Kaiulani celebrates 32nd birthday with fifth Launceston to Hobart
by Peter Campbell on 24 Dec 2011
The 30-footer Kaiulani powers down the Tamar River after the start of the 2010 Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race. Andrea Francolini Photography
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Just 9-metres in overall length, the Hobart yacht Kaiulani will not only be one of the smallest boats in next week’s Optus Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race, but will also be celebrating 32 years of consistent, and successful, ocean racing. Steve Lovell built the Snook 30 in Hobart in 1978-79, with Derwent Sailing Squadron member Malcolm Cooper owning her since 2004.
This will be the fifth time Cooper has raced the little yacht in the L2H, the 285 nautical mile race that starts from Beauty Point next Tuesday, 27 December.
'We had always planned to compete in at least the first five L2H races, and hopefully we will make the first ten with Kaiulani,' says Cooper. 'We believe Kaiulani is the only boat to have sailed in all L2H races so far.'
In the inaugural L2H, Kaiulani placed 12th in the PHS division, but improved markedly with a PHS sixth overall in a fleet of 27 boats in the 2008 race. Last year she placed 10th other under AMS ratings.
Kaiulani should know her way from Beauty Point down the East Coast to Hobart as Cooper has also raced her in three Three Peaks Races. She has an impressive record, having sailed in the 1979 Sydney Hobart soon after her launching, finishing 69th in a fleet of 144.
The 30-footer also made some 14 crossings of Bass Strait in Melbourne to Launceston and Melbourne to Devonport races in the 1980s, also winning a Cock of the Bay Race in Melbourne in the mid-80s.
Since purchasing the boat at Georgetown at Easter 2004 and bringing her to Hobart, Cooper has regularly contested Pennant races on the Derwent, also winning the Half Ton division of the 2006 Crown Series, and winning the PHS division of the Maria Island Race in 2007.
Sailing with Malcolm Cooper on Kaiulani in the L2H will be his step-daughter Amanda Spinks-Cooper and regular crew Peter Taylor, each of whom has sailed in all previous races, together with Ross Daley, John Hall and Judi Marshall.
'Kaiulani may be one of the oldest and smallest in the fleet, but she is still competitive and will enjoy the weather if it’s hard on the nose this year,' Cooper added.
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