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The
1999 Boatcraft Pacific S.O.M.R.
Something
must be right about the Southern Oceans Multihull Regatta. In early
January 29 multis competed in 6 races plus an invitation race, the
previous best entry being 23 last year. Both the quantity of racers
and the quality of racing increased substantially.
The fact that the National Trailerable Multihull Championships were
held concurrently with the 'normal' SOMR no doubt effected the numbers
but only three boats ventured south for the event. They got a most
agreeable and exciting championship and were very
surprised and generous in their praise of this, the eighth consecutive
SOMR. Some of the SOMR veterans are now half-jokingly complaining
about how hard it is to win a race, let alone the series.
Another reason for the continued success of this Regatta is the
excellent Westernport Marina facilities. The marina management (through
Irene Hoe) had again allocated free berthing to all competitors
- although with 29 entries they had just enough room - and the SOMR
organisers must be thanking their lucky stars for the continued
support that the Marina gives. This year they even subsidised the
end-of-Regatta function as part of a campaign to make the Westernport
Marina the 'home' of multihulls in Victoria and are encouraging
multis to berth there. Is this attitude to multis a world first?
There certainly is no better place to be!
Along with past and present trailerable champions, hired 'guns'
like Paul Nudd and fast locals, this Regatta showcased a wealth
of sailing talent. Even Western Australian multihull association
identity Brad Saunders put in an appearance and couldn't resist
a ride for one race. Queensland's Trailer-tri president John Smithwick
trailed 'No Limits', his quick little F24 down for both the 'Cock
of the Bay' (Port Phillip) and SOMR and showed excellent seamanship
in the Port Phillip race to finish in atrocious conditions (the
precursor to the Sydney-Hobart weather passed through Melbourne
on Dec. 26 - the day of the Cock of the Bay race). During the SOMR
itself all interstate competitors acquitted themselves very well.
This year the weather was kind to the organisers (the Multihull
Yacht Club of Victoria) with moderate conditions prevailing except
for Race 5 which saw winds up to 35 knots and some boat damage including
a dismasting. The three divisions contested were the overall OMR,
National Trailerable Multihull Championship and Performance Handicap
for the cruisers. The first two divisions were hotly contested throughout
the week so much so that going into the last race any one of five
boats could win the trailerables and any one of seven the OMR prize!
The performance division was sown up by Ed and Janet Eppel's 'Wishful
Sinful' (a lengthened Grainger 35' cat) from Tom Haughton's 'Shanghaied'
(Buccaneer 36) and Steve Aulich's party boat 'Fat Cat' (Crowther
35 cat).
The final placings reflected the closeness of the boats and the
battle to win. Lindsay Cuming (Vic.,Bagatelle), one of the original
instigators of SOMR, finally had a win in the Regatta coming equal
first in OMR with Martin Kilpatrick (ACT, Sidefx Too) with equal
third place going to Chris O'Brien (Vic., Sayonara) and Dieter Tietz
(ACT, Reasonable Doubt).
Bagatelle, the well known Crowther 42 lengthened to 45' revelled
in the conditions, particularly the windy (35 knots) Race 5 which
gave the big blue boat time to stretch out in the 33 n.m. course
where the boat reportedly rounded a mark at 23 knots boatspeed!
The F24 Mk.2's of O'Brien and Kilpatrick actually both withdrew
from that race because of the sea state while Tietz's F25A soldiered
through it. One race could be dropped so the retirement of seven
smaller multis from Race 5 was good common sense. Unfortunately
for Robert Remilton on Wilparina, Race 5 was not the only thing
he dropped as Wilparina lost its mast in the testing conditions.
The duel for honours in the Trailerable championships was obviously
close as the leaders figured prominently in the overall OMR placings.
Sidefx Too and Sayonara were always locked together in boat for
boat racing which was great for participants and others as well
- there were spectator craft watching the multis race! Dieter Tietz's
Reasonable Doubt kept all the F24's honest but even these three
did not have things their own way. Each of the six races was won
by a different boat although only one was won by a trailerable catamaran.
