Anyone who tracked Max Klink's special Botin 52 in the Middle Sea Race will know how her fractionally extra speed potential can eventually perform a demolition job on the on-water lead of any sister-ships ahead. Thus, in the Middle Sea, it was early leader Chris Sheehan's Warrior Won that fell to the Klink axe, and in the final stages of the ongoing Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, it was Caro again leading across the line at 3:30:22pm on Friday afternoon Hobart Time.
But Caro's speed potential is matched by a higher rating relative to the other 52s, and though she deprived longtme on-water leader Smuggler (Sebastian Bohm, NSW) of the 52s' line honours accolade, Smuggler finished only 2 minutes and 39 seconds after Caro, which in this 628 race was translated by their different handicaps into a win by three hours.
Eric de Turckheim's NYMD 54 Teasing Machine from France is expected in Ireland in June for the Round Ireland Race from Wicklow, but meanwhile, in Hobart, she has finished fourth in Division 1, nearly three hours on CT behind Caro
As we meet the 09:00 am deadline here in Ireland, Caro is waiting to see if Ian and Annika Thompson's TP52 Ocean Crusaders J-Bird finishes in time to deprive the Klink boat of a podium place in third, as Sam Haynes' Celestial finished 42 minutes behind Caro but corrected into
second behind Smuggler, while Mickey Martin's veteran TP52 Frantic (ex-Patches) is currently shown as 7th on IRC, with 17 miles to sail and making 9.8 knots for her crew, including Trevor Smyth of Clontarf, Conor Totterdell of the National, and Wicklow's Cillian Ballesty.
It hasn't always been hardship. This is Annika Thompson aboard Caro's place contender, the TP52 Ocean Crusaders J-Bird
None of the 52 footers or indeed any other size or type is bothering the continuing overall win of the Tasmanian Reichel Pugh 66 Alive, brilliantly navigated by Adrienne Cahalan to a 20-minute corrected overall lead ahead of the 72ft URM Group, navigated by rising star Alice Parker, while Sean Langman's RP 69 Moneypenny - with the National YC's Will Byrne as bowman - continues securely in third overall on IRC.
Stephanie Lyons - formerly on Kildare and still of Kinsale YC - is in a similar bowman role on the Cookson 12 Calibre 12 (Richard Williams), and they've usually been in the top half - and quite often the lead - in Division 3, where currently they are fourth on IRC, and leading on the
water by a mile with 96 miles to the finish.
Aboard Ocean Crusaders, the food is good if basic, but it would be stretching it to describe this part of the accommodation as "The Dining Saloon"
The two-handed battle continues at pace, with the leading Sunfast 3300 Kraken III (Rob Gough and John Hall, Tasmania) at 125 miles to sail, which gives her a ten-mile lead over Cinnamon Girl (Cian McCarthy & Sam Hunt Kinsale YC). But with night coming on for those still racing, the flukier winds of darkness make the situation much more fluid, and we'll report back this evening as we return to the race course.
Race Tracker here
Overall winner Alive slugging it out across Storm Bay on her way to overall victory for navigator Adrienne Cahalan in her 31st Hobart Race
