Flare Drills

Prepping Shimmer for Hobart at the ORCV Winter Series

For our crew aboard Shimmer, Steve Twentyman’s Hanse 505, this wasn’t just a spectacular visual show. With a campaign building toward the upcoming Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, every second of practical safety training counts. Firing live flares is highly illegal without a genuine emergency, making this tight 15-minute training window a rare, invaluable opportunity to get comfortable with the heat, smoke, and mechanics of our distress inventory.

With a strong breeze already whipping up the bay, setting off burning chemicals on a fiberglass deck requires serious caution. To keep the sparks and toxic residue as far away from Shimmer’s hull as possible, Sam and I loaded onto the lowered transom swim platform.

If you watch the video, you’ll see us run through the three primary types of marine flares, each designed for a highly specific phase of search and rescue:

From Flare Practice straight into a Punishing Race

Once the sky cleared of smoke, it was time to race. The Fixed Marks course threw some serious winter pressure at the fleet, resulting in quite a windy, tactical day on the water that caused several retirements across the divisions.

We were pushing Shimmer hard on the first downwind leg when the breeze caught us out, and we sadly blew out our primary spinnaker. It’s the kind of gear failure that tests a crew’s chemistry, but luckily, our Hobart preparation means we’ve been building a versatile, deep sail inventory. We cleaned up the deck, shook off the loss, and successfully flew our heavier A2 asymmetric spinnaker on the following downwind leg to stay right in the hunt.

The hard work paid off. Despite the blown sail and the heavy conditions, Shimmer put on an incredible performance in Division 1, proving exactly what this heavy-built Hanse can do when the pressure arrives:

• 5th on AMS (Division 1)

• 3rd on ORC

• 3rd on PHS

• 5th on Line Honours

Every winter race like this is another crucial layer of familiarity with the boat, the sail wardrobe, and each other. Tearing nylon sucks, but discovering how quickly we can adapt and recover in 25 knots of breeze is exactly the kind of teamwork that will make the difference when we turn Shimmer’s bow south toward Hobart this December.

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