Fastnet Race winning sailor returns for The Showdown regatta

2:57 AM Fri 30 Oct 2009 GMT

'ICAP Leopard nearing the finish in Marsamxett Harbour, Valletta - Rolex Middle Sea Race Finish Line' Amanda Church Click Here to view large photo

Tasmanian yachtsman Joshua Clark is looking for a unique winning double this year - crewing on British maxi yacht Leopard III in its bid to add a Sydney Hobart Race victory to its line honours win in the famous Fastnet Race in England last August.

His preparation for the Sydney Hobart will start this weekend with some intensive round-the-buoys racing on the River Derwent, crewing aboard the Farr 40 Voodoo Chile in the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania's new regatta, The
Showdown.

Voodoo Chile, owned by Joshua's father Lloyd and Andrew Hunn, along with other Farr 40s War Games, POW, Wired and Euro Central, will provide some of the most spectacular racing of The Showdown, which kicks off with a twilight
race for the keelboat classes on Friday evening.

The regatta continues on Saturday and Sunday, when a fleet of 150 dinghy classes will join the bigger boats for two back-to-back races each day.

In total, nearly 200 sailing craft will be racing on Saturday, with the keelboats sailing mid-river courses and the dinghies racing over courses in Sandy Bay between Battery Point and Nutgrove Beach.

'I sailed in the Sydney Hobart on Michael Slade's previous maxi, Leopard of London, several years ago and then spent three years on the boat on the international circuit,' Joshua Clark said today.

'I was then invited to sail aboard the new 100-footer, Leopard III, in the Fastnet Race, which we won. I am on the preliminary crew list for the Sydney Hobart for which Leopard III must be one of the favourites for line honours,' added Clark, who began his sailing in Hobart in Sabot dinghies.

'I'm now back in Tasmania working in the family hotel business at the Lenna and looking forward to some keen racing on Voodoo Chile against the other Farr 40 in The Showdown and other events this summer.'

The Friday evening twilight race for keelboats is unique for a regatta in Australia as it will be a full-on race with spinnakers, unlike the opening twilight race of the Crown Series at Bellerive in February which is a non-spinnaker race.

A fleet of more than 30 Sabot dinghies will be lining up for their final Tasmanian selection series for the National Championships while other big off-the-beach fleets will include Lasers, Formula Windsurfers, International Cadets and Sabots.

Apart from the racing on the Derwent, the RYCT is catering for families and friends of competitors, with activities and entertainment throughout Saturday and Sunday and into the evenings as crews come ashore.

The Showdown website is: www.theshowdown.com.au

by Peter Campbell

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