Tasmanian designed and built yacht Silicon Ship yesterday gave an impressive preview to her prospects of winning next month’s Launceston to Hobart ocean race.
Owned by Bellerive Yacht Club members Dave Wyatt and Gordon Clark, Silicon Ship won both the AMS and PHS handicap categories of the final pre-Christmas Combined Clubs Long Race.
In last year’s National Pies Launceston to Hobart, a 285 nautical mile race from the Tamar River to the River Derwent, sailing down Tasmania’s rugged East Coast, the Knoop 31 finished second in the PHS category and third in the AMS category.
“We are looking forward to this year’s L2H and hope to do at least as well as last year,” co-owner David Wyatt said after yesterday 32 nautical mile race,
“Hopefully, the winds will be similar to those on the River Derwent and Storm Bay today. Such light conditions suit the smaller boats such as Silicon Ship.”
Yesterday’s race to Little Betsy Island and Yellow Bluff and return, attracted a fleet of 36 boats who enjoyed perfect sailing conditions, with a spinnaker run down river from the start and a faster run back up the river to the finish off Astray.
Group 2 boats sailed to Yello9w Bluff and return, Group 3 into Seacroft Bay,,
Conditions suited the smaller and lower rating boats with Silicon Ship finished fourth in fleet in Group B and scoring a comfortable PHS win on corrected time from Tony Ellis’ Moonshadow and Ian Gannon’s Take Five.
In the rated AMS category, Silicon Ship demolished the fleet on handicap, winning from another Launceston to Hobart entrant, Footloose (Stewart Geeves) and Scott Brain and Steve Chau’s Young Lion.
Cleopatra, Matthew Denholm’s Mumm 30 again revelled in the light breezes, winning both the PHS and AMS handicap categories, her record this summer being 2-7-1 for the PHS category and 1-4-1 for the AMS category.
In Group 1, AMS, Cleopatra yesterday won from Don Calvert’s Intrigue and Harold Clark’s Invincible. Intrigue won the IRC category from The Protagonist (Stuart Denny) and Invincible.
In Group 3, Kindred Spirit (Peter Alcock) won from Tarremah (L Duncan_ and Trick Cyclist (Jory Linscott).
Peter Campbell
29 November 2015
