New contenders emerge on another big day at SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week
- Magnetic Community News
- 2 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Day 4 of SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week (SMIRW) was a 22nm Magnetic Island & Bay Rock Race for most, except SeaLink Spinnaker Divisions 3 and 4, the Non-Spinnaker and Multihull divisions did the slightly shorter Round Magnetic Island Race, starting off Peppers Blue on Blue at Nelly Bay – and the day produced some new winners.
The Visit Townsville, North Queensland race looked prettier than it felt on the race course, with some bumpy bits thrown in with fast downwind rides. A bit of everything. It is a scenic race though, particularly for newcomers who enjoyed the picturesque ride on the penultimate day of Townsville Yacht Club’s (TYC), 19th running of SMIRW.
No movement for the top two in the IRC division. Tom Woods’ JPK 10.80, Saltwater Wine, has won four of five races, including today’s and drops a second place. David Hamilton’s Farr 40 One-Design, Seeking Alpha, was second and is four points behind her quarry. Tomorrow will decide, bur Woods’ boat is looking invincible. Grant Golombick’s TP52, Quest placed third to remain third overall on the all-NSW podium.
Peter Russell sailed his Italia 13.98, Vincitore (Vic), to victory again, having won the opening race also in SeaLink Spinnaker Division 1. Ian Fankhanel’s Salt (Vic) and John Whitbread’s Kerb (Qld) filled out the top three. Kerb’s result has her firmly in third overall.
The top two overall, Kim Jaggar’s Cinquante and Rob Aldis/Peter Byford’s Daguet 2, both from NSW, scored their worst results of the regatta, but used as drops, they are safe for now. But there is a ramp of boats waiting in the wings with few points between them.
“Two wins and two ninth places – the greatest standard deviation in the fleet – all or nothing,” Russell said laughing.
“Of the eight people staying in the house, seven of us have the flu. We’re waiting to see when the last one gets it… To win is a positive thing – we’re calling ourselves ‘The Plague Boat’. People came to congratulate us – at a distance.”
Given they are ill, Russell said, “It was a bit of hard work dragging ourselves around the course – and we’re not the youngest – the average is 64 - I’m 83 - we’ll keep sailing as long as we can. We dragged ourselves all the way from Melbourne, so we’ll drag ourselves out for one last race tomorrow.”
In an all TYC result, Nick Spanswick’s Seaya, an Adams 13e scored a first Division 2 win from Stuart Tivey’s S&S 60, Samurai and James Permezel’s Hanse 445 Charm Offensive. The result has lifted the latter boat to second overall, behind Brian Yarnall’s Mika. Four points separate them.
Spanswick was thrilled to bits they had won, exclaiming, “You’re kidding,” when told.
On the race, he said, “It was horrible, then great, then horrible again. Upwind is tough with our old boat (launched in 1999), but downwind is fantastic. Nothing got broken and everyone aboard is in good shape! We have a fairly inexperienced crew, including two of my kids (in their 20’ s), except for the steerer, Steve Shugg. So it’s great to have a win.”
The TYC member described conditions: “Beautiful at the top of the Island, but a bit rough at the bottom for our old boat. Breeze wise, we saw 20-24 knots.”
In Division 3, the suitably named ‘Gone With the Wind’, Wayne Simonsen’s Bavaria 42c (Qld), took the win from Philip Cormie’s Dehler 41, Dreamtime Solutions (Vic) and Andrew Clark’s Adams 10, Single Malt (Vic). Joe Niven’s Beneteau Oceanis 41.1, Chinook (TYC) still leads overall, by two points to Andrew McConaghy’s Northshore cruiser, Dragonfly. (Qld)
“Finally, we got it together. We had a slow start to this regatta, but we’re putting it together now and having a lot of fun,” Simonsen commented.
“Today the sea was pretty lumpy in places, but running down the back of the Island near Horseshoe Bay, with swell behind, was good. The beat up the channel was good too. The race got better as the afternoon went on.”
Simonsen said the breeze topped out at about 23-24 knots, “Conditions were better than yesterday! It was a very enjoyable race. We’ve enjoyed the whole regatta.
“For us, it’s a new crew from the beginning of the year. They’d never sailed before. This week was first time they’ve flown a spinnaker. It’s a steep learning curve but they’ve really taken it on. I’m very blessed, I have a great crew and success is starting to come. We are currently leading the Townsville Yacht Club pointscore,” Simonsen ended.
Two locals claimed the top two spots in Division 4. Alan Grant’s Elliott 770, Loose Cannon, romped home to take the honours from Jack Maguire’s Zen and the Art of Sailing, moving the latter up to series third overall. Wayne McNee’s Swarbrick S111, Celebrity (NSW) scored third place today.
“I guess the conditions suited us,” Grant surmised. “We had the No 3 jib and full main and downwind we put big spinnaker up. Paul (Linett) talked us in to keeping the big kite up – he’s a 16ft skiff sailor – we did what he said. I think that’s what won it for us.
“We were doing 15 knots in 16 knots of breeze downwind. We did well in that part of it. We don’t do that well upwind, but we had enough in the bank from the downwind,” Grant said.
In the Non-Spinnaker Division, Chris Males’ Hanse 385, Roller Coaster (Tas), rolled the opposition to take top place from Andrew Watson’s Beneteau Oceanis 473, Apres Vous (Qld) by seven minutes, but the latter has taken the series lead, while Males’ boat moves up to third place. Brian Pozzey’s Green Beacon White Swan (Qld) was third.
“We had an interesting day – misjudged the start, started early, had to restart,” Males said. The boat goes really well in the conditions we got, though. We saw 22 knots with gusts, but otherwise it was a pretty consistent 18-19 knots and that seems to suit the boat.”
Males only purchased Roller Coaster in June and the crew is family. “This is just our third day sailing the boat, we missed the first race, so it’s great to have a win. My brother-in-law Matthew Williams, whose very experienced, my wife, Claire, our daughter Lauren and my sister Liz are the crew,” he said.
Graeme Etherton’s The Boat from the host club and Gordon Beath’s Roamance (NSW) are having a ding-dong battle for the series lead. On equal points going into this race, The Boat got the better of her adversary, so is now point ahead, with one final race remaining. Ray Martin’s Beatrix from Western Australia came home third and was fast on the water.
This morning Principal Race Officer Denis Thompson told his team and competitors, “I’m pretty confident it will be around 17-18 knots for the race. It was a bit more than that, most reporting 20-24 knots and a bit of a lumpy sea in parts.
With just one day of racing remaining the pointscore is tight and tomorrow a Passage Race, starting from 11am, will decide who gets the gongs.
SMIRW is supported by Townsville City Council through Townsville Enterprise and Tourism and Events Queensland.
For full results and all information, please visit: www.magneticislandraceweek.com.au
By Di Pearson/SMIRW media
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