TP52 Southern Cross Cup at Sandringham Yacht Club - Overall

Australian TP52 Southern Cross Cup final day © Teri Dodds

Australian TP52 Southern Cross Cup final day © Teri Dodds

Team Beau Geste wins round one of inaugural TP52 Southern Cross Cup

The Karl Kwok owned and Gavin Brady helmed TP52 Team Beau Geste has comfortably out-sailed the Australian fleet contesting round one of the inaugural TP52 Southern Cross Cup on Port Phillip.

Hong Kong registered and campaigned by a majority New Zealand crew, Team Beau Geste proved too strong for the locals, finishing four points ahead of Marcus Blackmore's class act, Hooligan.

"What a fantastic regatta," Brady announced. "It's what you see in Europe and what an environment for pushing seven and a half tons of boat and massive spinnakers around the course." On the level of competition Brady grants it's the best in Australia at the larger end of the IRC keelboat scene.

While Kwok couldn't be at this regatta due to Chinese New Year commitments, Brady says he plans to be at the next one, at the end of April.

Blackmore's aim today was to keep the lid on hometown favourite, Jason Van Der Slot's Calm 2, and relegate them to third. That's exactly what they did - by a single point.

On the regatta's success Blackmore was triumphant. "Four different boats won races and that augers for the next event."

The full eight-race series was completed over three days, today's equally fluky but fresher sou'east to south breezes averaging 12 knots and gusting up to 18 knots allowing Principal Race Officer Denis Thompson to squeeze a third and final race in before the cut-off designed to give interstate and overseas crews an early mark to make flights this afternoon.

Rob Hanna's Shogun V finally found its groove today, the lumpy seas and pressured-up conditions suiting the Geelong boat, which, given their Audi IRC Australian Championship win a fortnight ago, was surprisingly left found wanting in the wake of the dominant trio of Team Beau Geste, Hooligan and Calm 2. Today's two race wins from three starts were Shogun's saving grace and they managed a fourth when all points were tallied.

Given they are without a benchmark to race against on the winterish waters of the Derwent River, Tony Lyall's Cougar II from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania sailed an impressive regatta, their slippery speed in light air and tidy crew work delivering a fifth on the points table. Their best result was a second in race two.

Overall Results:

The eight owners who sat down yesterday morning to discuss the format for the remainder of the series came away agreeing that everyone is on the same page, and with a number of resolutions.

Terry Wetton, Marcus Blackmore's crew boss, is the newly elected Australian TP52 Class President, Denis Thompson is the series' ongoing Principal Race Officer and event manager New Tack is class secretary.

"It's been a massive success," said Wetton, both organiser and competitor this afternoon. "I don't think these owners would have ever raced boat-on-boat like they had the opportunity to do at this regatta. Everyone's skill level rose as the level of competition rose, and there are still a few things we can do to bring the racing even closer."

Wetton praised host venue, Sandringham Yacht Club, and Thompson and his race management team on the success of this first stage of the brand new series, the brainchild of Australian TP52 owners who are setting the agenda on how they want to race their like boats.

Crew numbers were discussed and in the interests of safety it was agreed that all boats can carry one more amateur crew member, taking the total crew to 13 for the newer TPs and 15 for the earlier generations, which are also eligible for an age allowance.

Owners also talked about upper wind ranges for downwind starts and for racing.

So owners don't have added delivery costs, the next stage of the Australian TP52 Southern Cross Cup will be held back at Sandringham Yacht Club from 26 – 28 April, taking advantage of the Anzac long weekend and coinciding with the Sandringham Yacht Club Centenary Trophy Regatta.

Melbourne's international airport allows sailors to conveniently fly direct to the regatta and SYC's newly built clubhouse and floating marina, and club philosophy on staging such high calibre events, have made it the perfect venue for the series opener. The yacht club deck and breakwater wall with its full public access created a unique platform for stadium sailing, without the ticket price.

Owners will look at a four-part series for this year, two in Melbourne and two in Sydney in the second half of the year following the Queensland winter circuit. The Sydney venues haven't yet been determined.

Round one prize for first was the owner's weight in Coopers 62 Pilsener, which Brady donated back to the post-race celebration. The stunning perpetual trophy donated by Marcus Blackmore will be awarded at the series conclusion.

Based on early indications, a fleet of 10 TPs could be on the start line for the remaining three stages of the first-ever Australian TP52 Southern Cross Cup.

TP52 women grinding smarter not faster

The muscle factor comes into play in the TP class, one of the reasons these hard core racing machines are handled predominantly by men. At the inaugural TP52 Southern Cross Cup being held on Port Phillip in Victoria this weekend there is a handful of women among the 100 crew contesting the grand prix series opener.

John Williams and Graeme Ainley's Calm, Michael Martin's Frantic from Newcastle and Jason Van Der Slot's Calm 2 all have a woman on the team, and all bring different expertise to the campaign.

Jade Mackay's role is mid bow on Sandringham Yacht Club boat, Calm 2, managing sails and sail changes. She believes she's completed the most Rolex Sydney Hobarts on a TP for a woman – five – and has been on the Calm program for the past three years, sailing the original TP Calm and now Van Der Slot's new toy.

"Mid-bow is pretty challenging when the breeze is up," she admits. A regular weekly gym session with the crew is part of the commitment to racing a boat of this pedigree.

"The more these boats develop the more muscle they take," Mackay reckons.

At this regatta the owners introduced a crew limit as well as a cap on the number of professionals each of the eight boats could carry.

For Elizabeth Williams, navigator on Calm, this means as well as running the computers and stepping in to call tactics when her dad, John, takes a break from the wheel, Williams is down inside the boat in the 'sewer' pulling the enormous kite back into the boat at each drop.

Navigating is less physical than Mackay's role, but long days on the water and the mental drain of hours of concentration take their toll.

"Dad and my brothers have always sailed big boats and when they needed a fill in they could rely on me to turn up, even in foul weather, because I'm family," said Liz dockside at SYC.

Her advice for women wanting to enter this league of sailing is, "know what you can offer and put yourself out there. These are not the sort of boats you get a ride on randomly."

Emma Wilson does 'strings' on Frantic, the 2004 model TP, which means she pulls the halyards that hoist the sails. Going into day three Wilson says the energy level is still high. "It's great being so active. We have found the level of competition here really exciting; we are picking up new things every day."

Gavin Brady, helmsman on Karl Kwok's Team Beau Geste from Hong Kong, has plenty of Northern Hemisphere experience in the TP52 class and says the United States is where women are chiefly racing TPs.

"It's technique more than grunt. These boats are about finesse and on our boat we say 'grind smarter not faster'", says Brady from his perch at the top of the pointscore going into today's final races. "It's great to see a few women getting in the mix at this regatta."

Mackay hopes to see a few more at the next stage of this exciting new series, "I'm all for supporting more women in sailing."

A new Port Phillip Women's Championship Series endorsed by Yachting Victoria and created by the Women and Girls in Sailing Committee is receiving great support from the major clubs. The umbrella pointscore is designed to develop participation and more skilled women who could very well find themselves part of a TP52 crew down the track.