After 480 nm and more than 51 hours of competing, Geoff Hill’s Smith 72 yacht Antipodes crossed the finish line of this year’s 19th edition of San Fernando Race to claim Line Honours. Having taken a route south of the rhumb line, Hill avoided the wind shadow of the Philippine coast. Thus, once out of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, sailing yacht Antipodes rarely dropped below 9-knot speed for the entire race.
Smith 72 Yacht Antipodes at the start of San Fernando Race 2013 - Photo credit: Guy Nowell
Navigator Alan “Guilty” Tillyer put their success down to the consistent breeze, saying “The second night the moon was out and we had a terrific sail. In spite of the forecast, the wind was much better and we came in much quicker than expected – it’s been an awesome sail.”
The next boat due to finish is the Philippine entry, Standard Insurance Centennial followed by Peter Cremer’s Warwick 75 sailing yacht Shahtoosh and Peter Churchouse’ custom Warwick yacht Moonblue 2. Hill stands a very good chance of ‘doing the double’ and lifting both Line Honours and IRC Overall silverware, but he has a long wait for some of the smaller players to cross the finish line before he knows for sure.
