The Fork leads L2H fleet over line

THE Fork in the Road has taken line honours in the Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race, crossing the finish line just after 6pm yesterday.

This is the sixth line honours victory for skipper Gary Smith, who represented Australia at the Seoul Olympics in the Flying Dutchman class and also won world championships in Fireballs.

He has since developed into one of Tasmania’s outstanding keelboat skippers, achieving many offshore racing victories with The Fork in the Road, a Bakewell-White 45, New Zealand-designed but with the hull, rigging and sails Tasmanian made.

The Fork in the Road took command off the Freycinet Peninsula on Tasmania’s East Coast on Wednesday night with the retirement of Tilt, because of a torn mainsail.

During the day The Fork in the Road enjoyed fresh and favourable breezes, sweeping across Storm Bay into the Derwent in an easterly sea breeze.

Passing the John Garrow light, the crew hoisted a Code O reaching sail, increasing her speed to more than 10 knots as she closed on the finish line off Battery Point.

Second boat in the fleet, less than an hour astern of the line honours winner, was Brent McKay’s Radford 35, Rad, representing the Kettering Yacht Club. Close astern came Jeff Cordell’s Mumm 36 B&G Advantage, with four more boats in the river by 8pm: Shere Khan, Team Whistler and Cromarty Magellan.

More than half the fleet rounded Tasman Island by late afternoon and were sailing across Storm Bay, including the three Tamar Yacht Club entries, Ocean Freeway, Sassy and Whistler. Ocean Freeway was 11th in fleet and ninth in PHS handicap scoring.

On provisional corrected times, based on the satellite tracker reports from the yachts, small boats were heading the lists. Stewart Geeves’ Young 88 Footloose was holding first place in both AMS and PHS handicap categories, while Mako, Phil Soley’s Farrdesign, headed the IRC leaderboard.