| Fastnet winners to compete in Hobart. |
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Photos
By Carlo
Borlenghi for Rolex and Peter Andrews.
Story edited from press release by Peter Andrews. |
October 1, 2009. |
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For the first time ever, the line honours and overall handicap winners of Britain’s famous Fastnet Race will contest theSydney Hobart Yacht Race in the same year.
Mike Slade’s Farr 100 ICAP Leopard and Niklas Zennström’s JV72 Rán, the line honours and overall winners respectively of this year’s Fastnet will make their way to Sydney to compete in the 65th edition of the Australian blue water classic. |
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Mike Slade's ICAP Leopard at dusk heading for Fastnet Rock, during the Fastnet 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi.
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| If ICAP Leopard and Rán can each repeat their Fastnet performances in theSydney Hobart, they will also be the first British yachts to take out the double of the JH Illingworth Trophy (line honours) and Tattersall’s Cup (handicap), since Crusade and Morning Cloud had done more than 40 years ago. |
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Niklas Zennström’s JV 72 Rán 2 at Fastnet Rock, earlier this year.
Photo © Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi.
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It was Sir Max Aitken’s Alan Gurney designed 62 footer, Crusade, that took line honours in 1969. Overall victory went to the Sparkman and Stephens 33ft, Morning Cloud, that was sailed by Edward (later Sir Edward) Heath, then Leader of the Opposition and later to become Prime Minister of United Kingdom.
ICAP Leopard will return to Australia from the UK in December and will compete for line honours glory against this year’s highly competitive fleet, that includes four other 100 footers; Robert Oatley’s Reichel Pugh-designed Wild Oats XI, Neville Crichton’s RP100 Alfa Romeo II, Brook Lenfest’s Farr 100 Rapture and the Greg Elliott-designed Maximus, which will be chartered by Sean Langman and renamed. |
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Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo (NZL), during the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi.
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| Peter Millard and John Honan’s Bakewell-White designed 30m maxi Lahana and Grant Wharington’s Victorian IRC 30m maxi, Wild Thing, the 2003 line honours winner, will round out the maxi fleet. |
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Charles St Clair Brown and Bill Buckley's Maximus enters the Tasman Sea after the start of the 2006 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Maximus will be chartered by Sean Langman for this year's Hobart.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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ICAP Leopard finished second across the line behind Wild Oats XI in the 2007 Sydney Hobart, when both were 98-footers under the then maximum length overall limit of 30 metres. The LOA limit has since been extended to 30.48m, or 100 feet, with this year’s Sydney Hobart the first to allow 100 foot yachts to enter.
"We have our sights set on trying to achieve line honours in all three of the Rolex offshore events in a calendar year," said Chris Sherlock, ICAP Leopard’s boat captain.
They succeeded in winning the line honours in the Fastnet Race. Their next race is the Middle Sea Race out of Malta in October before Leopard is shipped to Australia with Rán for the Sydney Hobart.
Prior to the Fastnet Race, ICAP Leopard also claimed line honours in the RORC Caribbean 600, setting a monohull record of 44 hours 5 minutes 14 seconds for the new 605 nautical mile offshore race. |
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Mike Slade's 98 foot version of Leopard on its final approach to the Hobart finishing line in 2007.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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"Along with a major optimisation program, which we have been running extensively since lengthening the yacht and changing to twin rudders, we have recruited some of the best sailors from the Volvo Ocean Race. These include Ray Davies as race skipper, Brad Jackson as watch leader and Jules Salter as navigator as well as Gordon Maguire, Paul Standbridge and Jason Carrington," added Sherlock.
"These crew members were part of the winning Rolex Fastnet crew and are ready for all the action a Rolex Sydney Hobart can produce." |
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Wild Oats working up the Derwent to take line honours in
the 2007 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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UK based Niklas Zennström’s Rán, a 72-footer from the design board of the noted German-based naval architects Judel-Vrolijk, was only launched in April this year. While conditions in this year’s Fastnet favoured the larger boats, Rán sailed an impressive race to win overall.
"One of the key objectives when we were building Rán was to be able to race offshore, and the most obvious race we put on the calendar was the Rolex Fastnet Race," said Zennström, after collecting the 80-year-old Fastnet Rock
Trophy. |
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Niklas Zennström after winning overall in the Fastnet earlier this year, with his JV 72 Rán.
Photo © Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi .
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Skipper Tim Powell added that Rán had "proven itself to be very powerful and fast upwind", which was a major factor in the boat not only winning its class but the Fastnet Race overall.
"It was important to get a crew that could compete in inshore races and challenging offshore races such as the Fastnet and Sydney Hobart, as experience counts when seeking a strong performance," said Powell. |
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Niklas Zennström's Rán (GBR), winner of Mini Maxi Racing - 00 division in the in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi .
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The crew of Rán is a veritable who’s who of international offshore yachtsmen including Volvo Ocean Race veterans Powell and Steven Hayles and America’s Cup sailors Adrian Stead, Andy Hemmings, Richard Bouzaid and Richard Meacham.
Following the Fastnet, Rán returned to the Mediterranean to win the Mini Maxi Division 00 of the Maxi World Rolex Cup in Sardinia in September, beating Neville Crichton’s RP71 Alfa Romeo 3. |
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Grant Wharington's Wild Thing, working up to the Hobart finishing line in a 30 knot squall, to arrive second over the line in the 2008 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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Once the crew arrives in Sydney mid December, Rán will compete in the lead up events the Big Boat Challenge and the offshore Trophy Rating Series.
"We are very excited about competing in these two regattas. The Sydney Hobart because of the high calibre of the IRC fleet in Australia and to be challenged by the tough conditions off Sydney Heads," added Powell.
"To finish the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an achievement in its own right. The two regattas culminate in a fantastic few weeks of racing in very different formats but equally testing," concluded Powell. |
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Peter Millard and John Honan’s Bakewell-White designed 30m maxi Lahana when it was Zana, working up the Derwent River towards the Hobart finishing line at the end of the 2005 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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ICAP Leopard promises to be strong contender for line honours in the 65th Sydney Hobart Yacht Race against the other 100-footers, while Rán could well be the boat to beat for overall IRC honours and the coveted Tattersall’s Trophy.
The Sydney Hobart will be preceded by the offshore series of races outside Sydney Heads. The racing for the one design classes, including Farr 40’s and Sydney 38’s, will take place between 11 - 13 December. The IRC and Performance Handicap boats will race in the ratings series between 17 and 20 December 2009.
Applications for entry for the 2009 Sydney Hobart close Monday 2 November 2009 at 17:00hrs AEST.
For further information about the Sydney Hobart, the official race website can be found at: www.rolexsydneyhobart.com. |
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| Outimage and Rolex © 2009 |
