Casting Their Fate To The Wind

Yacht Racing

Long haul races offer fierce competition and lots of fun.

By Karen Earnshaw

ON A WIND and a prayer, hundreds of sailors make a frantic dash each year for a swag of ports in the South Pacific all in the guise of ocean racing.

Some are deadly serious, and will spend thousands in an attempt to take first place but many enter these long-haul races, such as the Sydney to Vila or Wellington to Rarotonga, for the fun of sailing the same route as their friends.

In 1988 there will be a dozen or so ma jor ocean races, and there are bonuses for the islands as well as the racers as a result of this glamorous sport. Roger Walton, race

■ Sydney-Auckland, February 27. The Transfield Trans-Tasman Challenge, or ganised by the Short-Handed Sailing As sociation of Australia. About 20 boats expected. A “serious” as opposed to “cruising” event, with the quickest boats including an 18 metre trimaran named Stein lager One , owned by Peter Blake, ex pected to take just six days to cover the 1200 or so nautical miles. ■ Sydney-Mooloolaba, March 20. Organ ised by the Middle Harbour Yacht Club of Sydney. About 90 yachts are expected to take part in this event. Sailing secretary Frank Martin says: “It is a serious race, but many of the boats just go along for the nde.

Actually, because of the winds at that time, the small boats have got a good chance to get a breeze and stay up with the big boats. ■ Hamilton Island, April 9-16. The Fourex Ansett Hamilton Island Race, run by the Hamilton Island Yacht Club. This is a se ries of shorter races rather than a single long-haul race, but is used by many yachts to tie in with other ocean races such as the Brisbane-Gladstone. The regatta is hotly contested around the beautiful Whitsun day Islands, but as organiser David Hutchen says; “You need a lot of intestinal fortitude to go racing; and an equal amount to handle the social life here in race week.

This year the club expects about 90 yachts to take part. As well as the racers, a num ber of large yachts time their cruising trip up the east coast of Australia to tie in with this event. A ■ Townsville-Cairns, Cairns-Port Mo resby, Port Moresby-Samarai, Samarai- Townsville, April 25. Called the Coral Sea Classic series, the race cames a helty

director of the Gosford, NSW, Aquatic Club, which organises the Sydney to Lord Howe race, said: “We worked out that on the 1987 race the boys would have spent something in the order of $250,000 on the island. That’s all in just a couple of days.”

Because of the limited space in Lord Howe’s harbour only 25 yachts can partic ipate in this race, held in early November each year, but each boat has five or six crew and by the time they reach port, that makes about 135 lads more than ready for a beer, dinner and a comfortable bed. The only drawback is that occasionally some of the locals get a bit miffed at some of the boys boisterous behaviour,” Roger says.

“The main transportation on the is land is bicycles, and there’s always some that go missing for a few days after some lads have ‘borrowed’ them. But generally the businesses love the race and the in come it brings.”

For those who take part in the races it is a mixture of dedication to a closely com petitive sport and the fun of parties and travel to new lands. If there’s one fault with ocean racing it’s not the enthusiasm of the sailors, but the lack of co-ordination be tween scattered yacht clubs. No one or ganisation has a list of where and when events are to take place.

This makes it difficult for sailors to learn which races (other than those in volving their local clubs) are on. Host na tions also lose out on tourists, and organisations that might like to take part in sponsorship are kept in the dark.

So it is after much searching that Pa cific Islands Monthly presents a calendar of the main yachting events for 1988:

Above: New Caledonia's Brer Fox leads a flee, out of Sydney. Below: Frequent winner Nadia IV.

$50,000 in prizemoney, which includes $2OO for each boat completing each leg of the race. The main sponsor is Boroko Mo tors, the Nissan dealership in Port Mo resby. About 40 boats will be expected to take part in this event, with about 20 or so top-line (which equals very expensive) racing boats. ■ Wellington-Rarotonga, April 30. Or ganised by the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club of Wellington, this approximately 18day race is likely to attract 20 competitors.

A spokesperson for the club said: “We’re really pleased to do the race with the Rar otonga Sailing Club. And of course some boats will just be taking part because of the destination.” ■ Auckland-Mooloolaba, May 7. Organ ised by the Bucklands Beach Yacht Club of Auckland, the race is run biennially and this year is timed to coincide with Expo 88 in Brisbane. Spokesman Jeanette Waters says: “We run our race every other year so we don’t clash with the biennial Auckland to Suva race.” The club takes particular care to make sure cruisers can take part in the race. “The best part for them is that they’ve got radio contact all the way, so the safety precaution it makes it very safe cruising.” ■ Tauranga-Brisbane, May 21. Organised by the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club, the race will have 20 to 30 boats this year and has also been timed to tie in with Expo 88. ■ Sydney-Port Vila, May 28. This is a prestige event organised by the Cruising Yacht Club, Sydney (which also organises the famous Sydney-Hobart race). General manager of the Cruising Yacht Club, John Terry, says: “It’s a serious race, but for about six of the big racing boats it is used as a stage for the crews to get to the Ken wood Cup in Hawaii.” Each year the club has a number of less serious competitors.

“By joining in the race,” says Terry, “they can be part of the organisation and yet re main be in radio contact, which is a sort of safety net.” ■ Hawaii (Kenwood Cup), July 30-Au gust 13. Organised by the Royal Hawaiian Ocean Racing Club, the Kenwood Cup (formerly Clippers Cup) is one of the Pa cific races. Sponsored by the Japanese electronics company for the past two years, and about 65 boats will take part this year.

Many will have competed in other Pacific races on their way to Hawaii. Yachts from many countries take part, including craft from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zea land, Japan and Britain. “In the past we have had boats from Tahiti, New Cale donia and Hong Kong,” says a spokesman for the club. “Of course, the race is very serious, but we like to give everybody a good time and there are plenty of parties during and after the series. Each yacht has between 10 and 15 crew on board, so it be comes a very good proposition for the is land economically.” ■ Sydney-Lord Howe, early November.

Organised by the small but ambitious Gosford Aquatic Club, this will be the 15th year the race has been held. Race director Roger Walton does the relay radio work for the race on his yacht Rakiah. “My wife and I have gone on all the races,” he says. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world.” ■ Brisbane-Noumea. This race, co-spon sored by Club Marine and the New Cale donia Government Tourist Office, is due to be held mid-year, with a date as yet un decided. Every two years a Sydney-Nou mea yacht race is also held and has

become one of the most popular because of the distance and the destination. Kerry Dickerson of Club Marine says: “Last year we had 20 or so boats including some from New Caledonia and everyone loved it.”

In addition to the above races, there will be two round-Australia races organised by the Short-handed Sailing Association and the Australian Yachting Federation and a number of smaller races there will be contested in Queensland to link up with the Coral Sea Classic. □

The Cercle Nautique Caledonia Club in Nouméa is a popular port of call