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Out of the mud, onto the L2H podium
Hobart yachtsman David Taylor and his yacht Pisces have made a remarkable recovery to win the IRC handicap division of the Launceston to Hobart yacht race after being stuck in the mud in the Tamar River soon after the start on Sunday.
Taylor was forced into the mud bank by other right-of-way yachts as they tacked down the river and faced two hours before the tide changed. Quick thinking by the crew saw them hoist their asymmetric spinnaker and wind power pulled them clear. But they had lost at least 20 minutes on the leader, Mr Kite.
With all but one of the 35 starters now finished, the bulk of the fleet enjoying a spinnaker ride up the River Derwent in today’s brisk seabreeze, race director Ron Bugg announced the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania entry Pisces as the winner of the IRC division, Whistler (David Rees), also from the RYCT, as first in the AMS division and Blue Sky from Tamar Yacht Club winner of the PHS division and Overall winner of this third L2H race.
Blue Sky is a Beneteau 40.7 skippered by Richard Fisher, immediate past commodore of the TYC and a successful dinghy and sports boat sailor. The well-sailed yacht’s crew included Rob Matthews, a survivor of the fatal sinking of the Launceston yacht Business Post Naiad in the 1998 Sydney Hobart.
Blue Sky won the PHS division from Whistler and Mark Ballard’s 42 South, from Bellerive Yacht Club.
“We had a good start, were sixth out of the Tamar and beat the tidal change through Banks Strait, but I think the key point in our win came when we decided to gybe out to sea south of Maria Island and picked up the building nor’easter,” skipper Fisher said today.
“It was a race of great variety in wind direction and strength…in Storm Bay yesterday we had 30 to 40 knots on the nose,” he added.
Blue Sky and Whistler sailed and finished close together, Blue Sky beating Whistler across the line by just over a minute, but the corrected time margin for Overall first place was just over 25 minutes.
Whistler, a Dovell 38, sailed a consistently good race, winning the AMS division from Pisces and Blue Sky, and finishing runner-up in both the PHS and IRC divisions. John Brierley’s Crowther 48 catamaran Deguello won the new Multihull division.
The trophy presentation for the L2H race will be held at the Derwent Sailing Squadron tomorrow (Thursday) at 3pm.
 DSS confirms Blue Sky as Overall Winner
The Derwent Sailing Squadron this afternoon confirmed the Tamar Yacht Club entry Blue Sky as the Overall Winner of the third annual Sargison Jewellers Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race.
With all but one of the 35 starters now finished, the bulk of the fleet enjoying a spinnaker ride up the River Derwent in today’s brisk seabreeze, race director Ron Bugg also confirmed Pisces as the winner of the IRC division and Whistler as first in the strong AMS division.
Blue Sky is a Beneteau 40.7 skippered by Richard Fisher, immediate past commodore of the Tamar Yacht Club and a successful dinghy and sports boat sailor. The well-sailed yacht’s crew included Rob Matthews, a survivor of the fatal sinking of the Launceston yacht Business Post Naiad in the 1998 Sydney Hobart.
“We had a good start, were sixth out of the Tamar and beat the tidal change through Banks Strait, but I think the key point in our win came when we decided to gybe out to sea south of Maria Island and picked up the building nor’easter,” skipper Fisher said today.
“It was a race of great variety in wind direction and strength…in Storm Bay yesterday we had 30 to 40 knots on the nose,” he added.
Blue Sky and Whistler sailed and finished close together, Blue Sky beating Whistler across the line by just over a minute, but the corrected time margin for Overall first place was just over 25 minutes.
On corrected times, Blue Sky won the PHS division and Overall first place from two Hobart yachts, Whistler, skippered by David Rees from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, and Mark Ballard’s 42 South, from Bellerive Yacht Club.
Pisces, David Taylor’s Sydney 36, also from the RYCT, made a remarkable recovery to win the IRC division and also place second in the newly popular AMS division. She lost at least 20 minutes after running onto a mud bank at Beauty Point soon after the start of the L2H on Sunday and was last boat out of the Tamar River.
Luckily, Taylor and his crew were able to free the yacht from the mud by hoisting their asymmetric spinnaker – the alternative was at least two hours before the tide began to flood.
Whistler, a Dovell 38, sailed a consistently good race, winning the AMS division from Pisces and Blue Sky and finishing runner-up in both the PHS and IRC divisions. Sullivans Cove Whisky, skippered by Dianne Barkas, the only woman skipper in the race, placed fourth in the PHS and AMS divisions.
The race director also announced John Brierley’s Crowther 48 catamaran Deguello as winner of the new Multihull division and Prion (Michael Viney) as winner of the Single Handed division.
Champion Hobart yachtsman Andrew Hunn today turned on a brilliant display of tactical sailing and helmsmanship to take line honours in the Sargisons Jewellers Launceston to Hobart with his state-of-the-art 40-footer Mr Kite.
The victory was a fitting reward for the time and effort that Hunn and his crew have put into overcoming the many advanced technical problems that have plagued the Cape 40 since she was launched two seasons ago.
