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Michael Clarke completes first offshore race

Home 2014 Michael Clarke completes first offshore race

Michael Clarke all smiles on approach to the finish line. Credit Twitter- Michael Clarke

Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke finished his first ever offshore race early this evening, adding another string to his already impressive bow, crossing the finishing line in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race aboard Anthony Bell’s super maxi Perpetual LOYAL at 17. 47.34 hours this evening.

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Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI, skippered by Mark Richards, was the undisputed line honours victor, finishing the 384 nautical mile race just before 3.30pm today.

Bell arrived at the Southport Yacht Club shortly before 7.00pm with some of his crew, a little weary, but happy with Perpetual LOYAL’s performance and the modifications he has made to the boat so far.

“Obviously we’re a little disappointed with our second place, but the lighter conditions didn’t really suit us, and we have to accept that,” he said, adding they had not seen more than 21 knots throughout the race.

“Michael Coxon (his sailing master) and I are extremely happy with the boat looking ahead to Hobart, where we know the conditions will be tougher. I’m thankful to the crew, they did a great job and work well together.”

On his friend and crew member Michael Clarke, Bell said: “He loved it. He had a great time and wasn’t seasick at all. He tweeted from the boat constantly and he’ll have another crack, but the Hobart will have to wait until he’s retired from cricket.”

Although the race has been fairly straightforward for most in the 55-boat fleet since escaping Sydney Harbour yesterday, it has not been the case for all.

Brad Kellett, sailing master on Jim Cooney’s Brindabella, which held this race’s record for an incredible 13 years, said this afternoon not all is going according to plan.

“It’s been a tough 24 hours at sea. The start was very slow and we found it hard to get the old girl rolling,” he said of the 21 year-old yacht.

“Going into the south-westerly front, we were in a decent position to attack the fleet and hold onto our position with the other boats around us. That all went pear shaped when our A3 spinnaker burst out of its seams and started flogging all over the ocean at 2.30am; just what everybody wants!”

Brindabella will not finish until after 1.00am tomorrow morning, slow by the 80 footers standards. Kellett explained: “We’ve been struggling holding onto the fleet since then, with the fractional spinnaker up in breeze that it is not suited to. So, we stay in pressure instead of staying with the fleet, which was sailing away from us.” 

Phillip King’s Last Tango is the first casualty of the race. King earlier reported forestay damage which he was hoping to repair, but it was not to be. The yacht has retired Trial Bay. All onboard are safe.

Meanwhile, the battle for overall honours continues, as the top 10 sea-saw back and forwards. At 6.40pm, Sam Haynes’ Rogers 46, Celestial, had taken the lead from Tony Kirby’s Ker 46, Patrice and Colin Woods’ Pretty Fly III had moved into contention, sitting in third place. Watch this space.

The CYCA’s proven yacht tacker system is allowing family, friends and yachting enthusiasts to follow the race and their favourite yachts for its duration. Each yacht isfitted with a Yellowbrick tracker that will obtain a position using the GPS satellite network, and then transmit the position back to Yellowbrick HQ using the Iridium satellite network.

Each yacht’s position is then visualised on the race yacht tracker map,or overlaid on Google Earth. In addition, the yacht tracker system also shows distance to finish line and progressive corrected time positions under the IRC, ORCi and PHS handicap divisions.

For more information log on to http://goldcoast.cyca.com.au or follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SGCYachtRace or find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Land-Rover-Sydney-Gold-Coast-Yacht-Race/160447917453560?ref=hl

By Di Pearson, CYCA Media