Condor leads fleet after colourful start

Press, 27 December 1979, Page 26

Condor leads fleet after colourful start

NZPA Sydney The giant British sloop Condor of Bermuda led the fleet through the heads after one of the most spectacular and colourful starts in the history' of the Sydney’ to Hobart yacht race yesterday. The 77 foot Condor, its varnished hull sparkling in the filtered morning sunlight, sped through the heads less than 10 minutes after the start of the 630-nautical mile ocean classic Condor was closely pursued by' the white hauled Sydney maxi-yacht Bumblebee IV, with, Helsal II hot in pursuit in third place. Condor, with the New Zealand skipper, Peter Blake, at the helm, bolted away from the starting line as the race began in fine but cloudy’ conditions and with a brisk 20 knot south-easterly wind behind the yachts. The south-easterly gave the record fleet of 149 yachts a tear-away start, providing a kaleidoscope of colour for spectators crammed into hunjdreds of small craft and along [every vantage point on the [harbour foreshores. I All of the 149 yachts hoist- ! ed spinnakers for the start to take full advantage of the; boisterous breeze and the har-[ bour exploded into a blaze of colour seconds after the Australian Prime Minister, Mr Malcolm Fraser, signalled the start of the thirty fifth Sydney to Hobart race on board H.M.A.S. snipe. Condor’s New Zealand crew raised its magnificient yellow spinnaker emblazoned with the yacht’s emblem — a black condor in full flight. The holder of the record |; for the Fastnet Race, Condor;; [quickly showed the form b (which could see it topple the[i [Sydney to Hobart race re-i [ cord set at two days 14 hours [ 1 [ 36 minutes and 57 seconds in j i [1975 by the American yacht 1 ; Kialoa. But only minutes after the (I start Condor was locked ini’ a tense battle with Bumble-p bee IV. ( Bumblebee IV, skippered c by a Sydney businessman, t John Khalbetzer, refused to t let Condor pull too far away t from the race fleet. . J

yi The sleek German Frersp designed yacht, launched less ejthan three months ago, disrlplayed the form which has r[ installed it as favourite for el line honours in the blue-water p classic. .[ The American, Gary Wises man. was at the helm of -Bumblebee as the yachts sur,(ged across the starting line sibut once clear of tile heads j (the vastly experienced Syd?[ney yachtsman, Graeme “Frizzy” Freeman, veteran of -[eight Sydney to Hobart -(campaigns, took over the e [ helm. •[ Twenty minutes after the (start, Condor, Bumblebee and -(the controversial 76-fooi ret hulled West Australian sloop i(Siska (Roily Tasker) were J (locked in an exciting three--way battle for the lead. 11 Siska, the fourth yacht -(around the marker tug at the (heads, overhauled Helsal to ‘(slip into third place as the 11 fleet headed south to Hobi art. ■[ Helsal (Dr Tony Fisher), - in the water less than a -month before the start, aprpeared to be having teething problems and battled to stay [with the front-runners as its i crew battled to trim the giant ; I yacht’s sails. • [ There was further drama soon after the start when the Southern Cross yacht Bacardi ■ (John Gould) collided with a Victorian yacht Apollo 11, skippered by’ Chris Newman. Bacardi got into difficulty when the wash from spectator craft sw’ept it onto Apollo II and the yachts jostled for position on the run up the harbour. The green-hulled Bacardi, ialso from Victoria is under [charter to the United States’ team competing in the Southern Cross Cup. j The Sydney to Hcbart is [the final race of the cup series and carries trippie points for the 11 competing nations. The Great Britain team of Marionette (Chris Dunning), Yeoman XXI (Johnston Wooderson) and Blizzard (Edward Juer) leads in the cup after the first three races with 359 points, ahead of Victorian Victoria on 308 and New South Wales on 287.