‘Tis the Season
by John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS 22 Jan 2018 09:29 AEDT
Tis the eason all right - the wet season © John Curnow
No. Not to be jolly. That particular one has just gone for another year. Although it is very much in the middle of the season for sailing, so it is a pretty jolly time all round, anyway. At any rate, the period of time in question here is the wet season up North. Normally you think of this time of year as humid, wet a lot of the time, steamy Northerlies blowing through, cloudy skies, 1.5m sugar cane billowing in the breeze, and creeks flowing quickly and registering on the bottom of the height markers. Not yachting weather, per se.
So the Clipper RTW fleet is all neatly docked in Abell Point Marina after their run up from Hobart. We should have known that anything is possible at this time of year in this great country of ours, after they spent the last five of their trip with the wind squarely on the nose and blowing hard. No two-week downhill run for them. Still, it is one of their best points of sailing, so apart from the super-awkward angle of heel, it all went pretty well for them.
The team from Abell Point Marina were keen to showcase their facilities after rebuilding works courtesy of Cyclone Debbie nine months ago. One arm was totally replaced and looks a treat, so too the parklands on their Western edge as they build new outdoor ceremonial and function spaces. It is little wonder that Paul Darrouzet dynamic and enthusiastic team are multiple award winners.
Never happy to simply stop, they continue to develop ideas and reasons to #StayPlayExplore. Your boat is happy and safe, and indeed you can be so too. The Ocean Club is an on water pontoon with private entertaining facilities along with laundry and personal amenities. Their new restaurant, Hemingway's, has just been hatted and really does bring the conviviality of the place to front and centre. All of that, and you haven’t even left Airlie Beach yet to go and check out one or all 74 of the islands that make up the group.
The Clipper Carnival was certainly in full swing, with locals and travellers getting to engage with the boats and sailors. As an event it is continuing to delight, inspire and expand both individuals’ horizons and the sport itself. This is a true delight given the loss of life on this and the previous race, as well as the grounding before Christmas. The inherent safety of the vessels was not lost on me, and the crew are well trained and well disciplined.
Some 49 countries are represented in the crews, and it was wonderful to see Seattle win the leg, for they are not only skippered by a 24 year old female, Nikki Henderson, they also set the record for the most girls in the one crew – 12 of 19. Her tale, where she built up her experience by doing deliveries and then becoming the youngest ever Clipper Skipper is a delight, and the leg win was still very much in her smile. Of course the overall leader is Sanya, which is skippered by our own Wendy Tuck.
Four of the 11 Clippers were put on for the Corporate Race Day, which was a five miler in the bay right in front of Airlie Beach. ‘Leg 6A’, as it became known, was won by PSP Logistics who hosted the media for the day. Many thanks to the crew and their Skipper, Matt Mitchell, for making it a great day, the superb start, and ensuring every post was a winner.
Chairman of Tourism Whitsundays, Al Grundy, is a sailor himself and very pleased to see the way the Clippers have worked in well with the region’s overall programme. Some of the area’s iconic highlights were also showcased, and even though some areas are still coming back into ‘life’ once more, the overarching notion is just how well Mother Nature is doing with re-vegetation and the like.
Grundy has set the bar high, with the desire to have a boat branded up with the Whitsundays in the next few years. In the meantime, the region looks set to have a crew on one vessel for the leg up from Hobart next year. He’s been very public about it, so it is not so much of a case of putting them in it as such. It is more like supporting a region to take themselves to the next level. Go get ‘em team!
Changing tack now – seriously. A wee piece out of the USA about changing boats for the Olympics was always going to catch my eye. Naturally, they have our Malcolm Page heading up the show now, and American ‘get things done’ mentality means we need to pay attention to what is being touted, even if Paris does seem a long way off, the voting is going on now.
At any rate, the notion is that using 420s, 29ers and Nacra 15s for Youth events is worthless. Why not put the young adults out in the Olympic craft? There is a lot to be said for that, especially if the 49er becomes mixed as expected, for there could be the FX rig to use for Juniors, but above all, rationalisation of fleet is smart in any language, and the believe it or not, the US is not as well funded as our Olympic hopefuls. Words like arrested development (not the hip hop band either) were used to describe skills building and the weigh issue is also covered by talking about seniors (17-19) and not 14 year olds.
They are all very good points, but in some ways it does not cover off the path from Opti to Bling and possibly only moves the slider on the scale back a few points. Yet if it is to be about TV audiences and making sailing more appealing, the skills and knowledge of safety come at higher speeds, so perhaps that push is enough on its very own to get the merit badge. We will see….
Right then. News time. Here are some gems for you to review. We have information from the Australian Yachting Championship, the Volvo Ocean Race, the Clippers, Contenders, the 18s, Goolwa Race Week, RS21, Fireballs (yes, some can remember them), SuperFoilers, North Sails on Melges IC37, Youth Worlds, the AC, Spindrift and the Jules Verne, NS14s, IORs on the River Derwent, and certainly there is much, much more.
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