Front Cover: Matthew Short’s Shortwave heads south during the 2009 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Photo by Howard Wright/IMAGE Professional Photography.
Bellerive Yacht Club member Harold Clark has begun yet another decade of winning harbour races in Hobart with his appropriately named, always well-sailed Invincible, winning the 2010 Sargisons Jewellers King of the Derwent.
The Farr 1104 sailed through a 35-40 knot rain squall (some boats recorded gusts of 48 knots) to convincingly take out the iconic race, sailed each year on Hobart’s River Derwent in the wake of the ocean races from Sydney, Melbourne and Launceston.
The unpredicted squall, that swept down from Mount Wellington 20 minutes after the start of the 18 nautical mile race around the harbour, almost immediately forcing 14 of the 47 starters to retire, including last year’s winner, the Farr 40 Voodoo Chile.
The King of the Derwent is decided on IRC handicap results, with Invincible winning the division by 7 minutes from Archie, Sally Rattle’s Archambault 35, from the conducting club, the Derwent Sailing Squadron.
Third overall in the IRC division was David Creese’s DK46 Dekadence, also from Bellerive.
However, Sally got a bonus. As the first woman on IRC corrected time, she received the sponsor’s special prize – a $2,000 diamond pendant especially made by the King of the Derwent sponsors, Sargisons Jewellers. A second diamond pendant was won by Sue Windas, a crew member of Investec Loyal, Sean Langman’s 100-footer which was line honours winner of the King of the Derwent Race.
This is Invincible’s fifth win in the King of the Derwent, having previously taken out the coveted title in 1993, 1995, 1999 and 2000.
With Invincible not eligible for any other IRC prizes, Archie also took first place in the IRC division from Dekadence and David Taylor’s Sydney 36 Pisces from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.
Overall winner of the PHS division was another local yacht, Helsal III, skippered by Rob Fisher, from the RYCT, surviving a protest by Pisces over a starting line incident.
PHS Division 1 was won by Investec Loyal from the Victorian yachts Jazz Player (Andrew Lawrence) and Veloce (Phil Simfendorger), while Trouble (Dave Willans) won Division 2 from Atilla, skippered by John Hunn, who had a better day than his son Andrew at the helm of Voodoo Chile. Third place went to Slinky Malinsky (Eric Marsh).
The Sargisons Jewellers King of the Derwent also decided the Sovereign Series and Salamanca Series for the ocean races from Melbourne, the West Coaster and the East Coaster, and the Tasports Series for yachts that contested the Sargisons Launceston to Hobart Race.
The Tasports Series for aggregate points in the Sargisons Launceston to Hobart, including the Beauty Point to Low Head dash, and finally, the Sargisons King of the Derwent, saw a overall wins to Pisces (David Taylor) in IRC and Whistler (David Rees) in both the PHS (Bruce Watson Memorial Trophy) and AMS divisions.
The Heemskirk Salamanca East Series, comprising the Cock of the Bay on Melbourne’s Port Phillip, the M2H East Coast race and the King of the Derwent was won by Phil Simpfendorfer’s new Greg Elliott-designed 44-footer Veloce. The Sovereign Series, comprising the Cock of the Bay, the M2H West Coaster and the King of the Derwent, was won by Audacious, Greg Clinnick’s Sydney 38 from Royal Brighton Yacht Club. Sean Langman must have had an insight into the weather before the start of the King of the Derwent – his 100-footer Investec Loyal was the only yacht to start the race with storm sails hoisted.
When the un-forecasted 35-40-knot rain squall came howling down Mount Wellington and across the River Derwent 20 minutes after the start, Langman was perfectly prepared, unlike the rest of the fleet.
Langman, sailing his boat under the burgee of the Huon Yacht Club, had decided to join the 70-boat fleet in the King of the Derwent with a reduced rig because of limited maxi boat crew experience, including children, on board. It proved a wise decision. Although she was clearly under-rigged after the squall passed through and the wind eased to 15-20 knots, Investec Loyal sailed the 18nm course in one hour 22 minutes, finishing a full leg ahead of Rob and Tony Fisher’s Helsal III from the RYCT, with Rob on the helm.
Third to finish was The Fork in the Road, skippered by Gary Smith, from the RYCT, which was followed by the Victorian yacht Veloce (Phil Simpfedorfer) and another Tasmanian yacht Dekadence (David Creese). Investec Loyal, Dekadence and Helsal III all competed in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race while The Fork in the Road sailed in the Sargisons Launceston to Hobart and Veloce won the IRC division of the Heemskirk Melbourne to Hobart East Coaster. IRC division winner Archie (Sally Rattle) also contested the Rolex Sydney Hobart.
