Another man’s boat, by Richard Loseby
/Put Renown and Bella Vita side by side and they are completely different boats, of a similar generation yes, and from equally accomplished designers, but from there we depart in different directions.
Bella vita is a blue water sailboat
Bella Vita is a 45ft offshore bluewater vessel kitted out for off-the-grid living and Renown is a beautiful 42ft coastal cruiser/racer.
Renown is a beautiful 42’ coastal cruiser
In a straight line we’re reasonably close, although I do recall passing Geoff in one race when he had been too conservative with his sail plan while we were humming on genoa and staysail. The look on his face as we powered by will, I’ll happily admit, be imprinted long upon the memory. (But I know in normal circumstances the boat shoe would probably be on the other foot). So, you can imagine my interest and excitement at being invited to step aboard Renown and sail in the recent Duder Cup Regatta.
As those who started that day will remember, the wind was exceptionally light and fickle with an incoming tide. Geoff had the anchor ready to deploy after the start, thinking this might be one of ‘those’ races. Well, it was and it wasn’t. There was just enough wind from the SW, coming in spurts as we motorsailed to the line.
On the helm, I was immediately feeling how light Renown was in comparison to Bella Vita, where our big skeg-hung rudder and longer keel are more suited to crossing oceans than rounding cans. This became even more true at the start when, with minutes to go, Geoff was calling for a gybe in a tightly contested starting box area that I’d have avoided for fear of sending 18 tonnes of sailboat through the middle of a lightweight Townson. (Author’s note, this is why we always start well back in races haha). But sure enough, she turned on a sixpence, came in behind and to leeward of Tumbleweed, a boat length ahead of Kristen and Zeppo, and showed a sudden turn of speed to hit the line on the dot at 10:15 hrs and lead the Green Division fleet.
Sadly, this was straight into a big, fat, windless hole off North Head. We drifted sideways in the current, tried different sail settings, all to no avail. Zeppo anchored off Torpedo Bay wharf. Further back, Lidar, YouChoose, Kristen had done the same.
Had it not been for Geoff’s 2pm appointment with an Insurance Assessor we would have hung around for the breeze that eventually did fill in, but Insurance Assessors wait for no man and so the record books show for the 2023 Duder Cup a DNF for Renown, but a first on handicap for YouChoose, with Zeppo (line honours), Kristen and Lidar in behind.
Bella Vita meanwhile, hungrily awaits more solid breezes in the 2023-24 racing season, before a planned return to the open ocean. Tonga anyone?
RICHARD LOSEBY is Founder & Creative Director at Mechanic Group. With his wife, Libby, he sailed Bella Vita to Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia as part of the Island Cruising Club 2022 Rally.
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