8:36 AM Sun 6 Sep 2009 GMT
Glorious spring sunshine and 8-18 knot of breeze greeted sailors on Day 2 of Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week. Just the sixth day of spring, the forecast maximum temperature was 30 degrees centigrade.
Yesterday Regatta Director Denis Thompson held the fleet ashore until the first signs of the sea breeze developed and today he did the same thing, with the first race starting at 11:40am.
The Cruising Divisions, 1, 2 and Non-Spinnaker, sailed the 15.1 nautical mile White Rock Race.
The Cruising fleets headed along the Magnetic Island shoreline towards Orchard Rocks, then on to White Rock. Don Algie's magnificent blue-hulled Warwick 66 Storm 2 fronted the fleet.
The Grand Prix IRC, Performance Racing and Sports Boat fleets raced windward leewards on Cleveland Bay.
The first windward leeward was started in 8-10 knots, east of the channel, the wind coming from 020 and with a 1.2 mile leg length.
In IRC Division 1 Race 1 Graham Donnell's Elliott 11 Quattro had an excellent start and she led at the top mark, but Wayne Millar's Murray 41 Zoe sailed through her down the run and was unchallenged for the balance of the race. Quattro was second and Belinda Cooper's Sydney 32 Groove finished third.
Groove was rewarded with an 11 second win on corrected time ahead of Quattro, with Zoe third.
Women out number men on the little 32. Cairns skipper Belinda Cooper commented dockside, 'Definitely the first race today was our best start so far, the boat was quiet, a very good result as this is our first regatta and our first regatta win.'
The seabreeze was building and the second race started in 12-14 knots the wind went left; the course was 010 with a 1.3 nautical mile leg length.
In Race 2, Zoe started badly as tactician Mark Vickers explained. 'We were all a little early on the line and we had no room to run down the line, so we were over early. But we only had to do a quick dip and we were back in the race.'
Zoe took line honours with Quattro and Groove filling the minor placings. But the handicap win went to Quattro, from Zoe and Boudicea, Mike Steel's Townsville based Dufour 34.
Overall Quattro leads the series from Zoe by a point, with Groove third.
Quattro owner Graham Donnell was smiling dockside. His boat, which in a previous life had performed well in Victoria, as Phil Sempfendorfer's Veloce, is on song. 'We are doing OK, but Wayne and his Zoe team are really good sailors. Tomorrow will be a big day.'
In the Performance Handicap Division Race 1, Colin Wilson was well enough today to steer his Lyons 49 Never A Dull Moment to a line honours win, from Charles Wallis' Reignition, a Murray Burns Dovell 42 formerly owned by Wotif.com founder Graeme Woods. Graham Van Brederode's Fortified was third.
On handicap Never A Dull Moment took the win from Reignition and Paul Stuart's Apollo V1.
In Race 2 Never A Dull Moment was again the line honours victor, with Reignition following her some three minutes later. Amaya 11 was approximately seven and a half minutes further back.
On handicap Kachina skippered by Phil McGuire's claimed the top prize, with Never A Dull Moment and Amaya 11 finishing second and third.
Overall Never a Dull Moment leads the regatta, just a point ahead of Reignition with Kachina third. with Paul Stuart's Apollo VI in fourth place.
Colin Wilson, full of paracetamol and antibiotics is still battling his chest infection.
Dockside he rasped 'We were slow yesterday, but today we adjusted the forestay length and we had much more speed.
'On the second start, just before the start, our starboard wheel steering cable snapped, we lost all steering, and I just managed to get down to the port wheel in time to stop us going over early. So we did the whole race from the port wheel.'
Dockside Townsville sailor Phil Maguire, who won the second race aboard Kachina laughed. 'We had less problems in the first race, but the crew is coming together well. We were second overall on Performance Racing last year, but there is some way to go yet.'
In the Sports Boat Division Race 1 Leon Thomas' T7 Guilty Pleasures finished one minute and thirty eight seconds ahead of Townsville rival Patrick Stokes. The T7 Stoked finished second with Michael Unwin's Colson 8 Fuzzy Logic finishing third.
On handicap it was Stoked who took the win, from Fuzzy Logic and Guilty Pleasures.
