Intersection - Offshore Racing |
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Cock of the Rock Race By Isabel Law |
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In contrast with all the serious racing that goes on all year long, this race is a welcomed relief. Created by Matt Duff in 2000, the yearly race goes to Rottnest, leaving Philip Rock to port and back to Fremantle. The boat crossing the finish line the closest to 3.00 pm on Sunday is the winner. This year, I was invited to race onboard Basanti, a brand new Catalina 42’ owned by Chris Payne and Phil Cuthbertson. We left the pen at 10.30 am on Sunday and had a beautiful reach to Rottnest where we anchored for lunch amidst the rest of the Cock of the Rock fleet. At 1 pm, Salacious, skippered by Matt Duff raised her anchor and sailed off, slowly followed by everybody else. As the fleet got closer to the finish, things started to be more serious. Some had to slow down, others had to speed up, some got accused of stalling on the finish line! At the end, it was a very close finish and we were all back at the club soon after for the presentations. Results In the fero-cement division, the Concrete Cup was won by Moon Raker skippered by Terry and Gerard Easie. In the steel division, the Iron pot was won by Ghawazee skippered by Mike Childsworth with first and fastest. The Catherine Alice Trophy, donated by Vic Russell, for the overall winner was won by Kym Trent, skippering Trentquillity. Almost everybody got a pennant, we even got a third place on Basanti for just being there, I think! Matt reckons that the success of the race is all due to the promotion: a few posters placed in convenient reading spots does the job well….. See you next year!
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