Hunn, a prominent Hobart neuro-surgeon, has been one of Tasmania’s best sailors since his youth, in Cadets, Sharpies and Etchells to name a few of classes, but until this season has had little joy with the innovative Mr Kite.
In a race of fluctuating winds and fortunes, Mr Kite led the fleet to sea from the Tamar River on Sunday then lost and regained the lead several times to rivals The Fork in the Road, Gary Smith and Geoff White’s Bakewell-White 45 and Mark Ballard’s radical Stompcraft 38, 42 South as the fleet sailed down the Tasmanian East Coast.
Today, after being virtually alongside 42 South in Storm Bay, Mr Kite was the first to pick up the early morning northerly and accelerated away from her rivals as she headed for the Iron Pot, the entrance to the River Derwent.
She sailed out of Storm Bay just as the forecast south-westerly front brought 25-35 knot winds sweeping across the bay, although she had a reef in her mainsail until near the finish.
From being less than a mile apart south of Cape Raoul, Mr Kite dashed away from her rivals to cross the finish line off Hobart’s Castray Esplanade at 11:10:51, just over 20 minutes ahead of The Fork in the Road which finished at 11:30:59.
Fork in the Road won a boat-for-boat duel with 42 South, which finished at 11.32.39. All three boats held the lead at some stage of the race.
In fourth place around Tasman Island was Dianne Barkas’ Sydney 38, Sullivans Cove Whisky, followed by John Brierley’s catamaran Deguello and Richard Fisher’s Beneteau 40.7 Blue Sky, and Whistler skippered by David Rees. Ms Barkas reported battling 35 knot south-westerly headwinds across Storm Bay.
However, the rest of the fleet, in the lee of the Tasman Peninsula have little wind at that stage and are not likely to finish until late tonight or tomorrow morning.
Handicap results will not be known until all boats have finished, but positions later this afternoon should indicate the boats with the strong prospects in the IRC, AMS and PHS handicap categories.
Mr Kite breaks away as L2H leaders cross Storm Bay
Line honours favourite Mr Kite has finally broken clear of her rivals, 42 South and The Fork in the Road, as the three leading yachts in the Sargisons Jewellers Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race this morning sail across Storm Bay towards the River Derwent.
The yacht tracker, OceanTrack.com.au, at 08:00 placed Mr Kite, Andrew Hunn’s canting keel Cape 40, ENE of Variety Bay, making 6.5 knots in a freshening northerly breeze.
With just under 19 nautical miles to sail to the finish, she had opened up a lead of four miles over Mark Ballard’s Stompcraft 38, 42 South, with another two miles to The Fork in the Road, skippered by Gary Smith. The Fork in the Road was 8 nautical miles WNW of Cape Raoul and 24 miles from the finish.
Meanwhile, Dianne Barkas has steered her Sydney 38 Sullivans Cove Whisky to the front of the second group of yachts in the L2H race, joining Whistler (David Rees), Cyclone (Stephen Keal) and Blue Sky (Richard Fisher) as they neared Tasman Island.
Host Plus Executive, Jeff Cordell’s Mumm 36 this morning headed for Pirate’s Bay to check a possible equipment failure, but has since rejoined the fleet.
The rest of the 35 boat L2H fleet, the second largest fleet heading for Hobart in the four races from Sydney, Melbourne and Launceston, is sailing slowly down the East Coast from Maria Island to Tasman Island.
Earlier, as a brilliant sunrise illuminated the towering cliffs of Tasman Island and Cape Raoul, the three leading boats were still only a mile apart. In fact, at 6am OceanTrack.com tracker placed 42 South and Mt Kite right along each other, 3.9 nautical miles south of Cape Raoul. The Fork in the Road was further south in Storm Bay, 5 nm south of Cape Raoul.
Further information: Peter Campbell – 0419 385 028 or peter_campbell@bigond.com
The three leading yachts in the 285 nautical mile Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race, The Fork in the Road, 42 South and Mr Kite, were sailing less than a quarter of a mile apart down the Tasmanian East Coast this evening in an extraordinary close battle for line honours.
So far the lead has changed three times since the 35 boat fleet set sail from Beauty Point on the Tamar River yesterday afternoon, but with less than 70 nautical miles to sail, Gary Smith and Geoff White’s Bakewell-White 45, The Fork in the Road, regained the lead as she sailed past Orford.
The Derwent Sailing Club’s yacht tracker, OceanTrack.com.au at 10.30pm placed The Fork in Road 6.8 nautical miles south-west of the Marion Narrows, sailing at 5 knots after a slow passage from Shouten Island and through the inside of Maria Island, a designated mark of the course.
She was only a few metres ahead of 42 South, Mark Ballard’s Stompcraft 38, which had led the fleet down the East Coast for most of the day. Line honours favourite, Mr Kite, Andrew Hunn’s state-of-the-art, canting keel Cape 40, was about the same distance astern, all three boats on course for Tasman Island.
With 63.5 nautical miles to go to the finish at Hobart, OceanTrack.com.au predicts that The Fork in the Road will now not cross the line until mid morning tomorrow if the present and predicted weather conditions prevail. The yacht, under another name, took line honours in last year’s race.