Peter Campbell
Australian Boating usage report released
The National Marine Safety Committee has released an Australian first, the National Boating Usage Study Preliminary Survey Report that provides statistical information on boating behaviour and attitudes to safety.
The NMSC’s National Boating Usage Study recruited 3,800 boaters from across Australia to participate in the survey and fill in a trip diary from October 2008 to March 31, 2010. The report is the first stage of the study and analyses survey data.
NMSC CEO Ms Margie O’Tarpey explained that this type of report on boating usage is vital, considering that there are approximately one million recreational craft using Australia’s waterways.
“The large number of craft that we have in Australia increases the potential for accidents and our data shows that 346 people lost their lives in Australian waters since 1999 and thousands more were injured.
“This study will better inform the NMSC and its stakeholders such as marine safety agencies, boating industry associations and the NMSC’s Australia New Zealand Safe Boating Education Group when developing marine safety policy and education materials.”
The study found that –
1. Your Boat
• The most popular types of boats are the cuddy/half cabin cruiser and open runabouts with 29% and 26% of responses.
• 57% of respondents indicated they had a boat between 5 and 9.9 metres in length.
• 30% of respondents indicated they operated a boat less than 5 metres in length.
2. About your boat usage
• Fishing is the main activity for 60% of participants and other activities included cruising and water skiing, racing, diving and live aboard.
• Almost half of respondents mostly operate their boats in bays and sheltered waters and almost one third of boaters mainly operate their boats in open waters.
• Almost half of participants have a boat less than five years old.
• 95% of boaters use their boats in December and January. Only one third of boaters use their boats in June and July.
• Almost 40% of boaters use their boats 2-3 times per month. Almost half of respondents spend 3-5 hours on the water when they use their boats.
3. Your boating experience
• 95% of boaters had a recreational boat licence.
• 39% of boaters have held their boat licence for more than 15 years.
• Almost half of respondents have owned a boat for more than 15 years.
• Half of the respondents indicated they have undertaken a boating education course.
4. Your boating behaviour
• PFDs are worn occasionally by 62% of boaters.
• 29% of participants wear a PFD when in poor weather. A further 29% of participants have children under the age of 12 wear a PFD.
• PFDs are carried on board 98% of boats.
• Almost 40% of boaters never test their EPIRB; 10% of boaters test their EPIRB before each trip.
• Expiry dates of safety equipment are regularly checked by 94% of boaters.
• 5% of boaters had experienced a boating incident in the previous twelve months.
• 26% of these incidents involved a collision with another boat or object; 24% of the incidents involved the boat being grounded, flooded or capsizing.
“These figures bring up a myriad of safety and usage issues and in relation to PFD usage, even though PFDs are carried by 98% of boats, PFDs are only worn occasionally by the majority of boaters,” explained Ms O’Tarpey.
In relation to information on boaters, 94% of boaters were males and the biggest single age group was 35-50 years old, with 21% of participants falling in the 61 years and over age group.
To obtain a copy of the full report contact the NMSC Secretariat on
02 9247 2124 or download it from www.nmsc.gov.au.
Tasmanians may have been a bit confused by the number of ocean races ending at ports in the island state between Christmas and New Year, and with good reason.
Paramount was the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Then there were three races from Melbourne, starting together but heading in different directions across Bass Strait – one to Launceston and the other two to Hobart, one via the traditional course down the west coast of Tasmania, the other the relatively new course down the east coast, both ending at Hobart.
Then there was the Sargisons Launceston to Hobart Race, in its third year with 35 starters and double the fleet in the inaugural race. The 285nm race started at Beauty Point, six miles up the Tamar River, and took the fleet through the treacherous Banks Strait, dividing Tasmania’s north-east tip and the Furneaux Group of Islands (Flinders Island etc), and then down the east coast with a slight diversion inside elongated Maria Island. Yacht owners also regard the L2H as a training race for longer ocean races, thus allowing three young teenagers to sail, two girls aged 13 and 14 with their fathers on Whistler and a 15-year-old lad with his grandfather on Mojo Rising.
The first three boats had a beat to windward up the river with Andrew Hunn’s reinvigorated Cape 40 Mr Kite scoring a close line honours win from the Bakewell-White 45 The Fork in the Road, skippered by Gary Smith, and the Stompcraft 38, 42 South, skippered by Mark Ballard.
