Geelong update

Rob Kothe reports on the Skandia sponsored regatta in Australia

Last night, Michael Spies' Beneteau 44.7 First National Real Estate sealed the Scotchmans Hill series with consistent performances across the first six races and so she did not need to race the 15.5 mile final race, around fixed marks on Corio Bay. However as part of the strong Cruising Yacht Club of Australia team, she needed to do well to help the team triumph in their tight battle against the Sandringham squad.

Today, she finished in eleventh place and, as the team results are yet to be finalised, we will have to wait a little longer before the 'ultimate team' is announced.

Today First National Real Estate's sister ship, Alan Whiteley's Beneteau 44.7 Cougar, had an excellent start and kept moving in the light conditions to win race seven on handicap. Alan Woodward's Beneteau 40.7 Reverie was second, with Timothy Nellingan's 2 Top Cats, third.

After seven races in the overall Scotchmans Hill series, First National Real Estate was the official handicap winner, with Cougar leaping into second place with today's good result, ahead of Phil Coomb's DK46 Dekadence, who suffered back in tenth place today. Fourth overall was Steve and Mary Chiodo's Sydney 47 Gomez.

As the fleet rolled into the Royal Geelong Yacht club marina, there was a period of frantic activity as some of Sydney boats prepared to leave.

Last year's series winner, Matt Allen's Ichi Ban fuelled up with diesel, delivery sails and food and left for Sydney within a hour of finishing. Close behind her was First National Real Estate.

These two boats are among the leaders in the highly competitive Sydney Blue Water series, which includes the Sydney to Southport race, the Rolex Sydney to Hobart race and the Sydney to Mooloolaba race. The reason for today's rush is a 500 mile ocean passage between Corio Bay and the 10am Saturday morning startline of the Sydney Harbour to Lion Island and Botany Bay race.

Dockside Michael Spies, the Sydney to Hobart race record holder, the 2003 Rolex Sydney to Hobart winner and two weeks ago the Sailing South Regatta winner, was wearing a grin with the confirmation that he was the new Skandia Geelong Week champion. "Skandia Geelong Week is now a 'must do' regatta on the Australian circuit. Good sailing conditions, a top quality national fleet and outstanding shore side facilities. And most enjoyable of all, the event is really engaged with the community."


Team Skandia showing the flag

When Grant Wharington's supermaxi Skandia was de-keeled in Bass Strait no one imagined that the Mornington sailor would bounce back quite so quickly. While his 98 footer won't be back on the racetrack until May, needing a new deck, keel, mast, sails, engine and electronics, Wharington is not sitting on his hands. Less than a month after his little 'incident', the Skandia crew is sailing in the Skandia Geelong Week regatta on Corio Bay.

The veteran Volvo 60 ( Newscorp from the 2001 Hobart race) owned by Brighton yachtsman David Gotze, has become the Skandia V60 sailing in the Scotchmans Hill series at Skandia Geelong Week, and is being scored as part of the Brighton Yacht Club entry in the Teams Event.

Wharington sailed as a djuice helmsman in the 2001-2002 Volvo Ocean Race and Barney Walker has twice sailed the 'round the world course', and so they have been pushing the aging sixty footer around the cans.

As expected Sean Langman's AAPT, a lighter longer skiff held out the Volvo 60 for the first six races in the series, but this morning Wharington threw a scare into the AAPT camp. On a reaching fixed mark course around Corio Bay Skandia had her best point of sail. She set out for the first mark on the line towards Point Henry, arriving a boat
length ahead of AAPT and after the spinnaker set Skandia was three big boat lengths ahead of her rival.

She set out for the northern end of Corio Bay, towards the Geelong Grammar School tower, and held her lead for the next 20 minutes.Around the corner and heading south Skandia found a private parking space, but then AAPT did just the same thing.

Ichi Ban had already moved into third place, after weaving past Phil Coombs DK 46 Dekadence and Geoff Boettcher's Hardy's Secret Mens Business, the Reichel Pugh 46.

On the lightest of zephyrs AAPT edged forward, then Ichi Ban did the buffalo boy routine and sailed around the outside. But AAPT rallied and won, keeping her perfect regatta record intact.

Wharington mused: "We did not expect to beat Sean on the water, the older Volvo boats are just set up for short course racing. But we need to keep our crew race hardened and we really just wanted to be out there and having fun."


Clean sweep in Scotchman's Hill Division 2 for Skandia Courage

The 2005 Skandia Geelong Week fleet is certainly the strongest in the event's history, with boats from every Australian state and territory. Today, one of the most famous yachts in Australia won the Scotchmans Hill series in Division 2, with a clean sweep.

