Don Deller Ocean Race Report

The 2021 Don Deller OFFSHORE race was a rejuvenation of an iconic Blue Point Yacht Club event.  

It has been two years since the running of a Don Deller race. The Committee had agreed in late 2019 to revert to the original format being an offshore (Cat 4) race, with the two-race series on Pittwater becoming the ‘Double Sprint’. Ultimately, last year’s event had to be cancelled due to a Strong Wind Warning being issued on the day of the race, 8th February 2020, and attempts to reschedule proved unsuccessful. 

For this year, a considerable amount of collaborative effort by several boat owners, their crew and the club’s accredited safety auditors was expended over the past few weeks, working to ensuring that five yachts achieved their CAT4 safety certification to qualify to compete in the offshore race.

Initially, five yachts submitted their entry forms, however, at the last moment, Good as Gold (Duncan and Christine Veal’s new yacht) checked their insurance policy and found they were not covered for racing.  So rather than paying an exorbitant amount to get the coverage, decided to take over the role of race starter and would cruise in company with the racing fleet. Thank you Duncan!

The four competitors racing to Broken Bay were Hugh Babington’s new boat Starfire, Martela, Conquista and Blue Sky. On the start line there was a little competitive action between Blue Sky and Conquista with each crossing within 10 seconds of the siren and Martela’s crossed the line was approximately one minute later. Starfire however, must have slept-in as they crossed start line some 4 minutes later than Martela. That five minute delay at the start line was very quickly swallowed up such that by the time she was passing Manly Beach, Starfire had already overtaken Conquista and Martela. Starfire and Martela would exchange positions several times throughout the race.

The conditions were not ideal, although it could have been much more unpleasant had the race had been held on Friday under a strong wind warning. Sailing into a nor'easter and lumpy seas was challenging for some, particularly those invited along for their first offshore race. It was a bit of a challenge, even for some of the seasoned sailors, but they handled the conditions admirably even if they shared some burley over the side with the nearby fish… Unfortunately, Good as Gold’s cruising in company was short lived because their invited crew were suffering from “mal de mer” and returned to Sydney. 

After debating whether to head further offshore or hug the coastline, Conquista ended up doing a combination of both. Having had a good run up to Dee Why and passing well clear of Long Reef, achieving the best tack to round Whale Head seemed elusive (“shall we tack yet”, starting to sound like “are we there yet”) – unlike the rain. Ultimately, the crew were able to get something of a geology lesson courtesy of their close-up view of the headland. Seemingly not satisfied with just one close-up, a good line past Palm Beach then became a series of short tacks to round Barrenjoey.  

The finish line was a transit of the eastern edge of Lion Island and the western edge of Barrenjoey Head and competitors took their own time finish. The results speak for themselves with Blue Sky having led from start to finish. The other competitors exchanging the lead until Starfire cross second followed by Martela and Conquista.

Saturday’s leg of the Double Sprint was cancelled as we extended the Don Deller finish time to 1630hrs with the intention of giving all competitors a chance to finish within the allocated race finish time. It was probably a good thing too because the sailing conditions across the body of Pittwater deteriorated down to very light winds.  This was highlighted by Starfire who immediately after crossing the finish line, hoisted an asymmetric spinnaker attached to a very extended bowsprit.  Initially doing a fine job, it was not to last as the kite was filled for only a relatively short time so she eventually ran out of breeze. Like the other competitors she had to drop the sails and start the motor to reach the RMYC. After tying up in their respective berths, crews chose to utilise their time as they saw fit with some heading immediately to the bar, the showers or tidying up the boat (or a combination thereof).

Eventually, all crews gathered in the downstairs bar/bistro area to discuss the race, the conditions and experiences. Some Conquista crew chose to take full advantage of the very comfy lounge cushions until the call for dinner at 1930hrs.  We all received a generous portion of high quality food from the Salt Cove Bistro and at around 2015hrs the Commodore made a short speech to describe the day's event and announce the results of the race.

In 1st place was Blue Sky on scratch and on corrected time.  Coming 2nd in his new (second hand) boat ‘Starfire’ was Hugh Babington and crew, both on scratch and handicap. She was followed by Martela and Conquista. The tradition of the Don Deller lives on with the “GOLDEN PADDLE” (well it is plastic and orange) being awarded to Conquista.  The paddle is awarded as an incentive in the hope that the crew improves in future races and/or uses the paddle to help their efforts in next year's race.

Carl Braden made a special mention that all David Swain's efforts to reinstate the Don Deller to an offshore Cat4 race has come to fruition.  He remarked “I'm sure he's looking down upon us with quite a sizable amount of pride that this has been achieved”. It was a great event enjoyed by all, finishing with a lovely dinner and presentation.

Most yachts had already chosen to leave Pittwater early Sunday morning for the return to Sydney while Martela was booked at RPAYC for a long overdue antifoul. Consequently, with the Committee agreement, Sunday’s leg of the Double Sprint was also cancelled and there were no complaints as boats were intent to avoid the forecast Southerly.  Several reported that the return journey, with sun shining and clear vistas of the coastline (not to mention less lumpy seas), was much more pleasant than the race north.

I think the interest in the Don Deller has been reinvigorated and hopefully, in future years, interest and participation in this event will draw in more starters so will grow even more. Perhaps other offshore races will be considered by your Committee to be added to the annual racing calendar. 

Martella sails out of the heads

On board Conquista