Impressive debut for Rosebud

STP65 beats the maxis on IRC at Solas Big Boat Challenge

Under grey skies, the maxis took ownership of Sydney Harbour today for the annual SOLAS Big Boat Challenge, and for the second year running, Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI dominated proceedings.

Matt Allen’s Jones 70 Ichi Ban, the handicap winner of last year’s race, led the fleet to the first mark after the 12.30pm start until they were pegged back by the sea of red pulling the strings on Wild Oats XI.

Resplendent in matching red crew shirts, the crew of Wild Oats XI meticulously manoeuvred the 30m maxi around the 12 nautical mile Harbour course in the 18 knot southerly, through the flotilla of spectator craft and past headlands with crowds of people watching some of the Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours prospects going through their paces.

Grant Wharington’s 30m Melbourne maxi Skandia, which has spent a good part of the year in dry dock, shadowed Wild Oats XI, demonstrating good boat speed as they tried to close the gap on the same sized but newer model.

Skipper of Wild Oats XI, Mark Richards, was delighted with day’s result although he warns it’s not indicative of the final outcome in the race to Hobart. “There are four very different boats and it’s going to come down to who gets the conditions,” he said.

“It’s [the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge] a great way to shake the bugs out of the boat and a great day to build confidence,” said Richards this afternoon.

He also recognised that Skandia, which finished second over the line, gave them a great race, and amidst all the pre-start action he took some time to eye up Mike Slade’s City Index Leopard which was out on a corporate sail on the Harbour this afternoon.

Skandia is one and a half tonnes lighter than it was for last year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart and Wharington was pleased they stayed within reach of Wild Oats XI today, the two power brokers hitting 20 knots of boat speed on the first run to Fort Denison.

“We are the oldest of the 30m yachts, which is starting to show. We are just hanging in there and we finished where we expected to be,” said Wharington who is planning to amp up his sail wardrobe for the Rolex Sydney Hobart including a number of new laminate spinnakers for “the great race”.

Third over the line today was Matt Allen’s Jones 70 Ichi Ban which clearly won the start despite electrical problems.

On overall IRC results, the US TP65 Rosebud had an impressive debut in Australia, with the grand prix racer claiming her first win down finishing fourth on the water in the 16 strong fleet she took the IRC division by over 2 minutes.

“We were so happy to be part of a charity event,” said Rosebud’s owner Roger Sturgeon.

The Volvo 60 Hugo Boss II had a mixed day. There were a number of problems on board the 2001 Sydney Hobart line honours winner including a steering failure which cost them valuable time and meant skipper Andy Tourell could only helm using one wheel. Their mainsail also dropped to the deck unexpectedly during the race contested by a fleet of 16. Despite the dramas, their on-board guest celebrities, including Olympic swimmer Geoff Huegill, actor Daniel MacPherson and models Erika Heynatz and Annalise Braakensiek were all smiles. MacPherson and Huegill were put to work on the ‘coffee grinders’ while Heynatz and Braakensiek filled the glamour quota.

Other dramas today included Peter Harburg’s Spirit of Queensland hitting the ‘wedding cake’, a Sydney Harbour channel marker, and breaking its bow sprit. DHL – The Daily Telegraph had spinnaker problems as did Skandia which lost time during the race trying to haul its kite back onboard.

Full results:
http://www.cyca.com.au/sysfile/downloads/solasbbc_07rr.htm