| Wild Oats XI leads the fleet to Newcastle |
| By CYCA
Event Media. |
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| Photos and edited by Peter Andrews. |
| March 19, 2010. |
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| A fleet of 25 crossed the start of the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Yacht Race today at midday and it was no surprise to see Bob Oatley’s 100ft Wild Oats XI, lead the fleet out of Sydney Harbour with Mark Richards at the helm. In a light eight knot north-north-easterly breeze, the variable pressure had kept all competitors on their toes. |
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Bob Oatley’s 100ft Wild Oats XI, leads the fleet out
of Sydney Harbour after the start of the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle
Yacht Race 2010.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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| The boat end was favoured at the start and Ragamuffin, Quest, Loki and Yendys, all in the running to win the Blue Water Pointscore, were fast off the mark. All four made their way to the favoured eastern side of the Harbour, which paid dividends as the fleet made for North Head. |
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Syd Fischer’s TP52 Ragamuffin, after the start of the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Yacht Race
2010.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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As the leader of the Blue Water Pointscore Series of which this is the final race, it was a good start for Syd Fischer’s TP52 Ragamuffin, who followed Wild Oats XI out through the Heads. It had taken the bigger boat around 20 minutes to clear North Head, after putting in numerous tacks down the Harbour. Once outside, the breeze was a little stronger at around 12 knots.
Many made the retrospective mistake of heading to the western side of the Harbour and as the breeze started to die, many including Ed Psaltis and his AFR Midnight Rambler crew (currently third in the Blue Water Pointscore), got caught out and found themselves in a knocking breeze on starboard tack. |
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Ed Psaltis and Bob Thomas’ modified Farr 40 AFR Midnight
Rambler, after the start of the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle
Yacht Race 2010.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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| Trevor Cosh and his Warwick 44, EZ Street from the Middle Harbour Yacht Club had the dubious distinction of being last out of the Heads after being caught in irons near Manly. One of EZ Street’s bigger rivals, the newly purchased Open 66 Broomstick, renamed The Stick, also had a hard time getting out to the open sea. With Rick Christian at the helm and along with Peter Millard / John Honan’s 30 metre Lahana from Queensland, both were very slow off the start. While Lahana recovered a little lost ground, The Stick was second last out of the Heads. |
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Trevor Cosh’s Warwick 44, EZ Street from the Middle Harbour Yacht Club, after the start of the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Yacht Race
2010.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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| The 213 nautical mile Category 2 race started off Steele Point at Vaucluse on Sydney Harbour and will take the fleet north to a mark around 20 nautical miles east of Crowdy Head. Once around the mark, the fleet then head back down to the Hunter River and the Newcastle finish line. |
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Stephen Ainsworth’s Loki approaching the
heads after the start of the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle
Yacht Race 2010, holds the current race record.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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With the fleet beating into the breeze once they rounded North Head, Stephen Ainsworth’s race record of 15 hours 57 minutes 53 seconds, set with Loki last year, is likely to remain intact.
Wild Oats XI from New South Wales is the obvious line honours contender, but Loki could well finish the race in second place, so well is she sailed with the likes of Gordon Maguire, Ainsworth’s sailing master, aboard. |
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Geoff Ross’ Reichel / Pugh 55 Yendys, after the start of the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle
Yacht Race 2010.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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Prior to the race start, Wild Oats XI’s skipper Mark Richards indicated that he was keen to get the boat offshore and racing again.
"I’m looking forward to this race, it should be a pleasant sail north. We’re getting the big boat out racing more so that we can have another crack at the line honours crown for the next Rolex Sydney Hobart." |
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Colin and Gladys Woods’ Cookson 50 Pretty Fly III, after the start of the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Yacht Race
2010.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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| At 13:30 AEDT today, Wild Oats XI was travelling at 10.8 knots off Sydney’s Northern Newport Beach, sailing a track close to the coast. Following the super maxi in a tight bunch were Geoff Ross’ Reichel / Pugh 55 Yendys, Stephen Ainsworth’s Loki, Syd Fischer’s Ragamuffin, Colin and Gladys Woods’ Cookson 50 Pretty Fly III, and Bob Steel’s TP52 Quest. |
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Bob Steel’s TP52 Quest, after the start of the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Yacht Race
2010.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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This morning, skippers and tacticians were told to expect a 10 to 15 knot north-easterly for the race start, increasing to 15 to 20 knots by the afternoon. Perfect summer conditions in autumn! Winds will then veer further north overnight and ease to around 10 knots, possibly to as little as five knots late in the evening.
On Saturday, conditions are expected to mirror those of Friday to late in the afternoon, when the entire fleet should be safely tucked up in Newcastle. |
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Peter Millard and John Honan’s 30 metre Lahana,
after the start of the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Yacht
Race 2010.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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Questioned on whether he thought a record run was possible, Richards said: "It’s going to be a little bit light, but if we get 25 knots tomorrow morning, we’ll smoke it home to Newcastle."
Those entries returning to Sydney on Sunday, need to be aware that a southerly change of 20 to 25 knots is expected late on Sunday evening. |
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Open 66 Broomstick, renamed The Stick, after the start of the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Yacht Race 2010.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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The Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Yacht Race is organised by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and is the final race of the Blue Water Pointscore and the Tasman Series for the PHS trophy.
Follow the fleet via the official race website http://sydneynewcastle.cyca.com.au or on Twitter http://twitter.com/asonyr.
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| Outimage and
CYCA © 2010 |
