J/99 Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth's tall tales of the Sydney to Gold Coast Race
by J/Boats 13 Aug 2022 22:43 PDT
Disko Trooper's tall tales of the Sydney to Gold Coast Race © Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
Said J/99 Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth owner Jules Hall, "this year's race was a thinker's game!".
He and his friend Jan Scholten won the Doublehanded Division in the 384.0nm Noakes Sydney to Gold Coast Race, building their sailing CV evermore after winning the ROLEX Sydney to Hobart Race back in December 2021.
Here is Jule's commentary on their win:
"After two years of covid-19 pandemic cancellations, it was very special to have the Noakes Sydney to Gold Coast race back in action, and the inaugural running of the two-handed division.
The race started on Saturday 30th July in glorious winter sunshine on Sydney Harbour, but NO wind!! It took nearly two hours to get out past the Sydney Heads, and eight hours to get to Barrenjoey Headland, just 20nm north! Very exasperating!
That evening the pressure gently filled in from the NW. Having positioned ourselves beautifully on the inside of the fleet we were a little ambitious in getting the Code 0 up. Only to lose ground to leeward in heading pressure. Whoops! Being further offshore we lost the left-hand pull of the land and found ourselves increasingly headed. Our inside advantage is firmly gone!
Sunday morning we were bashing to windward in 17 kts of breeze five miles offshore from Port Stephens. Approaching Seal Rocks we took the hit to get back in close, weaving our way through the rocks to round Sugarloaf Point nice and close. We made a few gains there.
North of Sugarloaf the breeze increased to the mid 20's. We peeled down to the #4. A slow, wet job. We lost a bit there but thought we had the right set up for the night only for the wind to ease and the #2 to go back up a few hours later. We did that peel quicker helped by flatter water!
Tacking Point was a decisive moment of the race. Beating up the shoreline to the south of Port Macquarie we discovered a hyper-local land breeze. Only extending 200m offshore it was pulling the wind 20 degrees left and a couple of knots stronger. We managed to hook into that. The boats around us got just a little too far offshore and found themselves 20 degrees lower on the making port tack.
The next day was the day of the tack. So much so that we made an Instagram reel about it (@disko_trooper). Philosopher, Sydney 36, was hot on our tails. In and out of the bays, they were always there. Never more than a mile astern! Bouncing along the shore to stay out of the south-flowing East Australia Current, both crews were wishing they had a couple more crew to share the load.
The breeze shut down at Coffs Harbour. We managed to get ourselves three miles in front of Philosopher, sneaking off the coast. Only to lose two of those miles on the way back in, nervously covering them. Error. The next day the southerly flow started to build. The code 0 became the A sail which became the S sail. And then we poled back and pointed for Cape Byron in 15.0 kts of southerly breeze and sunshine. Back on the shore, we waved to the tourists at the famous cape. The whales were everywhere, flapping their fins so we knew to miss them, occasionally breaching for show time. What a display!
We hit Cook Island off Point Danger just as it was getting dark. Philosopher was now dead abeam. We lined up for the inside route to gain a couple of boat lengths. Then the breeze lifted us. So we snuck around the outside. From there it was a drag race to the finish. We made a final play for the lead as we approached the line, heading to the shore to try and pick up a bit of left-hand land breeze now it was nighttime. It wasn't quite enough and Philosopher crossed the line 4 minutes in front.
What a match race!
We ended up winning the IRC Two-handed Division by 1 hr, 43 min corrected time! Our Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth also won the combined fleet IRC Division 4 (which includes fully-crewed boats)!
Huge congratulations to all the boats that made the race. The weather was tricky and the coastal navigation is far more involved than the ROLEX Sydney to Hobart race (easy by comparison). For the two-handers that meant juggling the demands of weather, navigation, sailing, and rest. Not easy. But we all learned a lot.
Thanks to Noakes Group for their sponsorship of the race and the teams at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and Southport Yacht Club for the excellent race and onshore management.