One day to go

Boags Sailing South Week in Hobart has joint leaders 19 years apart

“A beautiful ‘yacht’…a great course…better than Hamo (Hamilton Island)!” That’s how winning skipper Matt Allen described today’s race five of the Boags Sailing South Race Week in Hobart.

His Farr 52, Ichi Ban, revelled in the long spinnaker run and two long beats to windward over the 40 nautical mile course to score her biggest victory of the regatta, both in line and handicap honours.

Going into tomorrow’s two final windward/leeward races on Hobart harbour, the state of the art Ichi Ban from Sydney and the 19-year-old timber boat Intrigue, skippered by Tasmanian Don Calvert, are equal on points, each having scored two wins and two seconds on corrected time.

Allen was ecstatic with the sailing conditions on a warm Tasmanian summer day and the course which took the larger boats south in a northerly breeze that averaged 10-15 knots.

“We really opened up on the spinnaker run down the Derwent River then out into Storm Bay to Variety Bay (on the eastern shore of North Bruny Island) holding a 55 minute advantage over Intrigue at that stage.

“We were at our best in on the windward work to Betsy Island, followed by a tight spinnaker reach back to the Iron Pot and a final beat up the river to the finish.

“We have to beat Intrigue by 86 minutes around the course to win, and I think we have done it comfortably,” he added.

Allen was correct – and more – beating Intrigue home by almost two hours and by 36 minutes on corrected time.

Results in the IMS division are provisional with Stephen Keal, skipper of Skandia Cyclone lodging a protest again third-placed Interum (Craig King).

Provisionally, the winner of the IMS distance race was Harold Clark’s Invincible from B52 (Hughie Lewis) and Interim, with the protest due to be heard tomorrow morning.

In the Sportsboat division, Bruce Calvert in ABN Amro Morgans took line and handicap honours in the distance race, beating pointscore leader Shoot theDog (Richard Fisher) and Maxpower, skippered by West Australian Steve Battley.

Alf Doedens’ Farr 37, Quality Equipment, with Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania general manager Mike Wearne back on board, showed a return to form in the distance race with a win in PHS Division 1, beating It Happens (Stephen Boyes) by a mere 22 seconds on corrected time. Third place went to Josh Ey’s Quetzacoatl.

In PHS Division 2, first place went to The Spanish Inquisition (Steve Harrison) won from Lock on Wood (Peter Geeves) and Crackerjack (Peter Marmion).

While the keelboats and sports boats sailed a distance race, the Cruiser divisions enjoyed two close windward/leeward races on the harbour.

In Cruiser Division 1, Allez-Oop, Wayne Brehens’ Knoop 30, won the morning race, while the second went to Innovator, Ian Smith’s comfortable Compass 33. In Cruiser Division 2, the morning race went to Wavelength, Dave Willans’ Farr 747, the afternoon race to Spindrift, Donald Cushion’s Knoop 27.

The final two races Boags Sailing South Race Week will be back-to-back windward/leeward races on Hobart harbour tomorrow.