Audi Victoria Week Passage Race
by Di Pearson 22 Jan 2011 08:04 GMT
21 January 2011
Loki takes line honours in Audi Victoria Week’s Passage Race © Andrea Francolini / Audi
Loki takes line honours in drawn out Passage Race
On stepping ashore in Geelong after taking line honours in Audi Victoria Week’s Passage Race this afternoon, Loki’s sailing master Gordon Maguire described the protracted 36.8 nautical mile race as “painful”.
Maguire was not alone in his thoughts, as many of the grand prix yachts expected to do well struggled to make the finish line and the bulk of the fleet was still out on the course at 5.30pm.
After taking an early and sizeable lead with Michael Hiatt’s Living Doll (Vic), Loki, an RP63 from NSW, fell into a big hole on Port Phillip Bay. “We parked it for a couple of hours,” confirmed Maguire. “It was fly-ridden and windless.”
The international yachtsman is still trying to figure out why his owner, Stephen Ainsworth, was smiling and ready to enjoy the hospitality Geelong and the Royal Geelong Yacht Club (host of the event), offers to the thousands of sailors each year.
The 400 plus fleet got away to a good start in 8 knots of breeze on their new start line near St Kilda Pier in Melbourne at 9.30 this morning, but the predicted 14-22 knot east-sou-easterly winds never arrived.
Shortly after, the wind vanished from the course, and local sailor Rob Date made the best of a bad situation, sailing his RP52 Scarlet Runner further to the south and into the lead of the race.
“We thought the sea breeze would come, so we kept going south. We’ve done a lot of sailing in these parts, so felt we had it right. We kept tacking to stay close to the shore and finally we got a light sea breeze.
“We overtook Loki near the entrance to King George Bank,” said Scarlet Runner’s owner/skipper Rob Date, who was more than happy with their finish.
“We went so close to shore we only had 200 millimetres under our keel. We got out the goggles in case we caught a mussel farm!”
Loki only reclaimed the lead from Scarlett Runner in the final stages of the race, first overtaking Calm, Colin Wood’s Pretty Fly II (NSW), and Nick Bartel’s Terra Firma (Vic), before finally beating Date to the line by little over two minutes. Loki finished at 15.47.06, and Scarlet Runner at 15.49.59.
Calm, a TP52 owned by John Williams and Jason Van Der Slot was third over the line at 15.55.35, followed by others including the well-sailed Terra Firma and Pretty Fly III, their individual performances impressing their fellow yachties.
On Loki, Maguire said they had sailed to the opposite side of the course. “It filled in from the west for us and others that came with us, but for those who went south, the southerly was more dominant. The race was a bit of a lottery though.”
Maguire confessed he was relieved there was a race drop in the Audi IRC Series, of which the Passage Race was the first race. “Along with a few others, we can’t afford another bad one.
“This race has certainly given a few people the incentive to sail the best for the remaining six races,” Maguire said of the rest of the series which will comprise windward/leeward courses on Corio Bay.
Victorians and newcomer clean up in Passage Race
Nick Bartels sailed his Cookson 50 from Melbourne to an overall win in Division 1 of the Passage Race at Audi Victoria Week today, while Christopher Opielok (Rockall III) a newcomer to Australia and the event cleaned up in Division 2.
While so many of big boats of Division 1 were fighting it for last overall, Bartels and his Terra Firma crew sailed with patience to claim the win from two other Victorians, Phil Simpfendorfer and his Elliott 44CR, Veloce and Tony Donnellan’s RP Shamrock.
Scarlet Runner, which finished the race second online and is also from Victoria, was fourth overall.
“It’s always good to start a regatta off with a win,” said Bartels, who finished the Audi IRC Series second overall last year after leading until the final day.
The Passage Race is the opener of the Audi IRC Series, so Bartels is away to a good start. “It was difficult racing. The breeze that was predicted, and what actually happened, did not match up. It threw people into disarray,” Bartels said.
The Melbourne yachtsman told of breezes from every direction. “We got a good start, but we were way behind at Sandringham – the wind was all over the place, but we never gave up,” he said.
“We went south with Scarlet Runner and Pretty Fly III and the weather let us back into the race,” Bartels said, referring to the light southerly 10 knots that came through in the nick of time.
While he was surprised with Terra Firma’s win, Rockall III’s owner wasn’t terribly surprised by his.
Although Christopher Opielok only relocated to Perth in Western Australia from Hamburg in Germany just three months ago, he is an experienced sailor who is having his first stab at Audi Victoria Week.
“I like it very much,” he said of the event tonight after packing up his Corby 36. “We knew we were doing well, because we were looking good on the water. I thought we might finish in the top five,” the confident yachtsman who has represented at the Commodore’s Cup in Cowes said.
“It was a tough race though – a lot of wind shifts – we had to be in the right place at the right time. Also a good start made a big difference,” Opielok said.
Second overall in Division 2 was claimed by Paul Buchholz’s Extasea (Vic) which had famed US yachtsman Dave Ullman calling tactics. Third overall went to 2009 Sydney Hobart winner Two True, owned and skippered by Andrew Saies from South Australia.
In Division 3, it was no surprise to find Peter Sorensen (NSW), the 2008 Audi IRC Australian Championship winner, in first place. Sorensen sailed his Sydney 36CR The Philosophers Club to a win of over 31 minutes from Grant Botica’s Adams 10, Executive Decision (Vic). Gienah, a Seaquest RP36 owned by Rod Miller (Vic), was third.
All in all, it was a successful day for Victorian yachts, whose crews perhaps read the weather better than the rest.
Racing continues in the Audi IRC Series tomorrow, with two windward/leeward races planned starting from 12.30pm.
Follow Audi Victoria Week at www.victoriaweek.com