Living Doll leads Audi IRC Series away to cracking start

10:12 AM Fri 23 Jan 2009 GMT

'Michael Hiatt’s Farr 55 Living Doll - 2009 Skandia Geelong Week' Sail-World.com /AUS &copy Click Here to view large photo

The opening two windward/leeward races of the IRC Series at Skandia Geelong Week got away to a cracking start in ideal conditions on Port Phillip this afternoon.

Spectators were treated to some great racing under a sunny sky, starting with Division 1 in which a brand new and relatively untested Farr 55, Living Doll (Michael Hiatt), took out both races amongst a very hot fleet.

'We're not too surprised; we've put a lot of work into the boat and there's a lot of talented people sailing with me,' said Hiatt.

However, the clothing label owner did admit: 'there are a lot of talented people sailing on some very good boats - the competition is high level. We used our local knowledge and Lloydy (Ross Lloyd) picked the shifts beautifully. We're very happy with our day and hope we can keep it going.'

Lloyd's tactics included taking a wide swing to the right of the course on the second upwind leg of Race 1 - leaving others to wonder where they were going. It paid off.

Graeme Wood's Wot Now, a Judel/Vrolijk 52 from Sydney, has taken second place overall with solid third and second places.

Loki (L), Limit and Black Jack - Sail-World.com -AUS&copy Click Here to view large photo

The thrill for the day was the match racing that went on between Limit and Loki - both Reichel/Pugh designs; Limit at 62 feet, gives time to Loki at 63 feet, due to differences in the yachts, such as Alan Brierty's Limit having electronic winches, whilst Stephen Ainsworth opted for hand driven pumps on Loki.

Limit (WA), with America's Cup sailors Gavin Brady (tactics) and Rod Keenan aboard, got the better of Loki (NSW), steered by Cameron Miles with Chris Links calling tactics, in both races; they are third and fifth overall respectively.

Limit's sailing master and helmsman, Roger Hickman, denies the two were match racing: 'Loki and us realise it's a fleet race, not a match race. We weren't trying to get at each other, we were close racing a lot of the time, we were respectful of each other.

'We realise if we match race that boats like Living Doll and others will just sail through us.' But that is exactly what happened, and although Hickman says they are respectful of each other, Loki had lodged a protest against Limit, the facts unknown at this stage.

Hickman went on to say: 'We're happy, we've got good rhythm and we loved the closeness and excitement.'

Grant Wharington's super maxi, Skandia, clearly won line honours in both races. 'Wharo' had a lacklustre start to Race 1, but nailed the start at the pin end of the line in Race 2.

Divisions 2 and 3 raced on a course in the vicinity of Sandringham Yacht Club, separate to Division 1. Rod Jones (Alegria), who was the inaugural winner of the Audi IRC Australian Championship - and the Audi car, was happy to be leading Division 2 on Day 1.

Jones, from Queensland, has made no secret of the fact he would like to win another Audi. Commenting on today's races: 'It was a fantastic day. The conditions in the first race were tricky; the breeze went hard left off the start and that changed the dynamics of the race.'

Conditions on Port Phillip ranged from 8-10 knots in Race 1, 'traditional sort of stuff,' according to Secret Men's Business tactician Sean Kirkjian, a Division 1 competitor. 'We started Race 2 in 14-15 knots, but it died away to 12, 10 knots,' he said.

Alegria, an Archambault 40, leads Division 2 from Andrew Saies' Beneteau 40.7 True North (SA) and Alan Woodward's Beneteau First 45 Reverie (Vic) and Ruth Magic (Peter Hill, NSW) with the 2008 Audi IRC Championship winner Peter Sorensen at the helm and Beijing Olympic gold medallist Nathan Wilmot calling tactics.

In Division 3, Peter Dunne was surprised to hear he and his crew on Upbeat, a Beneteau First 36.7 (Vic) had won both races.

'I knew we won the first,' Dunne said; 'did we really win both? That's great. I've got a real upbeat crew,' he joked. 'Actually, we're very passionate about our sailing - racing and cruising. I bought Upbeat in 2007 and we've got a great camaraderie going onboard. I'm surprised and delighted we won both races - we'll really celebrate now,' he said.

