ORCV Melbourne to King Island

Big Red.

It would seem Geoff 'not-for-much-longer SMB 3.5' Boettcher is right - "The Big Red %$&^?! does go well in the ocean!"

Six vessels partook of the very first of the Dash Backs - King Island to Melbourne - and Scarlet Runner took out Line Honours, in a little under nine hours. Great to see people take on the concept and for some, it will be virtually mandatory with Port Fairy and Apollo Bay. (Rack up another two plugs for with Jim Pugh as both SMB 3.5 and The Runner were penned by the Reichel-Pugh team.)

1. Arch Rival - 17:25:30
2. Escapade - Retired
3. FullyNpushing - 15:47:12
4. Gusto - 11:29:30
5. Nutcracker - 15:51:00
6. Scarlet Runner - 8:53:56

And yes - The Runner did get the best IRC and AMS times, as well. Well done crew and smily Rob. Happy chappy, or what!!!!

There will be more.

© John Curnow, ORCV Media

Please contact me for re-issue rights.

	Councillor Island on the left, as seen from the plane... Remember the currents!!!!

ORCV Melbourne to King Island

Always going to be.

When you beat everyone, including someone with a much higher handicap than yourself and others by many hours indeed, you were always going to be a bit of a monty for the silverware, booze and flags.

Accordingly, Scarlet Runner walked away with the Line Honours prize, as well as the IRC and AMS handicap trophies. Below is her owner, Rob Date, collecting some of the haul, which was presented to him by King Island Lord Mayor, Charles Arnold.

The entire crew was needed to display theloot... And yes, it is all about that man in the middle, Mitch Batson. Just ask him!

Gusto's Jeremy Walton collects the wine for their Third in AMS and Second in PHS.

New to the scene with the old Rouseabout, Arch Rival were Third in IRC and PHS. John Hall, here.

eXtasea had already gone home, but they were second in IRC and AMS and won PHS. However, under the rules if you're not there, the prize (not the title) goes to the next boat down the list. As a result of eXtasea not being there, Andrew Lawrence from Jazz Player, who were Fourth in IRC, got the wine there.

Nutcracker picked up Fourth in AMS and PHS, so got the two bottles of wine for that. They also got the special honour of being, "the little white boat that won the start up near the boat end." At one stage they had the little X35 up in Fifth Place overall and drove it hard, so it was a shame they got locked out in the overnight breeze shutdown, for they would have blitzed otherwise. Incidentally, the very same issue caused Spirit of Dowunder to cover the last 20nm in an incredible, but oh-so-real 12 hours!!!

Of course for some, like Justin Brennan from Alien, it was always going to be just too much anyway!

Full results available from HERE.

There will be more.

© John Curnow, ORCV Media

Please contact me for re-issue rights.

	Councillor Island on the left, as seen from the plane... Remember the currents!!!!

ORCV Melbourne to King Island

Overnight sensations.

To get in to Grassy, when the wind had virtually shut down and the tide was about to change to running back North, means you persevered sensationally!

That is exactly what the crew aboard Paul Buchholz's eXtasea did to secure third place over the line at 23:19:03.

ORCV Committee Member, Paul Buchholz, on the right of the front row. Apologies for the image from a phone camera....

Now also coming in, from a little after the 24 hour elapsed time mark were the following boats, who did so, despite pushing into that very much just described, same Northerly running current, were:

• Cadibarra 8 @ 01:50:13
• Jazz Player @ 02:50:45
• Arch Rival @ 03:05:52
• Nutcracker @ 05:13:45 - at just 35 feet, this is a very special effort, indeed
• Spirit of Downunder @ 05:21:49

As the clock has moved past 0515hrs, we learn that as the light gets up in a while, there will be more finishers to add to the eight we have already of the required 24.

If you're not sailing, you may want to see where the boats are during the race on the ORCV's Tracker, which is HERE.

© John Curnow, ORCV Media

Please contact me for re-issue rights.

	Councillor Island on the left, as seen from the plane... Remember the currents!!!!

ORCV Melbourne to King Island

"You do it...

... because you love it." That was how Rob Date put it to me when his RP52, Scarlet Runner, had crossed and taken Line Honours in the 2011 Melbourne to King Island race.

Rob got into one of the legendary steak sandwiches PDQ.

The crew was really happy to get amongst the action, as well.

Scarlet Runner had barrelled out of Port Phillip Heads and into Bass Strait at 16 knots. A mile later they were doing seven and a short while after that, barely four, on their way to seeing a whole a bunch of doughnuts for some time, before really getting underway again at around 0600hrs. They had done just 14 nautical miles in the first five hours of the race, so the record went off the menu about as fast as their pace went down. It was wonderful to see the big red kite appear from around Bold Head just after 1800hrs and they crossed the line in delightful Autumnal sun at 18:49:40, around 25 minutes ahead of second place, Gusto (19:14:52).

Steaming in for the win and everyone just loved the spectacle.

Over at Bold Head, The Runner gybed and we were right there to catch it.

Moments before the finish.

Scarlet Runner has packed up and is coming in on the leads as Gusto two sail reaches in to the line.

It might have been second place, but the gold was undeniable. Sorry about the grain, but the light had virtually gone...

We are still waiting on third place, which is likely to be eXtasea, but the breeze has closed down for a while, so let's hope it is not for the entire evening. Of the 25 starters all are still coming, except for Spirit of Freya who has calculated that they can be back at the Heads for Slack Water at 0800hrs, when they were looking like 0700hrs here at King Island. All are well, it was just maths for them.

If you're not sailing, you may want to see where the boats are during the race on the ORCV's Tracker, which is HERE.

© John Curnow, ORCV Media

Please contact me for re-issue rights.

	Councillor Island on the left, as seen from the plane... Remember the currents!!!!