Earlier, the three yachts were less than half a mile apart as they ran down the coast past Bicheno under spinnaker before a fresh nor’easter, but since then the fleet had encountered light and variable winds. Then The Fork in the Road opened up a lead of just under two miles as she sailed inside Maria Island, only to see the other two leaders close the gap.
About ten miles astern of the leaders, and still north of Maria Island came Whistler, skippered by David Rees, followed closely by Cyclone (Stephen Keal), and the Launceston yacht Blue Sky, skippered by Richard Fisher.
The main group of boats in the L2H race were sailing in light winds between Bicheno and the Freycinet Peninsula, with the tailenders will north of St Helens.
Less than half a sea mile separated the three yachts, The Fork in the Road, Mr Kite and 42 South, at 12 noon today as they ran down the Tasmanian East under spinnakers at the head of the fleet in the Sargisons Jewellers Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race.
At 12 noon, the Derwent Sailing Club’s tracking system, OceanTrack.com.au, plotted Gary Smith and Geoff White’s 45-footer The Fork in the Road six nautical miles east-south-east of Bicheno and making 10.6 knots southward to the Freycinet Peninsula.
She was only 0.3 nm ahead of Mr Kite, Andrew Hunn’s Cape 40, with only a hundred metres or so to Mark Ballard’s Stompcraft 38, 42 South, which has revelled in the light winds.
These three yachts have a break of about ten sea miles over Whistler, skippered by David Rees and Cyclone (Steph Keal), which were just north of Bicheno.
Then came the first of the Beneteau 40.7s, Richard Fisher’s Blue Sky, followed by Sullivans Cove Whisky (Dianne Barkas), Host Plus Executive (Jeff Cordell) which were just ahead of the Tamar Yacht Club’s 30-footer Kingsmeadows Chemist, skippered by Sebastian Verbeeten. Right up with them was David Taylor’s Pisces which has made up considerable ground after being stuck in the mud soon after the start yesterday.
Although the freshening nor’easter is now giving the fleet a rollicking ride down the East Coast, first boat to finish the L2H race is not likely to cross the line off Castray Esplanade, Hobart, until the early hours of tomorrow morning.
At 5.30am today the leading yachts were abeam of St Helens, sailing under spinnakers in a 9-10 knot west-north-westerly breeze, but the tailenders were enjoying 14 knots off Eddystone Point and also spinnaker run down the coast.
According the Derwent Sailing Squadron’s tracking system, www.oceanTrack.com.au, the leading yacht is 42 South, Mark Ballard’s Stomcraft 38 which is revelling in the light winds. On the rhumbline (direct) course to Hobart, she had 163 nautical to sail to the finish in Hobart at that stage.
At the tailend of the fleet, between Swan Island and Eddystone Point and still with more than190 nautical miles to sail, were Not Negotiable, Pyxis and Kamehameha, although they were actually sailing faster than the leaders further down the coast.
In the prevailing, and forecast light winds for today and tonight, the leaders are not expected to reach the River Derwent and the finish until the early hours of tomorrow morning.
Fork in the Road takes lead as Mr Kite goes for flyer
Tactical navigation is proving a vital factor tonight as the fleet in the Sargisons Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race sails rather slowly across eastern Bass Strait in light winds towards the notorious Banks Strait that divides the Furneaux Islands from the north-east tip of Tasmania.
Banks Strait is noted for its fast-running currents and eddies that can kick up steep seas as well as its treacherous reefs.
In a tactical move to gain first advantage of a developing north-easterly breeze, Hobart yachtsman Andrew Hunn late this afternoon steered his Cape 40 north of the rhumbline course from Low Head to Banks Strait while most of the fleet elected to sail directly along the north-east coast of Tasmania.
At 9pm this evening, eight hours after the start from Beauty Point in the Tamar River, Mr Kite was 9.2 nautical miles north of Waterhouse Island, having sailed 55 nautical miles since the start at 1pm.
But according to the Derwent Sailing Club’s yacht tracking system, www.yachtrack.com.au, the move has cost Mr Kite the lead, measured in miles to go to the finish in Hobart.
Rival yacht Fork in the Road, skippered by Gary Smith, also from Hobart, had an advantage of two miles over Mark Ballard’s Stomp 40, 42 South, with another two miles to the state-of-the-art Hobart yacht Mr Kite which had led the fleet to sea earlier in the afternoon.
Mr Kite bounced into the lead at the start of Inspection Head wharf at Beauty Point and then led the 35 yacht fleet out of the Tamar River at Low Head and into Bass Strait.
Skippered by Andrew Hunn, the Cape 40 revelled in the light winds prevailing after the 1pm start, with these conditions forecast to continue for 24 hours as the yachts head down the Tasmanian East Coast.
Mr Kite features a carbon fibre hull and rig and a canting keel that enables her to outsail similar sized boats to windward. At the same time, she is exceptionally fast off the ind.
Tourism, Sport and Recreation Minister Michelle O’Byrne fired a cannon from the old Inspection Head wharf to send the fleet off on the fast six nautical mile dash down the Tamar River to Low Head where the historic foghorn was sounded to mark the first boat past the Farewell Beacons.
