(Hamilton Island, Australia)- Following the destruction wrought by
Cyclone Debbie just 5 months ago, Hamilton Island was back to its
beautiful best for Audi Hamilton Island Race Week held August 19th to
26th, contested by 215 yachts from all around Australia.Five J/Boats contested various divisions in the event, including Stephen Everett’s J/160 SALACIA, Chris Morgan’s J/130 RAGTIME, James Crowley’s J/122 JAVELIN, Norman Weaver’s J/122E JAZZAMATAZZ and Tony Coleman’s J/133 EUPHORIA.
JAZZAMATAZZ and EUPHORIA both made the 1,000nm delivery voyage from Sydney to compete in the beautiful warm waters of the Whitsunday Islands.
Euphoria’s overall win in the Racer Cruiser division was particularly notable. Competing against a very diverse group of yachts that included the previous year’s divisional winner (a Sydney 32), several Beneteaus, a very fast one-design canting keel 40ft racing yacht, three Melges 32’s and some other sports boats, Euphoria scored 3 wins out of 6 races in a variety of wind strengths that ranged from less than 5 knots to more than 20 knots over the week. As a result, Euphoria comfortably won the point-score for her division.
Euphoria has now built an enviable track record at HIRW having also won her division in 2011 and coming second on a count-back in 2015 when tied equal first on points. Her owner, Tony Coleman, also won at HIRW in 2003 with his previous Euphoria – a J/120.
It
is also notable that a majority of Euphoria’s crew (six out of ten) are
ladies – so she also became quite a popular boat at the various social
events held on Hamilton Island during Race Week. Lots of fun was had by
all!Day 1- racing began in idyllic conditions, excited and some nervous crews facing the prospect of a 25-30 knot sou’easters and strong tide making for a wild downwind run from the narrow start in Dent Passage. The fleet handled the fresh conditions over the 24nm course reasonably well, save for a few broaches by some.
Day 2- four hours after the original scheduled start and with the entire fleet moved to open water on the southwestern side of the island, the first start on day three got underway near Surprise Rock in a light south-east breeze.
Coleman’s
J/133 EUPHORIA from Sydney won at Race Week in 2011 and so far they are
on track to repeat the success in the Racer/Cruiser division with 1-4-1
scores. Owner/driver Coleman says their results are down to a good crew
and the boat being an all-rounder. “The boat performs in most
conditions; it’s happy in the strong winds and reasonable in the light
stuff. Today was very pleasant, a 10 knot breeze and nice sunny skies.
What more could you ask for?”Day 3- the winter tradewinds returned to the Whitsundays on the penultimate day of competition, allowing for an expanded schedule to make up for some races missed due to light winds mid-week.
Coleman’s J/133 Euphoria was on either side of a tug-o-war in the Racer/Cruiser division, with the team dismayed by a 10th in the first race followed by a massive change of fortune in the second race of the day, winning by a comfortable margin to continue to lead class.
Day 4-
Crews from Tasmania to Western Australia to the American classic Dorade
on a Southern Hemisphere odyssey used what was left in the tank in the
sou’east tradewinds 15-18 knots to firm up a divisional placing, or just
see out the series in spectacular North Queensland winter sailing
conditions. All week the battle raged in the Racer/Cruiser division between Coleman’s J/133 EUPHORIA from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and Adrian Walters’ Little Nico from Middle Harbour.
“Little Nico is a seriously fast boat- it just disappeared over the horizon - but we managed to sail to our handicap and we are very happy with our result,” said Coleman on Saturday afternoon. “The boat’s been here once before, back in 2011. She’s 13 years-old and we have a majority of women crew so we are probably a bit unusual in that respect. It does make us quite popular in the evenings! We had a really good range of conditions over the week. We only lost the one day with no wind and the rest of the time it was decent sea breezes.”
Of note, Stephen Everett’s J/160 SALACIA just four points shy of the podium, settling for 5th place in her Cruising Division I class. For more AUDI Hamilton Island Race Week sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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