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.

• The Longest drive challenge – simple enough, hole number 10, blast it off and see where it lands. I finished second here….how I’ll never know!
• The Putt challenge – to see exactly how close you can get to the hole from the other side of the green. Didn’t enter this one…..
• The Hole in One Challenge - Tee off across the water towards the floating island (the competition I was MC’ing!). This is near on impossible, the winner actually being the guy who’d hit the island twice out of his three attempts.



• The Grinder Challenge – James Hill and I had a go at this as the first team of the day, set a time of 6.37 seconds for 20 revolutions and thought nothing of it. Halfway through the day we were still holding up in 4th place on the board but by the end we’d been nudged off. We arrived back at the comp to find a huge group of sailors all cheering and jeering “your the guy with the best job in the world, you’ll never do it!” – temptation took over. So one more big push between us…..and the clock read 6.13….we’d just taken fourth place from the professional sailors who do this every day. God that felt good!



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

• A shot across the bows - ’A shot across the bows’ derives from the naval practice of firing a cannon shot across the bows of an opponent’s ship to show them that you are prepared to do battle.
• Three sheets to the wind – very drunk. Sailors at that time had a sliding scale of drunkenness; three sheets was the falling over stage; tipsy was just ‘one sheet in the wind’, or ‘a sheet in the wind’s eye’.
• By and large - On the whole; generally speaking; all things considered. To get a sense of the original meaning of the phrase we need to understand the nautical terms ‘by’ and ‘large’. ‘Large’ is easier, so we’ll start there. When the wind is blowing from some compass point behind a ship’s direction of travel then it is said to be ‘large’. ’By’ is a rather more difficult concept for landlubbers like me. In simplified terms it means ‘in the general direction of’. Sailors would say to be ‘by the wind’ is to face into the wind or within six compass points of it.

Location: Hamilton Island

Weather: Little fluffy clouds, blue skies, not enough wind but 26°c

After months of hearing it talked about the best week on Hamilton Island is finally here…IT’S RACE WEEK!

Four years ago building work commenced on the site of the new Hamilton Island Yacht Club and I was very honoured to be there at the official opening last night in the presence of the owner Bob Oatley and the Premier of Queensland Anna Bligh.

The new Hamilton Island Yacht Club

On what was once a rocky and muddy entrance to the marina, now sits what must be one of the finest yacht clubs anywhere in the world – something that will adorn the pages of many an in-flight magazine for years to come. The architect Walta Barda was given a blank page and asked to create something unique which would reflect the boating and marine lifestyle which it would become an integral part of and the result is this.

Now I’ve flown over it and sailed past it a fair few times since arriving on the island and it wasn’t until I actually got down to see it at ground level that I realised quite what a spectacular building it is appearing as a cross between Sydney’s Opera House and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

The evening’s opening night was attended by 500 people with the official cracking of the champagne on the bow-like spit by Anna Bligh the Premier who gave Tourism Queensland, the Best Job campaign and even me a mention during her speech. Mum and Dad would have been so proud if they’d have heard it!

With the Premier Anna Bligh

I had to dash away from proceedings for half an hour to meet Amanda Fitzgerald, the weather presenter from Channel Ten, as we were co-presenting her five minute slot together! (another job for the Island Caretaker) Brilliant fun – arrive panting from the run, have a script thrust in my hand, practice saying ‘Toowoomba’ a few times and….we’re live to air!

Presenting the weather with Amanda, Channel 10

‘Sydney 17, Brisbane 24 with temperatures increasing steadily next week’ – oh what fun but over far too quickly and then back to the opening party for more introductions and socialising.

Day One out on the water….

Up with the sunrise for the next of my commitments – a guest slot on Race Week radio down in the marina. Dean Miller (a presenter on Creek to Coast) and Rob Mundle (sailing journalist and legend) are the hosts and we had a ten minute chat about life on the island, plans for the week and how the Ashes were panning out – for once in England’s favour!

Race Week Radio

After watching many Cowes Week sailing regattas in the UK from the shore working for Mumm Champagne I had the chance to get out on the water and see some of the racing up close and personal aboard one of the hospitality boats Alanis – a luxurious motor launch full of the Tourism Queensland staff all on a big ‘thank-you’ weekend from Hamilton Island for their work over the last few months. Very well deserved too you guys.

We cruised down towards the start line off Catseye Beach together with a few other hospitality boats and the 194 yachts which make up this years competitive field. The 11 different classes all tightly bunched up twisting and turning around the ‘virtual’ line between the committee boats waiting for the starting claxon.

With virtually no wind this must be one of the most difficult things to do as a skipper, navigating around the other boats keeping one eye on the clock, one on the line and the other on keeping your yacht in one piece.

Passage Peak overlooking the start line

And then they were off…..the fleet heading south towards the turn around mark off Lindeman Island on a perfect day for spectating, if not sailing. The light breeze doing little to force a ripple on the surface let alone power these Formula One yachts through the crystal blue blue waters. It was a slow trickle south….

Chasing down towards Lindeman Island

We were lucky enough to spot a few Humpback whales on the way down the passage and caught two napping in open water, a mother a calf, who only realised we were there at the last minute and hurriedly splashed under the surface…not before I’d grabbed a few pics though:

Breaching baby Humpback

Powering past the near-static fleet we sat off Lindeman Island awaiting their arrival with the Grand Prix Div 1 boats arriving first as they turned into the channel….and lost all wind. Totally becalmed and going nowhere fast.

I wish we could have stayed around to watch the outcome but there’s work to do with this job you know and I have to visit Brampton Island for a few days so we headed back to Hamilton Island marina and straight to the airport.

End of day location: Hamilton Island

Distance travelled: 35kms