Please select your home edition
Edition
X-Yachts Leaderboard 2024 3

Gosford to Lord Howe Island Race - Wild Rose blossoms overnight

by Peter Campbell on 30 Oct 2011
Wildrose - Gosford to Lord Howe Island Race 2011 Mark Greenwood
Hempel Gosford to Lord Howe Island Race - Prominent ocean racing yachtsman Roger Hickman has shown his sailing skills overnight to bringing his 18-year-old former Sydney Hobart Race winner Wild Rose into top place on IRC corrected times.

Hickman, who has been a winning skipper/sailing master in three Sydney Hobarts, is sailing as an owner/skipper for the first time in the Lord Howe Race.

After a slow start in yesterday afternoon’s light northerly breezes, Wild Rose, a Farr 43 which won the last IOR division of the Sydney Hobart in 1993, has excelled in fresher winds offshore overnight to be first on IRC handicaps.

At 0900 this morning, the fleet was making outstanding time on the long passage across the northern Tasman Sea with race leader, with the 66-footer The Stick, skippered by Richard Christian, currently sailing at more than 12 knots, covering 52 nautical miles in the last three hours.

She was 25nm ahead of the second boat in the fleet, the Mummery 45 Icefire (Peter Tucker) which at the same time was hitting 9.5 knots.

Several fleet positions have changed overnight with another past Sydney Hobart winner, the Hick 34 Midnight Rambler, skippered by James Cameron from Drummoyne Sailing Club, slipping well below the rest of the fleet with most boats on a north-easterly course but below the rhumbline to Lord Howe Island.

If The Stick, from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, as is Wild Rose, can maintain its boatspeed, the downwind flyer should pass the halfway mark in the 414 nautical mile race by early this afternoon.

On IRC corrected times Wild Rose leads from Icefire, Copernicus (Greg Zyner, Manly Yacht Club) and Midnight Rambler. In the PHS division, Quetzalcoatl (Anthony Sweetapple, CYCA) has had a good sail overnight to take over first place on corrected time from The Stick, with Gosford Sailing Club entrant Polaris of Belmont (Chris Dawe) in third place.

Quetzalcoatl and Lake Macquarie Yacht Club entrant Frantic (Michael Martin) are sailing within sight of each other but Frantic, a Sayer 11.4 has dropped to fourth on PHS corrected times.




Lloyd Stevenson - Catalyst Yacht Tender 1456x180px BOTTOMCyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTERZhik 2024 December

Related Articles

52 Super Series 2025 Porto Cervo day 3
Sled lead in Porto Cervo and have slashed American Magic's circuit lead in chase for the title The strong Mistral breeze on Sardinia's Costa Smeralda dropped away nicely today and three good, highly competitive races were completed, bringing the 52 SUPER SERIES - Porto Cervo - Range Rover regatta back to schedule.
Posted today at 7:52 pm
Melges 24 Worlds 2025 at Trieste, Italy Day 3
Light winds compress the standings in Trieste The 2025 Melges 24 World Championship, organized by Yacht Club Adriaco in collaboration with the International Melges 24 Class Association and with the support of the Italian Melges 24 Class, continues in something of a slow-motion rhythm.
Posted today at 7:02 pm
A true attraction for non-French skippers
Hard work, training, and perseverance in the 56th La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec The excellence of the French solo racing pathway is increasingly attracting non-French skippers who want to come, learn, and train in a discipline that, for now, remains very French.
Posted today at 6:55 pm
Last Chance to Complete 2x25 Survey
As Early Results Highlight Inequities Early responses to The Magenta Project's 2x25 survey reveal encouraging signs of progress on representation alongside systemic barriers that continue to hold sailing and the wider marine industry back.
Posted today at 12:26 pm
RS21 Worlds 2025 at Porto Rotondo, Sardinia Day 1
49 boats and over 200 sailors from 13 nations are taking part The RS21 World Championship is back at Yacht Club Porto Rotondo, with 49 boats and over 200 sailors from 13 nations ready to battle it out for one of the most competitive titles in one-design keelboat racing.
Posted today at 10:42 am
2025 Six Metre World Championship Day 3
Bribon and Momo II rise to the top at Long Island A lack of sunshine didn't detract from the sparkle of the International Six Metre fleet on day three of their 2025 World Championships at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club on Long Island.
Posted today at 4:52 am
America's Cup: Ray Davies scouts Naples
Ray Davies of Emirates Team New Zealand recently made a vibrant stop in Naples, Italy Ray Davies of Emirates Team New Zealand recently made a "vibrant" stop in Naples, Italy, ahead of the upcoming Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup, and was left in awe of both the city and its sailing conditions.
Posted today at 4:09 am
46th Cannes Royal Regatta day 3
When the planets are aligned... It was a phenomenal day in the bay of Cannes on Wednesday 24 September in a beautiful breeze from the south-west to the west.
Posted on 24 Sep
Melges 24 Worlds 2025 at Trieste, Italy Day 2
Epic conditions give Nika the first lead The 2025 Melges 24 World Championship delivered its first results on Day 2.
Posted on 24 Sep
2025 J/70 Corinthian Worlds at Massachusetts day 1
The regatta has moved to the United States for the first time Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, Massachusetts USA welcomed 29 all-amateur teams to the third annual J/70 Corinthian World Championship.
Posted on 24 Sep