Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel - Alegria IV and Wedgetail

by Mystery Yacht Racer on 5 Jul 2010 Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race update.

In a boat yard just north of Brisbane the finishing touches are being applied to Rod Jones’ latest weapon the modified GP42 Alegria IV (A4). A4 has been shipped out of Europe and has been undergoing major works to transform her into a competitive IRC ocean racer.

Amongst other works she has had a new keel bulb made and fitted, new rudder and twin wheels to replace her tiller steering along with a long fixed bow sprit for her asymmetrical spinnakers.

It is easy to design a yacht that goes fast through the water - you make it light with a deep keel and you put lots of sail on it. The trick is to make a small racing yacht (under 50 foot) fast but still able to rate well under the IRC rule. The IRC rule is well known to favour racing yachts of between 50 to 65 feet. They have a number of advantages; but do seem to be able to carry more sail without the percentage penalty 30 to 45 footers get.

A4 is light at around 4700kg and she carries a lot of sail and more than the Bill Wild owned Welbourne 42 Wedgetail. There is no doubt she will be very quick through the water. The question is how high will she rate under IRC? There is also no doubt she will rate higher than Wedgetail and as such must beat Wedgie over the finish line at Rosslyn Bay. Will she be far enough ahead? The race between these two boats will be fascinating.

In the light airs of the 2008 race Wedgetail was sticky as her fat, wide transom got glued to the water and she was beaten over the line by the much lower rating (and usually much slower) Bribie Star. If it goes light will A4 suffer the same way, or will her Mediterranean breeding show with speed in the light? If she is slow in soft air, both these yachts will have a pack of six Farr 40s all around them.

Rod Jones at the wheel will have with him the same crew that has won two IRC Australian Championships and they will be every bit a match for the excellent crew of Wedgetail. Bill Wild’s yacht won this year’s Brisbane to Gladstone Race and smashed the fleet in the Fairway Challenge (a 100 mile warm up race). A few weeks later the very slick and shrewd crew of Wedgie then showed they can sail short course racing by winning the Queensland IRC Championship. You can bet the Wedgie crew will be busting their balls to beat A4 to Keppel!

As both skippers know, ocean racing is more than just speed and skill; you do need to have luck on your side. So often you can have a brilliant first day and in the small hours run out of wind, then watch as the fleet sails around and away from you. Both these yachts will need luck to beat a very good fleet of yachts and win the Keppel Race, however with a little good luck either of this pair can do just that.