The I’s Have It
Intrigue, IYKYK and Innovator finish as season Champions, but not without a final fight. The RYCT Race Management spun magic in the tricky conditions setting two courses that gave the competitors a tough final round.
“The starts were just how I like it,” says Ian “CWeed” Stewart. “The little boats all amongst the big boats, a little bit of argy-bargy, that’s what it’s all about.”
More than a few crew shared how happy they were with the racecourse on such a shifty split-breeze day.
Division 1 featured two races, with Young Magic winning both IRC and ORC, while Hooligan won on PHS.
“At one point we could see the Division 2 boats with kites coming up the river, and we had kites up going down the river, so we thought, OK time to act,” reports Michelle Boutchard, co-owner of Young Magic, “And that’s racing on the Derwent.”
“I just love the Windward-Leeward stuff. You don’t get a moment to get bored,” adds co-owner Paul Boutchard. The team had a tight Port-Starboard duck with Intrigue and Heatwave Fish Frenzy at one of the top marks. “And you’ve got to be pretty switched on.”
Jazz Player took all three handicap groups in the second race.
“It probably helped that Fork in the Road and Guilty Pleasure VI had to go back [at the start], that gave us a bit of a hop on them,” says skipper Brent McKay. With a clean start, Jazz Player was able to extend in clean air, while more than a few teams had a tough time laying the tight reach.
Intrigue was right behind, however, pulling in seconds and a third, as series new-comer Eye Candy snuck ahead on the IRC results in the second race.
“The Mumm30s were always on us today, keeping us on our toes,” reports Intrigue spokesperson, bowman Jack Harris. “It was always pedal to the metal.”
The Intrigue crew unanimously thanked Year 12 student Charlie Salmon, for his phenomenal progress this season. Apparently, it all started as a bit of a joke, “Just come for a sail,” said Jill Calvert.
Fast forward to the last long-race of the series where Salmon stepped up to replace bowman Harris who was away for the weekend. With such a standout performance, his mullet has nearly been forgiven.
Young Magic took second overall in the series on IRC, edging out Joint Custody on a tiebreaker, second on ORC ratings, and won the PHS.
“Drew Latham did a great job steering,” shares Paul Boutchard, who co-owns the boat with wife Michelle, “We’re really pleased with the whole team, and the work we’ve done to get an old boat up to speed. [Young Magic] is doing what it was designed to do.”
In Division 2, Xcite clipped IYKYK on the final leg to the finish for the Line Honours win, by hugging Wrest Point shore, but it wasn’t enough to win on handicap.
“Certainly worked the forward hands hard today, we did,” laughs Scott “Brainy” Brain of Team IYKYK. “The kites went up and down a few times today.” Well done, Toby Burnell, and to all the bow and mast teams.
But the action didn’t stop there – the highlight of the day was the massive pod of dolphins off the Garrow, “One nearly jumped on board and landed on Colleen!” exclaimed Brainy. “It breached right by the beam of the boat.”
Bandwagon cleaned up on ORC, with IYKYK holding the IRC win, and Kamehameha taking first on PHS. Kamehameha owner and usual skipper David O’Neill thanks Ed Psaltis and Jim Reid for taking the boat round the buoys for the last race of the season.
Bandwagon’s late season success propelled them in the overall series to clinch second place on ORC ahead of Wings Three, just edging Xcite off the podium.
IYKYK started the day already winning the series on IRC and ORC and finished the day taking the PHS win from Serica by a mere point.
In Division 3, Astrolabe won overall on PHS, but it wasn’t quite enough to beat out Innovator for the series win, who took Line Honours and finished second overall. Unfortunately, podium hopeful Hornet was a nonstarter, unable to make the start line due to unforeseen circumstances, but the team had a competitive season with a very tight fleet in Division 3.
The series might be over, but sailing isn’t as Hobart’s local champion looks outwards. “It’s been a tricky season, but a rewarding one,” shares Harris, “Proving that [Intrigue] can go well for the IRC Nationals.”
Harris has been crewing a few seasons now, and the learning never stops. Being aboard Intrigue has been an opportunity for him to observe crew work at its best.
“[The communication] is always so calm and collected,” shares Harris. “There’s no stress on board the boat, which makes it easier for everyone to do their job right, which then makes things run easier – especially for me up the front.”
Good luck to Team Intrigue and their endeavors representing Tasmania at the IRC National Championships – we certainly hope to see them “up the front”.
Words: Lizzi Rountree
Squadron member and Tasmania's world champion sailor Nick Rogers (Karabos), with his crew of Cole Dabner and Simon Burrows, also squadron members, has blitzed the fleet to win the 2024 Australian Championship on 13 points.
Rogers dominated the regatta winning seven of the ten race series to secure his first ever SB20 Australian title. The trophy caps off a great 2024 for Rogers who was crowned the SB20 Tasmanian Champion.
"I feel absolutely fantastic - the first one I have won in the SB20s, and I'm pretty excited about it. We loved the conditions out there. Today, we tried to just stay away from the other two boats, {Nutcracker and Ares], but we ended up getting involved with them anyway, and winning those two last races, I couldn't believe it," said Rogers.
Rogers paid credit to his crew, especially the local knowledge of Dabner who grew up sailing on the River Tamar from the Port Dalrymple Yacht Club, and stressed the importance of preparation for events like this.
