Balance declared winner of 2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
by Di Pearson, RSHYR media 31 Dec 2015 07:30 GMT
27 December 2015
After a long day and overnight wait, Paul Clitheroe's TP52 Balance was this morning declared the overall winner of the 2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Clitheroe's major rival for the Tattersall's Cup, Quikpoint Azzurro gliding over the finish line in Hobart at 07.37.59 hours this morning to claim third place.
A belated birthday present for Clitheroe, who turned 60 in July, this is the first time he has won the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's 628 nautical mile race, but not the boat's first time. As Quest, it won the 2008 race for Bob Steel, and aboard again were two of his winning crew, sailing master Mike Green, a veteran of 37 Hobarts, and Adam Brown, a veteran of 29 races.
Green also won on a previous Quest in 2002 and took line honours on Ninety Seven in the storm ravaged 1993 race. Brown, was with Green in 2008 and 1993, with an additional overall win on Ragamuffin in 1992.
CYCA director Paul Clitheroe purchased his fifth Balance mid-last year and it has won two Sydney Hobarts from just five attempts. The 10 year-old Farr designed yacht has represented great value for her various owners, with other great results to her credit.
"It's an absolute honour to win this great race. I thought the little boat had beaten us, until the Derwent River decided otherwise," Clitheroe said.
"When you put a dumbo like me on a boat as good as this, it's easy to win. In fact Greeny and Brownie are relieved when I leave the helm," Clitheroe said, understating his value.
"The CYCA does a fantastic job of organizing the race and making sure everyone is safe. I thank the sponsor, Rolex and the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, all the volunteers and everyone involved – it is a mammoth exercise. And to my crew; Greeny and Brownie are two of the best – and the rest of the crew who do an outstanding job."
Of the conditions, the Sydney yachtsman said: "We had the hell beaten out of us on the first night and then it was pretty light in Bass Strait. The boat would launch into the air in the first 24 hours and you would count one, then two and if you get to three, (a crew member interjects: 'You get the cheque book out'.
Clitheroe had a fall on the boat and hurt his back, and was aware of others in the race who came off second best, including Black Jack's owner Peter Harburg who broke a leg, and Victoire owner Darryl Hodgkinson, who cracked ribs.
"What other sport do you know of where competitors stop and help others in trouble? We have a great sport and I'm lucky to be involved in it," he said.
Clitheroe was convinced Quikpoint Azzurro had beaten them and so half the crew went home, back to their jobs, only to receive a phone call from their skipper to "get on a plane fast and get back here."
"We thought they'd beat us by three hours, and after all their efforts, I hoped they get home quickly, but it wasn't to be."
He said the only other night he lay awake and paced was the night his three children were born. All four times were worth the wait.
Going into the 2014 Hobart, Balance was leading the chase for the CYCA's Blue Water Point Score, inclusive of claiming second overall IRC Division 1 in the 2014 Gold Coast race and winning the Cabbage Tree Island Race. When Hobart conditions smiled down on the smaller yachts, Balance finished 36th overall, but was top TP52 and therefore accepted second overall in the BWPS.
This time around, Clitheroe has usurped Rupert Henry's JV62, Chinese Whisper, to take the CYCA's series crown on countback after finishing second in the Flinders Islet race, third in the Newcastle Bass Island race, third overall in November's 180nm Cabbage Tree Island Race and now winning the Rolex Sydney Hobart. Balance also finished second overall under the ORCi rating system.
Clitheroe's other crew are: Nick Scott Perry, David Keddie, David Taylor, Jason Dock, Matthew Craig, Max de Montgolfier, Tom Brewer, Michael Slinn, Andrew Cribb and Clinton Evans, who becomes the first Norfolk Islander to win the race.
Final interview for 2015 with the Balance team (from Nic Douglass)
The Sailor Girl wrapped up the Rolex Sydney Hobart for 2015 on board Primitive Cool this afternoon at Constitution Dock, and then just when she thought she was finished for 2015, she ran into the Balance team, winners on IRC for this year's Hobart at the airport.
Check out her wrap, and her final interview for 2015, a chat with this year's Tattersall's Cup winners.
For the Sailor Girl, 2015 meant promoting and sharing adventures from 43 sailing events around the world. 2016 is also set to be huge, though potentially 43 events will be her record! We will have to see.
Thank you the Zhik, SailingLog by BoatBook, Optical Solutions Australia and GAC Pindar for the support.
Happy New Year to all, and bring on the adventures for 2016!
More adventures at www.AdventuresofaSailorGirl.com or on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
French yacht takes second place
A snap decision made two months prior to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race has resulted in a brilliant second place overall and Division 4 win for Gery Trentesaux and his crew, four months after the Frenchman won the Rolex Fastnet Race in England with Courrier du Leon.
