Day two of Airlie Beach Race Week brought more strong conditions. Winds above 20 knots, a mix of sun and cloud, and a south/south-easterly breeze that bent left as the day wore on, just as it had on day one.
In Performance Racing, Iyas Shaheen's RP36 Shockwave, sailing as Smooth Criminal for the host club, took the division win ahead of Tim McCall's Barracuda (Qld) and George Kompolthy's Mr Mojo (NSW). Shaheen was pleased with the result, if not entirely with the downwind leg.
"It was a beautiful day, bit breezy for us upwind, so we had put a reef in, then pulled it out for the downwind. We were a bit disappointed with our downwind leg because the breeze dropped from 22 and gusting upwind, to 12-16 downwind. Good sailing though, challenging conditions, a great day out," he said.
Reigning champion Ray Roberts made it two wins from two in IRC Rating Division 1, his Botin 40 Team Hollywood (NSW) finishing 15 minutes clear of Brian Petersen's TP52 V1 (NZL) on corrected time. Grant Pocklington's Anarchy (NSW) was a further three minutes back in third.
Roberts was fortunate to be racing at all. He headbutted a kitchen wall after misjudging a stool and arrived at his boat that morning with a black eye, a cut over the eye, and a stiff neck.
"A bit like the race, I'm not well, but I fought back," said the Sydney yachtsman. On the race itself: "Like most of the time at Airlie, it was perfect conditions. Not too bumpy on the water, 15 knots, clear water. They set a good course, so I was more than happy with it all. It was just a beautiful day's sailing up here in Paradise."
Guy Chester's Crowther 40 trimaran Oceans Tribute won Multihull Division 1, with Steven Humphris's Stealth Mode close behind and Race 1 winner Cut Snake (Stuart Cox) in third. All three represent Queensland.
Chester is Australian but spends a considerable amount of time sailing overseas. After a major refit in 2021 he circumnavigated the multihull solo, then raced in New Zealand, New Caledonia, and completed three Caribbean seasons. In June he won line honours and set a new outright record in the Solo Trans-Tasman Race with Oceans Tribute.
"We like that sort of pressure, 17-22 knots, lots of reaching, a good course. We got through all the transitions in good shape," Chester said. "The trimaran is good upwind. We held on to Cat+Ion and they're much bigger than us (15 metres versus 18.5)."
In Multihull Division 0, Paul Mitchell's Ullman Sails took the win after yesterday's loss, though Joel Berg's Hooligan missed out by just 32 seconds. The two Extreme 40s finished the day on equal points.
Terry Archer's Grainger 075 G'Nome won today and sits first overall on equal points with Peter Hackett's Intrigue (Qld), which won yesterday and placed second today. Archer also serves as Chairman of ABRW and described a difficult start before things turned around.
"We had a terrible start. Unfortunately, the race officer decided to put us on the start line with the big multis, so we were second last going to the first mark. We had a really good work up the side of the Molles though. We got in front of the competition just before Denman Island and then we had a fantastic reach to White Rock. Everything came together," he said.
Not everyone had a clean day. Hartbreaker, Hughie Lewis's Reichel/Pugh 46, struck the southern reef off Daydream Island during the Performance Racing division race and was forced to retire, a blow after third place yesterday.
"I didn't think the reef came out that far. We gybed and hit it," Lewis recalled. A media boat helped pull them clear. Lewis, a Tasmanian, is hoping for nothing worse than a scrape and plans to haul the boat in the next day or so to check, with further racing at Magnetic Island later in the month also in mind.
With two days of solid breeze in the bank, the forecast for the rest of the week is looking light.
