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J/133 Patriot pulls out all stops to win Melbourne to Devonport Rudder Cup

From orcv.org.au

Patriot, Jason Close’s J/133 has won the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria’s (ORCV) 195 nautical mile Melbourne to Devonport Yacht Race for the Rudder Cup in which ’J’ boats were successful across the board.

The 195 nautical mile race, which started off Queenscliff at the mouth of Bass Strait on Friday night at 6 p.m, provided tactical and navigation challenges for all.

Close agreed: “It was a challenging race mentally and tactically. The start was fine, but we fell into a hole around Wilsons Promontory for around four hours and had to battle from there. “We didn’t fully stop, but waiting for the breeze to fill in from the east was hard… There were lots of transition zones, especially leading into Devonport, with light patches thrown it. We sailed well though and we all enjoyed it. We have a good crew of dinghy sailors who kept their heads out of the boat.”

Close acknowledged, “This is the first time we’ve won the Rudder Cup – we’ve finished runner-up a couple of times. It was our qualifier for the Sydney Hobart, so a good result going to that.”

To finish, he said, “I’d like to thank the ORCV and their volunteers. They’re a great organisation that works hard to put on a great event. They also do a lot to promote sailing, which I am also passionate about. They just won the Sports Promotion award (Australian Sailing Awards) again.”

“We’re pretty happy the way we went and had a good crew, said Jones, runner-up in the 2022 Westcoaster race. “Unfortunately we had a little incident on the start line with Patriot, which cost us. It was our fault, we take responsibility,” Jones said.

Explaining their tactics, he shared, “We take time to study the weather and tracking. We followed what the tracker said and made full use of the race course, chasing wind angles etc, so we’re happy with how we tactically sailed the race.

“We did the Sydney Gold Coast Race in July, which was also busy with sail changes – the Rudder Cup was a mini version of that. You had to put in the hard work to achieve.

“We used the Code Zero, jib top, staysail and No 2 jib, plus three spinnakers. We used them all! We have an extensive wardrobe for small boat because we’re keen to experiment with sails,” said Jones, whose boat will continue the season with ORCV races, including defending their 2022 Sprint Series title.

A second J/133, Joker X2, owned by Grant Chipperfield and Peter Downdey, won the Double-Handed division. They were uncontactable for comment as they were sailing back to Melbourne.

On arrival Devonport, competitors from the fleet once again enjoyed the hospitality Mersey Yacht Club, which also hosted the prizegiving.

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Smallest boat Vertigo wins the Melbourne to Devonport yacht race

Main photo: Vertigo skippered by Tim Olding wins the 2021 Rudder Cup. Photo Michael Currie

Female Dominated Crew Take The Rudder Cup

Royal yacht Club of Victoria will be cheering for one of their own this morning. Tim Olding’s Summit 35 Vertigo floated over the finish line in Devonport at 05:08 this morning to take possession of The Rudder Cup.

The smallest boat in the fleet with a crew of six, four of them female, managed through good tactics and excellent light weather sailing skills to beat double handed sailors Brian Pattinson and his son Tristan on Jones 42 yacht Gusto Solo by some five hours.

The two boats had adopted similar tactics at the beginning of the race when they both tacked to the East after exiting Port Phillip Heads.

Olding commented, “We had studied the models closely before we left but when we were off Cape Schanck we were able to update the model.  We ended up not going as far east as originally planned and started heading south.  Gusto went further east and it didn’t really help them.”

Late yesterday afternoon Gusto Solo was a couple of miles ahead as they both tried to just keep moving in the light breezes. Olding says they dropped their mainsail and just worked the spinnaker until the wind filled in later. Olding himself originally from Hobart learnt to sail dinghies on the Derwent River, likewise crew Samantha Bailey learnt her dinghy craft in Tasmania. Olding commented ‘the dinghy sailing helps with the light wind stuff.’

Evening yesterday as they neared the coast the two yachts were still tied together when a shift came through. Olding made the decision to jib on the shift Gusto Solo followed the shift and that was when they separated. They had good sailing until about three miles from the finish when they experienced a 180 degree shift leaving them beating in light fickle breezes to the finish line. Add to that the harbourmaster’s instruction to stand aside for The Spirit of Tasmania to come through.

Olding said, “we couldn’t have been happier with the way we sailed, with some experienced and some new people on board it was a good team.”

Vertigo will win The Rudder Cup for the handicap win and the Line Honours trophy double.

Gusto Solo sailing double handed finished across the line at 10:10am and will receive the double handed trophy.

Scaramouche finished at 12:54 and will receive the performance handicap and ORC handicap prize.

