. Haphazard’s runners Charles Gunn and John Claridge, of Launceston, will be looking to repeat yesterday’s performance in which they took about 40 minutes from Deguello’s lead.

Meanwhile Deguello’s runners, Allan Hood and Ian Frankze, will be aiming to get the boat away in first place.

Tactics will become a major factor in the race to Hobart, with the shortcut of the Dunalley Canal available to Deguello except between the hours of midnight and 4am. As a fully-crewed entrant Haphazard cannot use Dunalley Canal; it must sail around Tasman Island.

Third-placed Team Whistler leads a tight group of boats including Peccadillo and VisitFlindersIsland.com.au that are expected in Coles Bay within the next hour.