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19 March 2005, 08:17 am

Double Whammy For The Mumm 30s

Sydney Mooloolaba Race 2005

Mooloolaba, Australia

It was a double whammy on the IRC handicap for the Mumm 30s with Anthony PATERSON's Tow Truck and Jeff and Janet PAUL's Immigrant first and second in the Sydney Mooloolaba Yacht Race and with the final boat crossing the line the competition is now officially over.

Don FREEBAIRN's Ray White Koomooloo had to finish by 1004 hours (AEDT) this morning to knock Tow Truck off it's perch but that time came and went and Koomooloo still had ten miles of the 469 nautical mile course left to sail. Koomooloo finished at 1110 to finish in third place.

'It was a tough race with a very competitive fleet,' said a delighted Anthony PATERSON this morning.

'We put together a team of regular Tow Truck guys, including the champion Laser sailors Richard and Will HOWARD, who know the boat well and never back off. It was a testing race but the conditions suited a boat that likes hard running and a crew of guys who aren't reliant on much rest. We were hoping for these conditions and to actually get them twice in three years is extremely lucky,' PATERSON added.

Tow Truck won the 2003 Sydney Mooloolaba Race on IRC overall handicap.

The Tow Truck crew did not sail a perfect race. During the second night at sea they slipped from first to 21st on IRC handicap but on Thursday they managed to claw their way back to the top position.

Maurice CAMERON's Phillip's Foote Witchdoctor, a former PHS winner of this race and second on handicap last year, took PHS honours and CAMERON puts this down to the way they sailed the 1979 built Davidson 42 rather than the conditions.

'We sailed moderately conservatively and the boat performed well. Most importantly, we didn't break anything,' said CAMERON yesterday morning.

The Sydney Mooloolaba Race, which began in Sydney Harbour on Wednesday at 1300, was a big success for race organizers with all but seven of the 39 which started out three days ago crossing the finish line within a 15 hour stretch.

After such a long race, it is not often the fleet is so compressed and today, big and small boat crews alike are swapping tales at Mooloolaba Yacht Club where the official prize presentation will be held at 1600 this afternoon.

Final results

IRC Division A

1st - AFR Midnight Rambler (Farr 40), Ed Psaltis/Bob Thomas, NSW
2nd - Lady Godiva (Swan 60), David Currie, VIC
3rd - Austmark (Lyons/Cawse 46), Gunther Schmidt-Linder, NSW

IRC Division B

IRC 1st Overall and 1st in Division - Tow Truck (Mumm 30), Anthony Paterson, NSW
2nd - Immigrant (Mumm 30), Jeff & Janet Paul, NSW
3rd - Ray White Koomooloo (Kaufman 41), Donald Freebairn, QLD

PHS Division

PHS 1st Overall & 1st in division: Phillips Foote Witchdoctor (Davidson 42), Maurice Cameron, NSW
2nd - Torpan International (NSX 38), Torpan International, NSW
3rd - Kickatinalong (Adams 13), Phil Darling, NSW

Sydney 38 Division

1st - Horwath BRI, Tony Levett, NSW
2nd - Next, Alison Thompson, NSW
Line Honours: Wild Joe (Reichel/Pugh 60), Steven David, NSW, 2 days 7 hours 17 minutes 45 seconds