Hobart Combined Clubs Summer Pennant & Long Race Series - Race 1

Intrigue, Heatwave, Quest, Joint Custody & Guilty Pleasures run down the river under spinnaker soon after the start © Colleen Darcey

The Combined Clubs Summer Pennant kicked off on Saturday with the first race in the Long Race Series, conducted by the Derwent Sailing Squadron.

The DSS Race Management Team sent the Group 1 boats on a course that allowed them to stretch their legs as they headed out to a mark in Storm Bay for a 33.0nm race distance.

With a light forecast for the afternoon, Groups 2 to 4 raced to Seacroft Bay and then to Blackmans Bay, before heading back to the finish off Castray Esplanade.

With breezes largely from the north and west, the Derwent and Storm Bay lived up to their reputations as challenging sailing locations. Winds varied from near calm to well above the 20-knot mark during the day, testing both crews and tactics.

Group 1 honours on PHS went to Garry Cripps' Gulity Pleasures VI, while Midnight Rambler (Ed Psaltis) Whistler (Drew Latham) and Intrigue (David Calvert) shared the spoils in AMS and IRC handicap divisions.

Greg Prescott's new Melges 40 2Unlimited was the boat to beat for speed and took Line Honours from Andrew Jones' AdvantEdge and Tilt, Peter Cretan.

Glenn Roper's Natelle Two took Group 2 PHS, 42 South (Mark Ballard) AMS and Arunga (Andrew Parker) IRC. Line Honours in Group 2 went to Richard Grant's Cromarty Magellan.

In Group 3, Bryan Walpole's Invincible took the Line Honours/PHS/IRC treble with Justin Barr's Rumbeat taking AMS. Stewart Geeves' Footloose made the podium in all three handicap divisions.

Peter Bosworth's Astrolabe won Group 4 from Innovator (Ian Smith and Dean Aberle) with Steve Mannering's Camlet Way in third.

Next Saturday sees the first race in the Combined Clubs Harbour Series conducted by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, with the first race to start at 1:30pm.