Limit's clean sweep in King of the Derwent

1:52 AM Sat 3 Jan 2009 GMT

'King of the Derwebt' Peter Campbell &copy Click Here to view large photo

West Australian Alan Brierty's new 62-footer Limit emphatically claimed the prestigious King of the Derwent title in Hobart yesterday, winning line honours and every handicap trophy.

With Sydney-based Tasmanian yachtsman Roger Hickman on the helm, the Reichel/Pugh 62 won the start and was never headed as the 75 boat fleet raced around the broad waters of the Derwent estuary in a chilly southwester which gusted up to 28 knots.

Limit is only the second yacht in the past two decades to win the double of line and major handicap honours, the other being the UK yacht Aera in January 2006, just days after winning the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Joining owner Brierty and helmsman Hickman in the crew of 18 were the Commodore of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania Clive Simpson and several friends and relatives of Hickman.

Limit sailed the course in the fast time of 1 hour 4 minutes 4 seconds, with a gap of more than half an hour to the local Farr 40s, Wayne Bank-Smith's War Games and Lloyd Clark's Voodoo Chile.

Limit won the Wrest Point perpetual trophy for King of the Derwent on corrected time from Voodoo Chile and another Hobart yacht, Gary Smith's Launceston to Hobart Race winner Crotty Legal and Dental.

To drive home its dominance of the race, the 62-footer won PHS Division 1 from the Melbourne entry Isuzu Marine and War Games.

PHS Division 2 went to the Melbourne to Hobart Race entrant Ingenue, skippered by Dr Rosie Colahan, from Hobart yacht Kaiulani, skippered by Malcolm Cooper, third to the Melbourne boat Chiakara Outlaw.

Six yachts retired from the race, including Silver Mist which broke its rudder on the first beat to windward.

by Peter Campbell

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Limit's clean sweep in King of the Derwent

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