Slow going in ORCV Melbourne to Hobart Race

The ORCV Melbourne to Hobart Race continues to be a fascinating affair, with the two leaders in sight of each other off the west coast of Tasmania. But it was another frustrating night for all competitors, with light winds making progress very slow.

At 8am, Lord Jiminy held a narrow lead over Soiree Bleu but both were showing just a couple of knots of boat speed with more than 260nm still to sail.

The situation shows no signs of improving, with light winds of less than 10 knots forecast until at least mid-morning on Monday.

Further back, third-placed Archie has just passed the north-west tip of Tasmania while Alien finally has the island in sight. Both were doing a mere 3.2 knots.

Lisa Blair and Jackie Parry on d’Albora’s Climate Action Now had another frustrating night but they and the four-plus-autohelm crew on Saltair at least have some way on this morning, sailing at 4.3 knots in a light nor-wester.

Before the race, Lisa Blair said they hoped to finish in three days. Lisa was the first woman to sail solo around Antarctica and holds the monohull record for sailing around Australia solo non-stop. She will be calling on all that experience over the next two or more days, hoping that when the wind does finally appear, it is from the right direction to speed all the boats to the finish line.

Saltair in the Melbourne to Hobart Race. Photo Steb Fisher

The race can be followed by opening the tracker at https://race.bluewatertracks.com/2019-orcv-melbourne-to-hobart-westcoaster

Tevake II watching the Start Photo Bruno Cocozza

ORCV Melbourne to Tasmania yacht races get under way in perfect conditions

The Mornington Peninsula turned on perfect weather for the two Victorian fleets which are racing to Tasmania this year. Under blue skies and with 15 knots of wind coming from the south-south-west, the combined fleets picked up speed under spinnaker and quickly exited through the Rip into the Bass Strait.

The Ocean Racing Club of Victoria has championed short-handed racing in Australia with its involvement in the Melbourne to Osaka (double-handed) race and by allowing four-crew-plus-autohelm in other offshore events. Their investment has paid off, with double-handed entries in the Melbourne to Hobart West Coaster and in the Melbourne to Devonport and two entries in the 4+autohelm division in the West Coaster.

Leading the charge for the short-handers are Lisa Blair and co-skipper Jackie Parry, who are racing to Hobart. Lisa made headlines when she became the first woman to sail solo around Antarctica and followed that by setting a new monohull record for around Australia solo and non-stop.

Lisa spoke about the race, saying their goal is to do it in three days, provided they can handle the areas of light winds they will encounter off the coast of Tasmania. You can hear more from Lisa in a short video at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aY_jqmc6nJ0.

Joining Lisa and Jackie on the Hobart start line were Lord Jiminy and Saltair in the 4+autohelm, along with three fully crewed yachts.

Saltair is a family entry, with a medical twist. Father Bernard is a vascular surgeon while wife Sarah is a nurse. Every year the couple takes their two children, currently aged 17 and 18, on a sailing holiday. One year it was a trip to Sydney for the Cadet Nationals and last year they competed in the Launceston to Hobart Race. After a family discussion, it was decided that 2019 would be the year of the west coast, and so the entry was made.

Lord Jiminy skipper Guillaume Leroux and crew Michelle Zwagerman recently discussed their west coaster campaign on the ORCV Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/OceanRacingClub).

Race Start

Leroux and his crew were obviously primed for the race as they led both fleets around the first turning mark inside the heads. Lord Jiminy turned just ahead of Tevake II (Angus Fletcher) and Shimmer (Jac and Steve Twentyman).

Once into the Bass Strait, all the Hobart fleet saw of Lord Jiminy was its stern disappearing into the distance at over 10 knots. Soiree Bleu and Archie were the best of the pursuers but the speed differential was considerable.

Tevake II led the Devonport fleet out of the Rip and immediately headed for Tasmania. Meanwhile, How Bizarre lived up to its name, staying on port tack and splitting totally from the rest of the boats. Only time will tell which strategy is better.

The ORCV Melbourne to Hobart Race is a Category 2 offshore race of 435 nautical miles. The race record stands at 1d 17h 28m 59s, set by Shortwave in 2008.

The ORCV Melbourne to Devonport Race covers 195 nautical miles straight across Bass Strait. The race record has stood since 1998 when it was set by Prowler in a very quick time of 19 hours 32 minutes and 56 seconds.

