Syd Fischer, arguably the doyen of Australian ocean racing yachtsmen, tonight will mark the start of his 45th season in ocean racing when he skippers his latest Ragamuffin in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Bird Island Race.
The 85 nautical mile race to Bird Island, a small rocky outcrop near Norah Head on the New South Wales Central Coast, starts at 7.00pm with an expected fleet of about 23 ocean racing yachts.
It is the second race of the CYCA’s prestigious Blue Water Pointscore, the first being the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Race in July, but is the first overnight race of the spring/summer season.
Fischer, now in his 80s, will skipper his new Ragamuffin, a TP52, described as a turbo-charged ocean racer, which he bought after the former US-owned yacht had competed in the TransPac Race earlier this year.
“This is Ragamuffin number 12 – twelve hulls and ten decks,” the veteran ocean racer said today. “This is certainly a quick boat and accelerates fast, but it will be a matter of getting used to it,” he added.
“I don’t expect to do well tonight; we need to make some modifications, including getting the weight lower in the keel, before she is optimised for racing here.”
Fischer plans a major campaign this summer, including the Savills Short Ocean Racing Championship, the Rolex Trophy and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
This will be his 39th Hobart Race, while his sailing master Tony Ellis last year competed in his 40th Hobart.
Ragamuffin will join another TP52 (TP stands for TransPac) in tonight’s Bird Island Race, Graeme Wood’s Wot Yot.
“Tonight’s Blue Water Pointscore Race is one of the best in quality and quantity we’ve seen for several seasons,” CYCA sailing manager Justine Kirkjian said today.
“In addition to Ragamuffin and Wot Yot, the fleet includes a number of newcomers to the Blue Water Pointscore such as Rod Skellet’s Pogo 40 Krakatoa II and the modified Farr 40 Splash Gordon, skippered by Stephen Ellis,” she added.
A benchmark in the fleet will be Ray Roberts’ well-performed Cookson 50 Quantum Racing, with other entries including the two Sydney 47CRs Balance (Paul Clitheroe) and Endorfin (Peter Mooney).
Geoff Hill will be sailing his first ocean race with Swan Song, the former Swan 48 Loki, while among the smaller boats is Zephyr, the Farr 1020 owned by James Connell and Alex Brandon from Balmain Sailing Club.
Another octogenarian yachtsman competing in the Bird Islet Race is 85 year old John Walker from Middle Harbour Yacht Club, again skippering his Peterson 33 Impeccable – starting his preparation for their 24th Rolex Sydney Hobart Race together.
Also lining up for another season of ocean racing is Kevin O’Shea’s classic Sparkman & Stephens 37 Stormy Petrel, which won the One Ton Cup world championship in 1975 – skippered then by Syd Fischer. – Peter Campbell
