Champion Hobart racing yacht Philosopher is about to start its bid to win IRC Division 3 of the Australian Yachting Championships on a extremely hot and windy Port Phillip. Skippered by Shaun Tiedemann, General Manager of the Squadron, the Sydney 36cr faces a fleet of eight boats, with Division 3 scheduled to start at 10.40am on a course off host club, Sandringham Yacht Club.
Melbourne's temperature today is expected to soar to 42 degrees and at 10.20am a 24 knot hot northerly breeze was blowing down the bay. Division 3 is a mixed fleet and includes another Sydney 36cr, M, skippered by Kristian Hatch. All but Philisopher and M are local Victorian boats. Philosopher, however, has a higher IRC rating than M and, in fact, is the second highest rating boat in IRC Division 3 with local Melbourne boat Vertigo, a Summit 35, the highest rating boat in the division.
The 2018 Australian Yachting Championships has drawn a total entry of 42 monohulls racing under IRC and ORCi ratings, plus a multihull fleet for the first time. Division 1 is headed by the 2017 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race overall winner, Matt Alllen's TP52 Ichi Ban.
Words: Peter Campbell
Photo: Peter Watson
10:30AEST/19 January 2018
Philosopher Sydney 36cr I Shaun Tiedemann I Sam Tiedemann I Oli Burnell I Elliott Noye I Samantha Bailey I Alec Bailey I Nelson Brown I Tom Stearnes I Sandringham Yacht Club I Australian Yachting Championship I Australian Sailing - Tasmania I Peter Campbell
