SYDNEY TO HOBART
BALANCE WAS DECLARED OVERALL WINNER
CLUB YACHTING
Boxing Day started with a clear sunny sky and the forecast of a strong Noreaster for the first afternoon of the race before a southerly change later the first evening . The boat was all prepared and ready to go . Battens were tensioned and spinnakers wooled . On the way out to the start line we had our team briefing in the cockpit . Our Navigator advised us of the southerly front due to peak at 40-45 knots and that we would be in this front and a second slightly harder front for at least 24 hours , so mentally we had to prepare ourselves for a very uncomfortable first night and second day of the race .
After the start we managed to make some ground following a bad start and were the second TP52 of nine out of the Harbour . The A4 running spinnaker and spinnaker staysail was set and we were off down the coast doing between 15 and 22 knots through the water . As the wind dropped a little we peeled to the A2 running spinnaker and continued south . Mid-afternoon our tactician called for an early gybe and we gybed onto port and headed back into the coast to await the front which was due .
Around 8-9pm that evening , signs of the front were arriving and the land wind stations were showing that the front was through Green Cape . As the front approached we put two reefs in the mainsail and the number four headsail while still sailing with the A2 up . The transition between the Noreaster and the Southerly was very quick , we were in 30 knots of wind within 2-3 minutes .
The southerly at around 35 knots was with us all night , and early the next morning we sailed inside Montague Island . Midmorning on the second day the wind increased again with the second front to 40-45 knots and went south west slightly . We spent all day on starboard tack in very uncomfortable weather and with the whole crew on the rail . By the next evening the wind was abating and we started our official watch system for the race at 6pm on the second night of the race .
By the morning of the third day we were well into Bass Straight but the wind had dropped to 2-3 knots and we were drifting towards Hobart . This is where we decided to sticky back the main that had shredded from being reefed on the first night .
Eventually a third softer front arrived from the S-SW and at around 20-25 knots and we were on a layline to intersect the Tasmanian coast around Freycinet . At the coast the wind went further to the west and we were able to lay Tasman Light on starboard tack .
After rounding Tasman Light around 1230pm we had to make a few tacks to get around Cape Raoul and we were waiting on a small southerly to arrive which would help us down the Derwent . The southerly arrived as we approached the Iron Pot and we were under a masthead Zero doing 15-18 knots down the Derwent towards the finish line . A small turn left with the headsail back up and MH0 furled had us cross the finish line at 4:50pm for 7th on line honours and first of the 50 footers .
When we finished we were advised that we had won Division 1 on IRC and were placed 3rd Overall on IRC . Then began the waiting game … in the early hours on the morning of the 31st December , Balance was declared overall winner on IRC and winner of the Tattersalls Cup .
Photo credit : Karen Taylor . DAVID TAYLOR
24 YACHTSMAN