Not just Another Duchess - she looks unstoppable

by Di Pearson on 21 Aug 2003 Not content with his Admiral’s Cup win, Bob Oatley and his Another Duchess crew showed their style once again out on the Hahn Premium Hamilton Island Race Week track, prominent on the start and finish lines in both the IRC 12 nautical mile windward leeward courses.

It appears Bob Oatley’s Another Duchess is unbeatable in her quest to win Race Week – nobody else can get a look in and the competition have thrown their arms in the air, asking ‘what can we do, she is unstoppable.’

Not even Jim Farmer’s Georgia with his top crew can put even a dent in Oatley’s results.

With her new underwater appendages and the perfection of crew work, under the guidance of Mark ‘Richo’ Richards’ steering, Oatley and his crew have left the rest of the fleet in their wake.

Oatley won the first race on handicap from Georgia, with Steven David’s Swan 45, Joe in 3rd place. Kevin Woods’ Beneteau 40.7 had her first good result today with a 4th placing, Bob Steel’s Quest in 5th.

In today’s first race, a general recall brought the fleet back for a second start in the 12-14 knot winds.

Another Duchess got away to a good mid-line start, while the other Davidson 59, Colin O’Neil’s Aftershock was looking good at the pin end. The Michael Cranich’s/Les Wallace owned Open 60 Broomstick was also at the pin with David Gotze’s Volvo 60 Indec, which showed a good turn of speed for the first time at this series.

Down the run for the first time, Oatley and co. had already taken a bite out of the rest, leaving Broomstick a good two minutes behind her, followed by the other faultlessly crewed boat in the series, the Jim Farmer owned Farr 53, Georgia, all the way from New Zealand, steered by none other than the World’s number one yachtsman, Russell Coutts with Brad Butterworth calling tactics.

The fleet split into two with Georgia electing to join Another Duchess and Aftershock on one side of the course, Matt Allen’s Farr 52 Ichi Ban, Indec and Martin James’ Infinity III, the other side, all three all having a good day.

Steven David's Joe and Bob Steel's Quest continued their series clash, Joe edging slightly ahead of Quest and staying in front to the finish, much to the frustration of her owner, Steel, and Ron Jacobs the tactician. 'They are just so fast downwind,' Jacobs was later to say.

The order on line at the finish, with the tide running strongly, was Another Duchess, Broomstick, Aftershock, Georgia, Ichi Ban and then the rest.

In the second race of the day, which started at 1.45pm, the fleet spread across the line, Indec, Another Duchess, Joe and Quest all at the pin end, but it was another general recall, with the fleet re-starting five minutes later.

Once again, the fleet spread across the line, and those same boats down at the pin, Another Duchess closest to the pin, Richo timing her start perfectly to cross the line as the flag dropped, to lead from the word go. Two minutes into the race and she had lifted well above many of those who had started above her, the rest of the fleet left sitting in her wake, and there was nothing anybody could do to stop the Davidson 59.

Down the middle of the line, Colin o'Neil's Aftershock was putting in a good performance, but she just couldn't keep pace with her sistership.

Impeccable crew work ensured that once again, the Duchess showed her class, winning line honours and coming 3rd on handicap behind Kevin Wood's Ticket of Leave, which racked up her first win in what has been a mediocre regatta for her so far, with the other wonder boat of the series, Joe the Swan, in 2nd place.


Race 5 - Morning race - Wednesday 20 August
Boat Name Skipper El.Time Cor.Time Place Points
ANOTHER DUCHESS Bob Oatley 1:13:28 1:41:54 1 100
GEORGIA James Farmer 1:17:29 1:42:26 2 98
JOE Steven David 1:25:50 1:43:10 3 97
TICKET OF LEAVE Kevin Wood 1:36:04 1:43:34 4 96
QUEST Bob Steel 1:26:35 1:43:54 5 95
HEAVEN CAN WAIT Warren Johns 1:20:31 1:44:02 6 94
ICHI BAN Matt Allen 1:18:49 1:44:16 7 93
LOKI Stephen Ainsworth 1:32:00 1:45:04 8 92
TRUE NORTH Howard Piggott 1:37:07 1:45:11 9 91
AFTERSHOCK Colin Oneil 1:16:49 1:46:10 10 90

Race 6 - Afternoon race - Wednesday 20 August
Boat Name Skipper El.Time Cor.Time Place Points
TICKET OF LEAVE Kevin Wood 1:33:50 1:41:09 1 100
JOE Steven David 1:24:53 1:42:02 2 98
ANOTHER DUCHESS Bob Oatley 1:13:44 1:42:16 3 97
TRUE NORTH Howard Piggott 1:34:32 1:42:23 4 96
LOKI Stephen Ainsworth 1:29:48 1:42:33 5 95
HEAVEN CAN WAIT Warren Johns 1:19:28 1:42:40 6 94
QUEST Bob Steel 1:25:34 1:42:41 7 93
HIGH ANXIETY II Peter Hayes 1:29:19 1:43:53 8 92
GEORGIA James Farmer 1:19:18 1:44:50 9 91
AFTERSHOCK Colin Oneil 1:16:00 1:45:02 10 90

Total points afterRace 6 - Afternoon race - Wednesday 20 August
Boat Name Skipper Points Place
ANOTHER DUCHESS Bob Oatley 397 1
JOE Steven David 388 2
GEORGIA James Farmer 385 3
HEAVEN CAN WAIT Warren Johns 378 4
QUEST Bob Steel 377 5
TICKET OF LEAVE Kevin Wood 373 6
AFTERSHOCK Colin Oneil 373 7
TRUE NORTH Howard Piggott 371 8
LOKI Stephen Ainsworth 369 9
ICHI BAN Matt Allen 367 10
HIGH ANXIETY II Peter Hayes 364 11
PANTHER Steve O'Rourke 363 12
BREAKOUT Anthony Dickson 360 13
PRETTY WOMAN Richard Hudson 346 14
RENAISSANCE Ross Breadman 343 15
INFINITY III Martin James 339 16
XLR8 Graeme Troon 338 17
TERRA FIRMA N Bartels & M Vaughan 331 18
BROOMSTICK Cranitch & Wallace 329 19
MARABUNTA Clayton Debenham 329 20