"We spent months going through it all - deciding what sails we would use, and everything we chose worked well." said Rogers.
Despite the intense forecast, Race Officer Peter Sluce sent the fleet off for their last two races in 14-18 knots of WNW breeze and on an incoming tide. The breeze was gusting over 20 knots which saw a few more thrills and spills on the race course.
Congratulations to Nick Rogers and crew for this outstanding achievement.
Words: Jane Austin
And that’s a Wrap!
The last of the Combined Clubs Long Race Pennant was true to the name, with most competitors describing the day as just that, “Long”, made longer by the possibility of a Seabreeze that never came.
“Sitting off Little Betsy Island with 5 kts of breeze, 3 kts of current and severe backwash from the island, we didn’t think we would finish before midnight,” laughs IYKYK skipper Steve Chau, sharing what just about the whole fleet was thinking at one point or another.
Luckily the breeze trickled in managing to bring the fleet home with kites up.
“It was a glorious run back from Betsy,” says Gus McKay the sometimes skipper of Jazz Player Z39, “And we enjoyed some really close views of the impressive Porco Rosso.”
While not quite enough for the Cookson 50 to “stretch her legs” according to skipper Paul McCartney, it was still a great day out for Porco Rosso to get ready for some Autumn training before Winter boatwork and their 2024 Sydney to Hobart campaign. The team nabbed Line Honours ahead of Gary Smith’s Fork in the Road Yachting.
And while they didn’t have to, David Calvert and Team Intrigue went ahead and took the win for the day in the Division 1 IRC and ORC handicap, locking and throwing away the key on the Pennant win in both categories, leaving Jazz Player the win on PHS.
Intrigue of course is not just a champion yacht, but a maker of champions.
Only 2 weeks ago Jacinta Cooper skippered her for an overall win on the 2024 Frontline Mind - DSS Women 42 South Women's Regatta, hosted by the Derwent Sailing Squadron.
“Intrigue was a pleasure to sail. She’s a well-balanced boat in immaculate condition,” shares Cooper. “Absolute credit to the Calvert family for looking after this 40-year-old yacht.”
Cooper got her big start in yachting as a young sailor with the help of the Calvert family for her first overseas event in J24s in Newport Rhode Island, and later in J22s in Dubai.
“It was support from the Intrigue fund that helped make these regattas possible,” continues Cooper.
Jill and Don Calvert continue to develop new talent, taking on the newest up-and-comers like Jack Harris who is well on his way to his Yacht Masters.
Just behind the winners, Matthew Keal’s Heatwave - Mumm 36 Fish Frenzy and “CWeeds” Joint Custody had an excellent performance in the final race for 2nd and 3rd in the handicap results for the day, giving Joint Custody the tiebreaker for 2nd overall in the IRC series over Jazz Player, Jazz Player holding on to 2nd in the ORC rating.
IYKYK finished 2nd to Stewart Geeves’ Footloose on IRC both in the race and in the series by one point but managed to keep the ORC win for both. Ron Akhurst’s Jigsaw had a standout performance in Div 2 to finish 2nd on ORC in the race, for a 3rd place overall in the series behind Footloose.
“Spending lots of time parked, followed by a reasonably fast run home helped us,” reports Geeves.
Newcomers Polka Dot Lady (Mike Pritchard) and Anna (fresh import from QLD James Chilman) brought extra competition to the division, finishing 1st and 3rd in Line Honours.
Some of the tightest racing took place in Div 3, with a neck and neck nailbiter between Camlet Way and Joie de Vie – each thinking the other had won in the end. "Some boats did better with lifts up the Western shore,” says skipper Ben Morgan of Joie de Vie, “Surprisingly it stayed lighter in the East although there was a Southeastly forecast.” He and his team managed to win the day by a mere 40 seconds and in doing so took the series, with Camlet Way (Stephen Mannering) and Astrolabe (Peter Bosworth) in 2nd and 3rd overall.
Once again Race Officer Ian Ross and the team onboard made the most of a lackluster day, for a competitive finish to the Pennant.
Once sailors have recovered, it might just be time to think about next year – and McKay has got a few reasons why:
“It's personally my pick of the racing out of Hobart. It’s really close racing and a mixed bag of conditions that keeps everyone on their toes and provides plenty of hero to zero and then back to hero moments!”
One more Saturday to go, to finish off the Summer pennants with the last of the Harbour Series...
Words: Liz Rountree
Colleen Darcey - Intrigue’s crew gets low to leeward to keep the boat moving in light wind & a light start to the final race
Gus McKay - View from Jazz Player to Fork in the Road coming down the run home
David Calvert - Kites up for Team Intrigue off Iron Pot for the final leg home
RESULTS: CC LONG RACE SERIES 2023-24 Results Index (dssinc-results.org)
We are pleased to announce that the latest edition of the Squadron Marine News is now available! You can access it online by clicking HERE. This edition features information regarding subleases, electrical compliance checks, storage options available, Live on Board details and more. There is also a chance to win in our Marine Competition. We encourage you to take a look and stay informed about the latest happenings. Happy reading!
Sublease & Licence Holder Information Booklet 2024We are pleased to announce that the latest edition of the Squadron News is now available! You can access it online by clicking HERE. This edition features exciting updates, important announcements, and insightful articles. We encourage you to take a look and stay informed about the latest happenings. Happy reading!