It seems the trailerable multihull scene is dominated by "F"
trimarans in the absence of modern trailerable cats. Only two ageing
Seawind 24's, a modified C-class, a lone International 23 and Wayne
Huxleys' death or glory Rapid Ride represented the two hull club
- perhaps an opportunity for an enterprising designer to even up
the competition in this section.
The end of Regatta function was the usual ribald, slanderous and
outrageously funny affair enjoyed by all, even the 'Canberra humour'
which shall remain unexplained here!
The work of Geoff Lacey and his crew on 'Seagull' (the committee
boat) and of Gwen Robinson with results was terrific and much appreciated
by all, especially your reporter who volunteered one race on 'Seagull'
(Geoff Lacey -"if you hit us this year, please make sure you
sink us"?) which almost rolled beam over (it's a monohull)
in the conditions of Race 5. Your reporter's consolation back in
the serenity of the Marina was much appreciated.
The support of BoatCraft Pacific, Marine Timbers, Westernport Marina
and the Mornington Peninsula Shire is also acknowledged as critical
to the success of SOMR '99.
Prizes after each race (and some at the Regatta end) were donated
by Horizon Sailmakers, Sealand Marine, Inside Multihulls magazine
and Australian Multihull Yacht Sales, the latter donating a daily
bottle of rum presented by Philip Day. Such was the feeling of the
whole event that a protest signalled at the start of Race 6 was
settled 'out of court' by the exchange of a bottle of rum.
For more information about the Regatta, the Multihull Yacht Club
of Victoria has a web site at www.mycv.com.au
Phillip Hames
Anecdotes
*The
welcome BBQ on the Friday evening before the Regatta was attended
by 85 who enjoyed the function. Rod and Suane from The Galley catered
to the night. Both are characters and Suane is a real asset to the
business with his colourful chatter; his notoriety increased markedly
by a somewhat risque number at the final social evening focussing
on his special talent.
*Your reporter started the Regatta on the committee boat - a first
time for him. Geoff Lacey and crew were full of good natured banter
about 'bloody multihulls' - each of them owns a hull challenged
boat of some kind - with your reporter the odd one out. By the time
we returned to the Marina, each of the crew had confessed their
desire to own a multihull!
*'Wishful Sinful's dominance of the PHF cruiser fleet can be put
down to the secret and puzzling rating system used on board during
races. Your reporter has found out that tacks and other manoeuvres
are prepared for by a rating of "two cans", "three
cans", "half a slab", etc. which, whatever it means,
signals to the crew the seriousness of the situation.
*Race one and your intrepid reporter escapes the start boat for
a sail on Vince and Joyce Gardiner's lovely 34' trimaran 'Searunner'.
Vince, a witty and amiable gentleman likes to relax so he passes
all sailing responsibilities to Ken (Captain Bligh) Holloway. Your
reporter, together with crew Ian Cabrie try to keep up on the winches
with Ken's strident demands while Vince just smiles, takes the odd
photo and, well, relaxes.
After a while we have actually passed a couple of other multis which
much pleases Vince and even Captain Bligh smiles slightly between
berating the crew for their slackness in winching in (what seems
like) 500 metres of sheet on each tack. Heavy emotions.
Your reporter now understands what relaxed sailing is all about;
how could a person misunderstand the enjoyment of sailing for so
long?
*Aboard Bruce Carter's wonderful Arber 38 cat 'Shazam' for race
two we had a problem. The crew consisted of four skippers! Keith
Roberts suggested a greencard/red card voting system to maintain
some degree of democracy on board. Every suggestion was voted on
and Bruce had the power of veto. Surprisingly the system worked
well and 'Shazam' finished second in PHF that day even though tactics
were supreme in the light to non-existent wind in the first three
hours of the race, and many suggestions contradicted each other!
*Some racing highlights were spectacular. During race five, 'Blithe
Spirit', under spinnaker dug its bows into a wave and stood up at
45 degrees - from 18 knots to zero.
