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One of the best week’s so far….

After leaving Brampton on Monday I came home to Hamilton Island right in the middle of Audi Race Week where the festivities were well and truly under way. There’s been a huge range of things going on and I’ve tried to do as many as possible…here’s a few of the highlights:

The Audi Drive Challenge - Take one top-of-the-range Audi RS6 (a mind blowingly quick machine) cone off an area of the runway bring in Brad Jones (V8 Supercar driver) to put me through my paces and then let me loose on the course. Sounds good to me! The competition is more a test of consistency rather than outright speed with each driver having three laps of the course; the first as a practice and then a test to see just how close you can get the times for the other two…and it’s more difficult than you think. This brute of a machine goes like stink when you put your foot down! There’s a rumbling 5 litre V10 engine which propels the lightweight body to 100km\h in a little over four seconds and I love it!

After a day racing around the track the tyres are shredded the track’s covered in rubber and the results are in…the prize for the lucky winner - a brand new Audi A4 Avant. Suffice to say it wasn’t me instead a very lucky Bruce Griffiths from the yacht Silhouette who got to take home the car plus he won the ‘nearest the pin’ golf challenge and took a further $2000 away with him! Some people have all the luck.

A day out racing on ‘Spirit of the Maid’ - This is the one I’d been waiting for all week the chance to get out and experience race week on the water in the thick of the racing with the big boys. Bruce Absolon is the owner/skipper of this Farr 65 ex-Volvo Ocean Racer which took part in the 1997 Round the World Race I’d actually seen this boat come across the finish line 12 years ago when I was working in Cape Town for Champagne Mumm so it was amazing actually having the chance to race on such a famous machine. The biggest rival for the crew is the boat moored right next door Merit which also sailed in the same race giving me two blasts from the past - this was the boat we had to beat!

I was welcomed onboard by the very friendly crew found a role for the day (backstay winchman) and together we all headed out to the start area….slowly very very slowly. Traditionally the winds for this week are the prevailing south-easterlies which pump through the channels powering yachts of this size at speeds of around 20 knots - perfect for ex-ocean racers. However this week has been very different with such light winds that the race organisers even had to cancel one of the days only the second time in 25 years the last being due to a cyclone hitting the island! With the wind forecast to pick up during the afternoon my anticipation levels were rising maybe we could get this beast racing across the ocean to victory!

First of all a quick lesson from the crew to familiarise me with the job I’d be responsible for - making sure the backstay sheet was hauled in as we tacked and jibed our way through the light conditions. We drifted towards the start line barely moving forwards against the tide through Dent Passage then with five minutes to go we turned for the final time towards the start buoy risking an inside line on the other boats in our class…and it paid off! We comfortably stole their wind and moved up the inside of the fleet passing Merit as we went perfect we’re in front of our key rival already.

Our course for the day was set early in the morning by the Race Committee a team of 25 dedicated sailors highly experienced in tide/wind and boat knowledge. They sent us out into the open water of the Whitsunday Passage around Pine Island to the west before a long reach across the wind and south towards Cone Island a turn around Pentecost island and then back towards Dent island for the final race across the line; a total distance of around 50kms.

Now my experience of sailing amounts to little more than a three day course I took back in July and all of a sudden here I was helping to crew one of the ‘Big Boys’ in race conditions - to say I was slightly nervous and apprehensive would be an understatement I really did have to pinch myself to grasp the concept of what was happening here. Even though our boat was progressing at a relatively slow speed the adrenaline was pumping through my veins enough to cause my mouth to dry out totally as soon as the video camera was pointed at me and I was asked a question - what’s wrong with you Southall pull yourself together! I loved it the feeling of competition knowing that your effort can make just that slight micro-second of difference to the boat’s speed and ultimately the distance between you and finish line.

With the wind gathering strength all the time (sometimes hitting almost 12 knots! - nothing for this boat but great for the day anyway) Spirit of the Maid started to come into her own and we started to pull away from the competition - up into 5th place on the course and so far the highest placing of the week for the crew. As we turned towards Cone Island suddenly we were hit by a ‘knock’ - another sailing term I didn’t really understand but apparently ‘a change in wind direction’ and just made it round the outside of the rocks before almost coming to a total stop in the shadow of the island….how frustrating is that with all of our speed effectively lost the sails flapping and the boat moving nowhere.

We sat for a few minutes motionless all the time the fleet catching us until suddenly the sail filled and we were off again building speed once more - but that’s the thing about sailing what happens to you may also happen to the other boats! The approaching fleet including Merit turned the corner and entered the ‘car park’ too but this time there was no easy breath of wind to pull them through and for nearly fifteen minutes they sat there totally becalmed unable to do anything about our ever-increasing lead as we pulled clear. How exciting!

Once round the eastern corner of Pentecost island it was up with our huge ‘kite’ sail and a fast downwind leg to the finish line our new found lead slowly extending and as we crossed the finish line Merit was nowhere to be seen actually completing the course 25 minutes after us….a moral victory giving Spirit of the Maid a 3-2 lead in the mini-competition between the yachts and a satisfying grin to Bruce and the crew. That’ll cost the opposition a bottle of rum tonight!

A round of golf on the new Dent Island course (or Hamilton Island Golf Club as it’s known) and some corporate challenges - Golf…one of those interesting games that I’d never played up until this job started and suddenly I found myself MC’ing the ‘Hole-in-One’ competition at the  new course and then playing eighteen holes on what is going to be one of THE best courses in the world! Peter Thompson a five times winner of the British Open designed the course on what many thought would be an impossible island…far too much rock steep drop-offs and no green grass in sight. The course he did design however officially opened this week and it’s flippin brilliant - the views across the Whitsundays are amazing the course long and narrow making it a testing but fascinating challenge and the clubhouse at the end of it the perfect place to mull over all those balls lost during the round…..and there will be a few I can tell you.

Dad and I headed out onto the course and did fairly well….for beginners anyway that equates to us loosing only 20 balls on the first nine holes and believe me if you ever get the chance to go and play it you’ll actually see that’s a pretty damn good round of golf there! Having the use of a gorgeous set of Callaway golf clubs probably helped a fair bit too having only played before with knackered rental clubs these ‘weapons’ can strike the ball miles - that is of course when you actually manage to hit it on a straight line. The pictures below really don’t do the course justice as the views the fresh air and the complexity of the challenge have to be experienced first hand:

During Race Week there were also a number of other activities taking place on the golf course all designed to pit the yachts teams against each other both on and off the water.

I’ve got a few days off as my Mum and Dad have arrived from the UK and we’re heading off to experience some of the awesome things I’ve been lucky enough to do since starting the job like visiting Reefworld dining on the Denison Star visiting Whitehaven beach etc.

Oooo and before I forget we’ve been lucky enough to have a few more whales passing the balcony here at the Blue Pearl….here’s a couple of pics for you:

Will put together another post to summarise this before getting right back into the itinerary towards the weekend…..have fun!

Over and Out

Ben