With eleven boats of the 24-boat San Fernando Race 2013, safely moored off the beach, and target finish times for the other boats now passed, Geoff Hill can relax in the knowledge that the Smith 72 sailing yacht Antipodes will receive not only the silverware for Line Honours, but also for IRC Overall at the formal prizegiving back in Hong Kong.
San Fernando Race 2013 Start - Credit: Guy Nowell
The Philippine team of Standard Insurance Centennial, headed by Ernesto Echauz, finishes second overall, with the Ker 40, Peninsula Signal 8 coming in third, and 1st in IRC Racing Division 1.
Speaking after the race, co-owner Jamie McWilliam described the thrill of the boat, on its first offshore race: “We thought we were doing 9 or 10 kts all the way home, then all of a sudden at midnight, we had 15,16,17 kts and then the breeze clocked round to the north. It was awesome, just brilliant. We had a brilliant full moon, pointing exactly where we were pointing … 15.7kts was the top [boat speed] that we got. The closest we ever got to stopping was at Lei Yue Mun gap [at the start].”
The steady conditions enjoyed by the leading boats did not last for those further back in the fleet, with the curse of the Luzon hole hitting both early this morning and at sundown. Never the less, for the 13 boats still on the water, a steady procession beckons through tonight, with the last boat on the water, Allegro, due to arrive on Sunday morning.