In the process the flexible 'Airblade' mast flexed so that some
forestay tension was temporarily lost. It was enough to transfer
to the forebeam bridle wire which promptly jumped off the holder!.
The wave impact also bent the catwalk.
This incident was one of many for 'Blithe Spirit'. Shortly before
the boat was observed with one hull a long way out of the water.
Some people have all the fun!
*Leon Alexanders' little trailertri 680 'Rainbow Connection' didn't
have the most successful Regatta this year but it did provide one
unforgettable sight in the wild race five.
It was a big boat race that was windward for about 16 miles then
downwind for another 16 or so. As some retired, some damaged themselves,
big boats nearly cartwheeled and the wind got to 35 knots or more,
'Rainbow Connection' sailed all the way back with full main and
spinnaker - what a sight it was!
*Geoff Lacey recounts this story about race 5. After starting the
boats in the 33 nm. race 'Seagulls' crew decide to head back to
the marina and escape the bad sea until the fleet returned. It was
a long race and the boats wouldn't be back for some time they thought
as they refuelled and had a cup of coffee. Then Geoff overheard
the tail end of a conversation over the VHF coming from a charter
skipper passing the three-quarter mark of the course:-
".... there's these idiot yotties out here and the bloody huge
blue one has just flashed past going like the devil.... "
Geoff immediately thought 'Bagatelle' so they jumped back on Seagull
and high tailed it out the Hastings channel (at 8 knots). Along
the way they sight 'Rapid Ride' coming into the channel under jib.
Geoff thought 'My God; they've finished the race and we weren't
there!' But Geoff didn't know that RR had retired from the race
some time ago and were coming back in! Even so, Seagull kept going
and established a finishing line about five minutes before Bagatelle
stormed home.
*In race six (the drag race) the crews of small cats and tris could
just be seen through the spray. They had huge grins on their faces
in the flat seas and close reaching conditions.
Aboard 'Shazam' at 18 knots we thought we were doing well until
'B1,B2 and Bcareful', the crew aboard Brian (B1) Lindsay's Seawind
24 'Dirty Dick' came flying past in a shower of spray!
*Rapid Ride held together for the whole Regatta (so far a rare event
- lets hope the boat has used up all it's bad luck) and Wayne (Captain
Courageous) Huxley had much delight in accepting his 'Fastest Boat'
trophy. In the last race, RR could be seen impatiently stalking
the start line and then take off 74 minutes after the first starter.
From a distance one only had to look for the wake from RR to locate
it - it looked a bit like that of the Bass Strait Devil Cat ferry
wake and was probably as fast!
*During any Regatta there are sweeping rumours which generate, pass
through and disappear mysteriously. SOMR '99 was no exception and,
in the interests of pure gossip I can set the record straight on
some of them:-
a) Bob Clark was reportedly in attendance one day. This was in reality
a blow up doll and not the real Bob Clark. Evidence? The apparition
drank coffee!
b) The daily bottle of rum prize was coveted by many, especially
the crew of 'Cascade'. Rumours that the winches were not fully operational
were incorrect as this was a ruse perpetrated to explain rum affected
crew work in the early races.
c)One particularly nasty rumour was that 'Wishful Sinful' had run
'dry'. Ed and Janet strongly denied this and spent almost every
night dispelling the rumour in the most practical way. The look
of shock on their faces when confronted with the rumour was testament
to their determination to keep the big cat up to racing standard.
d) Rumours that Lindsay Cuming is going to sell the famous 'face'
spinnaker were totally without foundation. Lindsay says that they
only tore it twice this year and that makes a grand total of only
seven rips since new. He usually keeps sails in decimal lots - 10
rips and it's time for a new one!
E) It pays to get in early. The welcome to crews BBQ on the Friday
before the Regatta was free for the skipper. Next evening was a
$1 BBQ followed a couple of nights later by a $3 BBQ and a BYO BBQ.
By the end of the Regatta function, although sponsored by Westernport
Marina it still cost $20 per head. Mind you, the entertainment at
this function was worth the price of admission alone. Where else
could one see the Canberra vista easily recognised by all voters?
