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SAIL MELBOURNE SOUTHERN OCEANS MULTIHULL REGATTA 2001

Sensational shootout in defacto 'National' series

With one exception, all of Australia's gun multihulls appeared at the 2001 Southern Oceans Multihull Regatta (SOMR) held at the fabulous Western Port Marina on Western Port in Victoria, Australia. Staged from January 6 - 13, the eighteen entrants put on a superb spectacle of power sailing with some of the races witnessed by spectators on a ferry hired by the local government agency in the region, the Mornington Peninsula Shire.

'Team Raider', the winning 30' production cat entered by Joel Berg (Queensland) seen here powered up under screecher

Keith Glover's custom carbon 32' tri 'Trilogy' with the NSW skipper at his customary steering position hanging on to the tiller extension and a shroud. 'Trilogy' finished second.

Forget the handicaps for a moment and imagine the sight of 18 multis reaching in 30+ knots of wind. Keith Glover's custom carbon 32' 'Trilogy' trimaran looked magnificent, Joel Berg's brand new production 30' cat 'Team Raider' was sensational under screecher in these conditions and then there was 'Desperado', Wayne Huxley's new 41' racing cat which just got faster and faster eventually blowing away everything for line honours. Even cruising boats had a ball as witnessed by the sight of George Bulka's 36' cat 'Seatrek' reaching along just a few feet away from Karen Arundell's 35' tri 'Prophecy', both enveloped in a cloud of spray at 16 to 18 knots boat speed.

Wayne Huxley's powerful new 41' racer 'Desperado' seen here in a relatively peaceful pose. The cat blasted all others for line honours.

Local Victorian hope, the 31' tri 'Slick Willie' (Craig Unthank) was consistent to finish an unlucky third on countback.

The weather was not always like this during the SOMR week. Competitors experienced everything from whisper breezes in a foul tide to 35-knot southerlies and choppy water. The racing standard was top class as good sailors in good boats found it very difficult to get a placing, even in a heat!

Robert Remilton's carbon F31R 'Wilparina 2'- a proven top class combination could only finish fourth overall - no disgrace in this fleet! Consistency, as always is the key to good results and this was demonstrated by Craig Unthank's maxi trailerable 31' tri 'Slick Willie' which took third place overall although they did not actually win any of the six heats.

Some boats are fast enough to atomise the water. Wayne Huxley's 41' racing cat 'Desperado' demonstrates extreme speed at SOMR 2001.

Underneath all that spray is Peter Ward's F31 'Enterprise' being pushed hard under screecher in 30+ knots of wind on Western Port. Peter's first time at SOMR 2001 gained the Pittwater (NSW) crew a creditable tenth overall in some hot company.

The overall placings at the end of a most enjoyable Regatta were as follows:-
OMR results (Offshore Multihull Rating) and SOMR champions

1. 'Team Raider' - production 30' cat - Joel Berg (Queensland) 6,1,4,4,1 = 16
2. 'Trilogy' - custom 32' tri - Keith Glover (New South Wales) 10,1,1,3,2 =17
3. 'Slick Willie' - MTB 31' tri - Craig Unthank (Victoria) 5,2,2,2,6 =17
4. 'Wilparina 2' - F31R - Robert Remilton (South Australia) 4,3,5,3,5 =20

There was a tiebreak procedure necessary to separate second and third. The fact that there were entries from four States qualifies SOMR 2001 for National status. This is the third time that SOMR has had entries from four States.
Run concurrently with SOMR was the Victorian Trailerable Multihull Championship which was won by 'Trilogy' with 'Team Raider' second and 'Slick Willie' third. SOMR takes a great deal of time and money to organise.

Individual Race Reports

Most of the regatta races were preceded by an official briefing, in general these were well supported as crews gathered to breakfast and recover from the previous nights entertainment.

Pre-race briefings

and more.

Saturday January 6, 2001 - Invitation Race

15 - 20 knot winds revealed some startling performances in the absence of 'Desperado', particularly from the trailerable fleet which comprised the biggest Division. Six sponsor representatives enjoyed a sail on some of the boats except for a Subaru representative on 'Desperado' as a mast problem prevented them racing. Nonetheless the representative was visibly paler on return to the Marina - and that was from a brief sail under jib alone!

Slick Willie	Team Raider	Start of Race
Team Prophecy		Cascade

Sunday January 7, 2001 - Race 1 (17 nm.)

Fresh to strong southerlies were experienced for the two divisional starts (trailerables and OMR - the one 'cruising' entry was lumped in with the trailerables). A spectator ferry subsidised by the Mornington Peninsula Shire offered great views of the racing on the water. It was a pity that the ferry was only about half full because the strong conditions provided some spectacular sights.

The Ferry

Trilogy

Venom

The course made the boats traverse the infamous Middle Spit Channel under spinnakers. All except 'Prophecy' made it as the hapless crew ran aground and had to wait seven hours before they could float off. They returned to the Marina about 10 pm with nothing but their pride damaged. The helmsman (alias MYCV Commodore) on 'Prophecy' was seen giving navigational advice to interstate crews the previous day!

	Cascade	Blythe Spirit
Seatrek	Desperado	Desperado
Prophecy	Prophecy	Prophecy
Team Raider		Trifle

Trilogy' and 'Enterprise' both performed spectacular nosedives directly beside the spectator ferry with 'Trilogy' suffering some trampoline damage. 'Team Raider' blitzed the fleet for line honours in the absence of 'Desperado'. The little (30') 'Raider cat is a rocket and is wonderfully sailed. 'Sayonara' took corrected time honours with 'Cascade' and 'Pronto' equal second.

