TP52 Southern Cross Cup final round at Pittwater, Sydney - Day 2
by Lisa Ratcliff, TP52SCC media 14 Dec 2013 11:18 GMT
13-15 December 2013
New kid in TP town causing ripples
Team Beau Geste from Hong Kong, skippered by Karl Kwok and helmed by Gavin Brady, is striving for a series whitewash in Australia's inaugural TP52 Southern Cross Cup. But the pesky new kid in town is causing ripples for the international visitors.
Two more bullets offshore today, Saturday 14 December, and Team Beau Geste is leading the way in the Premier Composite Technologies TP52 Southern Cross Cup regatta, the closing round of the four-part series.
Bob Steel's Sydney based Quest is shadowing TBG, only two points adrift. "Quest is on a roll, they are the new kid in town," acknowledged Brady this afternoon.
Rob Hanna's Shogun V was his main adversary until the TP52 from Geelong in Victoria snapped its mast in today's opening race on the Palm Beach circle course, sadly ruling them out of contention.
"Tomorrow we have to sail our own race and not fall into any traps like we did the first day," said Brady. "We had a tough time shaking Quest off today and tomorrow inshore we expect they'll sail confidently to the shifts on flat water."
Brady suffered his first injury as helmsman in today's short, steep seas off Barrenjoey Headland. "Normally helmsmen only suffer emotional injuries, but I took a fall and I've twisted my knee."
Kwok's boat preparation is meticulous and Team Beau Geste, the last boat standing of the newer generation TP52s that began the series back in February, has suffered the least number of breakages.
"These boats are pushed to the edge and where we are is a tribute to Karl's preparation," praised the owner's long-term driver.
Quest missed the first two rounds of the Southern Cross Cup on Port Phillip back in February and April and exited round three early with damage, making them ineligible for the overall Cup win. Their impact on the scoreboard in round four is still worrying Team Beau Geste.
Northern Beaches local, Jamie MacPhail, is steering Quest for owner Bob Steel. He says the capable crew, including Sam Newton, Seve Jarvin, Troy Tindill, Andrew Pearson and others, are still figuring out how to sail fast with a new rig and fat head mainsail and warns there is plenty more in the tank for the highly decorated offshore racer now configured for regattas.
"I think Bob will be happy where the boat is in the fleet, we do have the second oldest hull here," said MacPhail. "We are just happy we got through today unscathed."
Not so lucky was the Tasmanian TP52 Cougar II, skippered by Anthony Lyall. By the end of race four they had blown out three spinnakers and one headsail and were shouting for the spare chute.
Coming into the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club Cougar's engine cut out and the boat needed to be stopped before it crashed into the marina. Crewman John 'Spud' Drummond lassoed a cleat and saved Quest from certain damage, named by the thankful crew as hero of the day, relayed tactician David Chapman.
On the cost of repairing or replacing all the torn sails, Lyall, a doctor at Beaconsfield in northern Tasmania said, "It's the only reason I work." Cougar II is third on the pointscore after five races.
Rob Hanna's Shogun V dismasted mid-tack on the first beat to the top mark. In a rolling ocean the crew worked furiously with hacksaws to free the rig, with both mainsail and headsail still attached, from the windward side of the boat before it potentially swung in and pierced the hull. The full story is below.
Fellow TP52 owners empathised with Rob Hanna's misadventure. "I really feel for the Shogun guys," said Vamos skipper Connel McLaren. Brady added, "It was incredibly unlucky for Rob, this was his day".
The NZ TP52 Vamos finished cleanly in fourth place overall, McLaren ruing the fact Quest has trumped them every race, "Tomorrow will have to be our day," he cautioned.
The RPAYC race committee, led by PRO Stephen Merrington, was aiming to knock off three races but after taking into consideration the conditions, a nasty 1.5 metre swell and 15-22 knot southerly, and the dismasting of Shogun and recurring sail damage on board Cougar II, crews packed up after two races.
The remaining five TP52s race inshore tomorrow, Sunday 15 December. At the 0955hrs warning signal the fleet will be in sequence for the first of two races that are to be conducted to the north of Scotland Island in Pittwater. The forecast is southerly winds 10-15 knots turning south-easterly late morning.
For the latest news and more photos go to the Southern Cross Cup Facebook page.
Results after Day 2: (five races)
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Skipper | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 1997 | TEAM BEAU GESTE | Karl Kwok | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 52002 | QUEST | Bob Steel | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| 3 | 5200 | COUGAR II | Tony Lyall | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 15 |
| 4 | 6952 | VAMOS | Connel McLaren | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 19 |
| 5 | 280 | SHOGUN V | Rob Hanna | 3 | 4 | 2 | 7F | 7C | 23 |
| 6 | 11L | FRANTIC | Michael Martin | 6 | 6 | 7F | 5 | 5 | 29 |
Shogun V dismasted at TP52 Southern Cross Cup
In 18 knots of southerly breeze, Rob Hanna's TP52 Shogun V was dismasted off Palm Beach on Sydney's Northern Beaches on day two of the Premier Composite Technologies TP52 Southern Cross Cup Regatta, Saturday 14 December 2014.
The black carbon fibre mast was 26 metres tall at the midday start of race four on the course area called Palm Beach circle, to the east of Barrenjoey Headland. Less than half way to the top mark there was only 6 metres left, the failure happening mid-tack just as the 52-footer levelled out.
In a rolling ocean the predominantly Melbourne based crew worked furiously with hacksaws to free the three-year old rig, with both mainsail and headsail still attached, from the windward side of the boat before it swung in and punctured the hull.
Amazingly there was no other damage to the grand prix racer, the current Audi Australian IRC Champion. More importantly there were no injuries during the ordeal.
"My first thought was making sure everyone was ok," said Hanna back at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. "We think one spreader went, which loaded up the mast. We don't really know; the net result is the same."
Shogun V is for sale and even at a difficult time Hanna retained his sense of humour, "It's easier to ship now..."
He sees this as an opportunity for a new owner to build a mast more in keeping with IRC handicap rather than TP52 class racing.
Hanna wished the organisers and competitors well for the remainder of the final round and congratulated Karl Kwok and Gavin Brady, owner/skipper and helmsman respectively of the Hong Kong based Team Beau Geste, who are inching closer to a whitewash in the inaugural four-part series, the brainchild of a passionate group of Australian owners.