Behind Dunne on the overall points ladder is David Ellis's Borrensen BB10 Surprise (Vic) and the always well-sailed Mrs Overnewton, Leslie Norton's Bavaria Match 38.

***Series Results [IRC] up to Race 2 (Drops = 0)***
Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Design	Sers Score	Race 2	Race 1
1		R55	LIVING DOLL	Michael Hiatt	RYCV	Farr 55	2.00	1.00	1.00
2		6952	WOT NOW	Graeme Wood	CYCA	Judel Vrolijk 52	5.00	2.00	3.00
3		98888	LIMIT	Alan Brierty	CYCA	reichel-pugh 62	6.00	4.00	2.00P
4		SM46	DEKADENCE	Philip Coombs	SYC	DK 46	8.00	3.00	5.00
5		AUS60000	LOKI	Cameron Miles	CYCA	REICHEL PUGH 63	11.00	7.00	4.00P
6	5.0S	YC46	EXILE	Nick George	CYCSA	DK46	14.00	5.00	9.00
7		G4646R	EXTASEA	Paul Buchholz	RGYC	DK46	14.00	8.00	6.00
8		52566	BLACKJACK	Mark Bradford	RQYS	Riechel Pugh 66	16.00	9.00	7.00
9		R50	SHOGUN	Robert Hanna	RGYC	Cookson 50	18.00	10.00	8.00
10	6.0S	SM5200	COUGAR II	Alan Whiteley	SYC	TP52	22.00	6.00	16.00
11		8880	GOLDFINGER	Peter Blake Kate Mit	SYC	Farr 52	22.00	12.00	10.00
12		CR1	OPTIMUS PRIME	Trevor Taylor	TCYC	Marten 49	23.00	11.00	12.00
13		M330	SHAMROCK	Tony Donnellan	MYC	Reichel Pugh	27.50	13.50	14.00
14		SM2008	AUDI CENTRE MELBOURN	Chris Dare	SYC	CORBY IRC 49	28.00	17.00	11.00
15	13.0S	AUS8888	VOODOO CHILE	Lloyd Clark	RYCT	farr 40 OD	31.00	18.00	13.00
16		YC3300	SECRET MENS BUSINESS	Geoff Boettcher	CYCSA	REICHEL PUGH	31.00	16.00	15.00
17		M10	SKANDIA	Grant Wharington	MYC	Jones 98 Maxi	33.50	13.50	20.00
18		B45	RUSH	John Paterson	RBYC	Farr 45	34.00	15.00	19.00
19		R33	CHUTZPAH	Bruce Taylor	RYCV	CAPRICE 40	37.00	20.00	17.00
20		5226	ONESTEEL	Frazer Read	RYCT	Steiner 29 - Custom	39.00	21.00	18.00
21		SM460	XLR8	Ray Shaw	SYC	Reichel Pugh 46	42.00	19.00	23.00
22	21.0S	B2700	BELLE	David Currie	RBYC	IY60	44.00	23.00	21.00
23		SM1400	ISUZU MARINE	Jock Macadie	SYC	Jones/Hart 14	44.00	22.00	22.00