And nobody could be more surprised to find himself in second place than Trentesaux, who has been in the race previously; in 1994 on the Beneteau Kyote and then in 2008 with Lady Courrier, when he finished 37th overall.
He may not be a household name here, but the yachtsman has been around a long time, leading a French team to victory in the 2006 Commodores' Cup and competing in France's winning Corum team at Admirals' Cup in 1991. He also raced single handed in the 2006 Route du Rhum and is an avid competitor in one-design classes, racing his J/80 regularly.
For the Cruising Yacht Club's 628 nautical mile race, Trentesaux brought with him the sistership to Courrier du Leon. "It is a Valer/JPK 10.80 and it sailed a lot of miles to New Caledonia and only arrived in Sydney one week before the race. My crew arrived just five days before, but they are a very good crew," he said.
Knowing conditions would be tough, Trentesaux bought a whole new sail wardrobe for the yacht, including a heavy maxi spinnaker.
"We did this because I broke all the sails with the Beneteau 45 in the 2008 race," he says. "I also told the builder we had to do this race."
Such are his results, Trentesaux has a partnership with Beneteau to sail various yachts.
"They asked what it would take to psych me up to race. I said, 'the Rolex Sydney Hobart', so here we are, with Michel Quintin, who used to own Lady Courrier."
Comparing the three races, Trentesaux said 1994 was "quite difficult, especially in Bass Strait, the waves were quite something. This one was hard at the beginning. Second place at the end, is very exciting for us."
At the time of writing, 76 of the 77 yachts left racing had crossed the finish line in Hobart. A loud roar when up for the Chinese boat, Shuguang Haiyang, owned by Roy Pan and skippered by Dong Qing. Pan pledged, "We will be back, with a bigger, faster boat. I have experienced nothing like this before, we will be back next year."
Geoff Nixon's Myuna III remains at sea, the 24 year-old Cavalier 37 is due into Hobart at approximately 2.53am on New Year's Day. Her crew is sure to get a rousing welcome into Hobart, reserved for the last boat home. The Tasmanians know how to celebrate every special moment of this race, so nobody misses out.
The little boat that nearly did
Shane Kearns was in the front seat to win the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race all throughout yesterday and into late in the evening, sailing the smallest and second oldest boat in the fleet, but Mother Nature intervened and Quikpoint Azzurro became the 'little boat that nearly did'.
Overtaking boats on their way to Tasman Island late yesterday in a strong north-easterly wind tailor-made for the yacht, the small crew of six turned the corner to the Derwent where they met light winds that softened through the night and into this morning.
Instead of winning, or even finishing second overall, 34 year-old S&S 34, rightly dubbed by her owner as the 'little boat that could', Quikpoint Azzurro was relegated to third by the French entry, Courrier Leon, the Valer/JPK 10.80 raced by Gery Trentesaux. The same boat Kearns finished second in Division 4 to.
But it didn't matter, the crowd awaiting her arrival cheered so loudly that every crew member wore mile-wide smiles as she came to dock with another wooden boat she finished 2 minutes 10 seconds behind, Phil Bennett's John King designed, King Billy.
And Quikpoint Azzurro did win ORCi overall and the Corinthian division. Kearns was elated.
Not bad for the sinking boat Kearns bought on a whim for $23,000 on his credit card, unable to leave the decaying yacht to rot. The same design had safety delivered Jon Sanders, Jesse Martin and Jessica Watson around the world non-stop and unassisted.
Docking this morning, Kearns told the story. "We had a great spinnaker run down the coast. We came around Tasman fine, took the inside course up into a bay with the Code Zero and caught and overtook a whole heap of boats and knew we were in good shape.
"But the Derwent River is a race unto itself. It was so slow and frustrating. Looking back, the storm on the first night was easier than dealing with Storm Bay. We were so frustrated with the indignity of dropping to third place.
"But the boat handled it so well - catching all those boats up - she did so well. Everyone knows the boat now. And I'm so proud of my boat and my crew.
"I owe it all to Hicko (Roger Hickman, Wild Rose, last year's overall winner) he's been a worthy opponent for everyone for such a long time."
"Imagine, all those years of finishing last. Then we won the Gold Coast Race – and now to finish third in the greatest race in the world," Kearns ended.
Quikpoint Azzurro's crew comprised: Owner/skipper Shane Kearns, Alex Seja, David Thomas, Duncan McRae, Jim Nixon, and Felicity Nelson, who sailed her 21st Hobart in style. All, including Kearns, are former crew of the late John Walker, reforming after his death last year.
www.rolexsydneyhobart.com