As skipper Robert Albert described them, “four old codgers” sailed his Beneteau 305 Norn through near survival conditions to take line and handicap honours in the Squadron’s Division 3 race on Saturday.
Norn was one of only 15 yachts in the Squadron fleet to complete the Harbour course as a vicious sou’wester whipped in at 40 to 45 knots, decimating the RSYS, MHYC and other club fleets which had started racing in a pleasant moderate breeze.
Four of those 15 were the sturdy cruiser/racers of the old half ton variety that form the nucleus of the Division 3 inshore fleet with the Squadron. Only two boats finished in Division 1 and one in Division 4, along with seven Etchells and one Dragon.
Norn took line honours in Division 3 from the James Merrington’s classic wooden Julnar class Eventide, which has joined the Squadron fleet after more than 50 years of sailing with SASC – looking for stronger competition.
Third to finish was John Jeremy’s East Coast 31 Tingari, followed by the one-time Sydney Hobart Race winner, the Currawong 30 Zeus II (Jim Dunstan) and her sistership Bloodhound (Andrew Rodger and Malcolm Shaw).
On corrected time Norn won by just under a minute from Tingari and Eventide. Four other boats did not finish, with the outcome likely to change the top order in the Division 3 pointscore.
“Normally, my racing crew is six or seven, but today we were down to four – all old codgers who have been racing together for 20 years,” Norn’s owner/skipper Robert Albert said after the race. “We hoisted a No 2 jib and put two reefs in the main; we held life and limb together as the wind peaked at 45 knots and remained at 25-30 knots for the rest of the race.”
Norn is the only Beneteau 305 to have been imported into Australia, a production version of a former European-designed Half Ton Cup winner. “In a blow she is quite comfortable…but it was still a matter of survival,” Albert added.
John Jeremy, owner/skipper of another original Half Ton design, the East Coast 31 Tingari, designed by Peter Cole, gave a graphic description of the race, which he sailed under full main and No 3 jib, with just one crew member, Chris Mifsun:
‘The Etchells, Division 1 and the Dragons started in a light north-easterly
which was beginning to fade as Division 3 approached the start. Whilst it
could be seen to be swinging north-west further up the harbour, those who
tacked east had an initial advantage. But it was soon lost as the wind
shifted to the north-west and began to freshen, just as forecast!
’It looked like being a fast race in a soldier's breeze as the starter had
shortened the course in anticipation of continuing light winds. The wind
continued to freshen and tend to the west, soon reaching over 25 knots in
the gusts. Several boats wisely began to reduce sail and the fleet was close
together at the Lady Bay mark, which was a busy part of the harbour with the
SASC Super 30 Division in the same area.
’The wind increased on the leg to WS mark and gave some boats unexpected round-ups, adding to the interest.
’On the run to Obelisk the weather really got interesting, as a sudden drop
in temperature and a change in wind direction heralded the arrival of the
southerly at around 30 knots. The second last leg to SP was no longer to be
a simple reach but turned into a hard beat in a very gusty wind, which
reached 40 knots at times, and choppy seas whipped up by the wind over tide.
’Casualties began to mount - with Alouette, Half Hour, Kupu Gila and Mingara
III deciding that a return to base was preferable to persisting in the
conditions.
’The race ended with a fast run to the finish off Bottle and Glass. Norn took
line honours followed by Eventide, Tingari, Zeus II and Bloodhound. The
handicap win went to Norn with Tingari second and Eventide third.’
Only two boats finished Division 1 with Charles Curran’s 60-footer Sydney taking line and handicap honours from Norske (Bruce Dickson and Catherine Hespe) while Peter Campbell’s 28-year-old Bonbridge 27 Hornblower, skippered by Steve Sweeney, was the only boat to finish in Division 4.
In the Etchells, only seven of the 22 starters completed the course, with The Front Row (Ben Lehmann) winning from Roulette (Mark Johnson) and Bushfire (Jervis Tilley). Only one of the six Dragon starters finished – Riga (Martin Burke).
The combined clubs mini-regatta for J24s and Ynglings was abandoned after one race, but there was drama as the Middle Harbour J24s headed back home.
Two sailors were knocked overboard from J24 Jaybird after a collision and dismasting in wild conditions on Sydney Harbour, but were picked up by other J24s sailing nearby.
There were no other dismastings, but were several yachts suffered sail and rigging damage, including broken booms and spinnaker poles. One Dragon ended up in Mosman Bay and an Yngling in Shell Cove, both having to be towed back to the Squadron.
– by Peter Campbell
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