Early morning in summer with the sunshine gradually strengthening on the Hobart in Tasmania waterfront, and the Derwent Estuary off it, should be a time for gently wakening into the new day. But Thursday, December 28th 2023 has had bouts of high excitement from the off, with the greatest peak of tension building at the beginning as two closely-matched hundred-foot yachts did their best to stay ahead of the other as they approached the elusive finish line, with the first light tentacles pf the day's new breeze wafting them along, and the whirr and bustle of the large spectator feet around them belying the early time of day.
Back in the approaches to Hobart the previous evening off Cape Raul, John Winning's Andoo Comanche was comfortably ahead with Christian Beck's Law Connect visible astern, but at several miles distance. And so it stayed in the open approaches to Hobart, but as the land closed about them the breeze died up ahead within the estuary itself, and the lead steadily evaporated, but nevertheless, the new breeze of the new day gave hope of Andoo hanging in and taking the highly-prized Captain John B Illingworth Cup for first to finish.
But in those agonising final two or three miles, the difference between the sailing characteristics of the two boats became ever more apparent.
For in the lightest airs in a downwind tacking duel, the powerful Andoo seemed glued to the water, with the price of her power in a breeze being greater wetted area, a slowing feature in zephyrs.
GALLERY OF THE DUEL
The spectator fleet was almost a problem
Andoo had a good lead in hand at Cape Raul....
...and still had plenty to work with nearer the finish
...but this is how it ended with Law Connect getting just clear wth the final gybe when Ando was stalled
LAW CONNECT SPINS WHILE ANDOO TURNS MORE SLOWLY
Then, too, where Law Connect seemed to spin when she gybed, with the result that she gave the illusion of accelerating out of each sudden course change, there's no doubt that Andoo was turning more slowly and losing speed until she finally got all sail working on the new tack, when her speed could often match Law Connect so well that in the final half mile the lead changed three times, but it was Law Connect in the commanding position as she glided around the finish buoy after the final ultra-short port hand leg, with the stalled Andoo's crew s disheartened by this final reverse of fortune that they didn't seem to bother with re-activating the Code Zero for the final few yards, and drifted across 51 seconds astern.
ALIVE TAKES CT LEAD FROM URM GROUP
After that performance, subsequent finishings were m ore straightforward as the breeze built and the more widely-spaced boats could sail their own final legs without the extra strsses of an on-water duel.Anthony Johnston's 72ft URM Group was next in with a decent breze and good enough timing to move into the IRC overall lead for a while, but then the Tasmanian-owned 66ft Alive arrived to the expected triumph and the overall lead for navigator/tactician Adrienne Cahalane and her shipmates, though URM Group had done well enough to stay ahead on CT of Sean Langman's 69ft Moneypenny whose personnel lineup includes the National YC's Will Byrne as bowman, and at 0830 Irish Time that's the way it still is with Alive, URM Group and Moneypenny at 1,2,3 in the IRC figures.
URM Group had plenty of breeze when she came to the line
CINNAMON GIRL PREDICTED AMONG OVERALL LEADING GROUP
Out at sea meanwhile, one of the most closely-fought (and watched) battles is for the Two-Handed win, with a searing pace being currently set by the two Sunfast 3300s, with Kraken III (Rob Gough & John Saul) leading by 2.6 miles from Kinsale's Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt in their second-in-class Cinnamon Girl, whIch is shown as being on 7.1 knots while Kraken is at 7.0. They're estimated at 5th and 8th overall in the RSHR's prediction system, but with both little boats still having 260 miles to race, we shouldn't let ourselves get too excited at this stage, even if they are also down as being currently first and second overall in the Corinthian Group.
At a modest 66ft, Alive has shown you don't need the biggest to lead overall
FRANTIC GETS LOOK IN AS TP 52s BATTLE ON
Among the TP 52s, Mickey Martin's "Irish boat" Frantic has had a burst of speed, and is currently in the frame at third, with Sebastien Bohm's Smuggler stil in first while thehot contenders, Max Klink's Caro with Gordon Maguire and Cian Gulfoyle, and Sam Haynes' Celestial with Sydney's finest in the crew lineup are shuttling around at 5th and 6th, with just under 200 miles still to be sailed for most of them.
CALIBRE 12 IN CONTENTION IN DIV 3
Division 3 is seeing some of the best racing, but although Richard Williams' Cookson 40 Calibre 12 with Steph Lyns (Kinsale) has been back in the frame at times recently, currently she's tenth in class but with 199 miles to go is well-placed overall, as she's within sihht of some TP 52s.
This race is going to continue for some well into the weekend. But now that Hobart is seeing the Finishers Enclosure and its Race Village coming to life, there's many pints to be had in the Customs House, and de-briefings therein will be central to proceedings.
Race Tracker here