Don Freebairn's Skandia Courage, best know as Koomooloo proved she was all class with a fine handicap win on Corio Bay. Koomooloo won the Hobart race in 1968, the year she was launched by Denis O'Neil, and twice represented Australia at the Admiral's Cup. Last month she was the second oldest boat in the Rolex Sydney to Hobart fleet and was leading the fleet on handicap after the first night before she prudently retired into Eden, in the heavy conditions.

Magnificently restored and looking as pretty as she did in 1968 she rates well under IRC these days, as she showed when second in IRC at Hamilton Island's Race Week in 2000. Her convincing Skandia Geelong Week Division 2 win illustrates just why the IRC handicapping system is so popular, as it levels the field for the newest plastic, fantastic race boats and for teak and mahogany veterans alike. Skipper Mike Freebairn, was grinning broadly after the final race. "It was a great series for us, 'the old girl' loves flat water racing."

Aboard Skandia Courage-Koomooloo were owners Don and Margaret Freebairn, daughter Vanessa and son Mike with Paul White, Peter Sherwood and Steve Zaphir who are all from the Wynnum Manly area in Brisbane with Williamstown local John Grima, completing the crew.

Second in the series was Shane and Maryvonne La Peyre's and Al Doggett's Skandia Passion, otherwise known as Vapour Trail. This Farr 1020 is one of five racing out of the Sandringham Yacht Club in Victoria.

Just as Passion is one of Skandia's core values, the Skandia Passion-Vapour Trail team are passionate about sailing. In 2003 they sailed 3,200 nautical miles (6,000 km) to Hamilton Island and back, to race.

Gastroenterologist Dr Leslie Norton sailing in his first major regatta had a fine result, finishing third in the series with his Bavaria 38 Match, Mrs Over Newton. "We had a lot of fun here this week. We enjoyed this regatta so much we have decided to sail at Skandia Cowes Week later in the year."


No longer a bridesmaid

Paul Heyes has not missed a Geelong regatta for the past 17 years and for the last 11 years he has sailed in the fast and wet Sports Boat division. In his first effort in 1994 he won the Sports Boat titles but another win has eluded him; he's been the perennial bridesmaid with six seconds in the years' since his initial victory. Last year Paul and his Max Power team broke through at another venue, winning the Sports Boat National Championships at Queensland's Airlie Beach as part of the Hog's Breath Race Week regatta.

Going into today's final race his Thompson 7 was one point ahead of last year's Geelong Week Sports Boat winner, Chris Williams Team GUE, another T-7.

Heyes has one of the best crews around. His mainsheet hand Brett Scott, just won the 5.5 Worlds in the Evolution division, while Peter Van Niekerk is an Alinghi America's Cup trimmer and won the recent International 5.5 World Championship with the legendary Olympian Jochen Schuemann.

But still Heyes was nervous; worried his string of seconds might continue. The jitters disappeared when Power Max floated across the finish line first in race six, ahead of Steve Battley's Road Warrior, with her closest rivals Team GUE third.

Max Power won the final race, with loud whoops and hollers as she got the gun, from Cameron Rae's Grange Security. Team GUE was third across the line and second in the regatta.


A night at the pub for the London Tavern

On the outer harbour today, the intense tactical battle continued in the eleven race series of the Sydney 38 Nationals at Skandia Geelong Week 2005. While Leon Christianakis' Cydon is still leading the fleet, today belonged to Stephen Ellis and his London Tavern team.

Race eight started in soft conditions, building from seven knots. Again the breeze was oscillating. Ellis picked the shifts to perfection to win by almost two minutes, ahead of Lou Abraham's Challenge and John Savage's 38 Degrees South.

Cydon was seventh, while Martin Hill and Lisa Hill's Estate Master was buried in eleventh place, with Shining Sea one place further back. Tony Wall's Acuity lost significant ground with a 14th.

In Race 9 in a soft easterly breeze, London Tavern was again on fire. She had clear air from the gun and it was only on the last run that she looked in any danger, as Steve Kulmar's Shining Sea surged. Suddenly Cydon loomed back onto the scene and a luffing battle ensued between the second and third boats, allowing London Tavern to take the gun 30 seconds ahead of Shining Sea, with Cydon a skinny four seconds further back, in third. Fast finishing Calibre (Geoff Bonus') just 11 seconds behind her, took fourth place.

With two races left, the first starting at 9:30am on Australia Day, Wednesday morning, Cydon on 32 points now leads from Shining Sea on 45 points with London Tavern on 46 on count back, from 38 Degrees South.

Dockside, Ellis was savouring the day: "The top guys in the fleet have just spent more time on their boats than we have, so we are been finding our feet, as we've come along. While I used to steer Buon Giorno, my nephew Brett is steering now and I am doing tactics. Its working well, he's a former Laser Champion and has done two Admiral's Cup campaigns, one with Steve Kulmar on the Mumm 36 Sea and the second with Bob Steel on Quest, so he has quite some experience and we communicate well. We are looking forward to tomorrow, but tonight there might be a few quiet little drinks".