Pronto	Sayonara	Wilparina II
Trilogy	Seatrek	Cascade
	Race Start

Monday January 8, 2001 - Race 2 (31 nm.)

20 - 30 knots SE wind was predicted and more was experienced as the fleet set off on a tight reach in the 31 mile race roughly to Newhaven (on Phillip Island) and back. Three smaller boats retired during the race ( a sensible decision!) as conditions at the southern extremities of the course were very hard. Spectacular racing, high speeds, some minor damage and close tussles throughout the fleet - what more could anyone want!
See the photo of 'Enterprise' to get some idea of the spectacle.

Enterprise

Enterprise

Perhaps one of the closest on-the-water struggles was between 'Cascade', 'Seatrek' and 'Prophecy' where, for much of the race they were separated by very little distance. At one stage 'Seatrek' and 'Prophecy', both 'cruising' boats of about 35' in length were reaching side by side at 16 - 18 knots boat speed within a metre of each other for about 10 minutes.

Cascade

Prophecy

Seatrek

Desperado' broke a jib halyard block and while fixing a temporary replacement had two crew (including designer Grainger) lying on the jib on the forward netting. Every wave would lift the two, plus the jib a metre off the netting and, in the very strong apparent headwind the collection remained airborne for some 10 - 15 seconds, grimly clutching the netting with their fingers, before returning to the netting for their next drenching, flying experience. Would your crew do that for you?. Somebody suggested the boat be renamed 'not drowning, flying' as a parody of an Aussie band name. Despite finishing the course without their headsail operational and 'gently' sailing the boat home, 'Desperado' finished the race less than 10 minutes slower than line honours rocket 'Team Raider'.

Desperado

Desperado

Team Raider' took the line and handicap double with 'Slick Willie' and 'Wilparina 2' second and third on corrected time.

Team Raider

Slick Willie

Wilparina II

Tuesday January 9, 2001 - Lay (rest) day

Some repaired boats, some repaired themselves and most hoped for a little less wind the next day.

Wednesday January 10, 2001 - Races 3 & 4

Sail Melbourne organisation lays on a power boat to take a video production team out for Race 3 - it (the video) makes SBS TV that evening (SBS is a 'fringe' station - the major networks did not use any video).

Race 3
These triangle courses are tight and, with the speed differences between a 41' racing cat and a 22' trailertri being rather large much care has to be exercised on the water. The weather for this race was 10 - 12 knots and getting lighter which favoured the faster boats as they finished the course more quickly. 'Desperado' was in full flight at last and easily recorded fastest time but 'Trilogy' won on corrected time from the consistent 'Slick Willie' and 'Sayonara'. 'Team Raider' was not as fast in the lighter wind but still performed well.

Team Raider

Shanghied

Conquest

Race 4
The NE wind opposed the sea breeze to the extent that they cancelled each other so that Race 4 was abandoned and would be sailed on the last day.

Thursday January 11, 2001 - Lay Day/Picnic Day

Friday January 12, 2001 - Race 5
A light SE wind greeted competitors at the start of the long (35 nm.) course which involved following the shipping channel to the first marks at the entrance to Western Port, then across the bay entrance and return.

All got away well with the last of the ebbing tide and made their way South towards Phillip Island. Shortly after the turning mark most boats faced flukey shifting winds and a foul tidal current. Some boats went inshore, some went out and some just battled along the rhumb line. 'Cascade' anchored after three tacks inshore got it nowhere. Eventually the wind filled in and allowed some progress to the entrance to the bay.

Team Raider

Blythe Spirit & Prophecy

The faster boats had the best of the wind and tidal flows and 'Desperado' easily won line honours taking just on three hours to complete the course. Others at the tail end of the fleet struggled to finish in ten hours! A few could not make the time limit of eleven hours.
On corrected time 'Team Raider' beat 'Desperado' and 'Trilogy'.

Team Raider	Pronto
Conquest	Desperado

Saturday January 13, 2001 - Race 6 and Race 4 resail

Race 6 is traditionally a 'sternchaser' with individual timed starts and, hopefully a blanket finish. A short windward/leeward course was selected and the start moved forward to 8.30 am to allow for the Race 4 resail.

Slick Willie

The wind was a steady 10 - 15 knots for the sternchaser and some spectacular power reaching and running resulted. 'Desperado' looked awesome creating not only bow splash and a rooster tail from the rudder(s) but also a fine mist that travelled with the boat. Peak speeds were unreported but the boat looked very fast indeed.
The reaching course suited 'Seatrek' who took line honours ('Desperado' had the fastest time) but 'Trilogy' beat 'Slick Willie' and 'Wilparina 2' on corrected time.

Enterprise

Hogs Breath

Desperado

Race 4 resail saw a 17 nm. course set to the Northern end of Western Port taking in Joe's Island as a turning mark. The wind at first dropped then came in stronger at about 15 knots. 'Desperado' again took line honours (and the fastest boat trophy) but 'Cascade' beat 'Trilogy' and 'Prophecy' for corrected time honours.

Desperado	Prophecy & Blythe Spirit	Trilogy
Desperado		Prophecy

Special Thanks

The MYCV committee would like to thank all those individuals who contributed to the success of the Sail Melbourne SOMR 2001 Regatta.

The Multihull Yacht Club of Victoria's Committee actually raises the equivalent of about $12000 each year to stage the event. Without our sponsors SOMR would not be the success it is. If you require services in related areas to our sponsors, please keep these organisations in mind:-

SOUTHERN OCEANS MULTIHULL REGATTA, 2001

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Copyright © 2001 Multihull Yacht Club Of Victoria Inc, A0024379N