Mr Kite acknowledged the rather mournful signal as she headed out into Bass Strait into a 10 knot nor’nor’westerly breeze, comfortably ahead of The Fork in the Road, followed by Stephen Keal’s cruiser/racer Cyclone.
Then came the two Beneteau 40.7s, Blue Sky (Richard Fisher) from the Tamar Yacht Club and Blue Chip (Stuart Denny) from Bellerive Yacht Club, duelling for fourth place in the fleet.
Well placed at this stage was Whistler (David Rees) whose crew includes young teenage lasses Lucy Rees (13) and Zoe Bak (14, along with an experienced team of adult sailors.
Hobart yacht Pisces, skippered by David Taylor) again had a disastrous start to a race from Beauty Point, running aground on mud flats off Sandy Beach just minutes after the start. The crew managed to free her as the tide ebbed, but the Sydney 36 was at least half an hour astern of Mr Kite when she finally reached Low Head, dead last in the fleet.
Earlier this year, Pisces ran aground on Shag Rock in the middle of river, north of Beauty Point, after the start of the Three Peaks Race.
Further information: Peter Campbell – M: 0419 385 028 or email: peter_campbell@bigpond.com
The newest ocean race in Australian waters starts today with a fleet of 35 yachts setting sail in the third edition of the 285 nautical mile Sargisons Jewellers Launceston to Hobart Race from Beauty Point on the Tamar River at 1.00pm.
Organised by the Derwent Sailing Club and the Tamar Yacht Club, the start from off Inspection Head wharf will give the public a close-up view of what should be a spectacular start in light winds.
The weather at Beauty Point is fine this morning with a light breeze that should give the yachts a quick sail down river to Low Head and into Bass Strait. From there they head east to Banks Strait and then down the East Coast to Tasman Island and the finish in the River Derwent.
Line honours favourites are the Hobart yachts Mr Kite and the Fork in the Road while Hobart yachtswoman Dianne Barkas will be a strong contender for overall handicap honours in her 38-footer, Sullivans Cove Whisky along with Jeff Cordell’s Mumm 36 Host Plus Executive. Richard Fisher’s Blue Sky from the Tamar Yacht Club also is expected to sail well although the light conditions could favour the lightweight 9m sloop Kingsmeadows Capital Chemist, skippered by Sebastian Verbeeten.
The race will be a proving ground for several young Tasmanian sailors, including 15-year-old Josh Connor who will be sailing with his grandfather Mick Hocking on Mojo Rising and 13-year-old Lucy Rees and 14-year-old Zoe Bak who will crew on Whistler with their fathers, skipper David Rees and Nic Bak, and other experienced sailors.- Peter Campbell
Two teenage girls will be among the crew of the Hobart yacht Whistler when it joins 34 other yachts tomorrow for the start of the Sargisons Jewellers Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race down the east coast of Tasmania.
Lucy Rees, 13, is the daughter of Whistler’s skipper David Rees while Zoe Bax, 14, is the daughter of crew member Nic Bax.
Another young Tasmanian, 15-year-old Josh Connor, will bowman on another strong contender for handicap honours in the 285 nautical mile race, while his grandfather, wellknown Hobart yachtsman Mick Hocking, 62, will be navigator.
“There’s the oldest and youngest in the crew,” quipped fellow crew members of Mojo Rising as they gathered at the Tamar Yacht Club at Beauty Point before tomorrow’s start.
Lucy, who will be on the bowperson of Whistler, recently competed in the Maria and Betsey Island Races out of Hobart and Zoe is a regular member of the Whistler delivery crew.
For Josh, this will be his first long ocean race but he is confident he can fulfil the demanding role of bowman on Mojo Rising. “I’ve been sailing on the yacht for the past six months and I’ve done a lot of dinghy racing,” Josh said. His grandfather added: “We wanted a lightweight for the bow and I’m sure Josh will live up to our expectations.”
Skipper David Rees today described the Launceston to Hobart (L2H) as a great introduction to offshore racing for young crew. “I am pleased the organising club, the Derwent Sailing Club, is allowing juniors to participate.”
DSS sailing manager Tony Nicholas said that while there was no age limit on crew competing in the L2H, each yacht had to convince the club of the overall level of crew experience before being accepted into the race. “The adult crew of Whistler has had vast offshore racing experience and the young lasses in the crew are certainly no newcomers to ocean sailing,” he said.
The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia has an age limit that requires crew to have reached the age of 18, as well as having proof of ocean racing or cruising experience.
Zoe and Lucy joined the crew of Whistler at the Tamar Yacht Club’s marina at Beauty Point late this afternoon in preparation for tomorrow’s start. While Zoe is not sure about her future yacht racing plans, Lucy’s ambition is to compete in the Round the World race when she is old enough.