(No correspondence will be entertained by the writer about this
particular act!)
S.O.M.R.
Race Summaries
Invitation
Race, Jan. 2, 27 starters, 16 nm., 5 - 30 kn. Wind NNW
(From the committee boat 'Seagull')
Starting in three arbitrary divisions based on expected performance,
Div. C, then Div. B, then A. Best starting group was Div. A which
saw a close group set off for the windward first mark of a course
around the channel markers in Westernport's North Arm.
After Wayne Huxley's pink projectile called 'Rapid Ride' made some
minor errors, Rob Haylock's SSBD 40 'Blithe Spirit' slipped across
for fastest time. Rob had convinced Paul Nudd to join him for the
series. The overall win on OMR went to Chris O'Brien's 'Sayonara'
followed by Martin Kilpatrick's 'Sidefx Too' and Alex Macnaughtan's
'Cascade"; the trailerables placing's in OMR were a portent
of things to come.
After much suspected sandbagging the placing's in the performance
H'cap division were Keith Roberts (and family's home - a beautiful
Grainger 43 cat) 'Sub Zero', Tom Haughton's Buccaneer 36 'Shanghaied'
and Janet and Ed Eppel's lengthened Grainger 35 cat 'Wishful Sinful'.
Life on board the committee boat was an experience for your reporter.
Only the highest praise should be directed at Geoff Lacey and his
crew from now on although it was amusing (it was only the invitation
race) to disqualify two competitors because they did not sign on
correctly before the start. What power resides within the hull of
the old 'Seagull'!
Race 1, Jan 3, 28 starters, 22nm. course, 15 kn. SSW
(From Vince Gardiner's Brown 34 Tri 'Searunner')
Beautiful sailing conditions saw the fleet move down to the southern
end of the Middle Spit Channel, then a spinnaker run up the Channel
followed by a tight reach to Joe's Island and returning via the
Tide Gauge mark.
Dieter Tietz's F25A 'Reasonable Doubt' won on OMR from Lindsay Cuming's
'Bagatelle' with Chris O'Brien's F24 Mk.2 'Sayonara' third. In PHF,
the Eppels'
'Wishful Sinful' started a string of wins beating 'Shanghaied' and
Peter Cooper's 'Starship'.
'Rapid Ride' blitzed the fleet for fastest time.
Race 2, Jan 4, 23 starters, 33nm. course, 0 - 20 kn. S to SE wind.
(From Bruce Carter's Arber 38 cat 'Shazam')
The 'Newhaven course' (Phillip Island) saw a 9am start for the Div.
C boats with 40 minutes between starts of the other divisions. Very
light breeze and an adverse tidal flow of about 3 knots meant that
competitors were desperately seeking the fickle winds with much
anchoring and praying! In these conditions some strange sights are
seen such as an anchored fleet watching some lucky competitors gaining
a private wind, or other boats with a discernible bow wave actually
going backwards across the ground due to the current. Frustrating
stuff but after taking three hours to make good about two nm. The
wind came in and everyone got going.
The preceding manoeuvres saw 'Rapid Ride' way out on a limb with
little chance of catching the leaders but, after a blistering run
back Wayne Huxley's rocket caught and passed everyone only to then
misread the sailing instructions. They thought that # 19 was the
turning mark ( it was #29) and dropped their kite and headed up
to the finish. After realising their mistake they still finished
fourth fastest behind 'Bagatelle', Craig Unthanks lovely looking
MTB 920 'Slick Willie' and 'Blithe Spirit'. 'Slick Willie' went
on to take OMR honours from 'Bagatelle' and 'Cascade'. Shanghaied'
won PHF from 'Shazam' and 'Wishful Sinful'.
Race 3, Jan. 6, 23 starters, triangle course(13nm.), 10 - 15 kn.
S
Another beautiful sailing day saw excellent competition with don
Fullwood's modified C-class cat 'Conquest' just getting the OMR
honours from 'Sidefx Too' and 'Reasonable Doubt'.