***Series Results [IRC] up to Race 2 (Drops = 0)***
Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Design	Sers Score	Race 2	Race 1
1		Q345	ALEGRIA	Rod Jones	RQYS	Archambault A40rc	5.00	2.00	3.00
2		YC5974	TRUE NORTH	Andrew Saies	CYCSA	Beneteau 40.7	7.00	6.00	1.00
3		B26	REVERIE	Alan Woodward	RBYC	Beneteau FIRST 45	8.00	4.00	4.00
4		6443	RUTH MAGIC	Peter Hill33a	MHYC	beneteau 45	9.00	1.00	8.00
5	2.0S	B2	JUST A MINOR HICKUP	Peter Coleman	RBYC	Hick 39 R/C	10.00	8.00	2.00
6	3.0S	B63	SCHUSS	Denis McConnell	RBYC	Beneteau First 45	10.00	3.00	7.00
7		R1121	EXECUTIVE DECISION	Grant Botica	RYCV	Adams 10	10.00	5.00	5.00
8		SM35	ABSOLUT	Terry Hall	SYC	Archambault 35	18.00	7.00	11.00
9		AUS150	SYNERGY	Alex Douglas	RQYS	MUMM30	19.00	10.00	9.00
10		SM424	BARNSTORMER	Brian Barnes	SYC	Bavaria Match 42	23.00	17.00	6.00
11		H6336	THE BOOKMAKER	Andrew Slagmolen	HBYC	Nortshore NSX36	24.00	14.00	10.00
12		SA308	SIX FISH	Caillin Howard	RSAYS	MUMM 30	25.00	13.00	12.00
13		R336	SWORDFISH TROMBONE	Tim Olding	RYCV	MBD 36	27.00	12.00	15.00
14		AUS3093	ASTERIX	Colin Loel	RQYS	Mumm30	28.00	11.00	17.00
15	13.0S	M9000	GEOMATIC JOKER	Grant Chipperfield	MYC	Lyons/Jarkan 39	29.00	16.00	13.00
16		S14	GIENAH	Rod Miller	RMYS	Seaquest RP36	29.00	15.00	14.00
17		SM5985	INSX	Robert Sill	SYC	NSX 38	30.00	9.00	21.00C
18		AUS6151	CLEOPATRA	Robert Davis	SYC	MUMM 30	34.00	18.00	16.00
19		TYC7771	BLUE SKY	R And K Fisher	TYC	Beneteau 40.7	42.00	21.00C	21.00C
19		H8118	MERLION	Eddie Mackevicius	HBYC	Beneteau 40.7	42.00	21.00C	21.00C

***Series Results [IRC] up to Race 2 (Drops = 0)***
Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Design	Sers Score	Race 2	Race 1
1		SM88	UPBEAT	Peter Dunne	SYC	Beneteau first 36.7	2.00	1.00	1.00
2		R25	SURPRISE	David Ellis	RYCV	Borresen BB10	6.00	2.00	4.00
3		S47	MRS OVERNEWTON	Leslie Norton	RMYS	Bavaria Match 38	8.00	3.00	5.00P
4		SM99	PRIMO	Steve Copley	SYC	Benetau	10.00	4.00	6.00
5	2.0S	B6505	RECKLESS	Rory Thomas	RBYC	Bavaria 35 Match	13.00	11.00	2.00
6	3.0S	B2580	DONT PANIC	Jamie Cooper	PDYC	Beneteau Fc 12	13.00	10.00	3.00
7		M3170	ARABELLE	Grant Hailes	MYC	Beneteau first 31.7	13.00	5.00	8.00
8		SM49	DR UNC	John Lindholm	SYC	Masrm 920	14.00	7.00	7.00
9		SM1347	STITCHED UP	Peter Jackson	SYC	Beneteau 347	16.00	6.00	10.00
10		B25	FLYING FOX	Paul Woodman	RBYC	UFFA FOX	17.00	8.00	9.00
11		SM5050	TONIC	Steve Moore	SYC	Beneteau First 317	23.00	12.00	11.00
12		B353	MAGAZAN 53	Nicholas McGuigan	RBYC	Farr 1104	24.00	9.00	15.00
13		B131	CLEMENTINE III	Michael Dalton	RBYC	SS 39	26.00	14.00	12.00
14		B347	ROGUE TRADER	Greg Rayner	RBYC	Beneteau First 34.7	27.00	13.00	14.00
15		S62	REMEDY	B Burggraaf R Hibber	RMYS	Archambault 32	30.00	17.00O	13.00
16		SM3639	WIND SPEED	Les Browne	SYC	Sydney 36CR	34.00	17.00S	17.00S

(Ties: S=Score R=Race B= Bettered. Penalties: A=ARB B=BFD C=DNC D=DNE E=ESP F=DNF G=RDG L=Late Entrant M=DGM N=ENP O=OCS P=Protest Q=DSQ R=RAF S=DNS U=DUT V=AVG X=EXC Z=ZFP Y=SCP #=NoData [x.y]=Discarded)

Eighty three yachts are taking part in the Audi IRC Championship, the opening round of the Audi IRC Australian Championship, which continues tomorrow with the 34.3 nautical mile Passage Race from Williamstown to Geelong, where the series will continue on Corio Bay on Sunday and on Monday's Australia Day.

by Di Pearson- Skandia Media