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Kialoa’s race record remembered 30 years later

Kialoa’s race record remembered 30 years later
Kialoa III

Kialoa’s race record remembered 30 years later

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race of 2005 marks 30 years since the US maxi ketch Kialoa III set a benchmark elapsed time record for the 628 nautical mile race, a record that was to stand unchallenged for a remarkable 21 years.

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race of 2005 marks 30 years since the US maxi ketch Kialoa III set a benchmark elapsed time record for the 628 nautical mile race, a record that was to stand unchallenged for a remarkable 21 years.

Kialoa III, a Sparkman & Stephens design owned by Californian yachtsman and ‘silcone valley’ corporate executive Jim Kilroy, was already a world champion maxi yacht when she came to Australia in December 1975.

She was a quantum leap forward in design and sail-power from his previous maxi Kialoa II, which had taken line honours in 1971.  Kialoa II sailed the course in 3 days 12 hours 46 minutes 21 seconds, Kialoa III did it in 2 days 14 hours 36 minutes 56 seconds. 

As she sailed across the finish line on the Derwent River shortly after 2.30 am on 29 December 1975, Kialoa III slashed almost 11 hours off Helsal’s record set in 1973.  She was the first yacht in the history of the race to better three days for the course.

On Boxing Day 2005, two men will specifically remember Kialoa III’s record-breaking run 30 years ago.  Magnus Halvorsen, now 87, with his brother Trygve, 85, will be part of the official starting team for this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart; Sydney Morning Herald photographer Dallas Kilponen, is sailing south this year on Konica Minolta.

Magnus was one of the two navigators on Kialoa III in 1975; the other was Dallas’ late father David Kilponen.  The crew of Kialoa III totalled 19, 12 from the USA, six Australians and one New Zealander. 

Magnus clearly recalls the race and has kept a record of Kialoa III’s position, the wind strength and direction, as she headed out into the Tasman Sea, sailing down the New South Wales South Coast, across eastern Bass Strait and finally down the Tasmanian East Coast to round Tasman Island for the last leg across Storm Bay and up the Derwent River.  This is how Magnus recalled that voyage in 1992:

Start: 
12:00 hours D.S.T. (G.M.T. + 11 hours) Summer Time on 26 December 2005:

Wind:
26 December: Off Sydney Heads ENE 12 knots – no change until 22:00 hours off Jervis Bay. Then easterly 8-10 knots backing NE 8-10 knots through the first night.

27 December: 
From 06:00 hours wind increased velocity from NE to 15-20 knots by 13:00 hours.  From 14:00 hours backed to NNE, increasing to 18-25 knots by 16:00 hours; then eased to 15 knots by midnight.

28 December: 
From 02:00 hours wind back to N at 15 knots when Kialoa III gybed into starboard.   Wind still N, eased to 7-10 knots by 12:00 hours. Increased to N at 15-18 knots at 15:30 hours – gybed to port.  Wind veered to NNE off Cape Tourville (on East Coast of Tasmania) and increased to 30-35 knots.  At 20:40 hours, the wind backed again to the N, 25-30 knots; gybed on to staboard.  Tasman Island north bearing at 22:14 hours on 28 December.

29 December:
From Tasman Island, Kialoa III was hard on the wind all the way to the finish line.  Unable to lay the Iron Pot (at entrance to the Derwent River) from Cape Raoul (in Storm Bay); she made five tacks in the lower Derwent, the crew unable to see the shore outline in the pitch blackness.  Kialoa III crossed the finish line at 03:36.56 hours on 29 December 1975.

Sea Temperature:
74° F off Sydney
66° F off Montague Island
64° F off Tasmanian East Coast

Current:
1 knot southerly set from Sydney to Jervis Bay.  There was no further current assistance for the rest of the voyage.  Southern NSW current set to the West at 1-2 knots. Slight contrary current off Tasmania.

Sails: 
17 sail changes; two spinnakers lost of Tasmanian coast.

Daily runs: 
First day:  245 nautical miles (noon to noon)
Second day:  247 nautical miles (noon to noon)


 

Points favouring Kialoa III’s race record:
1. Kialoa III’s average speed was a fraction over 10 knots. Since the early 1980s maxis have been able to do that upwind. (Magnus’ notes were written in 1992, before the advent of the 30m super maxis with canting keels and water ballast).
2. Three of the 30 Hobart races I was in, wrote Magnus, had weather conditions conducive to breaking the record  by a modern maxi.  Weather conditions in 1975 were therefore not unique.
3. There was negligible current assistance in 1975.  This was a very important factor.
4. Satellite navigation systems were forbidden in 1975.  There is now an advantage in obtaining position fixes during the night.
5. The later starting time used now enables the sea breeze to fill in stronger earlier in the race. (which is why it was changed).

Magnus and his brother Trygve designed, built and skippered a record five overall winners of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, including three in succession with Freya. Magnus, who taught himself celestial navigation in 1959, competed in the 30 races between 1946 and 1982.  He was also navigator on the winning yacht Love and War in 1974 and sailed in many international events.  David Kilponen, who died last year, went on to become the regular navigator on Kialoa III and a much respected international racing rules authority and judge.

During the 21 years that followed Kialoa III’s record, huge advances were made in the design and construction of racing yachts, in their sails and rigging, and in navigation.  Yet, it was not until after 3am on 29 December 1996 (time difference note: the 1996 race stared at 1300 hours, the 1975 race at 1200 hours) that  a bigger, modern, state-of-the-art maxi yacht from Germany (although it was built in Australia) named Morning Glory came sailing up the Derwent River with the race record in the sights of owner Hasso Plattner.

Morning Glory still managed to shave only just under 30 minutes off Kialoa III’s record – still the longest standing in the history of the Rolex Sydney Hobart. Yet, three years later, the Volvo 60 Nokia, jointly skippered by Dane Stefan Myralf and Australian Michael Spies, surfed across Bass Strait in a westerly gale to record an extraordinary time of 1 day 19 hours 48 minutes 02 seconds, slashing 18 hours 19 minutes 08 seconds from Morning Glory’s time.

Kialoa III needed to average only 10.5 knots to set the long-standing record in 1975;  to better Nokia’s record,  the line honours winner of the 2005 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race will need to cross the finish line by 09:08 hours next Wednesday, 28 December after averaging close to 15 knots for the 628 nautical miles from Sydney.  The forecasts are favouring a record run in 2005. – Peter Campbell