Classy fleet in historic race
ALMOST 120 years ago members of the newly formed Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania ventured forth on their inaugural “Ocean Race”, a circumnavigation of Bruny Island.
It continued to be called the “Ocean Race” for the next 30 years, when the name of what is now Australia’s oldest, long distance inshore-offshore race became the Bruny Island Race.
The 2018 Bruny Island Race, not the 120th as there have been gaps in its history during wartime and because of stormy weather, will start at 9.30am today off the Royal Hobart Regatta grounds, as the regatta this year marks 180 years of festivities on the River Derwent and foreshore.
Eight yachts, timber-hulled and gaff-rigged cutters and sloops, contested the first race around Bruny Island, passing capes and bays named by the great Dutch, British and French navigators.
Today, there will be double that number heading down the Derwent and through the winding reaches and bays of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel before rounding Cape Bruny and Tasman Head and heading into the ocean waters of the Tasman Sea.
From there they will sail up the rugged seaward coastline of Bruny Island, and back to the River Derwent and to Hobart, a distance of 89 nautical miles.
Today’s fleet of modern ocean racing yachts is headed by Oskana, a state-of-the-art canting keel Cookson 50 that won the 2013 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and is now owned by Hobart yachtsman Mike Pritchard.
Another past Sydney to Hobart winner in the fleet is She’s Apples Two, the IMS winner in 1991 when there were two overall handicap winners, IOR and IMS.
The Jarkan 12.5 is now owned by Marcus McKay from Kettering Yacht Club.
There are no more gaffrigged competitors, but there are still boats crafted from Tasmanian timbers such as veteran Don Calvert’s Castro 40, which has scored 11 handicap and one line honours win in the Bruny Island Race.
Other predicted front run- ners are Gary Smith’s 45-foot The Fork in the Road, the Launceston to Hobart line honours winner and a past line and handicap winner of the Bruny Island Race.
A newcomer to the race is Crusader, a fast Melges 32 onedesign recently brought to Hobart by Scott Sharp.
Returning to the Derwent is Cruising Yacht Club of Australia member David Stephenson’s Farr 40, now named Peregrine. The classy fleet also includes Australian Yachting Champion Philosopher, Shaun Tiedemann’s Sydney 36cr.