It’s a positive indicator of the way that competition is hotting up at the grand prix end of IRC that no sooner had Sam Haynes (above, nearest camera) withdrawn from the ORCi division of the Sydney Hobart (on an ORC-specific technicality) in which he took 1st place on corrected time than the howls began about Celestial’s IRC rating. Yes, the Hobart is a big race and, yes, for Australian yachtsmen it is the race to win, but there was a clear suspicion that the complaints in Hobart about the latest re-rating of Celestial were scripted and ready to go before the fleet left Sydney. In spite of efforts to stir up trouble, nobody actually got the chequebook out and filed a rating protest so all that the noise generated was bad feeling. Meanwhile, once the Celestial brouhaha died down attention swung onto the S&S 34 Crux – the same design on which Britain’s late former Prime Minister Edward Heath won the 1969 edition of the same race. Rating challenges… put-up-or-shut-up. The mechanisms are already there to sort out such damaging claims properly
they put a plan in place recruiting names such as Rob Greenhalgh and Josh Junior. Once Haynes had been thrown into the harbour by his crew after
receiving the Tattersall Cup he reflected on the victory. ‘It is mind bending – it’s a lifetime achievement really! I have been trying to get my hands on this trophy for a long time. We have a really good team on this boat and so, yeah, we will be back next year, I think… I mean, why wouldn’t you?’ For Irishman Tom Kneen and his 2021 Fastnet-winning crew on
Sunrise – most of them racing their first Hobart, it was a lesson in the complexity of this great race south. ‘We set off like a scalded cat, sailed through the fleet and felt pretty happy with the world,' said Kneen, ‘but by the 28th things were breaking… First, the mast- head halyard lock, which we’ve broken on every 600nm race we’ve done, and so standard operating procedure for us by now. Then the boom broke in half. Then the tiller broke, then sails started to tear… ‘With all this damage I was thinking this is ridiculous – why are
we are even doing this! We had holes in the mainsail. The tiller came off. We had Chinese gybes in the middle of the night, it was brutal, but this amazing crew repaired the boom and it all held together last night going upwind in 35kt! ‘And it was cold. When you go across the Irish Sea in the Fastnet
it is cold, but Wednesday night here was just freezing. Plus the sea state was brutal, it’s like the middle of the Irish Sea on steroids. ‘All this means that I would say it’s a much more difficult challenge
than what we have done before – really this is on a different level. In every 600-mile race you get thrown a bit of everything, but this is all extremes. But one thing I do have to say is the welcome we
received in Hobart was mind blowing – and quite emotional, to be honest. So this is the coolest thing I have ever done, to be sure, topped off by winning IRC Division 3!’ One of Kneen’s crew, Adrienne Cahalan, finishing her 30th Sydney
Hobart – a record for women competing in this event – confirmed the challenges. ‘It was a real Hobart. This race really was one of extremes – more so than many I have done, and when you sail on a 36ft boat you really experience everything that crosses the deck!’ For the two-handed division Rupert Henry and Greg O’Shea sailed
the Lombard 34 Mistral to victory, beating their nearest rivals Sun Fast Racing by over three hours on corrected time, also claiming the two-handed ORCi win, and third place in the Corinthian IRC division. They placed 29th on IRC overall – all accomplished with a broken rudder bearing for the final part of the race. As O’Shea described, ‘Pushing hard on the second evening we had the fully crewed Sunrise crossing our stern! It was the most exhilarating downwind sailing I’ve ever done. We were sailing the boat to its limit and saw 22kt and that is a lot for a 34-footer! But I was amazed at how nicely the boat handled – the Lombard 34s and Jeanneau 3300s in the race really are solid downwind in big seas.’ Pete Langman, skipper of the oldest boat in the fleet, the 9m
1932 Ranger Maluka, arrived in Hobart looking as if he had been out for a day sail. In the standard understated Langman style he looked pretty relaxed, and then reflected, ‘A tough race, that one, nice downwind, then gnarly upwind, super fresh. ‘Pretty scary downwind big-wave sailing in Bass Strait, though…’
The gaff-rigged huon pine Maluka crossed the line after 4d 2h 39m of racing, with Pete completing his ninth race south, this his first
SEAHORSE 17
SALTY DINGO/LIVE SAIL DIE
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