Race 2 it was again Guilty Pleasures that was the fastest Sport Boat over the course, with Stoked and Fuzzy Logic following. And on handicap the race belonged to Guilty Pleasures, from Fuzzy Logic and Stoked.
The Overall Sports Boat series leader after three races is Guilty Pleasures one point ahead of Stoked. Fuzzy Logic is a further point back making it a very tight fight for divisional honours.
On the dock Leon Thomas commented 'We went out aiming to take line honours in both races and we did that. We were pretty hard hit by the handicappers so the bar has been raised.
'Today there was more pressure on the left; in the first race we made a few bad decisions, and we got a good start in the second race and were rewarded as we played the shifts better in that race.'
The Cruising fleets sailed the 15.1 nm race to White Rock and return.
In the Cruising with Spinnaker Division 1, Don Algie's Warwick 66 Storm 2 was quickest around the course, followed by Kevin Horne's Salona 45 J&J Design/AD Boats Ltd Zora 1, with Bob Robertson's Bavaria Cruiser On Location, third.
While the breeze was blowing at six-eight knots at the start of the race, at White Rock it dropped away before Storm 2 ghosted around, it was almost glass, just three-five knots, and the fleet compressed with the back markers bringing in pressure.
On the way home it was soft until the new breeze arrived at Orchard Rocks.
Overall in the division the honours currently lie with Paul Wise's Instant Karma, with Zora 1 second and On Location third, by virtue of a count back.
Bob Robertson was his usual sunny self, as he enjoyed a quiet ale on the back of On Location. 'A tough day at the office - as we closed on White Rock we sailed into a soft patch, but the smaller boats brought pressure down to us.
'But we are having a great time, last night's presentation party reminded me of the early Hamilton Island regatta, 20 years ago, smaller and very friendly.'
In the Cruising with Spinnaker Division 2, the passage race line honours came down to the wire, with Seduction, Richard Nicol's Lidgard just grabbing the win by twenty three seconds from Farrago, Phil McCutcheon's Farr 1104. Magic, Doug Ryan's Farr 1104 was a further three minutes and forty seconds further back.
On handicap Farrago was the winner, from Zen, Jack Maguire's Cavalier 35, with Magic third. Magic leads the division Overall, from Farrago and Seduction.
In the Cruising Non Spinnaker Division Aussie Rules, the Beneteau Oceanis 500 skippered by Dick Cerny, led the fleet over the finishing line. Planet Peugeot, Alison Smith's Bavaria 50 was second, with Andrew Burford's Tucana (Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 45.2) third.
On handicap the win went to Bob Kimlin's Adams Mottle, Vantage from Providence V, an elegant Gloustershire Topsail Schooner, skippered by Grant Lewis.
Overall, this division sees Vantage at the top of the leader board, with Aussie Rules and Starkers, Alan Stark's Catalina 350, tied on seven points.
The Multihull Division also sailed the White Rock Race with The Boat, Graeme Etherton's Crowther Catamaran finishing ahead of Mal Tynan's Schionning Signature Catamaran, Barbarella. Shaun Watson's Fusion 40 Catamaran Slinky Cat was third. However, today Barbarella took the handicap win from The Boat and Slinky Cat. Overall, Barbarella leads from The Boat and Slinky Cat.