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation Michelle O’Byrne will fire a cannon from Inspection Head wharf at 1pm tomorrow to sent the 35 boat fleet on its way in the 285 nautical mile L2H race, with the first leg the six mile dash down the river to Low Head for the Tamar Yacht Club Trophy for the first boat into Bass Strait. - Peter Campbell
DIANNE BARKAS' STRONG BID FOR TOP HONOURS IN THIRD L2H
Successful Hobart yachtswoman Dianne Barkas appears a strong prospect to take overall handicap honours in the third annual Sargisons Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race, following successive second placings in the previous two races from Tasmania’s north to south.
Ms Barkas, again will be skippering her Sydney 38 class yacht, Sullivans Cove Whisky, in the 285 nautical mile race that starts from Beauty Point in the Tamar River at 1pm on Sunday, 27 December.
Ms Barkas is one of only three skippers who will have competed in all L2H races since its inception in 2007, the others being Bellerive Yacht Club member Jeff Cordell in his Mumm 36 Host Plus Executive and RYCT member Malcolm Cooper in his 30-footer Kamehameha.
Host Plus Executive won both the IRC and PHS divisions of the 2007 L2H race, with the Sydney 38, then racing as Asylum, placing second in the IRC rating division and fourth under PHS handicaps.
Last year Asylum finished runner-up to Creese Property (David Creese) in both the IRC and PHS handicap divisions.
In this year’s L2H, the new handicap system, AMS has supplanted IRC as the most popular rating system while all 35 yachts in the fleet will sail under PHS, the arbitrary handicap system which will decide the overall winner of the race.
Half the fleet of monohull yachts (there are two multihulls entered) have nominated for both PHS and AMS handicap categories, a tribute to the promotion and implementation of the Victorian-based rating system by Jeff Cordell.
Unfortunately, because of his commitments to measuring boats for an AMS rating, Cordell has been unable to race Host Plus Executive much in the lead-up to the L2H, but he is always a formidable competitor in ocean racing.
Other strong handicap contenders include the four Beneteau 40.7s – Richard Fisher’s Blue Sky from the Tamar Yacht Club, Stuart Denny’s Blue Chip from Bellerive Yacht Club, Sally and Rob Smith’s Helsal 5 from the Derwent Sailing Squadron and Nicholas Cole’s Mojo Rising from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania. Another strong contender will be David Taylor’s modified Sydney 36 Pisces, taking part in this race for the first time instead of the Sydney Hobart.
Line honours is expected to be a duel between Gary Smith and Geoff White’s Bakewell-White 45 The Fork in the Road and Andrew Hunn’s Cape 40 Mr Kite. However, if conditions favour them, the two multihulls in the fleet, Deguello, John Brierley’s 14.6 Crowther design and David Laird’s Storm Bay could prove faster as the fleet races down the East Coast.
Fastest time for the L2H so far has been 33 hours 22 minutes and 58 seconds taken by the Fork in the Road in last year’s race, but with the start now at Beauty Point instead of Low Head, the distance is about six nautical miles longer at 285 nautical miles. - Peter Campbell
Owners fork out for new Code 0
Hobart yacht owners Gary Smith and Geoff White will have a ‘secret weapon’ aboard their 45-footer, re-named The Fork in the Road, in a bid to outsail rival owner Andrew Hunn in his 40-footer Mr Kite in the race for line honours in next weekend’s Sargisons Launceston to Hobart Race.
Stung by their loss to Mr Kite over the final few nautical miles of the recent Maria Island Race, Smith and White have bought a huge Code 0 reaching headsail for their boat, previously known as Marineline/Focal.
“Mr Kite beat us in the Maria Island Race when they hoisted their Code 0 off the ‘Garrow’ in the Derwent, and we decided not be caught out again in light reaching conditions, “ Smith, a former world champion and Olympic sailor, said before setting sail for the Tamar River this weekend.
Smith and White launched their Bakewell-White 45 at the start of the last sailing season after spending five and six years and 16,000 hours in building the yacht in the old Hobart steel works in the Hobart industrial suburb of Derwent Park.
“Apart from the New Zealand design, and even then there was a Tasmanian input, the yacht is a real Tasmanian effort – the e-glass/balsa/composite hull, bulb keel, aluminium mast and sails are all made here in this State,” Smith said proudly. “The deck fittings, sheets, paint are all sold in my chandlery shop.”
In addition to some former Sharpie sailing mates of Gary’s, many of the crew of 14 have had a significant input into the yacht, including sailmaker Steve Walker from Wynyard and Alex Nolan who worked for Bakewell-White when the plans for the yacht were being drawn up in New Zealand.
“We will have a choice of five different helmsman during the race, myself, Steve Walker, Tony Shearman, Scott Sutton and Steve Walker, with Scott also the navigator/tactician,” Smith said.
“If the weather provides predominantly downwind conditions, Mr Kite will be hard to beat, but we will go well to windward and we will also have a better chance of a rating (handicap) win,” he added.
Of the 35 entrants for the Sargisons Launceston to Hobart Race, all but six are from southern clubs, the latest entrant being the 60-footer Magic Miles, a French-designed cruising yacht to be skippered by Drew Murray from the Tamar Yacht Club. - Peter Campbell
L2H YACHT RACE – News update 17 December 2009
Diamonds could be a sailor’s best friend
The first women sailors to cross the finish line in this year’s Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race will each receive an exquisite hand-crafted diamond pendant valued at more than $2000 each.
