Scarlet Runner is shaping up as the glamour boat for the 52nd Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race with the Carkeek 43 tipped to smash the race record set by the TP52, Shortwave (Matthew Short) in 2008.
Current modelling predicts a fast downwind race with 15 to 25 knot westerly winds gusting to 30 knots, with a sea state that will be tough but manageable.
The forecast conditions will suit Scarlet Runner and will be just the news skipper Rob Date wants to hear three days out from the start of the race.
While slightly shorter in length than Shortwave, Scarlet Runner is an excellent downwind boat, and there is consensus across the fleet that the forecast conditions will suit the light-weight, sleek, black-hulled racer which is fully primed to give this race a red hot crack.
Current routing for a Sydney 38 is showing an expected finish time of 2 days and 4 hours, but Scarlet Runner is a much quicker, lighter boat, and is guaranteed to be finish well inside this time, all going well.
Shortwave won the race in a time of 1 day, 17 hours, 28 minutes and 59 seconds but if things go to plan and the weather forecast holds true, Scarlet Runner could smash the record and take all handicap honours.
Scarlet Runner is not the only boat looking for a race record.
Peccadillo, one of three multihulls on the start line and skippered by experienced multihull campaigner Charles Meredith, will also do well in the westerly breeze and will threaten the current race record which she set in 2023 in a time of 2 days, 18 hours, 4 minutes and 1 second.
“We’ve been watching the weather closely, and while you never know exactly what the weather will do until the day, especially in Bass Strait, now that it’s settled down a bit, we are looking forward to a fantastic race,” said Meredith.
Justin Brenan, a steely ocean racer with 14 Westcoasters, including four wins, under his belt, will sail to Hobart with the same crew as last year and has told them he “expects the same result.”
While still early days, the current forecast will make it tough for the double-handers but the consistent westerly breeze will make for a more even playing field for the fleet, according to Brenan
“In prior years, the bigger boats have gone through with the breeze with the back end [of the fleet] left in light conditions, but this year, it’s going to be a fair and more balanced race.
“We normally lose a bit going to windward crossing Bass Strait, so if I’m in the top third of the fleet as we head through the gap around King Island, and as long as it’s not absolutely on the beam or too far forward, we should do quite well,” said Brenan.
Other monohulls tipped for a handicap win include the Archambault 40, Arcadia, skippered by Peter Davison from the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, and Vertigo, the Summit 35 co-skippered by Tim Olding from the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria.
Davison won the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria’s (ORCV) Offshore Sailor of the Year in 2020 and knows the way to Hobart but is playing down his chances knowing the boat prefers on the nose conditions.
“We are sailing shorter-handed this year (from 10 down to 8 onboard) and have been focused on getting our watch schedule and catering right.
“While our boat is fully prepared, I see this year’s race as more of a drag race to Hobart with the most critical decision that needs to be made is whether to reef the main or not,” said Davison.
With the forecast currently predicting an exhilarating beam reach and four metre swell, the experienced double-handed duo of Alex Toomey (double-handed winner in 2022) and Rod Smallman are excited about the race and are backing themselves as handicap contenders.
“Maverick is well set up for double-handed sailing, and with the predicted conditions and the right sail combination, we will go well.
There’s some great experience on the boat and with Rod’s navigation prowess we will be pushing it as fast as our bodies will allow,” said Toomey.
The monohull fleet is competing for the Heemskerk Trophy for first place on corrected time in the measurement handicap with the greatest number of entrants, which is AMS again in 2024.
The race starts off Portsea Pier at 10am on Friday 27 December 2024.
Follow the 2024 race via Blue Water Tracks at:https://race.bluewatertracks.com/2024-melbourne-hobart-westcoaster
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.
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