Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: Americans threaten annexation
by Jim Gale, RSHYR Media 28 Dec 2015 07:22 GMT
27 December 2015
With the giant American super maxi Comanche looking certain to carry off the line honours trophy in the 2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart, second-placed Rambler may yet live to console herself with the biggest prize of all: the Tattersall's Cup for the outright winner, the one that performs best according to its size.
Throughout the morning the smallest boats, way back on the other side of Bass Strait, have led the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's race overall, with Rambler the only big boat currently in the top 10.
King Billy, a pretty 23 year-old timber 38-footer, has led the fleet for much of the morning, exchanging places as the lead ebbed and flowed with Quikpoint Azzurro, the smallest boat in the fleet, and Courrier Leon, the French 35-footer that won this year's Rolex Fastnet Race in the UK.
This has been a delicious time, when the stragglers were outshining the 80 and 100-foot aristocrats.
King Billy is owned by Philip Bennett, in his 70s, and doing his second Sydney Hobart. And most likely his last, he says. Also on board is King Billy's builder, Andrew Hay, who was given firm instructions to make the boat strong enough to take anything. Clearly he did.
Shane Kearns had to use his credit card to buy Quikpoint Azzurro so that he could meticulously restore the bedraggled S&S 34 to pristine racing shape.
But as the winds have softened in the north of the strait, so have the prospects of the smaller boats.
For the past two hours, Rambler has steadily climbed the handicap ladder and now sits at second place, behind Enchantress, the little home-built cedar Muirhead 11 from South Australia, sailed gamely by John Willoughby.
And the forecast, at this stage, isn't looking good for the littlies either. There is a distinct absence of breeze predicted for Bass Strait tomorrow, precisely when the back-markers need it.
To add to their woes, wind is forecast for the usually nocturnally placid Derwent River tonight, about the time that Rambler is expected to arrive. It may be all over the place but there will be breeze.
It is more than likely that Rambler will tie up in Hobart tonight as the boat to beat for the Tattersall's Cup, and beating her, with this forecast, is going to be a real challenge.
"USA! USA! USA!"
Oh well, at least they're lousy at cricket.
Adventures of a Sailor Girl update from Hobart
Comanche has rounded Tasman Light and is expected by 2100 AEST here in Hobart.
Check out the latest update from Sailor Girl direct from Constitution Dock, a full rundown of the race so far, including all of the ups and downs, all of the retirees right through the fleet and why - and what we can expect for the next few days!
Nic Douglass (Sailor Girl) is on the ground and will have more videos and updates as soon as the boats begin to arrive in Hobart.
Check out her video from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia with 20+ interviews before the start on Boxing Day brought to you by Zhik, and her commentary from the start itself below, or head to www.AdventuresofaSailorGirl.com for more adventures.
More adventures at www.AdventuresofaSailorGirl.com or on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Ragamuffin down but not out (from Di Pearson, RSHYR media)
Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin 100 is the latest of the supermaxis to suffer daggerboard problems in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, but in this case, it is the port daggerboard, and it has completely sheared off, forcing the crew to use desperate measures to continue in the 628-nautical mile race.
Sailingmaster David Witt said they had 127 nautical miles to make the finish line and had dropped more than 50 nautical miles behind Comanche and Rambler, the two US boats currently in contention to take line honours in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's race.
"We've had our fair share of problems," Witt admitted from the yacht this morning, "but we're still on track to get to Hobart and we haven't given up.
"We broke our port daggerboard; it snapped off. We don't have one anymore," he said. "We didn't hit anything, we just dropped off a wave in the fresh stuff and loaded it up and snapped it off. The wind has been on the nose for the last... since I can remember," said Witt.
"At the time we were about eight nautical miles behind Comanche, but it's caused the gap to grow.
That's a Hobart race isn't it?
"But basically you can't sail without it. What we've done is quite dangerous. We pulled the starboard daggerboard out and drilled a hole in the bottom of it. When we tack, we turn it upside down and drop it in on the other side. Tacking is a bit of a process and a bit dangerous for us in the heavier conditions, but it's a little easier in the lighter winds we have now," Witt said, adding "We're in a parking lot going nowhere, we have zero breeze."
Witt and the crew, including 88-year-old owner Syd Fischer (the oldest competitor in the race), were hoping a westerly would offer them a lifeline – that they would make their way through a cloud line.
"It's very frustrating given the last 36 hours, but it's a lot better than pulling out of the race. Once we've got the daggerboard in, we're sailing normally," Witt said.
"Hopefully the leaders might sit in a hole longer than us. I think at last check Rambler was only 20 something miles ahead, so we certainly haven't given up hope of catching them," he said, referring to both Comanche and Rambler.
"You wouldn't wear a (Ragamuffin) blue shirt if you were going to give up," Witt said, well aware the words 'give up' are not in the vocabulary of his owner.
In other news, Matt Allen's Carkeek 60 Ichi Ban remains in a battle of her own with Chinese Whisper and Balance and has been since the start of the race.
Navigator Will Oxley said this morning: "We're still hanging in there. We're watching Balance (Paul Clitheroe's TP52) closely – they look to have done well inshore. And Chinese Whisper has been locked with us since early in the race.
"We're looking forward to some lighter winds to have a decent feed. Looks like we will see the next front near Tasman, so some more heavy air upwind may be on the cards before the finish," Oxley said.
At 11.30am, Chinese Whisper was three nautical miles ahead of Ichi Ban, in fifth and sixth places on line honours and fourth and sixth places overall respectively. Who knows what the end of the race will bring, with two very different weather patterns on offer for the mid-size and smaller boats?
www.rolexsydneyhobart.com