| Two wins give Hooligan
the Rolex Trophy edge. |
| By the Rolex Trophy
Media Team. |
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Photos by
Peter Andrews,
Page edited By Peter Andrews. |
| December 16, 2010. |
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| Marcus Blackmore’s new TP52 Hooligan has come out all guns blazing on day one of the Rolex Trophy Series, sailed off Sydney Heads today. The boat won both offshore races, after only having two hours sailing time on the new boat. Blackmore took delivery only three months ago of the former Emirates Team New Zealand, which had been competing on the TP52 Medcup circuit in Cagliari, Italy. |
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Marcus Blackmore’s TP52 Hooligan, during the 2010 Rolex Trophy
Rating Series offshore Sydney Australia.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage Australia.
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The Pittwater yachtsman’s wins are all the more amazing, because the boat only arrived in Australia three weeks ago. During that three weeks, Blackmore converted the TP52 for IRC racing with modifications including a new rig, bowsprit, keel and bulb.
"We ordered the keel and bulb from New Zealand, but only the bulb was delivered," said Blackmore. "We finally got the keel two nights ago," he added.
"It was an outstanding effort by Tim Wiseman (the crew member who looks after the boat) and the crew to get the boat prepared. We only put the rig in the boat yesterday and got around two hours to practice before today’s races, so I’m a little surprised we won both. In all fairness, a lot of others had problems today. A few went prawning (spinnakers dragging in the water). We sailed fairly conservatively which helped us." |
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Marcus Blackmore’s TP52 Hooligan, during the 2010 Rolex
Trophy Rating Series offshore Sydney Australia.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage Australia.
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Blackmore, who has venerated Kiwi Stu Bannatyne calling tactics, among other big names like Tom Addis, Tony Rae and Paul ‘Flipper’ Westlake, said today’s results "were beyond our expectations".
"Obviously we’re happy with our performance, but we’ve got an issue with our rating certificate and think we can improve it. Obviously there’s room for improvement elsewhere too, as we’ve had little time sailing the boat."
Queenslander Bill Wild did a good job with his new Reichel Pugh 55 and the former Yendys, Rodd & Gunn Wedgetail. Wild ended the day in second place overall, after scoring a fifth and second placings. While Wild was not enthused with their fifth place in race one, he was happy with their second place in Race 2. But he described race two as "very shifty. You needed to pick it right and that was difficult."
However navigator Will Oxley, summed up their success. "We saw the storm coming just before race two and made the decision to go right; it was the right call." |
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Bill Wild’s Reichel Pugh 55 (former Yendys), Rodd & Gunn
Wedgetail, during the 2010 Rolex Trophy Rating Series offshore Sydney
Australia.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage Australia.
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Wild conceeded as to why he traded up from his previous 40 footer Wedgetail: "Because I’m too old to sail smaller boats to Hobart, it’s too damn hard!"
He is happy with the new boat, but admits there is still some work ahead to get it and the crew up to the optimal performance. "I haven’t had the boat long and we’re still melding some New Zealand sailors with some of Yendys crew and some of my Queensland sailors, but it’s getting there," Wild said. |
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Alan Brierty’s Reichel Pugh 62 Limit, behind a low flying media
helicoptor, during the 2010 Rolex Trophy Rating Series offshore Sydney
Australia.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage Australia.
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Like most, Stephen Ainsworth’s much touted Reichel Pugh 63 Loki had mixed day, replicating Rodd & Gunn Wedgetail’s results in the reverse order. Ainsworth said this afternoon that while they were not out to match race Alan Brierty’s Reichel Pugh 62 Limit, it was hard to avoid, considering the likeness of the two boats.
"It’s inevitable, but we don’t set out to match race, we’ve got a whole fleet to contend with." He described the day as "a difficult one, especially with the 40 degree shifts in race two." |
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Stephen Ainsworth’s Reichel Pugh 63 Loki, during the
2010 Rolex Trophy Rating Series offshore Sydney Australia.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage
Australia.
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The Sydney skipper provided an honest appraisal of Hooligan’s two wins. "Hooligan sailed fantastically; you can only congratulate Marcus, especially considering the boat’s just gone back in the water. They had a day when everything went right for them, so I hope it’s our turn tomorrow! There’s still plenty of sailing left."
Rated as one of the favourites after coming up with some noteworthy performances over the past year, Terra Firma (Vic) was gone early in the first race when the crew lost control of the spinnaker on the first downwind run. |
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Alan Brierty’s Reichel Pugh 62 Limit, during the 2010 Rolex Trophy
Rating Series offshore Sydney Australia.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage Australia.
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An ugly spinnaker wrap resulted in the kite being trapped beneath the Cookson 50, leaving Nicholas Bartels and his crew helpless as they watched the kite shred into pieces, the halyard, sheet and brace flailing around in a gusty 20 knots of breeze.
The Victorian yacht was rendered outside assistance and so retired from the race, not recovering sufficiently to start race two. Others from the Victorian fleet were also not so lucky today. Michael Hiatt’s Farr 55, Living Doll, did not survive to make much of race two after his electronics blew up, rendering his wind instruments and more useless. |
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Nicholas Bartels’ Cookson 50 Terra Firma, during the 2010 Rolex Trophy
Rating Series offshore Sydney Australia.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage Australia.
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| The day started well enough, the fleet sailing south of South Head to start their series in 18 to 22 knots of shifty winds; from 180 degrees at the start and 160 degrees and 12 knots at the finish. Race 2 started at 140 degrees in fluctuating 12 knots winds that were all over the place. By the time the last boats were finishing, the wind was at 170 degrees, a race in which Limit beat Loki home by four seconds and one place. |
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Nicholas Bartels’ Cookson 50 Terra Firma, during the 2010
Rolex Trophy Rating Series offshore Sydney Australia.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage Australia.
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Racing continues tomorrow with a further two windward leeward races, ahead of Saturday and Sunday’s offshore passage racing.
Full results of the Rolex Trophy Rating Series are available at: http://www.cyca.com.au/sysfile/downloads/2010/club/2010RTSRTS/series.htm. |
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| Outimage and Rolex © 2010 |
