Audi IRC Series at Skandia Geelong Week - Day 1
by Di Pearson 23 Jan 2009 10:09 GMT
Limit is sitting pretty in third place overall in Division 1 after day one of the Audi IRC Series at Skandia Geelong Week © Teri Dodds / Skandia
Audi IRC Series away to a cracking start
The opening two windward/leeward races of the Audi IRC Series at Skandia Geelong Week got away to a cracking start in ideal conditions on Port Phillip this afternoon, a day Division 2 leader, Rod Jones (Alegria), described as “fantastic – beautiful conditions.”
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 in 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.
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.
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 the following day.
Provisional Results after Day 1:
Division 1 (top five, two races, pending protest)
1 LIVING DOLL, Michael Hiatt (RYCV) 1, 1, 2pts
2 WOT NOW, Graeme Wood (CYCA) 3, 2, 5pts
3 LIMIT, Alan Brierty (CYCA) 2, 4, 6pts
4 DEKADENCE, Philip Coombs (SYC) 5, 3, 8pts
5 LOKI, Cameron Miles (CYCA) 4, 7, 11pts
Division 2 (top five, two races)
1 ALEGRIA, Rod Jones (RQYS) 3, 2, 5pts
2 TRUE NORTH, Andrew Saies (CYCSA) 1, 6, 7pts
3 REVERIE, Alan Woodward (RBYC) 4, 4, 8pts
4 RUTH MAGIC, Peter Hill (MHYC) 8, 1, 9pts
5 2.0S JUST A MINOR HICKUP, Peter Coleman (RBYC) 2, 8, 10pts
Division 3 (top five, two races)
1 UPBEAT, Peter Dunne (SYC) 1, 1, 2pts
2 SURPRISE, David Ellis (RYCV) 4, 2, 6pts
3 MRS OVERNEWTON, Leslie Norton (RMYS) 5, 3, 8pts
4 PRIMO, Steve Copley (SYC) 6, 4, 10pts
5 2.0S RECKLESS, Rory Thomas (RBYC) 2, 11, 13pts
Follow the action at www.geelongweek.com.au