You can track the ORCV Melbourne to Devonport Race here (https://race.bluewatertracks.com/2019-orcv-melbourne-to-devonport) and the

ORCV Melbourne to Hobart here (https://race.bluewatertracks.com/2019-orcv-melbourne-to-hobart-westcoaster)

Jackie Parry and Lisa Blair are racing double-handed from Melbourne to Hobart. Photo ORCV Media (no credit required).

Lord Jiminy leads the ORCV fleet out of Port Phillip Bay. Photo Bruno Cocozza.

ABC New follows the start of the 2019 ORCV Melbourne to Devonport and Melbourne to Hobart yachts races with interviews with the Allard family who are taking a "family holiday" 

ORCV launches new series aimed at transitioning crews into ocean racing

In the midst of launching its new Category 3 event, the Coastal Sprint Series, aimed specifically at helping crews make the move into ocean racing, the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (ORCV) is pleased to announce online entry is open and the Notice of Race available for the Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race.

Victoria’s premier blue water event, the Melbourne to Hobart, or ‘Westcoaster’, as it is familiarly known, starts off Portsea on 27 December each year. The challenging 435 nautical mile course takes the fleet out of Port Phillip, across Bass Strait and down the rugged west coast of Tasmania before rounding the southernmost tip of Australia and heading up the Derwent River to the Hobart finish line.

Fleet Start credit Bruno Cocozza

Jeff Sloan, the co-owner of an Archambault A35 ‘Archie’ with Simon Bell, is a regular on the podium at ORCV Bay races. His crew, a mixture of dinghy and (Port Phillip) Bay racers are upping the ante by doing the Melbourne to Hobart this year.

“Simon and myself did the Club’s Beyond the Bay program, we do King Island, Apollo Bay and Melbourne to Devonport races, but this will be our first Melbourne to Hobart,” Sloan says.

“We’re pretty excited about the new Sprint Series, as this is the type of racing we want to do. The races start Friday night and finish Saturday, which really works for us as a crew. The guys and girls put so much into racing over summer, so this is a good way to square up the ledger on the home front.

Arcadia credit Bruno Cocozza

“We are really looking forward to doing our first Melbourne to Hobart. We’re training and getting the boat ready. In the meantime, we’ll do the Stanley race, a qualifier, over the Melbourne Cup weekend,” says Sloan.

“Getting to this point has been a bit of a journey for us. The ORCV has put a lot of thought into its various programs, and that’s how we got to this point.”

ORCV, recognised for its innovative and far-sighted approach to yachting in Australia, has just launched its new Cat 3 Coastal Sprint Series, in support of a growing fleet, and in response to skippers wanting more Cat 3 races. The three-race series starts on 23 November with a Westernport return race. Race 2 is slated for 15 February and Race 3 for 10 April. All races are approximately 50nm.

The Series is a textbook training platform when combined with the Apollo Bay Race (which attracted record numbers this year), and the Melbourne to Stanley Race, held prior to the major Australian offshore races being conducted over the Christmas period.

“Recognising a gap to be filled, we did extensive research within our non-Cat 1 and 2 boat owners, via our Sail Captain, Justin Brenan. A lot of these owners and their crews are on the

fringes of considering Cat 1 and 2 offshore races, which requires training, skill, confidence and the cost of upgrading equipment,” explains ORCV Commodore, Martin Vaughan.

In the build-up, ORCV introduced the Latitude Series, which takes yachts from Queenscliff to a virtual point offshore, with an ORCV mentor on board on each boat as part of the Club’s Beyond the Bay program. The two series’ are the ideal stepping stones for those who want to move up from Cat 3 to Cat 2 and Cat 1 racing.

For Peter Davison, owner of the Archambault 40 Cruiser/Racer, Arcadia, the Coastal Sprint Series is just what the doctor ordered and could not have come at a better time. “I’ve got some seasoned crew and some less seasoned crew. I’m trying to fast track them into a fully seasoned team for offshore races, including this year’s Sydney Hobart,” he says.

“We’re also doing some Bay races, but the Sprint Series gives you longer races and racing on the ocean. The point is, we are a crew, and need time together understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses and understanding how the boat works.

“The other thing is, I just like racing, so training and team building aside, we do as much racing as we can because we love it,” Davison ends.

Commodore Vaughan acknowledges “We believe our future, and that of yachting in Victoria, relies on being innovative and helping grow people from Cat 3 to solid offshore racing events. That equates to us investing in it.”

For Melbourne to Hobart:   Notice of Race,   and online entry:

For all information and to enter the Coastal Sprint Series, go to here: