The Alfred's News August/September Edition 2017 Alfreds News August 2017 | Page 9

Club Marine Pittwater to Paradise Regatta
When yachtsman Robert Alpe decided to move into bluewater racing with the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club he looked
Australia-wide for the right boat and eventually
chose a Fremantle based 32-footer he then sailed
2,500 nautical miles home to Pittwater with a small
delivery crew.
Stealth is a Kim Swarbrick designed 9.9m aluminum
sloop built in 1998 by Australia 2 boat builder Steve
Ward and named due to its unpainted aluminum
finish resembling the bomber aircraft of the same
name.
The boat is one of a growing list of entries for next
January’s Club Marine Pittwater to Paradise Regatta
opening event, an offshore race starting just north
of Palm Beach headland on January 2.
For 2018 the RPAYC’s flagship ocean race has been
combined into a new regatta format and combined pointscore with the Bartercard Sail Paradise Series, conducted by
Southport Yacht Club on the Queensland Gold Coast January 6-9. This joint venture between two prominent, forward-thinking
and friendly yacht clubs has created a perfect opportunity for sailors to stay on the Gold Coast with their families or friends
and enjoy some great racing off Southport’s golden beaches.
Download the Notice of Race here and enter here www.pittwatertoparadise.com.au
Owners can choose to enter the monohull, multihull or short-handed categories and be scored under all of the popular
handicap systems - IRC, ORCi and PHS.
Alpe’s delivery across the Great Australian Bight, Bass Strait and up the New South Wales coast past Sydney Harbour to
Pittwater took 29 days and wrapped up in February.
“Stealth proved very resilient, efficient and responsive, easily dealing with the varied conditions which included 10-12 metre
seas in Bass Strait and winds up to 60 knots, ” the long-time International Dragon official recalled. “No doubt we were helped
by her deep keel and the fact one third of her 3.5 tonne total weight is at the base of her keel.”
Delivery crewman Warwick Jacobson said of the design and delivery, “The boat is only 3.5 tonnes and carries a lot of sail so
it’s very fast but needs regular reefing to maintain stability. The reward is a very fast boat in all conditions. It carries a very
large rudder which enables very aggressive steering and which helped us enormously when the weather became unfriendly.”
Since arriving at the RPAYC, Alpe has carefully planned a major upgrade of the boat’s systems, sail wardrobe and rigging to get
it bluewater race ready for the RPAYC’s East Coast Bluewater Series commencing in September.
“It’s made most full house renovations tiny by comparison and included completely replacing all halyards, stays and much of
the deck hardware together with new spreader and backstay set-up and electronics. The sail wardrobe upgrade includes a
square top main, symmetrical masthead kite with new made-to-fit spinnaker pole and new no. 2 jib to drive the boat in a
wider wind range. We are working through the various safety categories to bring Stealth up to Category 2 for the 370 nautical
mile Pittwater to Paradise race,” the skipper added.
The RPAYC sailing and communications manager Brendan Rourke says: “The Club Marine Pittwater to Paradise race is one of
the few Category 2 races on offer that removes the requirement for expensive HF radio equipment, opting instead for
Satellite phones and tracking and AIS to maintain and improve the excellent safety record the club has enjoyed over the
history of our signature event. At the same time we are aiming to make things simpler and cheaper for more boats to
participate in Category 2 bluewater racing.”