CYCA member Andrew Short has skippered his 80-footer Andrew Short Marine-Shockwave 5 to a emphatic line honours win in the Hempel 35th Gosford – Lord Howe Island Yacht Race, underlining her prospects for this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
The maxi and her crew, including CYCA Commodore Matt Allen, enjoyed an effortless dash across the Tasman Sea, ‘with barely a drop of water on the deck’, just three sail changes and only a couple of tacks.
However, Short and Allen will be rivals in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, with the Commodore skippering his Jones 70 Ichi Ban in the bluewater classic.
ASM-Shockwave 5 crossed the finish line at 07:42:35 Monday morning in a light east-north-easterly breeze, after an uneventful race in moderate northerly breezes.
World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island made a perfect backdrop, its mountains bathed in bright sunlight, as the yacht swept across the line to a warm welcome by the islanders and tourists.
After rounding the Terrigal mark, some 9 nautical miles north of the start in Broken Bay on Saturday afternoon, the yacht powered to windward across the Tasman to reach the island on almost one tack – the second tack was just back to cross the finish line.
However, her elapsed time of 42 hours 42 minutes and 35 seconds for the 414 nautical mile course was 7 hours and 50 minutes outside the race record, set by the Volvo 60 Getaway-Sailing in the 2006 race.
Getaway-Sailing, skippered by Peter Goldsworthy, was no match for the bigger maxi in this year’s race and when Andrew Short Marine-Shockwave 5 crossed the finish line she was more than 42 nm astern.
Although she headed the IRC progressive handicap results on Sunday evening, Andrew Short Marine-Shockwave 5 is under threat from at least three of the smaller yachts, all owned by CYCA members, to win on corrected time, including:
· Patrice Six, Tony Kirby’s X42 had until about 11.30pm Monday to finish to beat the maxi on corrected time and at 0705 today was 115 nm from the Island;
· Occasional Coarse Language, Warwick Sherman’s Cookson 12, had until about 11.30pm Monday to win, and was 108nm from Lord Howe at 0705;
· Sanyo Maris, the 50-year-old Alan Payne-designed, yawl-rigged Tasman Seabird, skippered by Ian Kiernan, founder of Clean Up Australia, had until about 4pm Tuesday afternoon to finish and claim first place in a remarkable comeback to ocean racing.
Based on positions reported at the 0705 hours ‘sked’, when ASM-Shockwave 5 was still 4nm from the finish, Sanyo Maris had moved to top of the IRC handicap leader board after making excellent time in freshening northerly winds overnight.
Sanyo Maris’ position then placed her 162 nm from the finish, having covered 86 nm in 12 hours overnight, making almost the same distance as Occasional Coarse Language and Patrice III.
Gosford Sailing Club calculated the IRC positions based on the 0705 sked this morning as placing Sanyo Maris leading the IRC division from Occasional Coarse Language and the Newcastle yacht One for the Road, skippered by Kym Butler.
In the PHS division, More Witchcraft, the Dibly 42 skippered by CYCA Rear Commodore John Cameron, holds first place from the Gosford Sailing Club entrant Polaris of Belmont (Chris Dawe). In third place is Copernicus, skippered by Greg Zyner from Manly Yacht Club. – Peter Campbell
