Festival of Sails at Royal Geelong Yacht Club - Day 4
By Lisa Ratcliff / Festival of Sails Media on 27 Jan21-29 January 2012Festival of Sails day 4 © Teri Dodds
Mixed bag gives way to perfect afternoon
It was a mixed bag for day four of the Festival of Sails. Favourable south east breeze for the early start of a short course race for the cruising, classic yacht and multihull divisions followed by a glass-out during the middle of the day, and finally, Geelong’s Corio Bay put its best foot forward for the afternoon session.
The short course starters enjoyed an early sea breeze, which had run out of puff by the time they were heading for the finish gate as the wind transitioned between a south easterly and a northerly. They were the lucky ones.
The first race of the day for the Melges 24s contesting their national championships, Sydney 38s and Premier Racing Series Division B was abandoned when the breeze dialed north and faded, creating a ‘drifter’ as they say in the business.
Crews trod lightly on deck and tried to find shade from the sails as the hot sun bore down on those feeling drained from yesterday’s Australia Day celebrations.
Melges 24s clubhouse leader by two points after five races is the Warwick Rooklyn skippered Bandit.
“Half way through the series and it’s tight,” Rooklyn said tonight. “It was tough racing and a long day today, but by the third race the wind had increased and we were able to shift modes. Kevin Nixon’s Accru crew are too good downwind, but we are strong upwind”.
The Bundaberg Rum sponsored SB3 Victorian championships is being led by triple world Laser champion Glenn Bourke after five races.
Bourke, the CEO of Hamilton Island where the class’ world championship will be held in December this year, has four firsts and a fifth under his belt with SB3 Club Marine Hamilton Island - and that’s despite being rusty having last raced with his crew at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week in August.
Mainsheet Rod Jones and bowman Greg McAllamsmith is the combination Bourke will take to the worlds where around 80 SB3s, half from Europe and half from Australia, are expected to vie for their international crown, back dropped by the beautiful Whitsunday Islands.
“It’s tricky sailing on Corio Bay, you have to be clever to stay in the money,” said Bourke this evening after racing finished late given the closing stages produced the best conditions. On the regatta he added, “It’s great, the whole precinct is the regatta!”
Newcomer to the SB3 class is former big boat owner Chris Dare, who picked up his new dinghy, Flirtatious, just a fortnight ago. “It was a case of sheet on and let’s go,” said Dare who has combined with Olympic Finn sailor Oliver Tweddle and Dan Morrow for the Victorian champs.
In the Coca Cola Multihull Series, Tim Pepperell’s trimaran Bare Essentials took line honours in this morning’s short course race while Sknot took handicap honours. In this evening’s twilight David Renouf’s Yabb beat Bare Essentials on handicap, Pepperell’s Granger 8 taking its third back-to-back line honours win.
The event media boats were put to good use today, not only whizzing media covering the Festival of Sails between the different course areas, but acting as support vessels.
John Newbold’s Tasmanian Farr 40, Midnight Rambler, from the Cruising Spinnaker Series division 1 was one of three boats that ran aground and had to be towed off the sand by the Parks Victoria boat while another media boat was used to ferry a crewman with a minor head injury from Mike Welsh’s Beneteau, Wicked, to a awaiting ambulance.
This evening many cruising entries were back out doing what they do best – twilight racing. The initiative to include a twilight race in the on-water program and take the colourful fleet close to shore to show the ‘ice-cream crowd’ was a result of a collective request from the cruising boats.
“The cruising entries are the growth area of the event and tonight they came right in close to the waterfront where the crowds are enjoying the evening’s shoreside entertainment,” said Festival organiser Jav Greaves.
Tomorrow the cruising, multihulls, classic yachts, Noelex 30s will undertake the Portarlington Race while the Premier Racing Series, S80s, Super 30s, Sports Boats, Melges, SB3s and Super 30s will continue windward/leeward racing.
Can the locals stop a New Zealand results raid?
The local lads haven’t yet been able to stave off a foreign raid of results in the Festival of Sails Audi Centre Geelong Premier Racing Division A after Georgia’s triple handicap win on Corio Bay today.
Jim Farmer’s Botin & Carkeek 52, a Festival of Sails first timer, is not waiting around for the famil, they have come out swinging and are sitting on five points well clear of the nearest boat, Jason Van Der Slot’s TP52, Calm, on 12 points.
All three windward/leeward races were sailed in different conditions and Georgia adapted seamlessly to each, although the final scalp involved some good fortune when Rob Hanna’s TP52 Shogun fluffed a gennaker set.
“In the third race Shogun was way ahead but at the top turn they had an issue pulling up their gennaker,” said Farmer. “It was the reverse of yesterday’s passage race when they slipped through us because of our mistake.
“We thought our longer keel would hurt us in the light stuff, but it didn’t. It has stopped us drifting sideways,” Farmer said of the new keel they are trialling after it was installed by McConaghy Boats pre-Christmas.
Premier Series Division B pointscore leader is Grant Botica’s Adams 10 Executive Decision.
The race committee wasn’t able to stretch this division to a third after their first race of the day was abandoned when the breeze fizzled.
In the Sydney 38 class, the last to finish the day’s program at twilight this evening, Bruce Taylor’s Chutzpah38 is at the top of the leaderboard, three points clear of Chris Lewin’s Another Challenge.
In the class’ nationals, which are being hosted this week by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Sydney, another Victorian, Lou Abrahams’ The Next Challenge is leading that pointscore. “Victorians reign supreme,” said Taylor tonight as he checked both scores.
“It’s fantastic to see some of the newcomers to the class doing well at Geelong,” Taylor added as he dashed off to his crew’s annual BBQ which is starting late giving the Sydney 38s were still racing up until 7pm this evening.
Temperatures are expected to soar tomorrow to 34 degrees while winds are forecast east to southeasterly 10 to 15 knots tending north to northwesterly early in the morning then tending south to south easterly 15 to 20 knots in the middle of the day.
The Festival of Sails fleet of more than 300 will split tomorrow with some divisions continuing windward/leewards and the rest heading offshore for the Portarlington Race.
Royal Geelong Yacht Club is expected to host a huge evening tomorrow when ACDC cover band Thunderstruck strikes a chord with yachties and visitors to the annual Festival of Sails, Victoria’s oldest sporting trophy which began in 1844.
The Festivals of Sails 2012 will wrap up on Sunday 29 January.
www.festivalofsails.com.au
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