Dramatic finish to Bruny Island Race

1:05 PM Sat 7 Feb 2009 GMT
Helsal III, the leading yacht in the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania's 83rd Bruny Island Race, ran aground and was forced to retire less than two miles from the finish of the 89 nautical mile race this evening.

Race officer Roger Martin said he understood that the 20 metre sloop, skippered by Rob Fisher, had grounded near Sandy Bay Point, within sight of the finish line at Castray Esplanade.

>As the crew attempted to clear the yacht using its engine, a line had fouled the propeller and late tonight she was being towed into the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania marina.

Line honours in the circumnavigation of historic Bruny Island went to Marineline/Focal, the Bakewell-White designed 45-footer skippered by former Olympic sailor Gary Smith.

First sailed in 1898, the Bruny Island Race is the oldest offshore/inshore yacht race in Australia, with the fleet circumnavigating the historic island south of Hobart.

Marineline/Focal crossed the line at 9.53.57pm, with the next boat in the fleet being Tony Lyall's Valheru, still sailing up the Derwent River in a light northerly breeze.

The rest of the 19 boat fleet at that stage was still sailing slowly up the d'Entrecasteaux Channel, with the tailenders not expected until early Sunday morning,

Earlier this evening less than 100 metres had separated, Helsal III and Marineline/Focal as they sailed past Robertson's Point in the Channel, beating to windward towards the entrance to the Derwent River.

Helsal III, the Adams 20 bought back and refurbished by the original owner Dr Tony Fisher and his son Rob, at 6.30pm held a narrow lead from Marineland/Focal, which had led the fleet around the southern tip of Bruny Island.

The fleet enjoyed a fresh northerly breeze from the start, giving them a spinnaker run down the Derwent, out into Stormy Bay and down the ocean side of Bruny Island, passing historic Adventure Bay.

Early leader, the 9m sports boat Tas Marine Constructions, skippered by Robert Gourlay, was finally overtaken by the bigger boats as they headed towards South Cape.

by Peter Campbell

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Dramatic finish to Bruny Island Race

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