Race 2 of the 2024 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore, the 88 nautical mile Flinders Islet Race, saw 33 yachts take on a course from Sydney down to Wollongong and back. The race kicked off at 1000hrs on Saturday morning under clear skies, but the fleet was met with light and fickle winds, adding an extra layer of challenge to the competition.
At the start, a tricky 4-6 knot WNW breeze tested the fleet, with several significant wind holes scattered along the course. These conditions particularly troubled some of the older, heavier boats, with limp kites and slow starts being a common sight near Sow and Pigs reef. Most boats hugged the western shore, where the TP52s KOA and Smuggler found a burst of breeze and surged ahead. They were closely followed by the mini maxis Whisper and URM Group, while Calibre 12 held its ground against larger competitors.
Smuggler made a decisive move early in the race, outmaneuvering KOA to claim bragging rights as the first boat to clear South Head, setting up an exciting battle down to Flinders Islet. In the midst of this, the race’s large contingent of double-handed entries, led by Jules Hall’s Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth, proved formidable, staying in contention with the fully crewed yachts.
Once the boats cleared the Heads and the breeze became more consistent, the larger yachts began to assert their dominance, enjoying ideal conditions for the long run down to Flinders Islet. Anthony Johnston’s URM Group was the first to round the islet, followed closely by Whisper, Smuggler, and KOA, all taking full advantage of the favourable conditions as they made their way back to Sydney.
The reaching conditions on the return leg played to the strengths of the bigger race boats, with the TP52s Smuggler and KOA dominating the IRC Overall standings, while the mini maxis Whisper and URM Group secured third and fourth places, respectively. Richard William’s Calibre 12 put in a strong performance to finish as the best placed Division 2 boat, rounding out the top five.
Smuggler’s Seb Bohm shared: “We caught a lucky breeze coming out of the Harbour, which gave us an early lead. There were plenty of sail changes throughout, but the crew stayed sharp for the entire race. We’ve been working incredibly hard over the past few years, and it’s clear that the boat and crew are really starting to click. This year, we’re pushing hard to claim the overall win in the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore. We’ve come close to winning a race before, but this is our first overall victory. We’ve been consistently strong over the past few years, but the overall win of an ACSBWPS race has always slipped through our fingers—until now. Looking ahead, we expect strong competition from URM Group, Whisper, and Sticky, but we’re determined to keep building on this momentum.”
In the Double-Handed IRC category, Jules Hall’s Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth continued to impress, taking first place ahead of Jian Lin’s Min River and Chris O’Neil’s Blue Planet. The Double Handed teams once again proved they could compete against fully-crewed rivals in this tightly contested race.
As the second race of the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore concluded, it’s clear that the competition is only heating up, with Smuggler and URM Group setting the tone for the races ahead.
IRC
- Smuggler, Sebastian Bohm
- Koa, Peter Wringley & Andrew Kearnan
- Whisper, David Griffith
PHS
- Smuggler, Sebastian Bohm
- Koa, Peter Wringley & Andrew Kearnan
- Whisper, David Griffith
Double Handed IRC
- Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth, Jules Hall
- Min River, Jiang Lin
- Blue Planet, Chris O’Neill
Double Handed PHS
- Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth, Jules Hall
- Blue Planet, Chris O’Neill
- Rum Rebellion, Shane Connelly
IRC Corinthian
- Koa, Peter Wringley & Andrew Kearnan
- Calibre 12, Richard Williams
- Pretty Woman, Richard Hudson
Wild Rose IRC
- Quantock, David Hobbs
- Pretty Woman, Richard Hudson
- Ragtime, Steve Watson
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