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29 September 2022

Sailonline is delighted to announce that it will be partnering with Ocean Racing Club of Victoria , for the running of the Melbourne to Devonport “Rudder Cup” Race 2022 which starts in Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday, October 28, at 16:00AEDT (05:00UTC). The Rudder Cup is Australia's oldest ocean race and the 5th oldest organised ocean yacht race in the world, pre-dating the Fastnet by nearly 20 years and the Sydney Hobart by nearly 40 years. It was in 1907 when Thomas Fleming Day, editor of the American magazine "Rudder," first wrote to his friend, the Commodore of the Geelong Yacht Club, T. A. Dickson, suggesting a race across Bass Strait to Tasmania in order to promote the sport of yachting. Day struck a trophy worth 60 guineas, a fortune at the time, as a prize for the winner. It is a tribute to all sailors that 113 years later, yachts are still racing the 195nm across Bass Strait for the honour of winning the Rudder Cup. The Sailonline virtual race will open for practice on 21 October at 05:00UTC, to enable everyone to learn the ropes in time to be competitive.

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Organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club since 1929, the Cowes to St Malo Race is a true RORC Classic. Starting from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, Cowes, IOW, a magnificent spectacle can be watched from The Parade, Cowes. The Cowes to St Malo Race is part of the RORC Season’s Points Championship, the world’s largest offshore racing series. Dating back to 1906, the Cowes to St Malo Race precedes all of the world’s famous races including the Fastnet Race. This is a TIMED race, so you may RE-REGISTER HERE to try again, after finishing a run. You will have 13 days and 11 hours to show your skill and decision making after the race opens. Race #1828 INFO by brainaid.de TP-52 PARTICULARS WX Updates: 0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230 Ranking: TRQ3 - TRCH - SUPSOL - SYC RACE CLOSE: Saturday, 27 July at 23:00 UTC Race starts: Jul 14th 12:00 Registration Open! ▶ Flash GO TO RACE

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Melbourne to Devonport “Rudder Cup” (ORCV)

3 November, 2023 @ 11:00 PM

For all event information, entry and results check with ORCV

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Extasea on record pace in Melbourne to Devonport Yacht Race

Perfect wind conditions over choppy seas greeted the 19 starters in the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria’s “Rudder Cup” Melbourne to Devonport Yacht Race this morning. Northerlies blowing 25 to 35 knots allowed for a fast reach from Portsea to Port Phillip Heads under cloudy skies with a threat of rain. Here the fleet turned south, awaiting the forecast south-westerly of up to 30 knots to propel them very quickly towards their destination on the northern coast of Tasmania.

Paul Buchholz’s Cookson 50 Extasea started towards the back of the fleet, allowing a short-handed entry, RMS, the honour of leading across the line. How Bizarre and Faster Forward were close behind.

Line honours favourite Extasea was first to turn south out of Port Phillip. Photo credit Steb Fisher.

But it didn’t take the big Cookson long to make her mark. Fresh from a line honours win in yesterday’s Cock of the Bay, Extasea hit the lead only 1600 metres into the race and was first to turn south through the Heads. Travelling at more than 10 knots, after less than an hour of racing her lead was substantial over the following pack. The front came through much earlier than predicted and was preceded by a short transition period of no wind at all. Boats that had flown spinnakers out of the Heads quickly dropped them and settled in for a wet and wild ride. Extasea immediately began to lift her speed towards 15 knots, which could see her break Prowler’s race record of 19 hours, 32 minutes and 56 seconds, set in 1998 – by hours rather than minutes.

Blue Water Tracks, owned by ORCV Commodore Grant Dunoon, headed further west than most boats, looking to pick up the westerly early and have a better angle of attack. Just before 2pm, they spoke to race management, advising they were in a 25 knot westerly. “We have the main well reefed and the self-tacking jib has six turns on the furler, so not much sail up at all. Our boat speed is 9 knots and we’re pointing directly at Devonport.”

With tactics and positioning vital in the first 24 hours of the race, favourites for the Rudder Cup, Australia’s oldest ocean race trophy, will probably not emerge until tomorrow morning at the earliest. The cup is presented to the winner of the AMS handicap category, which this year includes 17 of the 19 starters. At 3pm AEDT the leader was RMS, followed by Patriot and Arcadia. RMS had also moved into third place for line honours, behind Extasea, which had come back to the pack a little as the wind went light, and Lord Jiminy. The three boats were in sight of each other and less than five nautical miles apart.

If the westerlies continue to build, Extasea should reach Devonport shortly after first light tomorrow morning, with the rest of the fleet following throughout the day and into tomorrow night. The fleet can be tracked at https://race.bluewatertracks.com/2020-orcv-melbourne-to-devonport. - ORCV media

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Melbourne to Devonport Results

Friday, 30th December 2016

The start of the Melbourne to Devonport and Hobart Race saw drama for four boats in collisions, while the rest of the fleet took off to a flying start. With testing conditions many of the yachts got in plenty of practice reefing and sail changes as they crossed Bass Strait, with speeds averaged around 7 knots this meant for a fairly quick but wet race.