Diamond pendants also will be awarded to the first woman crew member of yachts in the overall handicap results of both events – PHS in the Launceston to Hobart and IRC in the King of the Derwent In the event of there being more than one woman in the crew, a lucky draw will decide who receives the pendant.
Race sponsors, Sargisons Jewellers of Hobart and the House of Cerrone of Sydney, have created four sparkling diamond trophies especially for women competitors in the two major Tasmanian yachting events.
Sargisons unveiled the diamond pendants today at the Derwent Sailing Squadron, which conducts the 285 nautical mile Sargisons Launceston to Hobart Race, starting from Beauty Point in Sunday, 27 December, and the icon event of Tasmanian yachting, the Sargisons King of the Derwent on the river on Saturday, 2 January.
The Friends School student and new Sargisons Jewellers summer employee Casey Vassallo celebrated a 93.4 mark in the TCE results by being asked by her boss, Gavin Cowell, to wear one of the pendants at the DSS unveiling.
“They are exquisite…a wonderful prize for winning a yacht race..any woman would be thrilled to wear one,” said the 17-year-old who hopes to be accepted for a journalism course in her home state of Western Australia next year.
Mr Cowell, an active yachtsman who will be crewing again aboard Host Plus Executive in the Sargisons Launceston to Hobart Race, said today that in yacht racing women had proved themselves just as competitive as men.
“Take Dee Caffari who was the first woman to sail solo, non-stop both ways around the world,” he said. “Here in Tasmania, too, we have several most successful women sailors.”
Sargisons Jewellers has been a strong supporter of sailing in Tasmania, and Mr Cowell says he is honoured to be sponsoring this year’s Launceston to Hobart Race, especially considering the innovative changes to the race format.
He said the Derwent Sailing Squadron and the Tamar Yacht Club had worked hard to bring the race to the people of Tasmania. “This year the yachts will be in close sight from riverside vantage points for at least six nautical miles as they sail from Beauty Point to Low Head and into Bass Strait. Further on, with the course down the East Coast, they will all sail inside Maria Island on their way south to Tasman Island,” Mr Cowell added.
 L2H NEWS UPDATE – 21 December 2009 Blue Sky tuned up for faster sail to Hobart Launceston yachtsman Richard Fisher is looking for a much faster sail down Tasmania’s East Coast than a year ago when he skippers his Beneteau First 40.7 Blue Sky in next week’s Sargisons Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race. “Last year we had a relaxed cruise down to Hobart to use the yacht as a live-aboard base for my family while I contested the B14 Australian and Word Championships on the River Derwent, but this it will be a full-on racing voyage,” the Tamar Yacht Club’s immediate past Commodore said today. Blue Sky heads five northern yachts in the record 34 boat fleet contesting the 285 nautical mile race that starts at Beauty Point on the Tamar River 1pm next Sunday, 27 December. Tourism Minister Michelle O’Byrne will fire the cannon from Inspection Head wharf to send the fleet on the down river dash to Low Head where the historic fog horn will signal the first boat out into Bass Strait. Blue Sky is one of four highly successful Beneteau First 40.7s in the fleet, the others being Stuart Denny’s Blue Chip from Hobart’s Bellerive Yacht Club, Sally and Rob Smith’s Helsal 5 from the Derwent Sailing Squadron, and Nicholas Cole’s Mojo Rising from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania “It will be a hotly contested race within a race, with the 40.7s also well placed to do well on overall handicap results,” Fisher said. A versatile sailor, Richard Fisher’s successes have ranged from a State junior championship in Mirrors, and senior State titles in Lasers, 125 Sabres (with his wife Katrina) and two State titles in Sports Boats with his Elliott-designed Shoot the Dog. More recently, his sailing has been in the high-performance B14s and with his keelboat, Blue Sky, while he is also actively involved in junior training programs at the Tamar Yacht Club’s Beauty Point annex and in a $1 million development program of the club’s marina. “Several of the crew of Shoot and Dog are joining me for the Sargisons L2H race, the crew comprising Robert Matthews, Adrian Hardman, Bill Rostrom, Mike Spotwood, Justin Foster, Rob Moreton and Anthony Cornish,” added Fisher. The other Tamar yachts in the fleet are John Joyce’s Lyons 14 Allusive, Ross Carey’s 12m Van de Stadt design, Careena, Sebastian Verbeeten’s 9m Finlay design, Kings Meadows Capital Chemist, all representing the Tamar Yacht Club, and Rob McLelland and Jamie Cooper’s Beneteau 42, Premium Constructions, representing the Port Dalrymple Yacht Club. Kaiulani celebrates 30th birthday with third L2H
Just 9-metres in overall length, the Hobart yacht Kaiulani will not only be one of the smallest boats in this year’s Sargisons Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race, but will also be celebrating 30 years of consistent, and successful, ocean racing. Steve Lovell built the Snook 30 in Hobart in 1978-79, with Derwent Sailing Squadron member Malcolm Cooper owning her since 2004. This will be the third time Cooper has raced the little yacht in the L2H, one of only three boats lining up again for the 285 nautical mile race that starts from Beauty Point on 27 December. “We intend to compete in at least the first five, hopefully the first ten with Kaiulani,” Cooper said today. In the inaugural L2H, Kaiulani placed 12th in the PHS division but improved markedly with a PHS sixth overall in a fleet of 27 boats in the 2008 race. She was by far the top performing small boat in the fleet. Kaiulani should know her way from Beauty Point down the East Coast to Hobart as Cooper has also raced her in three Three Peaks Races. She has an impressive record, having sailed in the 1979 Sydney Hobart soon after her launching, finishing 69th in a fleet of 144. The 30-footer also made some 14 crossings of Bass Strait in Melbourne to Launceston and Melbourne to Devonport races in the 1980s, also winning a Cock of the Bay Race in Melbourne in the mid-80s. Since purchasing the boat at Georgetown at Easter 2004 and bringing her to Hobart, Cooper has regularly contested Pennant races on the Derwent, also winning the Half Ton division of the 2006 Crown Series, and winning the PHS division of the Maria Island Race in 2007.
