Alfa Romeo, New Zealand's new super maxi, hit 28 knots boatspeed during today's (25 August 2005) Whitehaven Beach Race at the Hamilton Island Hahn Premium Race Week in the Whitsunday Islands off the far north coast of Queensland.

With owner/skipper Neville Crichton, the Sydney-based New Zealand businessman at the helm, the Reichel/Pugh designed 30-metre long, carbon fibre sloop with CBTF (canting ballast twin foils) hit her highest speed since being launched just over three weeks.

"We clocked 28 knots two-sail reaching in a gusty 25 knot breeze," said tactician and sailing master Michael Coxon after returning to Hamilton Island following the 15 nautical mile race. "It's the fastest we've reached so far with the boat, but then today was the strongest wind we have had at Race Week,"

Winds reached 32 knots at the start of the race but eased to average 25 knots during the early part of the fast and furious race, which saw Alfa Romeo score her seventh successive line honours victory and her fourth corrected time win in the IRC class. 

She beat Bob Oatley's 20-metre Wild Oats, another Reichel/Pugh CBTF design, by just over 11 minutes around the course and by 1 minute and 5 seconds on corrected time.
 

Third place went the newly launched Cookson 50, Chieftain, skippered by Gerard O'Rourke from Ireland, which has improved during the series and, for the first, placed in the top three. The first spinnaker run was a testing one for all crews, with several broaches by the smaller boats and visibility cut by a tropical rain squall. "We hit 25 knots downwind and had to put in two gybes in a strong breeze. Neville did a great job keeping the mast pointing skyward," Coxon said. However, the crew had cut the spinnaker halyard after the cover of the rope shredded and the core melted in the winch. "Apart from that we had no problems and it was great to notch up another handicap win," Coxon added.

With two islands races to sail in this 22nd annual Race Week, Alfa Romeo on 9 points has a 3 point overall lead from Wild Oats on 12 points. Steven David's Wild Joe is third on 18 points after placing fourth today, Loki (Stephen Ainsworth) is on 23 points after a sixth today.

Tomorrow the IRC class will sail in its second last race, the 30 nautical mile Baynham Island Race with the final race on Saturday the 23 nautical mile South Molle/Daydream Island Race.