With the Melbourne to Devonport race now done and dusted. We would like to congratulate to the following boats who claimed podium positions:

• White Noise – Daniel Edwards- 2nd place Line Honours Monohull, 1st place IRC, 2nd place AMS and 2nd place PHS
• Archie- Simon Bell Jeff Sloan – 2nd pace IRC and 3rd place AMS
• More Noise- Jason Close- 3rd place IRC

Click here for Full Results

With the Melbourne to Hobart still in progress, we would like to congratulate Chris Barlow and Jamie Christensen who sailed Lord Jiminy 2 handed crossing the line in 2nd place.With the remained of the fleet are due in late on the 30th or the early hours of the 31st.

To keep up to date with their progress you can follow them on the tracker, by clicking on the link below:

https://race.bluewatertracks.com/melbourne-hobart-race-2016

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Race record predicted for Melbourne to Devonport "Rudder Cup" Yacht Race

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Tevake II. Pic - Steb Fisher

Melbourne to Hobart and Devonport yachts ready to race

Yachts will set sail from Portsea on the afternoon of December 27 to Hobart and Devonport.

Preparation for long distance ocean races, particularly those that start in Bass Strait, is onerous in any year. In 2021, with multiple lockdowns and travel restrictions, it has been nearly impossible for many. However, some have managed to maintain and prepare their yachts and crew and eager to meet the challenges of sailing in Bass Strait.

Race officials are closely watching two high pressure systems that are set to dominate the early part of the races.  As the fleets enter Bass Strait, the predicted wind will be strengthening to 22 knots and then as the sun sets the fleet will be experiencing light winds.  Skippers and tacticians’ skills will be tested as the route plotted at this point will determine where you finish.

Brian Pattinson is a veteran of ocean racing, having completed multiple Tasmanian Melbourne to Osaka, Melbourne to Vanuatu and Melbourne to Mackay races.  He is in the early days sailing his new boat Gusto Solo, a Don Jones 42, and will be sailing double handed with his son Tristan. 

Pattinson said, “It is a very exciting boat nothing like the previous two Gusto’s. We haven’t had much sailing time together between COVID restrictions and, when we have tried to hit the water, we have had some big blows that have stopped us.” He continued, “Unlike the other two boats it is lighter and comes up to speed more quickly.”

It is hard to see Pattinson and son Tristan not being the first yacht across the line in Devonport.  If they have a challenger, Alex Toomey in his Sayer 12 Ryujin would be it.  Toomey is sailing Ryujin fully crewed, but this boat was designed to be sailed short-handed on long ocean races and in the light air can be ‘driven’ with minimal crew movement.

Weather for the Hobart race is a little harder to predict this far out from the start. Naturally, they will benefit from the good starting conditions and, as they track closer to King Island, the prediction is that the wind will stay in for them longer.

Race Director Jeremy Walton even quipped, “Maybe this is the year to go to the west of King Island,’ a course that has been pursued in the past without good results.

“At the moment, the weather on the North part of the West Coast shows some good promise but with a lighter ‘hole’ towards the middle of the Coast around Strahan. Always a very tactical race the lighter breezes will challenge the crews, questions of whether to stay in and ‘rock hop’ the coast versus head out and hope for the change to push you back across to make the turn at Maatsuyker Island.”

Looking at the Line Honours possibilities, the Double Handed yacht, Alex-Team Macadie, a Jones/Hart 14 is one of the front runners. Jock Macadie is not just an experienced double handed sailor but indeed one of its pioneers and greatest proponents. For many years, his crew was his son and the two were a formidable force in every race they entered.Jock’s son has been in the USA for some years now and a new crew was not always easy to find.

Lord Jiminy, an Open 40 which is sailing shorthanded as ‘Four crew plus Auto Helm’, will be quick and dangerous. Skipper Guillaume Leroux is a wily competitor, and nobody can afford to let them out of their sight.

As much a sentimental favourite as beautifully sailed by an efficient team is Tevake ll. Both Tevake l and Tevake ll were fixtures of the ocean racing and club racing scene for decades.  Fletcher was the Commodore of the ORCV from 2004 – 2006 and was Ocean Racer of the Year in 2020.  Unfortunately, we lost Angus early in the year. Fletcher’s wife Holly has always been a fixture of the essential ‘ground crew’ supporting Tevake and she has supported this tight knot crew to continue in Angus’s memory.

Skipper Paul Neilson said, “It’s weird to be sailing without him. We now know how much paperwork is involved in Ocean Racing.  We have been so well supported by Holly.  She has had new rigging put in. She wants the boat raced and campaigned properly.

“We will be racing in Angus’ honour but it’s never going to be the same. We don’t really like the light weather that’s showing.  We would prefer the heavy stuff, but we will be giving it everything.”

No matter who is first across the line, all crews are grateful to have the opportunity once again to do what they love – ocean sail.

By ORCV media

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