Magnetic Island Race Week 2009
Townsville Yacht Club
IRC Division
Sailed:3, Discards:0, To count:3, Ratings:TCF, Entries:4, Scoring system:Appendix A
Rank Boat Division Skipper Passage Race 1 Buoy Race 1 Buoy Race 2 Total Nett
1st Quattro IRC Graham Donnell 2 2 1 5 5
2nd Zoe IRC W Millar 1 3 2 6 6
3rd Groove IRC Belinda Cooper 3 1 4 8 8
4th Boudicea IRC Mike Steel 4 4 3 11 11
PHS Division
Sailed:3, Discards:0, To count:3, Ratings:TCF, Entries:6, Scoring system:Appendix A
Rank Boat Division Skipper Passage Race 1 Buoy Race 1 Buoy Race 2 Total Nett
1st Never A Dull Moment PHS Colin Wilson 4 1 2 7 7
2nd Reignition PHS Charles Wallis 2 2 4 8 8
3rd Kachina PHS P McGuire 3 5 1 9 9
4th Apollo VI PHS Paul Stuart 1 3 5 9 9
5th Amaya II PHS Peter David Boxall 5 6 3 14 14
6th Fortified PHS Graham Van Brederode 6 4 6 16 16
Sports Boat Division
Sailed:3, Discards:0, To count:3, Ratings:TCF, Entries:4, Scoring system:Appendix A
Rank Boat Division Skipper Passage Race 1 Buoy Race 1 Buoy Race 2 Total Nett
1st Guilty Pleasures Sports Boat L Thomas 1 3 1 5 5
2nd Stoked Sports Boat Patrick Stokes 2 1 3 6 6
3rd Fuzzy Logic Sports Boat Michael Unwin 3 2 2 7 7
4th DIVA Sports Boat Dennis Coleman 5.0 DNF 5.0 DNC 5.0 DNC 15 15
Cruising Spin 1 Division
Sailed:2, Discards:0, To count:2, Ratings:TCF, Entries:13, Scoring system:Appendix A
Rank Boat Division Skipper Passage Race 1 Passage Race 2 Total Nett
1st Instant Karma Cruising Spin 1 Paul Wise 2 3 5 5
2nd Zora I Cruising Spin 1 Kevin Horne 1 6 7 7
3rd On Location Cruising Spin 1 Robert Robertson 3 4 7 7
4th Valdolese Cruising Spin 1 Greg Sier 7 1 8 8
5th Warrigal Cruising Spin 1 J Finch 9 2 11 11
6th Last Tango Cruising Spin 1 Colin White 6 5 11 11
7th Ingenue Cruising Spin 1 Rosie Colahan 4 9 13 13
9th Seaduction Cruising Spin 1 Brian Pattinson 8 7 15 15
8th Windsong Cruising Spin 1 Rob Starkey 5 10 15 15
10th Delphian Cruising Spin 1 John Sloan 10 8 18 18
11th Storm 2 Cruising Spin 1 D Algie 11 11 22 22
12th Savanna Cruising Spin 1 M Whitehead 12 12 24 24
13th Pure Cruising Spin 1 Steve Battley 13 14.0 DNS 27 27
Cruising Spin 2 Division
Sailed:2, Discards:0, To count:2, Ratings:TCF, Entries:9, Scoring system:Appendix A
Rank Boat Division Skipper Passage Race 1 Passage Race 2 Total Nett
1st Magic Cruising Spin 2 Doug Ryan 1 3 4 4
2nd Farrago Cruising Spin 2 P McCutcheon 4 1 5 5
3rd Seduction Cruising Spin 2 Richard Nichols 3 6 9 9
4th Librian Cruising Spin 2 B Barnes 5 4 9 9
5th Akarana Cruising Spin 2 Ian Hamilton 2 8 10 10
7th The Major Cruising Spin 2 M Gillum 6 5 11 11
6th Zen Cruising Spin 2 Jack Maguire 9 2 11 11
8th Jeni Anne Cruising Spin 2 John Phelan 8 7 15 15
9th Iseulta Cruising Spin 2 Tristram Denyer 7 9 16 16
Cruising Non Spin Division
Sailed:2, Discards:0, To count:2, Ratings:TCF, Entries:10, Scoring system:Appendix A
Rank Boat Division Skipper Passage Race 1 Passage Race 2 Total Nett
1st Vantage Cruising Non Spin R Kimlin 5 1 6 6
2nd Aussie Rules Cruising Non Spin Richard Cerny 3 5 8 8
3rd Starkers Cruising Non Spin Alan Stark 4 4 8 8
4th Volare Cruising Non Spin Grant Thompson 2 8 10 10
5th My Way Cruising Non Spin Terry Price 8 3 11 11
6th Spindrift Cruising Non Spin Bruce Shanks 1 11.0 DNS 12 12
8th Tucana Cruising Non Spin Andrew Burford 7 6 13 13
9th Planet Peugeot Cruising Non Spin Alison Smith 6 7 13 13
7th Providence V Cruising Non Spin Grant Lewis 11.0 DNS 2 13 13
10th Black Rose Cruising Non Spin Rodney Hart 11.0 DNF 11.0 DNF 22 22
by Rob Kothe
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