Scarlet Runner and Rushour dominate 52nd Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race
by Jane Austin/ORCV media 28 Dec 19:38 PST
Rob Date (in cream) Skipper of Scarlet Runner with crew after arriving - 52nd Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race © Samantha Chandler
Scarlet Runner, the Carkeek 43 skippered by Rob Date from the Sandringham Yacht Club, has dominated the 52nd Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race, winning line honours for monohulls and is the provisional handicap winner of the 52nd Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race.
Date had set his sight on the line honours win, and for most of the race was looking good to set a new race record, but a slower run across Bass Strait and a quiet River Derwent put paid to that.
While weary Date, was far from disappointed though knowing that his crew gave it everything they had in what were tough and wet conditions.
"It's a tough race...I've been in a lot of ocean races, and I've never been as wet as we were.
"The seas were disorientated and big and wet, I don't know how else to describe it, I've never been so wet in my life.
"Every single part of our boat is wet from backside to topside.
"We've had a good race, it was windy, it was good fun.
"When we knew the record was in reach we talked about it, but it's all really about the weather.
"We had a slow trip across Bass Strait and so that's where we dropped the time I suspect, it was too much on the nose and too much of a beat across Bass Strait, and then a slow beat up the River [Derwent].
"And the bit in the middle all the way around from the top of Tasmania to Bruny Island was quick, but the bits before and after were not quick.
And while not competing directly against Rushour, Date was still hoping to beat the multihull home.
"The bottom line is we are 43 [feet] and they are 52 feet - it's hard to beat a 52-foot race boat with a 43-foot race boat, it's as simple as that.
"We weren't too upset, we gave it a shake...we had a quick race and we tried pretty hard," said Date.
A key highlight of the race for Date was the speed of the Carkeek 43 and the intense efforts of his helms and his team's crew work to push the boat hard and fast to Hobart.
"James Sly from the Sandringham Yacht Club was a super-human driving the boat...we already had a 23 and a half knot scorecard from about a week ago, then someone got to 23.9, then someone got 25, but James eventually got 26.84 knots yesterday afternoon," said Date.
Rushour, the Drew 15 catamaran designed, built and skippered by Queenslander Drew Carruthers, dominated the multihull division winning on line hours and smashed the 2023 race record for that division by close to 30 hours.
In his first Westcoaster, Carruthers was tired but relieved to be in Hobart and is now settling in for some summer cruising around the State.
"We are happy - we got here without any major dramas and looked after the boat, said Carruthers.
Crew member Becky Moloney was excited to have ticked this race of her bucket list and to put the catamaran through its paces down the West Coast of Tasmania.
"We've done a lot of offshore sailing and were really looking forward to sailing down the West Coast and experiencing the Southern Ocean swell and just seeing how the boat would handle it.
"We also wanted a new challenge because we've done all the major races, so we really wanted to test the boat in these conditions," said Moloney.
While the boat passed the West Coast test, it offered other challenges for the team including the water temperature and the strength of the wind gusts.
"It was cold, the water was cold, we had rough and reaching conditions and a sloppy sea state," said Carruthers.
"We were a bit worried about the gusts and how strong they would be, so we were always on high alert ready for the gusts, said Moloney.
"I've been through a lot of low pressure storms in the Southern Ocean and I know how bad it can get, but the boat handled it beautifully," said Carruthers.
"I'm very pleased I've done the race, I mean sailing around the bottom of Tasmania is very enjoyable, its beautiful big swells, it's not really about the sailing, it it a wild and unique place," said Carruthers.
In a history making race for multihulls, the three multihull entries including Rushour, Peccadillo, skippered by Charles Meredith, and Resolute II skippered by Ken Gibson, all beat the 2023 multihull race record.
More boats are expected to arrive into Hobart from early afternoon on Sunday 29 December 2024.
The fleet is carrying trackers enabling race followers to track the action from start to finish. To follow the fleet, go to race.bluewatertracks.com/2024-melbourne-hobart-westcoaster.
For Entry, Notice of Race and List of Entries, please visit: www.orcv.org.au/hobart/m2hyachts.