The Ronald Young & Co Builders 52nd Pipe Opener celebrated a hugely successful three day race with the help of Kettering Yacht Club. The race which had been immensely popular with the Hobart fleet saw this year an average of 40 boats competing throughout the event.
Friday night saw Brett Cooper’s Crusader take out line honours and winning in both IRC and AMS in Division 1. The Melges 32 has been one to watch over the last few years and this year was no exception with the crew having 5 members under 18 years old.
For the first time in Pipe Opener history Derwent Sailing Squadron has created a cruising division which included the ex-America’s Cup boat Gretel II, helmed by Steven Shield, which took out both line honours and PHS from the group on the Friday night race.
Saturday’s race got off to a fantastic start, with a couple of extra Kettering Yacht Club entries joining the race in a 15-25 knot North-easterly breeze. The spectacular display of spinnakers running down the Bruny Island shore provided the spectator fleet a colorful display as they enjoyed the great Spring weather conditions.
Upon conclusion of the series, the results for PHS Division 1 were taken out by Richard Grant’s Cromarty Magellan, a fierce contender from the weekend, placing first with Tony Lagden’s Ripper taking first in Division 2. The Cruising Division saw Catheryn Kerr’s Almalela take out the series in a tightly contested competition.
AMS Division 1 was taken out by Ed Psaltis’s Midnight Rambler and Mike Church’s RQ Six placed first in Division 2 for the series.
IRC saw great talent with Midnight Rambler again taking out first place in Division 1, closely contended by past Commodore Steve Chau’s Young Lion who, following on from success in the Combined Clubs Winter Series, triumphantly continued his winning streak, taking first place in Division 2.
Sunday’s race completed the series with huge success and planning for next year’s Pipe Opener is already underway.
Words & photos - Annie Oates
The sun came down to shine on the weekend of the Pipe Opener in it’s 52nd year. Conditions were beautiful and light in the Derwent River on Saturday morning, not at all similar to Friday night’s race with fluctuating winds and large swells.
Co-hosted by the Derwent Sailing Squadron and Kettering Yacht Club today’s Duggan’s Concrete Cove Cup race was, for the first time, held at the Kettering Yacht Club and with the help of sponsor Ronald Young & Co. Builders, we saw quite possibly the largest turn out in the history of the three day race.
Friday night saw Brett Cooper’s Crusader take out line honours in both IRC and AMS in Division 1. The Melges 32 has been one to watch over the last few years and this year was no exception with the crew having 5 members under 18 years old. Indy Cooper at just 14 years old is no stranger to the racing world having been sailing from a young age, as has her sister Jorja Cooper, 16 who has, among other titles, competed in the 2019 SB20 Worlds in France and competed and placed first in the recent Fahan School Regatta. Other underage crew members include Charlie Goodfellow (17), Jack Allison (17) and Howard Tapping (17).
The other notable yacht that took out the IRC, AMS and PHS for Division 2 was Stewart Geeves Young 88 Footloose. For the first time in Pipe Opener history DSS has created a cruising division which included the ex-America’s Cup boat Gretel II, helmed by Steven Shield, which took out both line honours and PHS from the group.
DSS Vice Commodore Nick Connor was thrilled with the way Kettering Yacht Club’s first year hosting the three day race was going, saying that the new format being inclusive of cruising and family-friendly competitors has been a great success and will continue in the coming years.
“From a Derwent Sailing Squadron perspective, it’s a fantastic opportunity for all of our sailors to get down here to Kettering and support all the local businesses who put on a great show for us, we thank them.”
Saturday’s race got off to a rocky start with Division 4 being let off 5 minutes too early and causing the later Divisions to be postponed, however once the yachts got started we saw a fantastic turn out, with 37 boats overall competing in 15-25 knot North-easterly winds at it’s peak.
Two time World Champion Paul Burnell and major sponsor was enthusiastic about the Saturday race, commenting that, similar to Friday nights competition, it looked like it was going to be ‘tense, fierce but very fair.’ His Beneteau 45, Stella, raced a smooth course Friday night with Saturday faring even better for the crew.
