Latitude 28 by Ian Grant / Last September Graham Donnell and his crew proved that the 11m Greg Elliott designed Quattro was a light wind pace setter when they won the Sun Ferries Race Magnetic Island Race Week IRC championship.

Quattro heads to Airlie Beach

Townsville Cruising Yacht Club skipper Graham Donnell is among the latest high profile ocean racing sailors to confirm his entry for the 2010 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week from August 12-19.
The entry from Graham Donnell and the impressive New Zealand TP52 Georgia has set the foundation for Race Week 2010 to become another outstanding promotion for the community of Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Sailing Club with a number of first time entries among the 89 skippers who had officially accepted the official invitation from Race Officer Denis Thompson by 9 July.
Last September Graham Donnell and his crew proved that the 11m Greg Elliott designed Quattro was a light wind pace setter when they won the Sun Ferries Race Magnetic Island Race Week IRC championship.
Quattro clichéd the title following an absorbing five race duel against the defending champion Wayne Millar helming the Sydney 41 Zoe.
The Quattro crew while having the advantage to race in relatively unchallenged space still had to use smart tactical options to finish with the faster corrected handicap point score.
They wrapped up the series with a consistent 1-1-1-2-2 score while Zoe and female skipper Belinda Cooper who has also nominated for Airlie Beach Race Week skippered the Cairns Yacht Club sloop Groove to fill the minor places.
Quattro has been entered in the IRC Cruising class championship and will need to produce the same consistent all-angle sailing speed from her Sun Ferries win on Cleveland Bay for skipper Graham Donnell and crew to protect the reputation against an impressive line up including the two Brisbane yachts Ocean Affinity (Stewart Lewis) and Stomp (John Moore) and the Royal Perth Yacht Club’s Wyuna (Dennis Vincent).
The advantage of local knowledge will also favour the Whitsunday Sailing Club crews onboard the Jeff Brown skippered Double O Seven, Grizzly (Chris Jiggins) and Sunrise (Helen Shipsey) when the sails are tensioned for the honour of winning the class championship.
“Unfortunately the unstable economy and work commitments forced us to miss Race Week 2009. However, the Quattro crew are looking forward to returning to enjoy another great week of racing,” Graham Donnell said.
This stand-alone championship regatta which officially launches the annual Festival of Sails in the Whitsunday Island region has attracted another competitive and widely diversified fleet including Queensland’s and possibly Australia’s fastest ocean racing catamaran, the Peter Millar skippered  Cynophobe.
The exciting twin hulled ‘flying machine’ which regularly flies the windward hull when sprinting in the fast lane at speeds above 20 knots has become a short-priced favourite to set some new course times during the regatta when competing for the inaugural Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week Multihull class championship.

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Alegria IV and Wedgetail in drag race

Mooloolaba Yacht Club’s Rod Jones the only skipper to win two Audi Australian ocean racing championship trophies will be forced to protect his reputation in the 348nm Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Island on Friday 6 August.
The feature event hosted by the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron has as expected attracted a high standard fleet, including the match racing Peter Harburg owned Black Jack racing under the proud Queensland ‘battle flag’ against her New South Wales rival the Bob Oatley owned Wild Oats X.
Both skipper Rod Jones and his core crew including the talented Shaun O’Rourke and Greg MacAllansmith have been busy preparing the exciting new GP42 Alegria IV for her maiden coastal passage classic and match race against the 2010 Brisbane to Gladstone race winner the Bill Wild skippered Wedgetail.
Alegria IV and Wedgetail are radically different in design but are identical in waterline length which suggests they will almost certainly become involved in a private mate against mate match race.
A similar intense minute by minute tactical dogfight is also expected to be played out on the decks of the Mark Bradford skippered Black Jack and the Mark Richards helmed Wild Oats X.
Black Jack has a proud reputation to protect. She remains undefeated in Queensland’s major blue water racing classics, having taken line honours in the past two Brisbane to Gladstone races and is the defending Brisbane to Keppel Race line honours overall IRC handicap champion and race record holder.
This clash between Australia’s best crewed and fastest 20.3m ocean racing yachts will no doubt turn into a 348nm drag race, with the result determined by the human elements of physical endurance and a superior tactical strategy.
Local coastal racing experience suggests Black Jack deserves to be the pre-race favourite but Mark Bradford and his principal crew mates, including owner Peter Harburg, should be physically and mentally prepared for an exhausting match race when the super fast sloops go head to head for the prestigious line honours trophy.
They have the proven speed potential to weather the challenge from the larger Sydney sloop the 30m Lahana.
But they will need to be tactically prepared to protect their race honours if a moderate to fresh spinnaker sailing breeze allows Lahana to exercise the advantage of her extra waterline length.
This trio will set the pace at the head of the fleet, while an equally interesting match race will unfold between Wedgetail and Alegria IV, Lambourdini, Eleven, Bribie Star, Cracklin Rosie, Night Nurse, Acadia and Bobby’s Girl, to set the required handicap rated speed to outpace Black Jack and Wild Oats X for fastest corrected course time.
Black Jack which averaged 11.8knots to claim a rare triple honour (line honours, record and handicap) in 2009 has improved in 2010 and is sure to set the pace for her rivals to chase.

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Calder set for Race Week

Sunshine Coast female skipper Lauren Calder will again test her one-design racing skill against a formidable fleet during the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week SB3 Dart class championship from August 21-28.
Lauren and her all female crew have built a respectable reputation from the important experience gained from competing at the 2009 World championship in Portugal and the 2010 Audi Australian championship at Port Stephens last April.
Racing in a fleet dominated by physically stronger all male crews has become a career ‘benchmark’ for the Audi Girls who have made their presence felt with encouraging top of the fleet race results in major championships and were encouraged with their mid-fleet scorecard at the Australian championship.
They understand their racing role will generally always fall into playing ‘catch up’ but this has not affected their overwhelming enthusiasm which is evidenced in all of their races.
The strict class rules and clone nature of the Laser Dart SB3 provide all crews with an equal opportunity, but the longer stronger and heavier hiking power of the male crews generally means the difference in results favouring the male crews in the stronger winds.
However, both skipper Lauren Calder and her crew are not about to give up and treat every struggle in moderate to fresh winds as another step towards narrowing the gap.
Sailing the Laser SB3 Dart combines all aspects of sailing skill, with the combination between helming, crew sail handling technique and race strategy making the difference between competing at the front of the fleet or faced with trying to maintain a competitive speed at the back of the fleet.
Racing in a one design class is demanding but it is rewarded with a high level of excitement and fellowship where the top crews freely offer their experience to improve the standard of fleet racing.
The Audi Girls have never raced at Hamilton Island before and understand it will be a different challenge, particularly when they line up to contest the best position on the start line against class mentor and dual Audi Australian IRC champion Rod Jones and local Australian Sailboard champion Dennis Winstanley.
Winstanley is new to the class while Rod Jones is expected to be the pacesetter in what promises to become a highlight of the multi-class championship regatta.
Meanwhile Lauren Calder and the Mooloolaba based Ocean Buro Laser Dart SB3 racing fleet will continue with the female program.
“We are looking for female sailors who are dedicated to improving their skills all they need is to know the basics,” Rod Jones said. “The benefits and opportunities are endless with the exposure to compete at the 2012 World Championship in Geelong as a career goal.”