Rating Series
Graeme Wood’s TP52 Wot Now has finally outsmarted and outsailed the crafty Syd Fischer’s Ragamuffin as the two TP52s continue their relentless tussle for handicap pole position heading into the Rolex Sydney Hobart start next week.
With two wins from two, Wood’s Julian Freeman-skippered Wot Now sailed a faultless day three of the Rolex Trophy Rating Series, even beating Geoff Ross’ Reichel/Pugh 55 Yendys over the line in the first race of the day.
“We did a bit of damage yesterday and there were a few operator errors. We repaired the boat overnight, had a crew meeting to talk about what went wrong and went out today with a new outlook,” said Freeman, who is sailing his second season with Wood.
“It would be great to finish with a win tomorrow, it would be a real confidence booster heading into the Rolex Sydney Hobart, and a great result for Graeme, particularly after all the time and effort he’s put into the boat,” he added.
Freeman is preparing for his 23rd Rolex Sydney Hobart and will be one of three helmsmen driving Wot Now south for its maiden 628 nautical mile race to Hobart.
In 15-17 knots of sou’west breeze, “plus enough shifts to make it interesting” according to PRO Denis Thompson, both divisions started cleanly in both races.
With dolphins swimming through the fleet and a reasonably good seaway off Sydney Heads, Wot Now (Division 0/1) and Sam Newton’s Kirribilli (Division 2) were today’s double winners.
Wot Now has moved to the top of Division 0/1 pointscore and now leads Ragamuffin by 1 point with Yendys in third heading into the final day of the four day series.
In IRC Division 2, a second and third was enough for Nicholas Bartels’ Victorian Sydney 47 Terra Firma to hang onto the top spot after six races. Kirribilli is sitting in second four points behind Terra Firma with Guy Stening’s Optimum third on the pointscore.
Passage Series race to Botany
Peter Harburg’s Queensland Reichel/Pugh 66 Black Jack switched from short course racing over the past two days to the 25 nautical mile dash south to Botany Bay and back, the first of the two race Passage Series.
In “Hobart-ish” conditions including a very dark ocean, ominous looking sky and a white-capped Sydney Harbour, skipper Mark Bradford and his talented crew of round the world and Olympic sailors set off from the start line off north of Shark Island at 10am with the rest of the 12 boat fleet.
Most of the fleet opted for the western shore while Bradford cruised along the Harbour beaches on the eastern shoreline to gybe inside Andrew Short Marine’s ASM Shockwave 5, the largest in the fleet at 80 feet and the early race leader at Sydney Heads.
Black Jack was boat for boat with Matt Allen’s Ichi Ban when trouble struck the Jones 70, forcing them to retire. Ichi Ban is currently up on the hardstand at Rozelle where the damage has been assessed. At this stage Allen is predicting a return to the water by Tuesday, just three days out from the Rolex Sydney Hobart start.
Black Jack took the overall win today from ASM Shockwave 5 and Leslie Green’s Ginger.
“When you reduce the manoeuvres and let the boat sail to its numbers it seems to work out better for us,” said Bradford this afternoon.
“Today was all about the boys, they really lifted.”
Bradford’s not reading too much into today’s handicap results but he is very conscious of Grant Wharington’s position on the handicap pointscore, a fifth despite a late start that saw the 98 foot maxi Skandia trail the Bill Sykes’ skippered Wot Yot and Ray Roberts’ Cookson 50 Quantum Racing out of Sydney Heads in ninth place.
“I think Skandia is going to be the one to watch (for the Rolex Sydney Hobart),” warned Bradford.
With the last of the crew arriving from Melbourne just 40 minutes prior to the start of the passage race, Skandia was late to the start, plus they were trialling a new reefable jib in the pre-start.
“We needed set-up time with the new sail but we were running late.
“It was an excellent course, particularly the start in Sydney Harbour. It went a bit light after a rain squall, down to six knots, but the breeze came back in,” said Wharington.
In the Passage Race PHS results, Black Jack pipped the stunning Swan 605 Ginger and ASM Shockwave 5.
Tomorrow’s forecast is for variable 5/10 knots, tending E/NE 13/18 knots in the afternoon. By Lisa Ratcliff/Rolex Sydney Hobart media team