Overall winner, decided on PHS, was Blue Sky, a Beneteau 40.7 skippered by Richard Fisher, immediate past commodore of the Tamar Yacht Club and a successful dinghy and sports boat sailor. The well-sailed yacht’s crew included Rob Matthews, a survivor of the fatal sinking of the Launceston yacht Business Post Naiad in the 1998 Sydney Hobart.
Pisces, David Taylor’s Sydney 36, also from the RYCT, made a remarkable recovery to win the IRC division and also place second in the newly popular AMS division. She lost at least 20 minutes after running onto a mud bank at Beauty Point soon after the start of the L2H on Sunday and was last boat out of the Tamar River.
Whistler, took out the AMS division from Pisces and Blue Sky and finished runner-up in both the PHS and IRC divisions. Sullivans Cove Whisky, skippered by Dianne Barkas, the only woman skipper in the race, placed fourth in the PHS and AMS divisions.
Peter Cambbell
British sailor Archie Massey and his crew Dan Wilsdon won the CST Composites International 14 Class World Championship with a race to spare on Sydney Harbour.
A fleet of 109 boats representing England, Canada, Japan, Germany, USA and Australia competed in the event hosted by Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club.
Massey is the first sailor to win the i14 world title back to back.
“Winning the worlds a second time … yeah I am happy with that, it is the first time it has been done,” said a laconic Massey who is a member of both Itchenor SC and Woollahra SC.
“Dan [Wilsdon his crew] was exceptional this week but it was about three weeks ago that we just clicked.
“We have been sailing for three months here out in the waves and finally our coach one day said, ‘your gybing is good, your upwind speed is good but your tacking is mid-fleet’. So we went out and just tacked, tacked and tacked.”
There was little argument that Massey and Wilsdon had outstanding teamwork but it was their speed downwind that seemed to stand out. Massey also felt the modified bow of his Bieker 5 hull gave him an advantage. The modification has resulted in a straighter and lower bow in the final metre of his boat.
Massey said the best race of the regatta was race six sailed in a classic sou’east summer seabreeze of about 15 knots that gave them the world crown but a highlight of the racing was the one against Rob Greenhalgh (GBR) when they passed each other several times and he only got the advantage when Greenhalgh lost his rudder.
Former World Champion and class legend Bill Devine, 72, who won his title in 1979 at Long Beach USA said of Massey: “He was sensational and had the boat speed. He is just so professional and at the moment is streets ahead of everyone.”
The next world championship will be held in Weymouth, England.
Neil Patchett
Two Nationals at Mannering Park
Mannering Park Amateur Sailing Club hosted two National Titles over the holiday season.Sailors and their families from the Mosquito Association and the RL24 Association gathered from as far away as South Australia, Victoria and Queensland to enjoy the great sailing on beautiful Lake Macquarie.
While two club members Ben Cutmore and Karl Hermen sailed well, the honours at the end of the week went interstate.
The sloop-rigged Mosquito titles went to Nathan Joiner sailing Immunity (pictured) while Garry Maskell sailed Twice Bitten to take out the catamaran rigged division.
The RL24 National Titles went to Simon Walsh sailing Ohua-Rua, a drop keel RL24 In the Swing Keel division, Whatever sailed by Darren Dwyer won the honours.
Rod McKay
Queensland’s medal haul in Melbourne
Yachting Queensland have continued to invest wisely with the high performance sailing program dominating the class results in the International Sail Melbourne regatta.
The State yachting team jointly coached by Beijing Olympic Yngling class mentor Adrian Finglas and the talented Yachting Queensland resident coach Ben Callard mastered some tricky sailing conditions on Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay to complete a best ever medal haul at the important international regatta.
Gold Coast 470 dinghy skipper Matthew Belcher now racing with Sydney’s 2008 Olympic gold medallist Malcolm Page led the medal charge winning seven heats to firm their grip for rep honours at the 2012 Olympic regatta in Weymouth Bay, Dorset, England.
Belcher and Page were in a class of their own discarding one of their heat wins as their worst performance.
This was another outstanding result for Belcher and Page who are a ‘new look’ crew being prepared by principal Australian Olympic coach Victor Kovalenko to defend the Gold Medal won by Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page in China.
Angus Galloway and Andrew Gough again proved why they are regarded as the most consistent performers in the 420 dinghy class, adding the Sail Melbourne title to their impressive season which include the Queensland and New South Wales open championships plus the Sail Sydney and now Sail Melbourne title.
Their Queensland team mates Sasha and Jaime Ryan finished all open class heats in the top seven and topped this consistency to claim the best all-female crew result and third overall in the open series, while Eloise Brake and Ashley Warlow clinched their career best result with the Bronze medal.
