Arrival

Hard on the breeze about a mile from the finish. Followed by the Cookson 50 CK Living Doll

Wow, what a day for a yacht race. After the second hottest January night in Melbourne’s history during which the two ABNAmro boats had crossed the line to complete Leg 2 of the VOR, we ventured onto the bay today to see the daylight arrival of Telefonica Movistar. Port Phillip was at its sparkling best with an absolutely honking northerly breeze up around thirty to thirty-five knots. On our pond that is a great sailing breeze as the water stays relatively flat and allows for high speed yachting.

Similar conditions last week blew out the last two races of the J24 Worlds. We motored out of Williamstown and headed down to Sandringham to pick up a couple of guests then headed back up the bay. In the distant haze (well it was 42 C here today and that’s around 108 F for you ‘mericans) we could see Movistar beating upwind from out of Carrum Bight, initially as a very distant speck. It became apparent that she was moving fast as she came into view quite quickly and it was a stirring sight indeed to finally see one of these beasts up close. Her square top main was well reefed down and although we couldn’t quite make out what code jib she had on, it wasn’t real big either. With such a small sailplan in all that breeze she looked awesome and very fast.

Sails down and entering the river heading for the VOR Village

After more than six thousand miles you could have excused the crew for taking it easy in the final approach to the line but their tacks were fast and smooth with little time lost in getting back up to full speed. I had understood these boats were optimized for offwind sailing and was quite surprised at how high winded they were able to sail. There were not too many boats out to greet them and the clearance zone buoys were totally ignored by the spectators who although close, kept a seamanlike distance from the VO70 as they approached the finish off Williamstown. It must have been a highly emotional moment for Movistar’s homegrown Williamstown sailor Peter Spike Doriean when they crossed the finish line marked by the finish boat from his own yacht club.

We were indeed privileged today to see one of these sensational yachts at such close range. I know there is a lot of controversy raging about keel and other structural matters but to actually see a VO70 sailing hard at close range left me speechless. Those who know me will understand how rare that is.

My trusty camera was at hand and I hope you enjoy the pics. Special thanks to "Danger Mouse" for the ride.

SPORTSCAR
22-Jan-2006