04 Apr
Don Colantonio is fully utilising his Dehler 42’s dual cruising and racing modes and is planning to take on one of yachting’s iconic events – the Rolex Sydney Hobart.
When Windshift calls Don Colantonio he is getting to grips with a new moon boot, courtesy of torn ankle ligaments. The injury though isn’t going to affect his somewhat crowded sailing schedule.
Over the next 8 months, he intends to put Trilogy, his beautiful Dehler 42, and its crew through a build-up of day and overnight races with the ambition of lining up on Boxing Day for the 80th anniversary Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
“If you are Australian and you say you sail, the inevitable question is ‘Have you done the Hobart?’, Don states. “It’s also because I have a boat that will handle it and it’s the 80th race of what is a rite of passage for a serious sailor,” he adds.
The lead-up will see Trilogy and her crew combinations tested during the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Winter Series which regularly sees up to 100 boats criss-crossing Sydney Harbour. It’s hotly contested and you can find yourself racing anyone from an Olympic champion to very competent club sailors who know the vagaries of Sydney Harbour and how to exploit them.
The Trilogy team will then have to prove their mettle offshore in as many as four races varying in length from 83 to 260 nautical miles off the coast of Sydney over a period from September to early December.
“I know it’s going to be tough and sometimes I’m thinking ‘this is too hard and other days I’m going it’s really exciting’,” Don confides. As for the attraction of tackling what Windshift described in another tome as “a 628 nautical mile plus bone-jarring journey to the limits of your physical, mental and emotional endurance”, Don says it comes down to an elemental love of sailing’s diverse elements.
“I love sailing because it’s a combination of art and science,” he suggests. “There’s the technical side with sail trim, the interplay of lift and drag, but there’s also the intuitive side of getting the boat in the groove and the chance to experience nature and the ocean in a way few people get to do,” Don explains.
Though Trilogy will be the first Dehler 42 to point its bow to Hobart in the race’s long history, the Dehler brand has a proven pedigree in the event and in other celebrated ocean races. Wings, the well-known Dehler 46 owned by Sydney yachtsman Ian Edwards has logged over 45,000 nautical miles with five Rolex Sydney to Hobarts, a Transpac, Sydney to Noumea, and Brisbane to Hamilton Island races all under her keel.
The Dehlers are recognised for their all-around sailing ability and toughness when the weather invariably deteriorates. The 42’s Judel/Vrolijk designed hull is a vacuum-infused foam sandwich. Vinylester resin is used with the first layer of glass and in high-load areas that are reinforced with woven rovings or unidirectional fibers. The deck is of balsa sandwich, while the carbon-reinforced inner hull structure called the Dehler ‘Carbon Cage’, is said to be 25 percent stiffer than standard arrangements.
Trilogy is hull #68 of the 42 models, and is a ‘Competition’ version, designated by the ‘42c’ moniker, and sports a full carbon mast, boo,m and vang with rod rigging. There are performance benefits from a deeper 2.4 metre T-bulb keel which increases stability. That’s complemented by a competition rudder which is deeper and thinner than the standard version.
Since Don bought her last October he’s been impressed by the 42’s turn of speed.
“It’s exceeded my expectations,” he confesses. “It’s a lot lighter (at 8.5 tonnes), than I thought, and easier to sail,” he continues. “I’ve also been surprised how well it does in light airs, and in heavy airs it’s just magnificent.”
Hoisting sails for the first time in the Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s Thursday Twilight Series Trilogy has notched several wins and sailed to a podium finish to the series, a notable achievement given the vagaries of Sydney Harbour and the short time Don and the crew have had to learn the boat.
“I’m really delighted at the range of wind angles (the 42 can be sailed well at), it’s got a lot of forgiveness in it,” he reveals. “The boat really talks to you. It tells you when it’s not happy, when the helm gets a bit heavy as soon as you adjust it immediately responds,” he reports.
While Don is obviously concentrating on the racing side of the Dehler’s cruiser-racer designation, the 42 has also proved to be a stylish and comfortable choice for family outings on the Sydney Harbour. He nominates Camp Cove and Store Beach as favourite spots to pull up and have a cocktail on the 42’s teak swim platform or a relaxed lunch around the removable cockpit table.
“Store Beach is lovely and you can only get there by boat,” he says. “My wife Lisa really likes to cook and if it’s a day trip she will do these delicious prawn rolls. If we are going on the longer passages and the kids are there, she’ll make mini quiches. And there’s always coffee and tea easily available from the galley, which is well set up,” Don relates.
Don’s is a three-cabin two-bathroom version of the 42, featuring Dehler’s Uni-Door port side of the head that can isolate the entire area from the saloon or swivel to separate the washbasin area from the shower.
“We really like that third cabin off the heads,” Don informs us. “We use that as a big store room, keeping the other two cabins free of clutter. It’s a good configuration, convenient and comfortable while ensuring the boat is tidy.”
Don says he and Lisa bought Trilogy with long-distance cruising in mind as Don’s brother lives in Queensland, also putting the Whitsundays and Hamilton Island Race Week on the agenda.
He narrowed the choices down to the best performance cruisers and their crossover abilities. Something able to be handled by two people, comfortable for extended stays at blue water destinations, but then also able to quickly convert to a competitive regatta or club racing mode.
“The Dehler does that beautifully and looks impeccably stylish while achieving it,” Don sums up.
A case of form and function melding to deliver the best of both possible sailing experiences.
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