Sailing with Malcolm Cooper on Kaiulani in the L2H will be his step-daughter Amanda Spinks-Cooper and regular crew Peter Taylor, each of whom has sailed in the two previous races, together with Eden Ravenwood, Wayne Wagg and Norm Brundie.
“I believe Kaiulani is the smallest boat to have competed in the L2H races so far, but there will be a couple of other 30-footers lining up for this year’s race,” Cooper added. The Sargisons Jewellers Launceston to Hobart Race will start from a line off the Inspection Head Wharf at Beauty Point at 1.00pm on Sunday, 27 December. - Peter Campbell
LAUNCH
State Cabinet Minister Lisa Singh officially launched the Sargisons Jewellers launceston to Hobart Race at the Derwent Sailing Squadron in Hobart yesterday; her parliamentary colleague, Michelle O'Byrne, will be the official starter on the 27th December.
The concept of a coastal ocean race between Launceston in the North and Hobart in the South was to provide an event to attract smaller yachts back into offshore racing at a cost far less expensive and demanding than the long ocean races from Sydney and Melbourne to hobart between Christmas and New Year.
In this respect, it has been an outstanding success, with numbers increasing from an original 17 starters in 2007 to 28 last year and an expected fleet of near 40 yachts this year.
Among the well-known skippers competing will be Andrew Hunn whose 40 footer Mr Kite took line honours and won the PHS division of the recent Tasports Maria Island Race, and Dianne Barkas, who on Saturday was named Sailor of the Year - Female at the Tasmanian Yachting Awards. She will be skippering her Sydney 38 Sullivans Cove Whisky. Also competing again is last years line honours winner past olympic Sailor Gary Smith with Geoff White as partner in the 45'Bakewell-White MarineLine Focal.
Five yachts from the Tamar Yacht Club and a cataraman from the Mersey Yacht Club are among the entrants so far received from the northern clubs, including TYC Past Commodore Richard Fisher in his Beneteau 40.7 Blue Sky.
DIAMONDS COULD BE A SAILOR'S BEST FRIEND
Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race sponsors Sargisons and the house of Cerrone have each hand-crafted exquisite diamond pennants valued at more than $2000 each as prizes for the 2009 race.
Sargisons jewellers of hobart owner Gavin Cowell said today that in yacht racing women had proved themselves just as competitive as men. "Take Dee Caffari who was the first woman to sail solo, non-stop both ways around the world", he said. "Here in Tasmania, too, we have several most successful women sailors."
Gavin quoted Dee Caffari as saying: "Diamonds are a gir's best friend. We do not get a chance to be very glamorous sailing offshore, so when we get ashore again it is a great excuse to put on the frock and make it sparkle with some beautiful jewellery.
   Race Update No3 - 19th November 2009
COACH TO BEAUTY POINT - The luxury coach to Beauty point has been booked to leave the DSS at 2.00pm on the 26th December (After the TV coverage of the Sydney-Hobart start). The cost per person is $25. To ensure your seat please book and pay at the DSS office prior to the departure date as seats are limited. The bus will stop at Campbell town for refreshments.
BOXING NIGHT FESTIVITIES - Tamar Yacht Club will be putting on a dinner for us boxing day night commencing at 7.00pm. The menu will be Scotch Fillet Steak or Atlantic Salmon, salads and sweets. The cost will be $25 per person. Of course refreshments will also be available. Bookings and payment are essential and can be made at either the DSS office or with Janette at the Tamar yacht Club on 63318013 or 0417037050.
MARINA BERTHS - To book your marina berth at Beauty Point please give Ron or Sylvia Chandler a ring on 0418321339. Cost will be $10 per day except the the 25th and 26th December which will be free. It would be appreciated if you could give Ron plenty of time when booking so he can ensure the right berth for you as with a record fleet room will be at a premium.
TRACKERS - 22 of our new trackers will be tested this weekend in the maria Island race so please log onto www.oceantrack.com.au and watch the progress of the yachts. It will be a good way of showing your loved ones how it will operate in the L2H.
