Hobart Combined Clubs Harbour Series - Day 1
by Peter Campbell 11 Oct 2014 12:21 BST
11 October 2014
The Farr 40 Wired set the pace in today's opening Combined Clubs Harbour Series on Hobart's River Derwent © Peter Campbell
Wired sets fast pace for River Derwent yacht racing
Farr 40 OD racing yacht Wired set the pace for the 2014-2015 Combined Clubs Harbour Series today with two impressive line honours wins on the River Derwent, also taking first place on PHS handicaps in race one.
Some early afternoon pre-race spinnaker drill on the river paid off for owner/skipper Stephen Boyes, with Wired dashing away from the start to take the line/handicap double in the opening sprint race.
However, a tacking duel with new rival, X & Y, Toby Richardson's Barrett 38, slowed down Wired in the longer race two, with both boats ending mid-fleet on corrected time.
An excellent fleet of 37 boats contested four groups in this first of nine Harbour race days over the summer, with handicap results producing nine different winners on corrected times across the fleet.
Today's mild sailing conditions for the first day of the Harbour Series was in marked contrast to last Sunday's gale which forced race officials to abandon the Channel Race, the opening event in the Combined Clubs Long Race Series.
Group 1 yachts competed under three handicap systems, PHS, AMS and IRC, with Jeff Cordell's Mumm 36 Host Plus Executive achieving the best overall result, a first and a second under AMS, a first and a second under IRC, and two seconds under PHS scoring.
Don Calvert's Castro 40 Intrigue returned to racing with a new Sydney 38 rig to replace the one lost when she was dismasted late last season, her comeback race marked with what principal race officer 'Biddy' Badenach described as a "terrible start" in the first race.
Over the sprint course, Intrigue could not recover, finishing well astern of the leaders, placing seventh under PHS handicaps. However, she still managed a third under AMS and a second under IRC, and in the longer second race won the IRC category and finished second under AMS.
Wired out-sprinted fellow Farr 40 OD War Games (Wayne Banks-Smith) and X & Y in race one, winning the PHS category from Host Plus Executive and Graham Adamson and Jeanette Frawley's Madness, also a Mumm 36.
The third Mumm 36 in the fleet, Ian Stewart's Tas Paints, won race two, PHS category, from Host Plus Executive, third place going to Mem (Paul Boutchard).
Under AMS scoring in Group 1, Harold Clark's Farr 1104 had a first and a third while under IRC, Host Plus Executive and Intrigue each had a first and a second.
Group 2 also sailed two windward/leeward races with Dave Willans' Trouble scoring a first and a fourth on PHS corrected times and Clark Wyatt's Silicon Ship a fifth and a first. Steve Chau's Young 88 Young Lion notched up two second places.
Groups 4 and 6 sailed a long and slow race around harbour marks, with the last boat not finishing until 4.51pm as the light to moderate north-westerly to west-north-westerly breeze faded during the afternoon.
Pirate's Pride (Peter Masterton) took line honours and first on handicap is Group 4 from Chicas (John Lewis) and Kaiulani (Malcolm Cooper) while in Group 6 Greg Biskup's Vistula won on corrected time from Free 'n' Easy (Bob Jones) and Don't Bug Me (Peter Bugg), line honours going to Another Toy (Greg Rowlings).