This year’s Launceston to Hobart yacht race will be the 11th edition, but for prominent Bellerive Yacht Club member Jeff Cordell and two of his crew of B&G Advantage this will be the their 10th.
It’s a significant year for Cordell as he was the winner, line and handicap, of the inaugural race in 2007, and his Mumm 36 will start one of the favourites, for handicap honours at least, in this year’s race.
“We think this is quite an achievement for a race that has been running for just 11 years, with Gary Eiszele and Paul Curry also sailing their 10th L2H with me,” Cordell said yesterday.
Jeff Cordell at the helm of B&G Advantage.
Joining other regular crew members, Jarryd Cohen, Alex Jarvis and Will Thomas will be Ian ‘’Seaweed’’ Stewart and Jim Thorpe, normally arch rivals on the water sailing Tas Paints, which is also a Mumm 36.
“Will is only 16 and will be sailing in his first L2H, but he has been racing with us all this season,” Cordell added.
Recalling the first L2H race, Cordell said “everything went well for us in that race…we got a break on the bigger boats and held on to take line honours and also win the IRC and AMS handicap trophies.”
In contrast, last year was a race he would rather forget. “We were becalmed in The Mercury Passage inside Maria Island and then we sat for two hours within sight of the finish line while the smaller yachts sailed up the river.”
The 285 nautical mile Riversdale Estate Wines L2H 2017 starts from off Inspection Head wharf at Beauty Point on the Tamar River at 11.30am on Wednesday week, 27 December.
The fleet, which includes two Victorian yachts and three from Tamar clubs, is headed by race record holder, The Fork in The Road (Gary Smith) and last year’s line honours winner Tilt (Peter Cretan).
Fork in Road - L2H race record holder.
This 11th edition of the race down Tasmania’s rugged East Coast has attracted a fleet of 24 competitors, with the Derwent Sailing Squadron and the Tamar Yacht Club, pleased with the size and quality after last year’s record fleet for the 10th anniversary race.
Words: Peter Campbell
Photos: Jeff Cordell, Peter Watson
14 Deember 2017
In just on a month’s time Hobart yachtsman Brett Cooper and his talented crew of the SB20 Aeolus will be lining up on the River Derwent as one of the local favourites for the World championship in this spectacular one-design sports boat class.
Cooper and his crew of Darren ‘’Twirler’’ Jones and Nick Corkhill yesterday underlined their World championship prospects by scoring a convincing overall victory in the SB20 Australian championship on the Derwent.
Cooper finished with a net 28 points score, including four straight races mid-series followed by two seconds, ending the series yesterday with a seventh and a third.
This placed Aeolus eight points clear of international champions in other classes: foiler Moth World Masters champion Rob Gough in Difficult Woman who was second overall, and former International Dragon class world champion Nick Rogers, helming Karabos, third.
Brett Cooper and crew.
Gough finished with a net 36 points, his worst place a ninth, while Rogers outsailed the fleet in race nine yesterday to finish with 37 points.
Just one point back came 2017 SB20 world championship runner-up Michael Cooper with Export Roo, who won three of the ten races, finishing the regatta with a spirited win in the last race.
A 20th place in race nine probably cost Export Roo a podium finish.
Safe and sure crew work and smart tactics, as well as top class helming in close encounters were the key factors to success in this fleet, with sail handling on the near-planng spinnaker runs resulting in many changes of positions in fleet.
Brett Cooper’s crew regular Nick Corkhill and international sailor ‘’Twirler’’ Jones, a six times world champions sailor in the Mumm 30 class certainly proved a major factor in their success. Jones, born in Hobart, was an inductee into the Tasmanian Yachting Hall of Fame in 2016.
Hobart’s SB20 fleet is one of the biggest in the world and the current and future depth of talent was evident in the four day racing by the 36 boat fleet, which included five women’s teams and four youth crews.
Youth champion is prominent Laser Radial dinghy sailor Sam King who finished a most impressive 11th overall in fleet.
Brainwave surfing downwind.
The Women’s championship was fought out by two crews from the Athena Sailing women’s group, Fire of Athena (Clare Brown) beating Pride of Athena (Colleen Darcey) by two points.
Nick Rogers, the founder of the SB20 class in Hobart, was declared 2017 Masters champion while the Corinthian Trophy was won by David Graney and his crew.
The SB20 World championship will be conducted jointly by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and the Derwent Sailing Squadron from 8-11 January, preceded by a pre-Worlds Regatta.
A fleet of more than 60 boats is expected, including 20 from overseas, among them the current World champion Jerry Hill who beat Tasmania’s Michael Cooper by just two points at Cowes, England last September.
Words: Peter Campbell
Photos: Jane Austin
1800/11 December 2017
Crews of the 35 SB20 sports boats contesting day one of their Australian championships yesterday spent around six hours on the water for eight attempts to start a race – and just two affirmative outcomes.
It was a most frustrating day for all concerned, the sailors, the race officers and the volunteers who manned the start, finish and mark boats, except for the winners – Rob Gough in Difficult Woman and Michael Cooper at the helm of Export Roo.
The wind was there, from the WNW, but it swung in all directions and at times just ‘’went up in the air’’, leaving boats sailing backwards in the strong outrunning Derwent tide.
“We had six attempts at starting a race before we finally succeeded with seventh and eighth goes,” race officer Nick Hutton said back ashore.
Race one was abandoned as the leaders neared the windward mark for the second time.
An attempt at a restart ended 27 seconds before the ‘gun’ – and then began the long, long wait.
Karabos broaches in a gust on day one of he SB20 nationals.
The skippers were aggressive on the start line, too, with several general recalls and BFDs (black flag disqualifications).
In fact, it was not until after 4pm that the first race successfully got under way, in 12 knots WNW breeze. Race two got underway after 5pm.
But it was worth the wait, both races providing brilliant sailing that saw the best in crew work and tactical sailing in the SB20, a high performance, one-design sports boat.
The skill of the locals certainly augers well for the SB20 Worlds to be sailed on the Derwent next January.
Back to the winners and those who gave them the toughest competition.
Rob Gough certainly dominated the racing, with the champion foiler Moth sailor notching up an official first and second after the frustrations of the abandoned race one where he was leading.
Sailing Difficult Woman, he won race one from former State champion Scott Brain, helming Brainwave and Hypertronics. skippered by SB20 Australian class president Steve Catchpool.
Sailing with the same crew that sailed on Export Roo at the recent World championships at Cowes, England, Michael Cooper was his best in race two, winning from Rob Gough and class veteran Nick Rogers in Karabos.
At the end of day one of the SB Nationals, Difficult Woman leads with three points, followed by Rogers on seven, Cooper nine, Mathew Pilkington (Hentycc) 10, Steve Catchpool 13 and Elliott Noye (Porco Ross) 15 points.
Words: Peter Campbell
Photos: Jane Austin
9 December 2017
