Dasher+Fisher How Bizarre has won the 2024 Melbourne to Devonport Rudder Cup by the slimmest of margins in a thrilling race of tactics, superb sailing conditions and great fun.
Skipper Scott Robinson and his crew of Glenn Bailey, Mark Geyle, Sean Supanz, Peter Amarant and Stephen Reddish have won the prestigious and highly valuable Rudder Cup Perpetual Trophy, awarded to the winner of the combined AMS handicap on a corrected time of 1d, 2h, 59m and 35 sec, just under seven minutes ahead of second-placed, Ginan.
The 36-foot Seaquest Reichel/Pugh boat, representing the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, was purchased in 2015 and has enjoyed considerable success in both club and offshore events.
The Seaquest RP36 is a boat built for racing with its lightweight construction and responsive nature proving an advantage in this year’s race.
Robinson, an experienced ocean racer, past Rudder Cup winner (1996) and veteran of three Melbourne to Hobart ‘Westcoaster’ races, was emotional when he reflected upon the win, especially hearing about a family connection to the race for the first time in the days leading up to the start of the race.
“It’s unbelievable to be honest…it sounds silly but I’m a bit emotional.
“One of the boys messaged me this week and he said, do you realise that your Dad [Rob] won the Rudder Cup in 1973 and I said, no I didn’t!
“You know, I was a teenager, and you didn’t listen to your parents much back then, so to then pull this off this weekend, is just fantastic,” said Robinson.
Robinson felt that they got the tactics right on Bass Strait.
“The race was good for us, a bit of light, a bit of heavy, a bit of on the wind…we didn’t think we were really a downwind boat compared to some of the others, but we really pushed the boat,” said Robinson.
Race Officer David Schuller noted how the fleet was pretty tight overall, with lots of jostling for position and several changes in the leaderboard as the boats made their way across Bass Strait, a view shared by Robinson.
“We had access to a bit of tracker positioning, and we thought, this is incredible, one minute you are low in the standings and the next it had blown out, it was really exciting.
“We got off to a good start and at one stage we were around seven bigger boats and we looked back and noticed most of the Division 2 fleet had tacked away … and the decision was to either sail on with the boats that we were with or turn and cover them.
“We tacked then to cover that portion of the fleet just to cover our bases in our group and I really think that paid off, it kept the distance that we had made…when you’ve got a bit of a lead, you need to keep it, that was the time in the race for us,” said Robinson.
Robinson will have his hands full at the prize giving ceremony with Dasher+Fisher How Bizarre taking home the FH Stephens Trophy for first on PHS handicap overall, and winning Division 2 on AMS and PHS in addition to the Rudder Cup.
The 36-boat fleet left Queenscliff at 2pm on Friday the 1st of November in near perfect conditions with sailors looking forward to the much anticipated ‘peachy sailing conditions’ forecast for this year’s Rudder Cup.
Damien King’s MRV was first through Port Phillip Heads, closely followed by Extasea (Dustin Popp), Chutzpah (Bruce Taylor) and Scarlet Runner (Rob Date), with the gang of four all predicted to do well in the battle for line honours.
The weather forecast dictated a long starboard tack for the first part of the race, with most boats tending to the east in anticipation of the wind shifting more easterly later in the race.
Rod Smallman, co-skipper of the double-handed entry Maverick with owner Tony Hammond, shared his race predictions when he spoke with ORCV media just after the start of the race.
“The decision is how far east you go and how far south you go to try and take advantage of that easterly when it comes in.
“There’s really only one tack to worry about and its whether you go too early too late or just right… and given it’s light, it might be a smaller boat for handicap honours.
“The boat that gets the tack right will be the one that wins,” said Smallman.
Smallman and Hammond did well in their race, winning the Double Handed Division and Division 2 on ORC.
Ginan, skippered by Cameron McKenzie, took out the Doc Bennell Perpetual Trophy for the ORC win overall, and won ORC Division One.
This year’s fleet was made up of experienced ocean racers, youngsters sailing their first ocean race, and others sailing double handed for the first time in their careers.
Aiden Geysen, skipper of Streetcar Racing, had a solid race on his Sun Fast 3300, with his team’s sailing program focused on building a new generation of ocean sailors.
“Our new boat is really well set up for shorthanded sailing, and ORCV’s four plus autohelm category is a really good way to get people who have been on fully crewed boats interested in shorthanded sailing,’ said Geysen.
Geysen has been passionate about sailing in different forms from a young age, being introduced to windsurfing by an uncle and aunt when he was ten growing up on the other side of the Dandenongs and later started sailing dinghies and wind foiling.
“I see this at the yacht clubs where you have all these people that learn these fantastic skills at a young age, and they are looking to transition into the next thing but might find it hard to take the next step into keelboat or ocean racing.
“On our boat, we play the long game… if you take the time to build new sailors’ skills up now, that will feed into your results into the future.
“I like to participate in the ORCV programs to get the younger sailors involved and build gender diversity as well,” said Geysen.
The race to Devonport was extra sweet for White Spirit’s co-skipper and ORCV member, Lillian Stewart, who led the winning team for the Australian Sailing National Sustainability Award which was announced just hours after the start.
Stewart also had a thrilling ride to Devonport.
“We were just flying and surfing down waves…we had a Code Zero up for 70 or 80 miles, running straight down Bass Strait, it was just spectacular.
“There were whales as well, lots of beautiful marine life, and we were surrounded by birds on the high seas, it was just a great feeling,” said Stewart.
Stewart, a marine biologist and double handed sailor, organised a foreshore clean up around the Mersey Yacht Club only hours after finishing the race, with the volunteers determined to leave their sailing destination in a better state than when they arrived.
“It was only a quick walk, with a great group of volunteers – we picked up six shopping bags full of stuff that shouldn’t be in our marine environment including an oven door,” said Stewart.
Stewart co-skippers White Spirit with ORCV Commodore Cyrus Allen with the team prepping for the 2025 Melbourne to Osaka Cup in 2025.
This year’s race was also a memorable one for Extasea, with Dustin Popp and his crew winning line honours, taking home the Margaret Holmes Kerr Perpetual Trophy for the second year in a row.
Popp, representing the Geelong Yacht Club, finished the 195 nautical mile sprint from Queenscliff to Devonport in an elapsed time of 1d, 1hr, 3mins and 34sec, just over 30 minutes in front of the multihull line honours winner, Peccadillo, skippered by Charles Meredith.
Popp was delighted with his back-to-back victories and acknowledged the generosity of owner Paul Buchholz for the opportunity to sail Extasea to Devonport and continue to build the experience of some of the younger crew.
Popp was also pleased to have a nice wardrobe of sails onboard for the race.
“As we got to the rhumb line after tacking, as predicted, the breeze turned and we eased sheets, got the Code Zero up and further down got the A2 up, then the A3 up, and carried that almost all the way in to the point where we weren’t going to lay the finish line so we dropped that and just came in three-sail reaching,” said Popp.
The race was held in conjunction with the Mersey Yacht Club of Tasmania with sailors thanking the volunteers for their generous hospitality.
Full race results are available here.
Jane Austin/ORCV media
Website www.orcv.org.au
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About ORCV: A leading authority on ocean sailing, racing and training in Australia, the Club was formed so that ocean races in Victorian waters could be efficiently developed and run by an organisation focusing specifically on the needs of ocean racers.
