2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race - Ausmaid leads IMS
by Peter Campbell 30 Dec 2000 09:05 GMT
SAP Ausmaid heads Overall handicap as 22 boats finish
The South Australian-owned SAP Ausmaid still heads the Overall IMS provisional handicap standings for the 2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race with 22 boats finished and 38 still at sea at 1730 hours today.
SAP Ausmaid, a Farr 47 owned and skippered by Kevan Pearce, a member of the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia, crossed the line late last night in eighth place.
Her sailing master is the widely experienced Roger Hickman, a Rear Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, competing in his 24th Sydney to Hobart Race.
Based on positions radioed in from the fleet at 2.05pm today, and the elapsed times of yacht that have finished, SAP Ausmaid is provisionally in first place ahead of the Nelson/Marek 46, Quest, chartered by British yachtsman Chris Bull.
Holding third place is Yendys, Geoff Ross’ Farr 49, the Overall winner of the 1999 race, both Quest and Yendys finishing in the early hours of this morning.
Projected provisional IMS results indicate that the only yacht still racing with a chance of beating the three top placegetters is the low-handicapped veteran British cruising boat Sunstone, jointly owned and skippered by husband and wife, Tom and Vicky Jackson.
To beat Ausmaid she would need to finish before 2340 hours tonight, but at the 2.05pm “sked” the Sparkman & Stephens 38-footer was still 100 miles from the finish, battling 20 to 30 knot southerly headwinds.
The Overall results will be officially announced at Constitution Dock tomorrow at 11am when the Tattersalls Cup and the Tattersalls medallions are presented to the winner skipper and his crew.
Speaking after finishing last night, SAP Ausmaid’s sailing master, Roger Hickman said the yacht had been “hard on the wind from Montagu Island to the finish.”
Hickman reported the worst time for the crew on board SAP Ausmaid was off St Helens when a cold front, gusting to 55 knots, had hit the boat. Conditions had also been tough off Cape Raoul.
“The boat was absolutely perfect, the crew excellent,” added Hickman who said they had already signed on for the 2001 race, which will be his 25th.
Yachts to finish during today, up to 1730 hours, are: Yendys, Quest, Ragamuffin, Loki, Cruise Control, Ninety Seven, Eureka, Doctor Who, Terra Firma, Interum, Aera, Kaos, Sorbent Helsal II and Summit Bacardi.
Strong to near galeforce south-westerly winds are still blowing off the East Coast of Tasmania as the remaining 38 boats battle their way to Tasman Island and up the Derwent River.
The water-ballasted big boats dominate the IRC overall provisional results with line honours winner Nicorette, the Swedish maxi skippered by Ludde Ingvall, heading the leader board from the Volvo Ocean 60s, illbruck (John Kostecki) from Germany and TYCO (Kevin Shoebridge) from Bermuda.
However, the Sydney based Swan 48, Loki (Stephen Ainsworth) heads IRC Division 2 in a close battle with John Quinn’s Polaris of Belmont and the Victorian yacht Summit Bacardi (Graham Ainslie and John Williams).
The PHS division won’t be decided until at least New Year’s Day, with three boats in the running - Delta Wing (Bill Koppe), Cruz Control (Maynard Smith) and Berrimilla (Alex Whitworth).
NOKIA’S HONESTY AND SEAMANSHIP PRAISED
The race committee of the 2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race today praised the honesty and seamanship of the skipper and crew of the Danish yacht Nokia when imposing a minimum penalty for using their engine for about two hours during the race.
In a voluntary declaration to the Race Committee, skipper Stefan Myralf advised that he had used the engine between 0220 and 0320 hours on December 27 to keep the yacht stable while a crewman was sent aloft to clear a jammed halyard and headboard lock.
The mainsail could not be reefed until the halyard could be cleared and the action in starting the engine had been a question of seamanship.
The Race Committee imposed the minimum penalty possible under race rules – 10 % of placings in the IRC handicap category (Nokia is currently placed 7th but her final position will depend on the final placings of yachts still to finish).
A spokesperson for the Race Committee said tonight,” We have recognised that Nokia used prudent seamanship as the crewman was is some danger in going aloft and without his actions the mainsail could not be reefed.
“We appreciate the honesty of the skipper in advising us of his actions.”
Ninety Seven arrives in Hobart after successful man-over-board
For 30 year old Tasmanian yachtsman, Matthew Clougher, finishing this year’s Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race at 6.00am this morning was much more significant than his previous five Sydney to Hobarts.
Clougher fell overboard from the New South Wales yacht Ninety Seven on Thursday evening, but was quickly recovered by the crew who executed a precision man-over-board operation to rescue him.
The yacht was between Eddystone Point and Flinders Island when Clougher, the for’ardhand on the 47-foot yacht, was swept overboard while undertaking a sail change.
Fortunately, the incident occurred during daylight and the well-prepared crew performed a perfect rescue in 20-25 knots of wind and a reasonable sea.
“I was working to leeward on the boat and in a second I was washed over,” Clougher said shortly after arriving at Constitution Dock this morning. “The boat dug the gunwall in and I flipped over the rail and I lost hold of the rail. The boat stopped in a matter of about 20 metres, but it was too far to swim. Unable to go in reverse, they tacked around and bore down on me, swinging the stern so I could jump on.”
In the water for only 10 minutes, Clougher held complete confidence in his crew. “We had definitely been through the operational procedures. We were all well versed in the procedures.”
Graham Gibson, the owner/skipper of the yacht, firmly believes that his crew’s preparation, training and experience resulted in a very competent response.
“We went straight into drill mode. We hit the man-over-board and one person was watching him the whole time. We just dropped the sails awfully fast and then went around to pick him up,” said Gibson.
Ninety Seven was leading the Telstra Sydney to Hobart Race on IMS Overall handicap at the time. “It set us back quite a bit and allowed Ausmaid to pick up a fair bit of time on us,” said Gibson.
SAP Ausmaid currently holds first place on the Overall standings with the official result being announced at a presentation at 1100 hours on Sunday December 31 at Constitution Dock.
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