Curtain closes as divisional winners announced

The curtain has closed on the Silver Jubilee Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, with the results finalised across the board and divisional winners announced for at the prizegiving yesterday. With a record number of entries this year – 241, racing was competitive all regatta. A big boat battle ensued between Wild Oats X and Black Jack but it wasn’t the only one. Several divisions had tight finishes including IRC Grand Prix Division 2 with Ray Harris’ Honeysuckle (with CYCA Commodore Matt Allen on board) winning over Rod Jones’ Alegria  – who were only separated by one point going into the final day’s racing; and PHS Grand Prix won by CYCA’s Peter Goldsworthy and his team on Getaway-sailing.com, followed by Geoff Lavis’ UBS Wild Thing second just 3 points behind and only half a point separating UBS Wild Thing from whalewatchingsydney.net in third.

IRC Grand Prix Division 1
In the overall pointscore Alan Whiteley’s Cougar II finished two points clear of CYCA’s Bob Steel’s Quest, and nine points from the third placed Victorian Cookson 50 Living Doll, skippered by Michael Hiatt.

“It’s a better result than we expected,” said a delighted Whiteley this afternoon. “We have been sailing in very esteemed company…the crew is ecstatic about taking out the grand prix division.

“Logistically it’s hard work getting up here from Melbourne but it’s been well worth it. The courses are great, the event is well run and it’s great fun.” 

“Congratulations to Alan and his team,” said Steel. “We were very pleased to come second.”

IRC Grand Prix Division 2
Eventual IRC Grand Prix division 2 winner Honeysuckle, the Beneteau First 45 skippered by CYCA’s Ray Harris, finished Saturday’s Molle Island Race then waited in the wings, scanning the horizon for Rod Jones’ Archambault 40 Alegria, their series nemesis.

Once the required gap had past, in terms of the number of minutes Honeysuckle had to put between them and Alegria, the crew was confident enough to celebrate their win on board.

“We are very elated…it was a tough series,” said a relieved Harris.

“Apart from having the sails up to check them and the rig, our first proper sail was last Saturday’s opening race. It’s been a roller coaster.

“The boys had the boat flying today. We had a good downwind leg and we opened up a gap on Alegria then worked really hard to maintain speed,” Harris added. CYCA Commodore Matt Allen and CYCA member Michael Spies (navigator) were part of the successful crew of Honeysuckle.

IRC Premier Passage
Graham Jones’ Bluewater, the IRC Premier Passage winner, almost came to grief in the final race today after shaving the north east corner of North Molle Island a little too close and finding themselves stranded on an outlying reef for just under a minute.

“We didn’t do any damage…not that we know of anyway,” said Jones this afternoon.  The Beneteau First 45, which represented both Sydney and Port Douglas at this regatta, is only a month old and this week was its first regatta hit out.

“I’m sailing a new boat with a pretty regular crew, some of us have been sailing together for 20 to 30 years,” said the ecstatic skipper as his crew partied in the background.

Bluewater beat Spirit of Lexus (Michael Keough) and Ross Wilson’s Eagle Rock.

IRC Passage
Luke McGrath’s Sydney 36CR Brookwater Golf sailed to a win in the IRC Passage Division, finishing the series on 11 points just a pinch ahead of Peter Sorensen’s The Philosopher’s Club on 12 points. Matthew Percy’s Beneteau First 44.7 Alacrity from Southport Yacht Club finished third.

Following his strong performance throughout the regatta, Peter Sorensen won the coveted title of Audi IRC Australian Champion after a strong contest with fellow CYCA member Bob Steel’s Quest finishing just 0.095 points behind The Philosopher’s Club, with Alan Whiteley’s Cougar II third.

PHS Grand Prix
Getaway-Sailing.com skipper Peter Goldsworthy said his PHS Grand Prix win had been unexpected in what was an exhilarating final race for the former round-the-world Volvo 60.

“The weather was a bit kind to us but it still wasn’t an easy race,” he said. “The crew really came together today.”

Former CYCA Commodore Geoff Lavis finished divisional runner up with his Inglis/Murray 50 UBS Wild Thing, just half a point in front of Ian Ford and John Griffin’s Beneteau 47.7 Whalewatchingsydney.net

PHS Passage Division 1 & 2
Local Hero owner Peter Mosely from Middle Harbour Yacht Club in Sydney originally thought he had gone from hero to zero in the regatta closer. He was elated to discover later in the day that the team had taken out PHS Passage Division 1.

“We feel phenomenal because we really thought we had gone down the gurgler, then the crew phoned in and found out the results,” said Mosely.

CYCA’s Tim Casey’s St Hillers Quest finished second with Jim Thomas’ Dances With Waves third.

Winning PHS Division 2 came as a shock for Just Quietly owners Sue and Donald Swanson who were scratching for extra crew this week after one of their original crew dropped out.

Sue Swanson said the competition had been exceptional. “There was some good competition from boats of similar sizes. We were very happy with the way our boat sailed,” she said this afternoon.

Andrew Johnson’s OverDrive finished second with CYCA member Andy Kearnan’s Wirrajurnd third.

Cruising Divisions
Full Frontal owner Mark Travis from Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club has claimed the top prize in Cruising with Spinnaker Division 2 in his first Audi Hamilton Island Race Week. CYCA member John Clinton’s Holy Cow placed second with Gerard Webb’s Mandala third.

Final words from the regatta director
Regatta director Denis Thompson is already thinking about how he and his team can improve for next year.

“The courses won’t necessarily stay the same each year, we’ll just keep adjusting as we go by looking at the tides and different courses sailed,” said Thompson this afternoon.

“This year’s record fleet has been great and the level of competition, particularly in the IRC fleet has been strong with results in many divisions going down to the final race.

“The week-long match race between Wild Oats X and Black Jack has been tremendous to watch, like dinghy racing.

“I’m also very encouraged by the level of competition and camaraderie within the cruising fleets. While the big boats get most of the accolades, the strength of the regatta lies with the huge cruising fleet.”

All regatta information and images are available on the website www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au

Entry list https://www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au/rwentrylist.aspx

Final results: https://www.topyachtsoftware.com/results/2008/hammo/series/index.htm ‘