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Octogenarian yachtsman Don Calvert obviously has lost none of his tactical sailing skills on the River Derwent and Storm Bay with his 33-year-old Castro 40 Intrigue.
Calvert steered Intrigue to a double handicap victory in Group 1 of today’s Combined Clubs Summer Pennant race, winning both IRC and AMS scoring categories of the 29 nautical mile race to Betsey Island and return.

Calvert showed initiative at the start, in just two knots of breeze, electing to start to leeward of the fleet in clear air.
After a two-sail reach down the river, Intrigue was thus among the first boats to pick up the freshening seabreeze between Blackman’s Bay and the Iron Pot, then enjoying a fast spinnaker run back from Betsey Island in a 15-20 knots seabreeze
Under IRC scoring Intrigue won from Doctor Who (Rod Jackman) and Madness (Gavin Adamson). On AMS, Intrigue placed first on corrected time from Zephyr (Ian Johnston) and Wild West (Michael and Michelle Denney).

Wayne Banks-Smith’s Farr 40 War Games led the 46-boat fleet home, clear ahead of The Fork in the Road (Gary Smith). Group 1 PHS first place went to Filepro (Tim Gadsby) from Doctor Who and Madness.
Full report on club web site.
Words: Peter Campbell
Photos: Michelle Denney/ Peter Campbell
28 October 2017
Gavin Adamson I Madness Mumm 36 I Ian Johnston I Michelle Denney I Michael Denney I Gary Smith I Fork In The Road Sailing I FilePro Sailing I Tim Gadsby

Hobart’s newest yacht racing format, the Combined Clubs Short-Course championship, got off to a cracking start on the River Derwent yesterday.

In Group 1, Shaun Tiedemann’s Sydney 36cr Philosopher dominated corrected time results in all three handicap categories.

Philosopher placed first in two out of four races under PHS scoring, and had three wins in both the AMS and IRC categories.

However, only seconds separated the top placed boats in each of the four races for Group 1, Philosopher beating X&Y (Toby Richardson) by just one second on PHS scoring in race three.

War Games was placed first in race 2 but faces a protest.

Mark Millhouse’s Masrm 25 Trouble was the stand-out boat in Group 2, winning two of three races for this fleet, under PHS scoring.

A fleet of 14 boats have entered the championship, with helmsmen and crew obviously enjoying the cut-and-thrust of windward/leeward river racing.

The program provides for three days of short-course racing over the summer with up to five races each day

“We would have liked to have had a bigger fleet but the entry list is more than we were getting for the mid-river windward/leeward races last season,” Derwent Sailing Squadron sailing manager Mike Denney said.

Philosopher, sailed by a young crew of ex-dinghy sailors with Shaun Tiedemann’s son Sam on the helm, set the pace in race one for Group 1 outsailing bigger boats to take line honours and win all three handicap categories on corrected time.

With race officer Ian Ross setting the short courses down the eastern shore of the Derwent, Philosopher got caught in a wind shift in race two, finishing second last in fleet.

Trouble dominated Group 2 of the short-course championship on day one.

War Games, Wayne Banks-Smith’s Farr 40, crossed the line first in race two for Group 1, but a protest has been lodged, claiming she rounded a wrong mark.

War Games is provisionally placed first on PHS and IRC scoring, with AMS going to the Mumm 36 TasPaints (Ian Stewart)

Philosopher bounced back for the last two races for Group 1, winning all three handicap categories in race three and AMS and IRC in race four.

Kettering Yacht Club entrant, Rad, Brent McKay’s Radford 35 won the PHS category for Group 1.

After four races for Group 1, Philosopher has a score of 12 points under PHS, with X&Y (Toby Richardson) and Tas Paints (Ian Stewart) both on 13 points.

In the AMS category, Philosopher leads with 6 points from B&G Advantage (Jeff Cordell) on 8 points and TasPaints (Ian Stewart) on 10 points, Under IRC scoring, Philosopher has 7 points Tas Paints 10 and B&G Advantage 11 points.

In Group 2, Trouble and Alibi II (Rod Williams) are both on 6 points with T24 Another Toy on 8 points.

Words: Peter Campbell

Photos: Peter Campbell/Peter Watson

22 October 2017

 

 

Doctor Who, one of Tasmania’s most successful racing yachts of the past three decades, yesterday made a winning comeback in the opening race of the Combined Clubs Summer Pennant, a river race on the Derwent. (more…)

Three Tasmanian enterprises, the Derwent Sailing Squadron, the Tamar Yacht Club and Riversdale Estate Wines, have joined forces to conduct and promote the 2017 Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race, known as the L2H. (more…)

Women sailors have thrown down a challenge to Hobart’s leading yachtsmen in the Derwent’s most exciting and competitive one-design class, the SB20 sports boat.

Joining already experienced and successful SB20 skippers, including Colleen Darcey, Clare Brown, Claire Debner, Jill Abel and Alice Grubb in the Summer Pennant is teenager Issi Declerk.

Issi is one of Hobart’s most talented young woman sailors, recently co-skippering the winning Friends School Girls Team at the Interdominion Schools team championship on Melbourne’s Port Phillip.

The teenager has been sailing since her younger years in International Cadets out of Sandy Bay Sailing Club, representing Tasmania at a national and international level.

In the SB20 class on Thursday evening, Issi will be helming, with an all-female crew, Power of Athena, one of four boats owned by the Athena Sailing Group for female sailors.

Claire Dabner will be steering Essence of Athena, Clare Brown Fire of Athena and Colleen Darcey Pride of Athena.

Jill Abel will be at the helm of Cook Your Own Dinner, owned and sailed by a group mothers of prominent youth sailors at Sandy Bay Sailing Club. Alice Grubb will be steering Big Ted.

The SB20 summer pennant starts this evening as part of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania/Derwent Sailing Squadron combined Thursday twilight races.

Competition is certain to be keen this summer as the River Derwent SB20 fleet, in association with the RYCT and the DSS, is hosting the Australian championship in early December and the World championship in early January.

SB20 skippers include many of Hobart’s most talented sailor, s, including past national and world champions in other classes.

With 45 boats on the register, the Derwent fleet is by far the biggest in Australia and one of the largest regular racing fleets in the world.

More than 40 yachts have entered the RYCT//DSS twilights, including Michael Pritchard’s Cookson 50, one of two Tasmanian boats in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Other prominent racing yachts competing in the three divisions include Philosopher, War Games, Whistler, Wild West, Wings Three and Xephyr.

Words: Peter Campbell

Photos: Michelle Denney, Peter Watson, Jane Austin

4 October 2017

 

 

 

 

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