News Around the World
The final day was a cracker. Comanchehad been error-free all week
to secure the title, so Saturday saw a change of guard on the helm; owner John Winning Snr drove Comanche, while on OatsSandy Oatley took over helming duties from usual skipper Mark Richards. Sandy does not normally race onboard Wild Oats, let alone helm, but the silver pencil took line honours for the first time this week, much to the delight of the crew – and the surprise of Sandy – albeit that Comanche was OCS and had to restart! For the fleets racing around the island courses, which included the
trailables, multis and locally rated Hamilton Island divisions, it was a blast of strong rivalries with great mateship, summed up by Jon Linton, who took the Yellow Division on his Dehler 46 Llama II. ‘There is a sense of euphoria among the Llama crew after such a long break. It was a fantastic week of sailing up here in the tropics and frankly we are thrilled just to be here. Of course a bit of silver is a nice bonus!’ For one week in August Hamilton Island Race Week was the place
to be. Two of the world’s finest sailors, Tom Slingsby and Sam Newton, flew in at the last moment, fresh off their Sail GP duties, to sail onboard Comanche. However… with the crew lists confirmed at the start of the week, Tom and Sam had to sail as guests onboard, which meant no input was allowed… So, as the ‘neutral observer’ on the boat, I found myself shadowing
Tom and Sam throughout the manoeuvres, making sure no hints, tips, suggestions, advice, observations of any kind were passed to the crew… In fact, this made for something of a phenomenal day, chatting with both of them on the rail about everything bar what we were all enjoying right then. It also marked the first time in Slingsby’s significant career he has had zero input into a boat’s performance (the guy needs a holiday). There are many great regattas around the world but this one continues
to stand out for its warm weather and warm welcome – whatever your level of racing, from humble trailables, to family cruisers, TP52s and powered-up big boats. Witnessing a ton of fun surrounding this event after a complex time of restrictions, to be racing around the Whitsundays with family of friends was a blast for everyone. On the lay-day evening I was staring out over Dent Passage from the yacht club balcony with a cold beverage close to hand, listening to the
26 SEAHORSE
laughter around me, and shaking my head at the stunning sunset unfolding before me, when a line from a Northern Territory Tourism commercial slipped into my mind: ‘If you never never go – you will never never know.’ Blue Robinson
USA Still kickin’ It’s tempting to write about the St Francis YC’s Big Boat Series as a venerable has-been regatta where there used to be acres of colourful sails flown on boats over 40ft that filled the horizon as they ploughed deep furrows in San Francisco Bay. Indeed, in the IOR and into the IMS era the normal circuit of racing included boats from throughout the US west coast – Seattle to San Diego – making the trek to this venue every year to enjoy a week of breezy competitive racing over the entire bay. It’s not so much that same event any more, but the venue and event
management are still world-class: this remains one of the best places on the planet to sail. Those of us with a touch of grey also remember the seamanship
needed in the old days: doing headsail changes and gybe peels, flying bloopers to stabilise the rocking and rolling downwind in ‘The Bay’s’ big thermal breezes and fast-flowing currents… today mostly lost arts with the wholesale swing to much more manageable A-sails. As well as to boats that surf and plane readily rather than tow half the water in San Francisco Bay along with them. Then there are those currents: just as in the Solent, those top local
sailors who understood the 2-3kt+ tidal currents were revered as gods and were a must-have on every team. Back then the VMG of all but the biggest boats was slow enough that this was truly important for the long beats, runs and reaches on the courses. Nowadays the boats are faster and the current vectors are all on an app… it’s a little easier to be a god than it used to be. Yet that was then, and this is now. What used to be a full week
punctuated with relaxing lay-days is now compressed into a four-day weekend. Those lay-days were important for us non-locals to go learn about wine in the Napa or Sonoma Valley… It’s too bad this is no longer
DANIEL FORSTER/ROLEX
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