strikes right

Magnum force strikes right

MAGNUM 11, the smallest and oldest yacht in the 1993 Westpac Australia-New Caledonia ocean race, won the Arbitrary handicap div ision of the 1064 nautical mile race from Sydney to Noumea. Magnum 11, owned

by Royal Sydney Yacht

Squadron member John Vlusworthy, sailed into Nou mea on her 10th day at sea o clinch victory by more han 12 hours on corrected ime.

In a performance that urprised everyone, except he crew, she was fourth

acing yacht to finish in the 17 boat fleet vhich set sail from Sydney. Second place n the Arbitrary division went to the Vdams 13, Tara II (Chris Gorman) from he Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, and bird to Lake Macquarie Yacht Club loop Alian (lan Bailey), another Adams 3. Magnum II is a Magpie 34 built in 979, one of a range of stoutly built achts named after the Australian native •irds and designed by Peter Joubert.

kipper John Muxworthy contributed

Aagnum IPs outstanding performance,

oth on handicap and in outsailing boat- Dr-boat several larger yachts, to the 4-footer’s excellent sea qualities and the ourse set to take the most advantage of

sea currents in the South West Pacific.

“We certainly picked the favourable current flow, but we also were able to maintain a constant hullspeed of six knots for morre for 80 per cent of the course,” he said at the Cercle Nautique Caledonien in Noumea after completing the long course. Of the 25 yachts which set sail from Brisbane and Sydney on the biennial crossing of the south west Pacific, 24 reached Noumea, last boat to finish in the Sydney fleet being the little Melbourne yacht Auctioneer.

Two yachts actually retired, but the J 44 Phoenix, owned by Stephen and Cyndy Everett from Brisbane, motored the final 220 miles after breaking its mast.

The weather was very mixed, with a spinnaker start in a light sou-wester from Sydney, a day of calms in mid-ocean, followed by headwinds and finally the eagerly-sought-east trades.

Line honours in the Sydney fleet went to Pilgrim, skippered by Desmond Quirk, from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, while in the Brisbane fleet the line honours winner was Aussie Spirit, an Adams 13 skippered by Peter Cassidy from the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron. Pilgrim, a Beneteau 14m sloop designed by Bruce Farr, also won the IMIS handicap division from the Canberra-owned Portobello, skippered by Mike Matthews. The dismasting of Phoenix reduced the IMS division to two yachts, owned by Ray to Noumea in Waimate, a Beneteau Oceanis 390.

Second placed yacht was the beautiful ketch Dnna, skippered by Michael Thurston from Brisbane and the third line honours winner, Aussie Spirit. The slow start, followed by reaching con ditions for most of the course, suited Waimate, which is essentially a cruising yacht in which the foreman’s have now contested four races between Queensland and New Caledonia, with two arbitrary handicap wins. Enthused by their vic tory, they are now looking at trading Waimate on a Farr-designed Beneteau 42 IMS racer/cruiser.

In the Sydney fleet, the Cruising division was won by the ketch Mandalay 111, skippered by David Beer from the Sydney northern beaches suburb of Clareville. Second went to Myingah skippered by Ross Scoble from Calingford, in Sydney, with his new cruising yacht Myingah , and third to Alstar, skippered by 77-year-old Alby Burgin from Lake Macquarie, who won the Cruising division in 1991.

In the Brisbane fleet, the Cruising division winner was Fine Tolerance, skip pered by Philip Hogg, from Brisbane. □

Peter Campbell Heading out: Iceberg joins other yachts in Sydney