It's a wrap- King Island Race 2012
Now that all boats and crew have made it safely back to Port Phillip Bay and the dust has settled again in the club rooms of the King Island Boat Club, it is time to reflect on the race that was.
All the race results are now posted on our website and the conclusion from the post morteum is that it was a“big” boats race. Light winds combined with long waterline lengths favoured the “big” boats in the fleet over the other competitors.
The boats progressively made their way to Grassy with the lead group of four boats crossing the finish line early Saturday evening. The majority of the fleet arrived in the early hours of Sunday morning. The last boat arrived on Sunday mid morning. The boats were greeted by inflatable craft crewed by members of the King Island Boat Club who used their boats to shepherd the visitors to their moorings in the harbour. Mathew, an apprentice to John Hiscock, Commodore of the King Island Boat Club, was transferring the Dry White crew ashore on his boat the Gessa-S when he observed an odd association in the visiting boats' names. Mathew quipped "we now have it all in Grassy - we have the spirit, the alcohol and the addiiction "
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| The spirit, the alcohol and the addiction moored together in Grassy harbour |
One of the oldest and wisest heads in this race is Robin Hewitt, skipper of the fifty foot Yoko, which was the fourteenth boat over the line. Robin has been ocean racing for many years and quietly points out “the best part of the race is the tactics- I love that”. Over the years he has competed many times in the King Island race with results ranging from eighteen to thirty-four hours. This year’s result of twenty-seven hours is slightly above average - so Robin is pleased with Yoko’s result. Robin says “It’s not just about going fast”. He likes to encourages younger sailors to develop tactics based on their knowledge and experience, and their understanding of their own boats capabilities, to position themselves against their peers in a race. “That’s the challenge” he says.
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| Robin Hewitt, in red cap and standing at the back, celebrating with his crew from Yoko at King Island Boat Club |
Robin said “Yoko was clearly the best amongst its peers at the start of the race”. His flood tide strategy positioned Yoko as the fourth boat to exit the “Heads” when normally they would be expected to be somewhere in the second third of the fleet. Robin took the western channel where the tidal stream is at its least, even at “slack water”. This meant a fast exit while many others competitors stayed in the main shipping channel where the currents was at its strongest.
Once outside the bay, Yoko hugged the Victorian coast until the calculated VMG( Velocity Made Good) dictated a tack away to the south east. From then on it was a careful balance between staying out and working your way down the rhumb line depending on the wind shifts and direction of the current.
Yoko’s crew experienced good patches of wind but the tendency was for the winds to ease as the race progressed. He reports “that at times the wind shift was as much as thirty to forty degrees which made it difficult for Yoko, an older heavier boat, to take advantage of these shifts”. He concedes that in a tacking race, the lighter modern boats have a big advantage over Yoko. He explained that "being heavier, Yoko makes a larger arc through the water and takes a longer time to accelerate out of a tack compared with the lighter modern boats." This effect becomes a compounding problem in a long tacking race in light winds.
Whilst the race to King Island is one of the ORCV’s shorter ocean races, at a mere 114 miles, it does present some unique navigational challenges. Far from being a pushover, this race is one of the hardest to get right, given the currents around King Island. The race is often won or lost in the concluding stages, depending on where yachts make their landfall. Big gains and losses can occur due to wind and tidal influences on the approach to Grassy Harbour.
Robin said “the lead group of boats who were able to make distance earlier in the race where then able to use the tidal influence to their advantage. Slower boats then missed the “tide gate” off King Island's east coast which meant they then spent more time making ground against the current in lighter breezes.”
Robin says forward planning and constantly revising your tactics to respond to the wind shifts and changes in tidal flow are critical in any race strategy. He explains, "good tacticians chose an action that leaves the most number of options open. If you predominantly stick with one tack you have less options available when the wind changes - which it invariably does. Optimizing the VMG on each tack is the best tactic to maintain speed over ground."
Spirit of Downunder was the eighth boat to cross the finish line. The “Spirits” sailing master, Tim Ford, was also ashore with his crew enjoying a famous King Island steak sandwich around the fire drum and said he was pleased with his boats result.
