Conditions freshened for day two of Audi Hamilton Island Race Week with plenty of action on the windward/leeward courses for the IRC Racing division.
 
As the sou’easter built to 18-20 knots, Bob  Oatley’s Wild Oats X comfortably led Steven David’s Wild Joe and Geoff Ross’s Yendys around the course in this morning’s first race, while further back in the fleet there was action aplenty. 
 
After rounding the top mark for the first time, Michael Hiatt’s modified Cookson 50 Living Doll, from Melbourne, found itself in the unenviable position of trawling its kite underwater.

After cutting away one spinnaker, which they managed to retrieve with only a small tear, Hiatt’s heavy weather kite then blew out and their vang broke, signalling the end of their race.

This afternoon their two torn spinnakers were taken to Airlie Beach to be repaired; however, they anticipate being back on the start line tomorrow for the 60 nautical mile Club Marine Edward Island race which is due to start at 8.50am from Dent Passage.
 
Things turned ugly on Richard Hudson’s Pretty Woman in race one today when their spinnaker shredded, while Leslie Green’s Ginger and You’re Hired also came unstuck a couple of times each.
 
Handicap honours in the first race of the day went to CYCA member Ray Roberts’s Cookson 50 Quantum Racing, a divisional winner last year, followed by Geoff Ross’s Yendys, also from the CYCA, and Wild Oats X in third place.
 
Under a considerably darkened sky and with crews in full wet weather gear, the second race of the day got underway following a short postponement while the top mark was shifted.

CYCA director Graham Wood’s TP52 Wot Yot matched it with Wild Oats X and Wild Joe after the start,  but couldn’t hang on to the bigger boats, finishing in eighth place on handicap, two places behind arch rival and sistership Quest skippered by Jamie Macphail.
 
Handicap results for this afternoon’s race three of the series were dominated by the bigger boats, Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats X winning from Wild Joe and Yendys.
 
Before the start of the first race today, Hobart based Farr 1104 Invincible, which finished second on handicap yesterday, failed its namesake, advising the race committee they were heading ashore to try and repair a broken main halyard before the start of race two. They managed to turn it around and start the second race of the day, finishing seventh on handicap.
 
After suffering mast damage in yesterday’s race, Rob Hanna’s Rogers 46 Shogun has withdrawn from the regatta. Hanna brought his boat up from Geelong to compete in the Audi Sydney Gold Coast race in late July and picked up second overall on handicap in the boat’s debut outing.

From there Hanna’s luck turned sour. He had chartered another Rogers 46 to contest the Rolex Fastnet Race in the UK but when the start of that race was delayed due to storm force winds, he and his crew had to withdraw to return to Australia for the start of Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.

Hanna was then laid up with illness and the crew took the boat out for yesterday’s Lindeman Island race, but during the race the spreaders moved, splitting the mast.- Lisa Ratcliff
 
Official race website https://www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au/