RACE START - The race start has been confirmed to be at 13:00 hrs on the 27th and the race will be started by The Honourable Michelle O'Byrne, Minister for Environment, Parks, Heritage and the Arts, Tourism, Sport & Recreation. Alsao arrangements are being made for the foghorn at Low head to be fired for the first yacht out of the Tamar.
SPONSORS - We are pleased to announce that the Hobart Media Centre with Southern Cross Television, Sea FM and 107.3 FM have joined us as a supporting sponsor. They will be promoting the race for us both on Southern Cross and Sea FM in December and will be doing a live broadcast with the winners of the race.
Race Update No 2 - 3rd November 2009
There will be an information night held at the Tamar Yacht Club in launceston at 7.00pm on Monday 23rd November for all those interested or intending to participate in the race. We are also pleased to announce that Sullivans Cove Whisky have come on board as a supporting sponsor and will be donating some of their fine product for prizes.
Race Update No 1 - 30th October, 2009
The official launch of the Sargisons Jewellers 2009 Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race will be held at the DSS at 11.00am on Tuesday 1st December. It would be appreciated if you are entering to send a representative to represent your yacht. We have appointed Peter Campbell as our Press Officer for the race so he may be in touch with you for an interview.
Inquiries for the race are flooding in and it is certain we will have a record fleet this year including at least 5 multihulls as well as a two handed entrant. With only 31 days left until close of entries I urge you to send your entry in as soon as possible. Once again we will have MUSTO as our clothing sponsor so when entering could you please state crew sizes.
Some of you may have already been testing our new trackers which we will be using on each boat during the race and all is working well under the leadership of Roy Barkas. We will be again testing them in the Maria Island Race so please have a look on the ocean track website for progress of the yachts and all the extras that the site will offer during the race. The site is www.oceantrack.com.au
Once again we will be organising a bus to Beauty Point leaving the DSS at around 2.00pm after watching the start of the Sydney to Hobart Race.
Tamar Yacht Club will again be organising a meal for us Boxing Day night as well as breakfast on the 27th.
SARGISONS JEWELLERS LAUNCESTON TO HOBART YACHT RACE 2009 News Release – 29 September 2009
Beauty Point start for Launceston to Hobart Race
Tasmania’s newest and fastest growing offshore yacht race, the Sargisons Jewellers Launceston to Hobart Race, this year will start from Beauty Point on the Tamar River, giving the public a spectacular view of the fleet as it sails down the river into Bass Strait.
Coming up for its third year, the 280 ??? nautical mile race down Tasmania’s East Coast is going from strength to strength, with the organisers, the Derwent Sailing Squadron and the Tamar Yacht Club, expecting more than 40 boats to compete.
The previous two races have started at Low Head, at the mouth of the Tamar River, limiting public viewing of the start from the shore. This year the yachts will be within close sight for several kilometres as they sail from Beauty Point, past George Town, Clarence Point and Garden Island to Low Head and into Bass Strait.
The new line will be off Inspection Head wharf, with the race starting at 1pm on Sunday, 27 December 2009 and is expected to attract thousands of spectators on the wharf and along the banks of the Tamar down to Low Head.
From Low Head the fleet will head east in Bass Strait, passing between the Furneaux Islands and the north-east tip of Tasmania before heading down the East Coast, rounding Tasman Island and to the finish at Hobart.
With Maria Island having to be left to port, the fleet will sail close inshore off the East Coast holiday resort of Orford, while the media and the public will also have access to real-time race progress with the fleet being equipped with tracker beacons for the first time.
Adding to the early contest between the yachts will be the Tamar Yacht Club’s trophy for the first yacht to Low Head, with a handicap result of this down-river dash counting as the first points for the TasPorts Trophy that will also include the L2H Race results and the King of the Derwent in Hobart on 2 January 2010.
The new start line is one of several innovative changes to the L2H, the most significant being that all yachts will be fitted with satellite tracking units that will provide race organisers, the public and the media with real time positions of the fleet in addition to regular position reports by radio.
“Trackers will provide an added safety network for the fleet, enabling the club to closely monitor the fleet throughout the race,” Race Director Ron Bugg said today. “We have also implemented additional requirements on crew experience and qualifications.”
For the first time there will be multi-hull and two-handed divisions and the race has a new sponsor in Sargisons, the Hobart jewellers who have been supporters of yachting for many years.
Racing will be under three handicap categories – IRC, AMS and PHS (monohulls and multihulls) – following the decision of the the Derwent Sailing Squadron, the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and the Bellerive Yacht Club to include AMS as a scoring system, in addition to IRC and PHS, for combined club inshore and offshore races this coming season.
Notice of Race and Entry Forms for the Sargisons Jewellers Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race are now available from the DSS and the TYC. In addition to the principal sponsors, supporting and key partners in the event are Musto, Nautilus Marine, TasPorts and Boat Sales Tasmania.
Media information: Peter Campbell, Press Officer, Sargisons Jewellers Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race M: 0419 385 028 P: 03 6225 2903 E: peter_campbell@bigpond.com  
   
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