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| Tim Ford with his crew from The Spirit of Downunder. |
Tim said “they got a great start out of the heads in about eighth position. There was a momentary tussle with Escapade where they got a bit close - but generally they were very pleased with their start.” He noted Dekadence must have been expecting rough conditions as they had their storm jib set at the start.
Once they were five to ten miles of the “Heads” and the wind was lightening off they went to put up the No. 1 headsail only to find they had left it in the locker back at the club! Tim said this turned out to be a “god send” as they were using the No 3 headsail which is heavier and holds it shape better than the No 1. The No 3 headsail worked better for them in the upwind race which might have given them the edge over Dry White. The two boats were within sight of each other and for most of the race had a tacking duel down the rhumb line. At one point Dry White got in front and then Spirit of Downunder managed to claw back the lead and sailed into Grassy just ahead of Dry White.
Tim said “he was over the moon about beating Dry White”.
Spirit of Downunder has some interesting onboard stats. Of the eight crew, there are two father and son duos, and they have two watch captains. Seven of the crew owns their own boat. McKenzie is the only girl onboard and also the only crew member not to own her own boat. “There is definitely a problem of too many chiefs and not enough indians onboard” said McKenzie. However, one thing all the crew do agree on is “no more brown rice”! The overwhelming consensus was that McKenzie’s tasty Guinness stew was marred by the addition of brown rice- making it hard to stay on a fork while bobbing about at sea. Word has it that fellow crew member Paul Neilson - a confirmed “potato lover”- eventually tossed the fork overboard and resorted to licking the plate.
Keith O’ Donnell, the skipper of Matrix was also enjoying breakfast at Grassy and said “it was nice to be here” after summing up the race as “slow, on the nose and uneventful.” He said Matrix got a good start. Once into the strait they went a little east then west and then stayed over on the eastern side of the fleet looking for stronger winds. It certainly wasn’t like last years Stanley race which was a bit too eventful with 50 knots buffeting the fleet, so in contrast they were content to deal with slow and uneventful. Tim said the current did not greatly effect them during the race.
Gusto, a M, D & B open 66, the biggest boat in the fleet came in fourth. Jeremy Walton, the navigator, said they had an entertaining start when they got a wrap in the "heady sheet" and stalled on the line. This made maneuvering very difficult with all other competitors making quick decisions to dodge them in the ensuing
mêlée around them at the start in the dark.
Once outside of the "Heads", their strategy was to do something different from the rest of the fleet and use their downwind design to advantage. The wind was more south than the forecasted south west. They decided to go as far west as possible so they could bear off and go with the wind as it swung to the south west.
Given that Gusto is primarily a downwind boat they were very pleased with this tactic that kept them in sight of the leaders, Calm, Scarlet Runner and Goldfinger, all 52 foot boats who had the greatest advantage in this tacking race. Jeremy explains," at 66 feet long, Gusto needs eight to ten knots of breeze to be able to point and drive effectively". Sadly, when they were abeam of the last cape on King Island’s east coast, the wind died away and they had to resort to tacking back and forth on the spot for half an hour - a frustrating way to end the race.
Jeremy said the King Island Boat Club again put on a fabulous welcome with nothing being too much trouble. The steaks cooked-to-order was an improvement on last year, providing more personalized choice. He has done the Grassy race for six years and this is his second time on Gusto. He is yet to win and will be back again next year.
The encouragement award must go to the crew of Escapade. Robert Bradley and his dedicated crew were the last boat into Grassy. They showed tremendous determination to complete the race, given the exponentially increasing time frame in the rapidly decreasing wind. A quick beer and a steak sandwich revived them and then the crew has to turn around and head home.
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| A tired and thirsty crew from Escapade, skipper Robert Bradley centre |
A big thank-you to John Hiscock, and his team of volunteers at The King Island Boat Club, for their tireless work and sense of humor. The destination is a very important race ingredient that keeps boats coming back. King Island has many natural and culinary attractions combined with its warm and friendly people which makes it a fabulous destination for an ocean race.
