Barring any protests, Bob Steel and Craig Neil’s two-time Sydney Hobart winner, Quest, has won the Bird Island Race from Matt Allen’s Ichi Ban and Julian Farren-Price’s About Time, while Peter Harburg’s Black Jack took line honours from InfoTrack by over an hour, crossing the line shortly after 4.30pm on Saturday.
Quest pipped the much touted Ichi Ban by little more than a minute, with About Time nearly 10 minutes behind. Other strong performers were fourth placed Aron Ormandlaki’s Stay Calm (Hungary) and fifth placed Sebastian Bohm at the helm of Smuggler, the TP52 he recently purchased from Sam Haynes.
Following a smooth run down Sydney Harbour, in a strong gusty southerly, Black Jack was chasing Comanche’s 2018 race record, but on rounding the Island, the breeze dropped out to a mere whisper. By the time Black Jack hit the finish line in Rushcutters Bay, 6 hours, 48 minutes, 15 seconds had elapsed, leaving her 40 minutes outside the record.
Nine yachts retired, mostly citing time constraints; however, Gordon Ketelbey’s Zen reported an injured crew member and LCE Showtime has suspected hull damage.
Full results: bwps.cyca.com.au
