Please select your home edition
Edition
Leaderboard FD July August September 2023

Three Peaks Race - Catamaran slashes first leg record

by Peter Campbell on 30 Mar 2013
Three Peaks record breaker Peccadillo passing Low Head at the mouth of the Tamar River this afternoon Paul Scrambler
In the 25th Tasmanian Three Peaks Race, the Melbourne catamaran Peccadillo tonight smashed the record for the first sailing leg, sailing the 90 nautical miles across eastern Bass Strait from Beauty Point on the Tamar River to Lady Barron on Flinders Island in a remarkable 6 hours and 19 minutes.

The Atlantic 46, skippered by Charles Meredith, berthed at Lady Barron just after 8.50pm, recording the quickest first sailing leg in the history of this challenging combination of ocean sailing and endurance running around Tasmania’s coast.

Her time cut 1 hour and 19 minutes off the Beauty Point to Lady Barron sailing leg set in the 1997 race by the fast trimaran Island Paint Company, better known as Twisted Sister.

Peccadillo averaged just under 13 knots in boatspeed, at times surfing at 15 to 18 knots before slowing down to negotiate the shifting shallows that surround the entrance to the fishing port of Lady Barron.

While this is the sixth Three Peaks Race for Peccadillo’s skipper Charles Meredith, it is the first for the running team of Phil Sicklinger from Sydney and Daniel Trevena from Melbourne.

They quickly jumped ashore as the yacht came alongside Lady Barron wharf, setting off in darkness on the 65 nautical endurance run across to the western side of Flinders Island, ahead of them a tough climb to the granite peak of Mount Strzelecki and back to Lady Barron.

Peccadillo comfortably won the duel to Lady Barron from the Hobart-based catamaran Euphoria Furniture, better known as Storm Bay and skippered by Steven Laird as they ran downwind before a 20 to 25 knot westerly wind.

The Hobart catamaran was expected to finish within an hour of Peccadillo with her more experienced runners striving to make up the overall time deficit and take Euphoria Furniture to an earlier start on the second sailing leg, 145 nautical miles from Lady Barron to Coles Bay on the Tasmanian East Coast.

Speaking ashore at Lady Barron, Peccadillo’s skipper Charles Meredith was cautious but excited after setting a provisional new leg one record.

Deciding that conditions in Bass Strait were too strong for a spinnaker, he elected to run with a full main and a staysail set inside the headsail.

After rounding Boxen Island the crew hoisted a storm kite and gybed down Franklin Sound. With a significant lead and a low tide, Peccadillo elected to take the main shipping channel to avoid any potential pitfalls.

Meredith said that Peccadillo had shown the benefit of the crew’s many ocean miles, as well as the improvements he made to the coat’s rig, centreboards and rudders.

Earlier in the afternoon the two big cats had dashed down the Tamar River from the start off Beauty Point to Low Head in less than 45 minutes, setting course on the first leg to Flinders Island and quickly hitting 15 to 18 knots boatspeed.

Five hours after the start, Peccadillo reported a position only 17 nautical miles south-west of Lady Barron, averaging 15 knots in the fresh breeze and three-metre swell.

Euphoria Furniture, a Chamberlin 40 skippered by Steve Laird, was believed to be close astern although its satellite tracker appeared not to be working.


In third and fourth places as the fleet raced across a white-capped Bass Strait were two Tamar monohull yachts, Andrew Jones Advant Edge and Nick Edmunds’ Haphazard. Edmunds has now competed in all 25 Three Peaks Races.

Also well placed was the Hobart monohull Whistler, skippered by David Rees, whose crew is aiming for a unique double win in the Tilman Trophy whose requirements include that the majority of the crew completing the final run to the peak of Mount Wellington when the leading boats sail into Hobart, probably on Easter Monday.

Surprisingly well placed was the 15m monohull Whistler World, skippered by Robert Findlay from Low Head and sailing in his first Three Peaks Race. Heading out into Bass Strait, Whistler World was fifth in the fleet.

A last minute withdrawal was the Granger catamaran New Howrah Pharmacy, with skipper Terry Travers, a past Three Peaks Race winner, expressing concern with the rigging of his new boat.

More than 7000 people lined Inspection Head wharf and the banks of the Tamar further downstream to watch the start of the race, with the 20 knot breeze giving all yachts a fast lead to Low Head.

Cyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTERPantaenius 2022 - SAIL & POWER 2 FOOTER AUSMySail Skipper

Related Articles

Maxi Cup 2024 | Video on Scallywag's Bow
What the action is like up-close on the bow of a 100 footer when there's breeze Ever wondered what the action is like up-close on the bow of a 100 footer when the breeze is on?
Posted on 22 Nov
Etchells Worlds entries closing on 30 November
Just one more week to enter the Melbourne event The 2025 Etchells Worlds entries close in just over a week and the competition is continuing to ramp up at the Royal Brighton Yacht Club (RBYC).
Posted on 22 Nov
Vendée Globe Race - Day 14 - Mind the Gap
Almost half the fleet are now across the Equator and into the Southern Hemisphere Of the 39 boats still racing in the Vendée Globe most are now out of the Doldrums and almost half are now across the Equator in the Southern Hemisphere. Thomas Ruyant (VULNERABLE) led the fleet across last night at 1910hrs yesterday evening.
Posted on 22 Nov
49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 sailors in SailGP
A look at the sailors from our classes competing this weekend The fifth season of SailGP launches this weekend in Dubai, bringing together 11 national teams and some of the world's best sailors.
Posted on 22 Nov
Dylan Fletcher race ready for his return to SailGP
At the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by P&O Marinas this weekend Dylan Fletcher is race ready for his return to SailGP, after taking on the Driver role for Ben Ainslie's Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix Team.
Posted on 22 Nov
Race for the Rolex SailGP Championship begins
With the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix this weekend This weekend, the most exciting racing on water returns to the iconic city of Dubai - marking the official start of SailGP's most expansive season to date.
Posted on 22 Nov
ETNZ ranked #5 in major sport brands
Emirates Team NZ has been ranked at #5 on the global Sports Technology Power List In the 2024 Sports Technology Annual Review and Power List published Friday, Emirates Team New Zealand has been ranked at #5 on the global Sports Technology Power List by The STA Group who champions the best sports technology globally.
Posted on 22 Nov
Vendée Globe Friday Morning Update
Charlie Dalin on MACIF Santé Prévoyance has taken the lead The leaders in the Vendée Globe have now crossed the Equator into the Southern Hemisphere and are enjoying blast reaching conditions.
Posted on 22 Nov
World Sailing publishes a new strategy
'Ready for the Future' focuses on four priorities for the sport World Sailing has officially launched its new strategy, Ready for the Future, which will guide the sport from 2025 to 2029.
Posted on 22 Nov
Boris Herrmann Crosses Equator
In the hunt, in the Vendée Globe Early this Friday morning at 05:44 UTC (06:44 CET), Boris Herrmann was the 14th solo sailor to cross the Equator after 11 days, 17 hours, 42 minutes, and 42 seconds of competition in the iconic round-the-world race.
Posted on 22 Nov