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Melbourne

Geelong

Passage race to Geelong around laid and/or fixed navigational marks on Port Phillip.

Race Start: 0830hrs on Saturday 7th September 2013 in the vicinity of R2.

Safety Category: 5

As well as being the last race of the Helly Hansen Winter Series, the Melbourne to Geelong race is a race in its own right.

Different courses ensure that the fleet arrives in a timely fashion for the wonderful hospitality offered by Royal Geelong Yacht Club.

Entry is open for racing and cruising divisions.Entry to the Winter Series is inclusive of this race fee. However, you will need to update your entry with your crew list.

Melbourne Winter Series (MWS)

They come in 3's.

John Williams, Graeme Ainley and Jason van der Slot are three good people and fantastic yachties. 'Bacardi', 'Georgia' and 'Stay Calm' are three great boats.


'The Bus' is still ever so reliable	Vale 'Georgia', you sweet thing.	'The new toy 'Stay Calm' off Mallorca

After the sudden loss of 'Georgia' in last year's Sydney to Hobart, Willow and GA as they're known, were left boatless - a very rare event for these venerable, well-travelled sailors.

For sure GA got his medal for his 25th Sydney to Hobart, but he considered it premature, as they obviously did not get there by boat. He still had the bug and so a replacement was needed. Having very successfully joined Melbourne's hotly contested 50footer class with 'Georgia', there could be no turning back. They had revelled in the competition with everyone, especially with her near sister ship 'Goldfinger', but times change, the 50footer class was booming and the competition had got even hotter. Time to get a TP52!

SC_head

SC_Cot

Various images of 'Stay Calm' showing what she's like below, racing in the Med, before being IRC'd and how she got to Oz.

Enter 'Slotty' (as he's known), who was also looking for a new challenge. It was at this year's Geelong Week regatta that the plan was hatched, although the jury is out on exactly who talked whom into what! Anyone who's been to this regatta has a fair idea of why.

Together, the three musketeers found the regatta-winning 'Stay Calm' in the UK. GBR 5252 had already been IRC'd and she was on a car RORO carrier bound for Melbourne some six weeks ago (due 23/5/09) - the hull on one dolly and the stick on another. The container/workshop with all her gear, including some 33 sails, arrived a week earlier on 15/5/09, but still hasn't cleared the docks.

If you've been around yachting, then you know these two. Three time Melbourne Offshore Champions in the last 10 years.

As Willow says, "She's just going to be 'Calm'!" It's a bit like the guys themselves... They'll sail their Gen4 Farr designed toy under the number Sm5252, once they've put her back together and given 'Calm' her first ever coat of antifoul! I would imagine that she has a handicap a little under 1.35. GA tells me, "We Hope (with the capital H) to be ready for the first of the ORCV's Melbourne Winter Series on July 5". We hope so too, for these guys have won the Melbourne Offshore Championship three times in the last 10 years.

Their plans are to learn the new boat, go hard against the competition in Victoria and NSW and of course, complete GA's unfinished business. The 2010 Melbourne to Vanuatu may be in the picture, but one thing we know about these guys is, they'll be on the water somewhere.

By John Curnow

cougar2

The Notice of race for the 2009 Melbourne Winter series is now published

Click here for the 2009MWS Notice of Race

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FLINDERS RACE

What better way to finish a Winter Series than with a serious taste of summer! Quite a contrast to some previous races where crews have been heard complaining of sheet ice on deck and icicles hanging from booms.

Fortunately, the BoM duty forecaster's prediction of moderate conditions inshore, despite the forecast for gale force conditions further offshore, through to Saturday evening proved spot-on. This gave an adequate window to conduct the race in ideal conditions and give boats adequate time to get back to Port Phillip before things turned feral.

As dawn broke, it was revealed that "the boat carrying red green and white lights" was in fact Shogun, which had already established a handy lead before going on to complete the 40 mile Division 1 course in the very fast time of 3 hours 48 minutes and 45 seconds. That will take a bit of beating.

Next came the two DK46's Dekadence and eXtasea which staged their own private match race for the entire course, eventually finishing less than 30 seconds apart.

First boat home over the 32 mile Division 2 course was INSX in 4 hours 12 minutes and 2 seconds, followed 23 seconds later by Schuss.

Placings on corrected time went to:

IRC Division 1 - Shogun frpom Dekadence and Extasea

IRC Division 2 - Fade 2 Grey from INSX and Schuss

AMS Division 1 - Addiction from Godzilla and Extasea

AMS Division 2 - Fade 2 Grey from Magazan 53 and Good News

PHC Division 1 - Outlaw from Spirit of Downunder and Addiction

PHC Division 2 - Magazan 53 from Magic and Good News

Full results, still provisional at this stage, Click Here

Angus Fletcher

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