North Queensland skipper Duncan Macgregor won the Scud class from 2008 Paralympics silver medallist Dan Fitzgibbon while teenage female skipper Ella Evans won the 4.7 Laser dinghy gold medal just ahead of the teenage Gold Coast helmsman Josh Franklin.
Queensland sailors added to the ‘Gold Rush’ when Southport YC’s Adam Lahey and Troy Ruston won silver in the 29er Skiffs while Sunshine Coast Laser Radial skipper Mitchell Kennedy kept his Australian Youth championship prospects alive with another promising result.
“This overall team result is Queensland’s best ever at Sail Melbourne,” Finglas said.
Ian Grant
The Endeavour Yacht Association of Australia State and National Championships were hosted by Gosford Sailing Club.
Fifteen Endeavour 26s and nine Endeavours from 24-39ft were entered. The wind was very light just leading up to the start, but filled in nicely, and kept all competitors on their toes. Reading the wind became a critical factor.
In the Endeavour 24 class, North Harbour boat Dumaresq took line honours, followed by Gosford boats Bubba and Sea Gypsy. Dumaresq is no newcomer to the podium, she has taken out the State and the National Championship two years in a row prior to this one, including twice trailering the boat to Perth for the Nationals.
Bubba and Sea Gypsy are both excellent examples of how a very inexpensive boat can be rescued from apparent ruin and brought to a beautiful, seaworthy and competitive condition, something that has happened to many other Endeavours over the years.
In the Endeavour 27-plus class, another North Harbour boat, Hagar won (expectedly), followed by Gosford boat Kiatoa and Second Fling from Sydney Amateurs.
The largest class, the Endeavour 26s, was well populated with former champion boats, making for a tight race, with lead and position changes throughout.
Last year’s champion Rebel from Wangi Sailing Club won by a mere nine seconds from Botany Bay’s Kokomo, another recently ‘revived boat’. Gosford boat Divine Intervention came third.
Swampy Marsh
The inaugural Sail Paradise series off the Gold Coast could not have ended on a higher note with the $5,000 prize draw going to the most worthy of recipients.
The outright winner of IRC Division 1 was one of Australia’s offshore sailing legends, Bob ‘Sir Robbo’ Robertson, with his Brisbane-based Farr 40, Cracklin Rosie. With four wins, a second and a third in the six races, Robertson claimed victory over Matt Percy’s Gold Coast entry, Alacrity, by four points. Peter Harburg’s magnificent canting-keel 66-footer, Black Jack was third. Black Jack also claimed the ‘Gun Boat’ trophy in emphatic fashion, her crew sailing a near-flawless series. Robertson’s win had a tinge of déjà-vu to it. Some 20 years ago he won Southport Yacht Club’s inaugural XXXX series sailing another 40ft Farr design, Queensland Maid.
Sail Paradise, which had Yalumba as naming rights sponsor, was the culmination of a new east coast offshore circuit that started with Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club’s Pittwater to Coffs race on 2 January. This was followed by two events staged by Southport Yacht Club, the 150-nautical mile Coffs to Paradise race, then Sail Paradise, which involved four days of spectacular racing along the Gold Coast’s long ribbon of golden beaches.
“This can become the biggest regatta in Australia,” said Peter Harburg when he stepped ashore from Black Jack. “It’s paradise.”
Prior to the final race – a 20-miler between Main Beach and Burleigh Heads – Harburg took time out to take Australia’s international motor racing legend, Sir Jack Brabham, for a sail aboard Black Jack, which is named in his honour.
The $5,000 lucky draw for competing yachts at Sail Paradise was Ocean Mentor, the Sydney 32 that had been given to the club by philanthropist Peter Teakle, for a youth training program. The money will be used to further enhance the program.
Other division winners at Sail Paradise were: Cruising – Farrst 1 (Tony Horkings); Performance Racing – Four Love (Sean Allardice); Division 1 PHS – Alacrity (Matt Percy); IRC Division 2 – Corum (Geoff Anderson). Alacrity was awarded the Pittwater to Paradise perpetual trophy for the highest total score across all three events.
Rob Mundle
Motor boats at St George
Motor boat racing is alive and well on the Kogarah Bay course where racing in the St George area originated in 1921 with the original St George Motor Boat Club.T
he responsibility of racing is now under the banner of the St George Aquatic Club, who will be hosting a Speedboat Spectacular on the weekend of 20-21 February.
If your family are into motorboat racing, come along to the St George Motor Boat Club on the shores of Kogarah Bay, enjoy the facilities of the club, relax and watch classic boats and modern craft of all classes race on the club course.
