Weekly Sailing Summary

WHITSUNDAY RACING

Victorian helmsman Michael Hiatt produced a never-say-die performance to steer Living Doll to a 40 second win over Ray Robert’s Evolution Racing in the final race of the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week, taking the IRC overall trophy on countback. All reports at  Boating Oz.

Close to 200 boats took to the water for Audi Hamilton Island Race Week’s opening race, the Lindeman Island Race, which finished in Dent Passage using the flagstaff on the new Hamilton Island Yacht Club as one end of the line. Michael Hiatt’s Living Doll made light work of the shifty breeze, scoring the first points in the IRC division.

Alan Brierty's RP63 Limit displayed some threatening form on the second day of racing with New Zealand America's Cup import Gavin Brady showing plenty of grit on the wheel at the start of the second windward/leeward as he shaved the pin end smack bang on the starting signal and backed it up with a handicap win. More details.

On the third day of racing the different course areas were experiencing wind from opposite sides of the dial. While some boats were becalmed, others had full kites and reasonable speed. Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats X beat Peter Harburg’s Black Jack to the finish, leveling the line honours tally for the Reichel Pugh 66s. Living Doll followed, finishing third over the line, a mere 16 seconds behind Black Jack, and first on corrected time. Ray Roberts’ Evolution Racing was one of three boats caught in a back eddy on the south side of Ann and Cole Islands until they picked up a 12 knot easterly that rocketed the Cookson 50 to the finish line and into second place.

A bunch of consultant miners from around the country and Jakarta have called their chartered Sunsail Bavaria 50 Mine Y.O.B and are living it up in the tropical Whitsundays, all under the rather dubious banner of the Peak Performance Multi-Disciplinary Conference. All the news from Hamilton Island at Boating Oz.

KEEL BOATS

Within hours of the release of the Rolex Sydney Hobart 2009 Notice of Race the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia had received its first four applications for entry, and this figure has now climbed to eight. More details.

- INTERNATIONAL

After 511 miles of intense competition, the 52 boat fleet in the Solitaire du Figaro finished the fourth and final leg in Dieppe, and right to the very end it was almost impossible to pick the winner. More information.

Emirates Team New Zealand made it three regatta wins in a row on the Audi MedCup yachting circuit, coming from behind in testing conditions to claim the Portugal Trophy. More info.

Two months out from the start of the Rolex Middle Sea Race, the Royal Malta Yacht Club is not only organising the 606 nautical mile offshore race, they are preparing to start it from a new line and with the new yacht club premises still in build. More details.

The 2010 season will have a new sailing event in the Caribbean, a new regatta, Les Voiles de Saint Barth, to be held 6-11 April. Details.

AROUND THE WORLD

Olympic gold medallist sprinter Usain Bolt was on hand to help celebrate the announcement that Jamaica will field an entry in the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. More information.

OLYMPIC CLASSES

Racing is underway at the 2009 470 World Championship in Rungsted, Denmark, with the Australian Sailing Development Squad pairing of Sam Kivell and Will Ryan the leading Australian crew in fourth position at the end of day one. More details.

The Nautel Laser Worlds are being held in Halifax, Canada. A brush with Hurricane Bill stopped racing on Sunday, Day Four, and on Monday there was not enough wind to start a race. Ten Australians are competing including 2007 and 2008 World champion, Tom Slingsby. More details.

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) published the provisional dates and venues for the World Championships of the events selected for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition. More details.

UKCRA has responded to the IOC decision not to grant sailing an 11th medal for the 2012 Olympic Games, which means there will be no multihull event. More details.

Weymouth and Portland's sailing centre, the venue for the sailing competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, will open its doors with free entry to the public this 19 September, on the day that the medals will be decided at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta. More details.

NEWS BRIEFS

The 55-year-old partner of Hobart medical physicist Robert Chappell, who has been missing since January 27, has been charged with his murder. Mr Chappell disappeared from his 14 metre yacht Four Winds which was moored at Sandy Bay. More information.

Worldwide there are seven species of marine turtles, and six of them swim in Australian waters. These resilient creatures have lived in the oceans for more than 100 million years, adapting to constant environmental changes. But today marine turtle species are no longer able to keep up with the rapid changes to their environment, and their survival is under serious threat. More details.

Public boating facilities are about to receive another boost following the latest round of funding applications under the NSW State Government’s Better Boating Program (BBP). More details.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

August 27 - 30 -- Brisbane International Boat Show, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. Brisbane Boat Show.

Aug 29 – Sep 4 -- Multihull Solutions Multihull Rendezvous APYC Yachting.

Sept 11 - Quiet Little Drink cocktail party –This famous annual affair will be bigger and better this year with Syd Fisher and Col Wildman receiving their '40' Sydney Hobart plaques, while Graeme Ainley, Robert Green and John Walker will receive their '25' plaques. More details.

Sep 11-13 -- The Great Tropical Jazz Party on Magnetic Island follows on from Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week, with many crews lingering on to relax after a week of competitive sailing. More information.

Sep 12 - Great Whitsunday Fun Race Whitsunday Sailing Club.

Nov 14 – 15 - Club Marine Sail Boat Show, Sandringham Yacht Club. Boating Oz.

Photograph courtesy of Andrea Francolini/Audi: There are no Limits according to Alan Brierty