Posts Tagged spinnaker
18ft Skiffs: Cordukes Clubhouse Trophy
Posted by Malcolm in Uncategorized on January 18, 2012
Frank Quealey
Posted: 9 Jan. 2012
Rag & Famish Hotel’s winning action
18ft Skiff Racing resumed on Sydney Harbour today when the Australian 18 Footers League conducted the Cordukes Clubhouse Trophy race over a 3-buoys North-East wind course.with the wind up around 18-20 knots the fleet was split on the decision whether to go with the bigger #1 rig or the #2.The Rag & Famish Hotel team of Jack Macartney, Peter Harris and mark Kennedy elected to go with the #2 rig and the decision proved a winner as they scored an easy win after leading for most of the race.The NSW champion Thurlow Fisher Lawyers team of Michael Coxon, Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas finished 3m47s behind Rag & Famish with Lumix (Jonathan Whitty, James Hozack and Greg Dixon) a further 3m8s back in third place.Asko Appliances (Marcus Ashley-Jones) and Rag & Famish Hotel won the start but Rag & Famish was soon in the lead on the first windward beat to the 3-buoys marks at Beashel Buoy.?The Rag? held a 35s advantage over Archie Massey?s Mojo Wines with Thurlow Fisher Lawyers third ahead of Lumix, Smeg (Nick Press), Yandoo (John Winning Jr.), Appliancesonline.com.au (Micah Lane) and Fisher & Paykel (Andrew Chapman).after a spectacular first spinnaker run, Rag?s leading was extended to 1?m over Mojo Wine, which was just ahead of Thurlow Fisher Lawyers, Lumix, Smeg and Yandoo.there was no competitor able to match the speed of Rag & Famish Hotel which went to a 2m lead at the second set of windward marks.from there her victory was never in doubt as the team sailed brilliantly in the testing wind to go further ahead at each rounding mark.The Thurlow Fisher Lawyers team also did a great job under the pressure of carrying their bigger #1 rig as well as giving ?starts? to most of the fleet.Strong winds between Shark and Clarke islands on the run to the finish saw a number of ?hairy? moments for the crews as they battled under spinnakers to make the finish line.A special mention must also go to Nick Press (skipper of Smeg), who returned to Australia just before the race after winning his third successive 12ft Skiff Interdominion Championship in New Zealand yesterday.
Anything but plain sailing when hi-tech falls flat
Posted by Malcolm in Uncategorized on May 29, 2011
IT was supposed to be a dash around the harbour, a chance to test under race conditions the new hi-tech canting keel fitted to Ian Oatley's multi-million-dollar Reichel/Pugh 42-foot yacht.
Oatley, whose winemaker father Bob owns the champion Sydney-to-Hobart racer Wild Oats XI, chose to skip the race, instead spending the weekend at the family-owned Hamilton Island resort in Queensland.
He left the running of the boat, which is named Q, to skipper John Hildebrand.
It was only the second time the yacht had been in a race since being launched two months ago.
It was with the fleet of 134 yachts taking part in the annual winter series, running down Sydney Harbour under spinnaker towards their mark at Watsons Bay when disaster struck.
Principal race officer for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Robyn Morton, said the wind was "all over the place".
"The pressure was up and down, but the breeze didn’t get above 10 knots," she said.
Oatley’s yacht simply keeled over to its side as it approached the Watsons Bay marker buoy, forcing the crew to scramble to safety.
All that could be seen of the yacht was the dark hull on its side and the crew standing on various parts of the hull.
Hildebrand declined to speak to The Australian when contacted last night, as did crew member Cameron Miles.
"it was gear failure," Ian Oatley said when contacted by phone on Hamilton Island.
"All the people on board were very experienced crew members.
"We’ll get the keel fixed and be back racing in a week."
CYC race officials responded to the stricken yacht, as did an unnamed competing yacht.
Once secured, the yacht was taken under tow to the CYC at Rushcutters Bay.
A spokeswoman for the CYC when contacted last night said the Oatley yacht was the most radical offshore racing yacht to be launched in decades.
"it was built to capitalise on the exceptional performance gains that come from canting keels by taking the movable ballast concept to the limit, allowing the entire keel fin and ballast bulb to rotate around the hull so that when it is fully canted it is completely clear of the water," she said.
"it had been four years in the making from the design-phase, to development and finally built in Sydney."
<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/anything-but-plain-sailing-when-hi-tech-falls-flat/story-e6frg6nf-1226065212121tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/anything-but-plain-sailing-when-hi-tech-falls-flat/story-e6frg6nf-1226065212121Sun, 29 May 2011 14:06:31 GMT 00:00″>Anything but plain sailing when hi-tech falls flat