The penultimate day of the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2012 brought a magnificent day of Whitsunday competing at its best as wet weather gear was packed away, replaced by t-shirts, shorts as well as wide smiles.
Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2012 Start - Photo Credit: Andrea Francolini/AudiSPINNAKERS
Yesterday’s fog cleared and sailors were treated to a glamour day of flat seas, light 6-8 knot sou’easters and tropical conditions, photographers voting it the best of the annual Whitsunday series that began last Saturday and concludes tomorrow.
Sean Langman’s Race Week has come to an abrupt halt, literally. The bottom three metres of Team Australia’s centreboard is now missing after the giant trimaran ran aground off Fitzalan Island in the narrow channel to the west of Hamilton Island.
‘We were trying to avoid a sleeping whale and her calf. We saw them as we approached and we thought we had enough room, but we didn’t. It was a simple navigational error, we can’t blame the whale we can only blame ourselves,’ said Langman back at the marina.
‘That’s the end of the regatta for us however we pack up taking away more positives than negatives, we’ve learnt a lot this week.
Whale and Dark Star yacht - Photo Credit: Andrea Francolini/Audi
‘I have a 100 percent record of hitting the bottom here with my own boats,’ said the dejected skipper who will have to make minor repairs before taking the boat back to Sydney. Luckily for him, he owns his own boatyard.
Sixty foot of boat hard up on the bricks wasn’t going to come off easily and two Team Australia members were sent overboard trying to make the daggerboards line up so they could retract the centreboard.
‘We ended up having to snap the centreboard and the bits away,’ said Aaron Hampo, one of the crew who dived over the side to free the boat from its shackles.
A tow from a passing media boat pulled them off the rocks and they were able to motor home unassisted.
Sailing yacht Hooligan and her crew - Photo Credit: Andrea Francolini/Audi
The Audi IRC Australian Championship classes have just finished racing windward/leewards on the eastern paddock and the performance racing, cruising and non-spinnaker classes, with their full spectrum of coloured spinnakers flying on the downhill runs, are in the closing stages of traversing a new course set by the race committee to make the most of the early forecast.
Luxury carmaker, Audi, returns as the title sponsor of Hamilton Island Race Week in 2012. The German premium brand will host a range of special events on the island for yacht owners and guests to enjoy during the week.
