Telstra Cup - Day One
by Peter Campbell 13 Dec 2000 08:38 GMT
Bumblebee 5 in a Running Start to the Telstra Cup
America's Cup yachtsman and international designer Iain ('Big Fella') Murray, and other members of the Bumblebee 5 crew today had to make a last minute run up 'heart break hill' near the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia to 'make the weight' for the opening races of the Telstra Cup. The big crew found themselves several kilos above IMS weight restrictions under IMS for a 62-footer.
"Make the weight or miss the race" they were told by club officials -- and they did after a sweating run up and down the steep hill. The crew met the weight requirement just in the nick of time to make the midday start, although the last by far to leave the dock. But their race performance apparently suffered with a poor start in race one in which they finished only 13th on corrected time, followed by a much better fifth in race two.
Bumblebee 5, owned by John Kahlbetzer, along with many other grand prix yachts is contesting the seven race Telstra Cup as a final lead up to the 2000 Telstra Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Yendys, last year's Overall winner of the Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, proved she is a strong contender for this year's race with a first and second in the IMS division.
Nips-N-Tux (Howard De Torres), a brand new IMX40 yacht, won race one, sailed in frustratingly light winds, by a narrow 13 second margin. Neville Crichton's brand new 80-foot turbo-maxi Shockwave took line honours in both IRC races, her performance further complimented with a first and a second on corrected time.
In the Farr 40 One Design division of the Telstra Cup, doubling as the Australian Championship, produced close fleet racing with mixed results. Defending champion Marcus Blackmore in Emotional Hooligan won the first race from Smile (Simon Whiston) while race two went to American Phillipe Kahn at the helm of Pegasus in a closely contested race, with Corinthian Doors (Richard Perini) in second place.
In the Sydney 38 division Blowfly (Barry Moore) won race one and The Business (Vaughan Stibbard) won race two.