Crusader (Div. 1 IRC 4th and AMS 6th on Saturday) wasn’t the only yacht to have crew members under the age of 18, with the majority of Jazz Player’s crew being between 18 - 23 years old and racing very well on Saturday afternoon placing 4th in Division 1 AMS and 6th in IRC.
Midnight Rambler, helmed by Ed Psaltis, features young locals Anne Stewart (18) and Daniel Matzolic (17) who joined the crew early 2019 and are training for their first Sydney to Hobart. The boat had a spectacular race Friday night but took out the competition on Saturday afternoon with a clean sweep.
Other mentionable boats were Richard Grant’s Cromarty Magellan that placed 2nd in Division 1 AMS and 3rd in PHS. Ian Johnston’s Zephyr was also a close competitor coming in at 5th in Division 1 AMS and 2nd in IRC.
Sunday’s weather looks to be on track for another clear day to end the weekends races.
The success of this years Combined Clubs Winter Series demonstrated the enthusiasm of our Hobart sailors to return to sailing in these unprecedented times. The 2020 Ronald Young & Co Builders Pipe Opener is the traditional lead-up to the official opening of Southern Tasmania yachting season. This year the Pipe Opener will be a collaboration between the Derwent Sailing Squadron and the Kettering Yacht Club. The tradition of the Pipe Opener will continue as it celebrates 52 years of history under a revamped three-day sailing series. This will be the Kettering Yacht Club’s first sailing event since last summer and the local Kettering community are right behind the event in providing community services and catering. This will not only be an event for our sailors, but family and friends will easily be able to join the festivities with only a short 30-minute drive from Hobart to Kettering.
The Hobart to Kettering Race, with the Cruising Division starting at 4pm and Racing Divisions starting at Castray Esplanade at 7.30pm on Friday 18 September, is the opening race and part of the Hobart Combined Clubs Offshore Series. With course options including Storm Bay and the D’Entrecasteaux Channel and, apart from the newly-created Cruising Division, conducted entirely in the hours of darkness this challenging race will test the fleet.
Saturday afternoon sees the Duggan’s Concrete Cove Race, hosted by the Kettering Yacht Club, sailed around the scenic Channel, while on Sunday morning the fleet will race back towards Hobart in the Kettering to Pierson’s Point Race.
With over 35 entries already received, DSS Vice-Commodore Nick Connor is pleased with how the new format has been received. “All events need to be refreshed from time to time and the Pipe Opener is no exception,” he said. “We are enjoying working with Kettering Yacht Club, one of Tasmania’s most progressive clubs, in conducting this major event for the Squadron.”
“Joining our long-time Squadron sponsor Ronald Young & Co Builders is Duggan’s Concrete, a stalwart of the Huon Valley, forming a strong partnership to ensure the viability of the Pipe Opener,” Connor said.
A strong fleet will greet the starter on Friday with the winner of the 2020 Combined Clubs Winter Series Division 1 John Dryden’s Jazz Player being joined by Division 2 winner Ian Johnston’s Zephyr and Division 3 winner Steve Chau’s Young Lion.
In Division 1 there is a seriously rapid pair of Melges 32s in Crusader Clennents Mitre 10 (Brett Cooper) and Cockwomble (Andrew Smith) as well as the Cookson 50 Oskana (Michael Pritchard). The crack young crew of Crusader will be testing their overnight sailing skills with 5 of the 8 crew under 18 years of age, with the youngest crew Indy Cooper sailing her first overnight race.
Stretching her legs in a longer race since recently arriving in Hobart is Quest (Quest Syndicate) and it is pleasing to see Mark Bayles’ Kraken 42S fully-recovered from damage sustained in a Winter Series collision and joining the fleet for next Friday’s race.
The Cruising Division is headed up by Paul Burnell’s Beneteau 45 Stella along with the Moody 45 Eenee (Sue Alison-Rogers), Bruce McIntosh’s Beneteau 45 Marika and Tamar Yacht Club entrant Believe (Richard Fisher). This Division will be a race within a race as the cruising boats enjoy a lighter sailing program, but still with some white line fever competition.
Words: Colleen Darcey & Nick Hutton
Photos: Colleen Darcey