Greg Fisher takes the helm at Club Marine
Club Marine, Australia’s largest provider of pleasure craft insurance, has welcomed aboard new CEO, Greg Fisher, effective December 14, 2009. Greg has taken over the helm from his predecessor, Mark Bradley.
Greg, 53, comes to Club Marine with more than 30 years experience in the insurance industry and corporate management, holding senior management positions with NZI Insurance, Fortis Group and Club Marine’s parent company, Allianz.
A keen boatie, Greg is likely to be seen out on the water this summer in his trailer boat or on his PWC and says he is looking forward to the opportunity to cross paths with Club Marine members at the many boat shows, regattas and other boating events that Club Marine supports throughout Australia and New Zealand.
“I am extremely pleased to take up the new appointment,” he said. “I’ve always considered Club Marine to be an icon and industry leader in the marine insurance sphere and look forward to working with the dedicated and professional crew who keep Club Marine at the forefront of recreational boating in Australasia.
“In particular, I plan to reinforce Club Marine’s role within the industry as a supporter of all things boating and a strong promoter of safety on the water,” he said.
Greg heads up a team with Australasia-wide coverage via more than 400 insurance service centres and over 700 brokers serving nearly 140,000 members.
He will also assume the role of publisher for the company’s magazine, Club Marine.
“The magazine is such a great part of the company and I look forward to working with the editorial team to maintain the quality and content,” said Greg.
After four years, NSW boat Ambulance has reclaimed the national title from the Victorian boat Tru-Blu, ruining their chances of making it a record five wins in a row. Held in the inner harbour off Drummoyne SC in Sydney, Ambulance skippered by Ken Marslew and his crew Nigel Short from the Kogarah Bay SC easily took out the title with four firsts and their worst heat a fifth.
Tru-Blu skippered by Michael Horvath from Williamstown SC was considered unbeatable having not lost a race.
“When someone says they are unbeatable it is like saying ‘rules are made to be broken’ nicely, what got us past them on the course was tactics and determination,” Ambulance skipper Ken commented,
Ambulance led from the start in many of the heats but early favourite Uncle Roy from Drummoyne SC skippered by Eric Parland surprised everyone on the last day getting third place overall. Charlie Brown, also from Drummoyne skippered by Justine Tornai finished in fourth place..
Marslew said the last time they sailed against Tru-Blu they cleaned us up. “As soon as we got close to him he went up a gear. This series was much more competitive.”
Crewman Nigel Short said that they did a lot of work with John Hearne of Doyles sails to optimise rig and sail plan.
Annette Brennan
The Australian Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) will hold a major exhibition of works by its members in the Fountain Court, Parliament House, Sydney from 3-25 February.
The theme of the exhibition, Waterways of Sydney – Past and Present links historic and contemporary activity as seen and researched by ASMA artists, in and around Sydney from Broken Bay to Port Hacking. All paintings will be for sale.
ASMA was formed in 1996 when a group of like-minded artists met to discuss the possibility of starting an art society that focussed on maritime activity in Australia.
While Australia has produced some world-class marine painters, there had never been a society that was devoted to marine art.
Today the Society enjoys world recognition and has as members the leading practitioners of marine art in Australia.
Its mission is to promote a broad definition of marine art:
• Seascapes and marinescapes – the sea in all its moods; oceans beaches, cliffs, estuaries and tidal rivers.
• Vessels – commercial shipping, fishing, yachting, pleasure boating, old and new, in or out of the water, from rusty old tubs to ocean going liners.
• Ports and harbours – the paraphernalia of ropes, nets tackle and gear.
• Flora and Fauna – the rich life of the sea and reef … and of course the people who work and play in and around these.
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Invincible King of the Derwent 2010 
Sean Langman must have had an insight into the weather before the start of the King of the Derwent – his 100-footer Investec Loyal was the only yacht to start the race with storm sails hoisted.
Although she was clearly under-rigged after the squall passed through and the wind eased to 15-20 knots, Investec Loyal sailed the 18nm course in one hour 22 minutes, finishing a full leg ahead of Rob and Tony Fisher’s Helsal III from the RYCT, with Rob on the helm.
Yacht owners also regard the L2H as a training race for longer ocean races, thus allowing three young teenagers to sail, two girls aged 13 and 14 with their fathers on Whistler and a 15-year-old lad with his grandfather on Mojo Rising. 
Robertson’s win had a tinge of déjà-vu to it. Some 20 years ago he won Southport Yacht Club’s inaugural XXXX series sailing another 40ft Farr design, Queensland Maid.
Motor boats at St George
Greg Fisher takes the helm at Club Marine
