SEAMANSHIP AWARD TO CREW OF KOMATSU BLUE LADY FOR RESCUE EFFORT

by Peter Campbell on 1 Nov 2000 Skipper Shane Kearns and his crew of Komatsu Blue Lady tonight were
presented with a special Seamanship Award for successfully towing
fellow
competitor Impeccable to safety last night during the Leasecorp
Gosford to
Lord Howe Island Yacht Race.

Impeccable, a 34-footer skippered by John Walker from Middle
Harbour Yacht
Club, broke its rudder yesterday afternoon in heavy seas some 30
miles
south-west of Lord Howe Island.

Kearns immediately went to Impeccable's assistance and within an
hour and a
half Komatasu Blue Lady, a Challenger 39, had rendezvoused with
the
smaller boat and taken her in tow.

The tow ended 13 1/2 hours later, when the two boats reached the
island
shortly before dawn today.

Presenting the Lord Howe Island Bowling Club Seamanship Award at
the trophy
presentation at the Lord Howe Island Bowling Club, local race
organizer
Clive Wilson paid tribute to the seamanship skills of Kearns, a
member of
the Royal Australian Navy Sailing Association, whose crew included
ocean
sailing students.

Gosford Sailing Club this afternoon gave Komatsu Blue Lady redress
for
going to Impeccable's assistance, assessing that she would have
placed
ninth in both the IMS and PHS handicap divisions had she continued
racing.

Komatsu Blue Lady is an entrant in the 2000 Telstra Sydney to
Hobart Race,
with Kearns then planning a cruise across the Tasman Sea to
Auckland and
back to Sydney

As skippers and crews gathered for the prizegiving, the smallest
boat in
the fleet and last one at sea, Graeme Jackson's 31-foote
Grasshopper, was
still 60 miles from the finish of the 408 nautical mile race, with
an ETA of
0300 hours tomorrow morning.

The other tailender, Berrimilla, skippered by Alex Whitworth,
also from
RANSA, is returning to Sydney under a jury-rigged mast after
damaging its
forestay in heavy seas.

The famous yacht Love & War, a Sparkman & Stephens 47-footer
which veteran
owner Peter Kurts brought out of retirement to contest the race,
this
evening was named Classic Yacht of the race while the Sydney
Amateur Sailing
Club team of Mark Twain (Hugh O'Neill), Polaris of Belmont (John
Quinn) and
Fidelis (Nigel Stokes) was announced as winner of the Team Trophy -
by one
points from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia team.

Final placings:

IMS (International Measurement System):

1. Occasional Coarse Language (Warwick Sherman, CYCA) corrected
time 51 hrs
08 min 33 sec.
2. Love & War, S&S 47 (Peter Kurts, CYCA) 51.23.33.
3. J44 Phoenix, J44 (Rob Reynolds, MHYC) 51.47.05
4. AFR Midnight Rambler, Hick 35 (Ed Psaltis/Bob Thomas, CYCA)
51.58.15.
5. Eureka, mod Sydney 60 (Bob Robertson/Hugh Treharne, RQYS)
53.13.37

PHS (Performance Handicap System):

1. J44 Phoenix, J44 (Rob Reynolds, MHYC) corrected time 68 hrs 23
min 24
sec.
2. Fidelis, Knud/Rheimers 61 (Nigel Stoke, RSYS) 68.25.10.
3. Antipodes, Beneteau 42.7 (Greg Newton, RSYS) 68.32.19.
4. Love & War, S&S 47 (Peter Kurts, CYCA) 68.34.09.
5. Mark Twain, S&S 28 (Hugh O'Neill, SASC) 70.30.00

Line Honours: Eureka, mod Sydney 60 (Bob Robertson/Hugh Treharne,
RQYS) 53
hrs 26 min 27 sec.


Further information: Peter Campbell - 0419 385 028 or email -
peter_Campbell@bigpond.com





Peter Campbell
peter_campbell@bigpond.com