Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania – Winter racing on Derwent
by Peter Campbell on 26 May 2013
Winter racing on Derwent Peter Campbell
Winter yacht racing on the Derwent began today, with the hardy crews getting an early taste of winter’s chills and spills as fresh north to north-westerly winds swept down the river.
With Hobart’s official temperature at 11-13 degrees during the morning race, but with a sharply lower wind chill factor, 23 yachts, from sports boats to ocean racers, turned out for the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania’s opening winter pennant race.
Several SB20s and other smaller boats broached in sharp gusts as the north to north-westerly winds funnelled down under the Tasman Bridge but all completed the course.
The fleet raced in two divisions, with ocean racer Pisces, skippered by David Taylor, taking line honours in Division two after a spirited duel with the two leading SB20s, Karabos (Nick Rogers) and Brainwave (Scott Brain).
On corrected time, Division two went to Footloose (Stewart Geeves) from Karabos and another SB20, Hypertronics (Stephen Catchpool).
In Division two, the Bavaria 38, Fordplay (Grant Ford) led the fleet around the course, but on handicap first place went to Wayne McNiece’s Riverdance, fom Ingenue (Nigel Johnston) and Ragtime (Tom Kirkland).
During the winter each of the major clubs will hold their five scheduled winter pennant races on alternative Sundays, with Bellerive Yacht Club’s first winter pennant next Sunday, followed by Derwent Sailing Squadron the following Sunday.
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