Rolex
Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2003 - Bounder Might
Usurp Yendys In IMS
A yacht owner’s worst nightmare is when
his old boat looks like knocking off his new boat
in a race; Sydney yachtsman Geoff Ross is this
morning facing that prospect in the IMS division
of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
Yacht
Tracker polling of the fleet this morning had
Bounder, Ross’ previous boat, heading the
IMS leader board at 0800 hours on progressive
corrected times, while his new boat, Yendys, dropped
from first to third in standings. In between these
two is Michael Spies’ First National Real
Estate.
Ross
won the 1999 Sydney Hobart Race overall with Bounder,
then called Yendys, and later to be named Sting.
Chris Little, Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing
Club in England has chartered the Farr 49 for
this year’s race, renaming it Bounder after
his yacht in the UK.
Yendys,
a Judel/Vrolijk 52 and former Mediterranean IMS
champion, had headed IMS standings for the previous
24 hours, but the Yacht Tracker polling of the
fleet at 0800 hours showed Bounder leading from
the consistently well placed First National Real
Estate, a Beneteau 40.7, with Yendys third.
These four boats, still sailing across Bass Strait
or down the East Coast of Tasmania this morning,
have all at times figured in the top three on
IMS standings.
In
the IRC handicap division, Australia’s best-known
maxi yacht, George Snow’s Brindabella has
displaced the two super maxis, Skandia and Zana,
from top of the board, as have at least five other
boats.
At
the 0800 hour Yacht Tracker polling, Brindabella
was placed first ahead of First National Real
Estate, Yendys, Quest (last year’s IMS overall
winner), Pippin and Impeccable.
In
the PHS division, Tony Williams’ Balmain
Experience heads the progressive handicap standings
although she is still in Bass Strait, north of
Flinders Island. In second place is Wahoo (Brian
Emerson) and third Witchdoctor, skippered by Maurie
Cameron.
The
Rolex Sydney Hobart uses a tracking system to
monitor the entire fleet, whose individual positions
are collected and updated every 10 minutes and
then graphically presented on the official
website:
http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/yacht_tracker.asp?key=522