'Wishful Sinful' won PHF from 'Shazam' and 'Shanghaied'. 'Rapid
Ride' was fastest.
Race 4, Jan. 7, 21 starters, triangle course, 15 - 20 knot S shifting.
Another triangle race saw the start postponed after 'Blithe Spirit'
wrapped the start buoy line around one of its rudders. The wind
was fresh but shifty and no real reaching legs were available.
'Sayonara' won on OMR from 'Sidefx Too' and 'Cascade' while 'Wishful
Sinful' took a stranglehold on PHF with another win from 'Shanghaied'
and Steve Aulich's party boat 'Fat Cat'. 'Rapid Ride' was again
fastest boat but with an OMR rating of 1.238 Wayne has virtually
no chance of winning on handicap.
Race 5, Jan. 8, 23 starters, 33nm. course, 25 - 35 kn. S-SE
A strong wind day with steep 1.5m waves saw 8 boats retire with
either damage or good sense! Bagatelle loved it and stormed around
for a comfortable double - line and handicap (OMR) wins. Alex Macnaughtan's
"Cascade' revelled also with second in OMR followed by Denis
Green's F25A 'Pronto', superbly sailed and, for once beat Dieter
Tietz's similar boat. 'Blithe Spirit' stuffed the bows underwater
and dislodged its 'seagull striker' cable before retiring from the
Regatta.
In PHF, 'Wishful Sinful' beat 'Sub Zero' and third place went to
an inspired effort by Mark Wingrove and Terry Knowles on the Seawind
24 'Levanter'.
Many boats retired because of an extremely confused sea state which
made racing the little boats 'a bit dodgy'. Robert Remilton's "Wilparina'
lost its mast.
Race 6, Jan. 9, 17 starters, 15nm course, 20 kn SE winds
(From 'Shazam')
Flat seas, tight reaching and multis revelling in the conditions
for the last race which turned out to be a drag race and much enjoyed.
'Rapid Ride' covered the 15.2 nm. course in just over the hour,
the slowest boat averaged 7.5 knots.
Individual starts and the sternchaser format led to desperate attempts
to stay in front as the faster boats found it difficult to catch
the early starters in the time available.
In the National Trailerable Championships, any one of five boats
could win but it was 'Sidefx Too' taking OMR (and Trailerable) honours
in this race from 'Sayonara' and 'Reasonable Doubt'.
In PHF Bruce Carter's 'Shazam' beat 'Shanghaied' and 'Fat Cat'.
After the hard Race 5, many competitors could not start in this
race.
THE BoatCraft Pacific S.O.M.R. OFFICIAL 1999 REPORT
This report is provided to publications and organisations in the
interests of promoting multihull sailing and for information purposes.
Editors may edit and rearrange the text at will provided the reader
is notified that such editing and rearranging has been done and
that what the reader sees is not the original report as presented
here. Due and fair acknowledgement for text and photographs is expected.
Results
Summary
OFFSHORE
MULTIHULL RULE (OMR) & OVERALL REGATTA
Equal 1st 'Bagatelle', Lindsay Cuming, Vic., 2,2,5,6,0.75.= 15.75
pts
'Sidefx Too', Martin Kilpatrick, ACT, 5,5,2,3,0.75 = 15.75 pts
Equal 3rd 'Reasonable Doubt', Dieter Tietz, ACT, 0.75,8,3,2,3 =
16.75 pts
'Sayonara', Chris O'Brien, Vic., 3,7,4,0.75,2 = 16.75 pts
NATIONAL TRAILERABLE MULTIHULL CHAMPIONSHIP
1st 'Sidefx Too', Martin Kilpatrick, ACT, 15.75 pts
Equal 2nd 'Sayonara', Chris O'Brien, Vic., 16.75 pts
'Reasonable Doubt', Dieter Tietz, ACT 16.75 pts
PERFORMANCE HANDICAP
1st 'Wishful Sinful', J&E Eppel, Vic.
2nd 'Shanghaied', Tom Haughton, Vic.
3rd 'Fat Cat', Steve Aulich, Vic.
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