Sled secures Siska Trophy

by YWA Offshore on 30 May 2011 Tony Mitchell’s rejuvenated Farr 47 Sled capped a remarkable ocean racing season when she was awarded the prestigious Siska Trophy at a gala dinner at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club on Saturday night. The Siska Trophy recognizes the overall winner of Yachting WA’s Blue Water Series, the top tier of the offshore racing program.

After a blistering start to the season when Sled scored well in both the Fremantle to Geraldton and Geraldton Return races, the Blue Water series developed into a three-way battle between Sled, master skipper Trevor Taylor’s Marten 49 Optimus Prime and Paul Eldrid & Scott Disley’s spectacular lightweight Bakewell-White 37, General Lee. A mediocre result for Sled and good results for Optimus Prime and General Lee in the Gordon Haselhurst Coventry Reef race saw the gap close, but Sled fought back with solid placings in the Bunbury & Return and Fremantle to Busselton races.

Sled’s brilliant IRC/YAH double victory in the Cape Naturaliste & Return race could have closed out the series with one race to go, but Optimus Prime had been quietly accumulating consistent podium places all season, so the series result came down to the wire in the Westender, the final race of the season.

The seasoned Taylor and his wily crew knew that to bridge the points difference to Sled, Optimus Prime needed to finish high in the fleet, with Sled a number of places further back. Alternatively, if both yachts finished poorly, Optimus Prime would be favoured, as its results in the first six races of the series had been more consistent.

The second half of the Westender turned into a drifting competition and the smaller yachts prevailed, but Sled finished just well enough to take the series by a mere two points from Optimus Prime, with General Lee third.

Sled’s owner-skipper Tony Mitchell paid tribute to English naval architect Hugh Welbourn and Evolution Sails WA loft owner Paul Eldrid for optimising the ten year old IMS-designed Sled during the last off season. In what must be one of the most successful reconfigurations ever, a new T-bulb keel was cast and the existing rig was deemed suitable to carry larger, masthead spinnakers. The result was a faster yacht that rated lower under the IRC handicapping formula.

Mitchell also praised the support of his dedicated and race-hardened crew, many of whom have sailed together for many years on Tony’s previous yachts, the Inglis 47 Wild One and the IOR Farr 40 Prime Minister.

Sled also won the Division One IRC and YAH sections of the Blue Water Series. Optimus Prime was second under both handicapping systems, with General Lee third under IRC and Phil Childs’ Farr 49 Knee Deep third under YAH.

Division Two Blue Water IRC and YAH were won by Derek and Len Baxter’s Farr 36 Phoenix, from Rod Turner’s Farr 38 Nexus and Kevin Brownie’s S97 Total Recall.

Division Two yachts dominated the second tier Archambault Offshore Series, with Ian Holder’s giant killing Whiting 32 Bad Habits a clear winner of the inaugural Archambault Trophy and the one thousand dollar cash prize. Holder, who has successfully campaigned Bad Habits for the past ten years, was also awarded the title of Offshore Skipper of the Year.

Total Recall was second in the series, with offshore veteran Bill Burbidge’s IOR Farr 36 Le Truck, sailing in her twenty-sixth consecutive season, third. The highest placed Division One yacht was Jon Hansen’s Elan 410 Wasabi, which capped an impressive first season with fourth place in the series.

In the Division One IRC section of the Archambault Offshore Series, General Lee was the winner, from Wasabi and Scott Glaskin’s Foundation 36 The X-Factor. Under YAH, it was Frank Saraceni’s Bakewell-White 36 Al Fresco, from Wasabi & John Moore’s Marten 49, Charlotte.

Bad Habits won Division Two IRC from Simon Torvaldsen’s new generation S&S 34 Blondie, with Total Recall third. Blondie was the winner under YAH, from Bad Habits and Le Truck.

The third tier offshore series saw the inaugural Sailing Products Australia Coastal Cup and a one thousand dollar cash prize awarded to Paul Arns’ Hanse 400 No Rehearsal, from Clodagh Irwin’s Beneteau Oceanis 331 Anastasia and Isabel Aujoulet-Law’s Spirit 28 Babystar. The Coastal Cup series is designed as a simpler format for ocean racing, with performance-based handicapping and a Category 4 safety standard.

Also introduced for the first time this season was a Double-Handed Series. John Holder’s Farr 11.6 Plus 16 was the IRC winner, from Dennis Vincent and Hilary Arthure’s Beneteau First 34.7 Wyuna and Scott and ulie Olsen’s Jomac MG30 Max. Under YAH, Stephen Key’s Mean Feat was victorious, with Plus 16 second and Max third. A total of eight yachts competed in the Double-Handed Series, and it is intended to continue to grow the fleet for this demanding style of ocean racing.

The Offshore Presentation Dinner, compered by recent Ron Tough Foundation Gold Medal winner and YWA offshore Chairman Chris Kelly, was one the most successful ever, with 180 guests packed into the marquee at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club and tickets sold out two weeks ago. The guests were entertained by young sailor Lisa Chamberlain, who won the Rani Trophy for Seamanship in the 2010 Sydney-Hobart race for her cool headedness in identifying and rectifying a severe water leak on the super-maxi YuuZoo. Amusing anecdotes were also contributed by legendary yachtsman and Siska Trophy donor Rolly Tasker, who recently turned eighty-five years old but remains in very fine fettle.