TP52 Pallas Capital Gold Cup - Matador wins Act 1
by Nicole Douglass 3 Mar 23:26 AEDT
1-2 March 2025
The line up for the Pallas Capital Gold Cup - TP52 Pallas Capital Gold Cup Act 1 © Nic Douglass for @sailorgirlHQ
The opening Act of the Pallas Capital Gold Cup for the TP52 Australia class as part of the Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Harbour Regatta on 1-2 March saw 2024 winner David Doherty's Matador start their defence in style, winning on both IRC and TPR.
The winning navigator, Alice Tarnawski, said the weekend was great fun, even though the weather looked doubtful at first.
"It was really, really good fun. It was looking a little grim to start with, really light, sort of sloppy winds and sloppy sea state. It was great that the southerly came through and we had an absolutely fantastic race, the last race today", said Tarnawski.
And that the team of Matador did, securing the win even after a tough third race, which was the first sign of a potential chink in their armour. When asked whether they are just chasing individual acts, or a repeat of last year's Pallas Gold Cup win, Tarnawski was quick to answer.
"We're in it to win it. Yeah, absolutely. We come every week ready to get a little bit better, work on the things that we could have done better each week and each race".
"It's been a really solid team for the last few years and David [Doherty] puts together a fabulous program. Good people, great sailors and the vibe on board is always really positive, so I think it's a really good winning combination."
The major success story of the final day was Mark Spring's Highly Sprung, who won their first race on IRC, and subsequently TPR, which is based on IRC, but also takes into account variables such as age of the boat and number of professionals on board.
"I'm trying not to smile so hard at the moment," smiled Mark back on the dock. "But yeah, really, really happy. That's a first for that boat and that crew, relatively new crew together, so pumped, very happy".
"We're in the game, which is quite scary. I don't think we even deserve it all. We haven't trained as hard as the rest of them, but we've just been looking forward to it", he commented on the return of the Pallas Capital Gold Cup.
He wasn't the only one looking forward to the return of the circuit.
"I was looking forward to today", said Sebastian Bohm, the owner and skipper of Smuggler, which finished third on IRC, and second on TPR.
"We saw that the breeze was going to come in at some point. We weren't sure exactly what time. We had a cracking second start for the first race and took the whole fleet on port, which was really good!"
"The second race [Race 4] was amazing. It felt like we were back doing the [Rolex Sydney] Hobart again, which was awesome," he confessed and continued. "We loved it. When it gets to that point, we've got the crew that can handle the boat and just feel very comfortable. We were sending it hard, basically, so we really enjoyed that".
Another team that performed strongly in Act 1 was Marcus Blackmore's Hooligan. As Blackmore was unable to attend, he asked Katie Spithill to take the helm, and the team finished second on IRC, and fourth on TPR. Also on board was Spithill's long-time friend and crewmate Nina Curtis, along with the plethora of other notable sailors who are a part of the Hooligan family, and the privilege to sail on such an incredible boat.
"Marcus couldn't make this event, so I got invited to join the Hooligan team and I'm hooked," said Spithill. "I'm happy to share with Marcus. I'm not giving it back. It's such a fun class," she exclaimed.
"Downwind was fun. I think we were doing 20 knots boat speed in 20 to 21 knots true wind speed. It was a really fun day. It's the wettest I've ever been as a skipper, not in a wetsuit, really, completely wet, but so fun".
"Amazing fleet. Such a good bunch of people too and so excited to see the class continue and grow as more boats appear along the way," she finished.
Third on TPR was also the Corinthian winning team, Koa, skippered by owner Andy Kearnan, no doubt there are more improvements to come over this season.
"The whole concept, the TP Gold Cup, is fantastic and the racing is so good and we love it," stated Bohm on behalf of his team.
"We're just going to keep doing it as long as we can because we just want to be out there and racing against our friends. We have such good camaraderie with all the boats and it's good competition on the water, and then we just send it when we can".
On camaraderie, another team which featured in the class community discussions, though not on the scoreboard was Mike Martin's Frantic. In the first attempt of Race 3, which was abandoned, Frantic showed their ocean racing prowess and headed straight for the incoming southerly. Should that race have continued, they were in prime position.
Frantic, Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club locals will next welcome us to their home club in a fortnight where Act 2 of the Pallas Capital Gold Cup will take place as part of SailFest (22-23 March). Act 3 will be sailed over three days as part of Sail Port Stephens (25-27 April), and Act 4, on Pittwater from Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (17-18 May).
Thanks to naming rights sponsor Pallas Capital and also to Zhik for their support.