Tasports 63rd Maria Island Yacht Race leaders back into Storm Bay

by Peter Campbell on 20 Nov 2010 Tasports 63rd Maria Island Yacht Race - Tactical sailing up the River Derwent this evening is likely to decide the line honours winner of the 190 nautical mile Tasports 63rd Maria Island Yacht Race, the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania’s longest annual ocean race.

At 1700 hours (5pm) this afternoon, the two leading yachts, Andrew Hunn’s Cape/Barrett 40 Mr Kite from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, and the DK46 Dekadence, skippered by David Creese, Commodore of Bellerive Yacht Club, had rounded Tasman Island for the final legs across Storm Bay and up the Derwent.

Sailing in a light south-westerly breeze, Mr Kite at that stage was between Tasman Island and Cape Raoul, with just less than 36 nautical miles to sail. Dekadence was less than two nautical miles astern. She had rounded Tasman Island at 1550 (4.50pm) followed by Dekadence about ten minutes later.

The next boat around Tasman Island was the Bakewell-White 45 The Fork in the Road, skippered by Gary Smith, at 1715 (5.15pm) followed by the Ker 11.3 Dump Truck (Justin Wells) at 1730 (5.30pm).

The Oceantracker computer estimates that at their current boatspeed, the line honours winner will not cross the finish line off Castray Esplanade until after 2200 hours (10pm) tonight. However, the leaders should pick up speed once they round Cape Raoul and can ‘spring sheets’ as they head towards the Iron Pot at the entrance to the River Derwent.

A close bunch of yachts is sailing down the rugged eastern shore of the Tasman Peninsula, led by Tony Lyall’s Elliott/Barrett 13 Valheru, one of three yachts in the fleet entered for this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Race.

Astern of Valheru came the Melges 32 2Unlimited (Greg Prescott) which is struggling to make up time and distance after being 43 minutes late for Friday evening’s start.

Also in this group are Whistler (David Rees) and Host Plus Executive (Jeff Cordell) which are well placed on handicap in this light weather race, as is the tailender in the fleet, Malcolm Cooper’s Snook 30 Kaiulani.

Astern of Whistler and Host Plus Executive is another Sydney-Hobart, Todd Leary’s She’s the Culprit while in second last place is Sassy (Murray Wilkes) which is also entered for the Sydney Hobart.

The overall winner of the Tasports Maria Island Race will be the yacht with the lowest corrected time under the AMS handicap system. Of the 21 starters, 17 yachts are rated AMS, only six rated under IRC.