Fun in the Sun

Pride and passion rode the weather rail when ocean racing sailors from Australia and New Zealand competed for championship honours in the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week regatta.
The annual event hosted by the Whitsunday Sailing Club provided another spectacular opening to the 2010 Festival of Sails when the spinnakers were set for the traditional Double Cone-Armit Island passage race on Friday 13 August.
Sailors from the colder latitudes discarded their ugg boots and layers of heavy clothing and stepped out with colourful shirts and shorts when they tested their tactical strategy in a sailor friendly warm tropical environment.
As expected the 21st anniversary celebration, which attracted a number of first time entries, America’s Cup sailors, World champions and the local Whitsunday sailor who has the pleasure of enjoying racing in this tropical aquatic paradise, competed for honours in the nine class championships.
For the first time in many years the speed sailing multihull class returned with a promise of challenging the personal honour of winning the fastest times around ‘the track’.
Local boat builder David Chittleborough, who has the prestigious honour of building the impressively fast Tony Grainger designed catamaran Cynophobe for best mate Peter Millar, was nominated as the pre-regatta favourite to win the ‘Cock of Pioneer Bay’ trophy awarded to the fastest boat of the regatta.
Both owner skipper Peter Millar and sailing master Dave Chittleborough are on a rush of adrenalin when the trampoline becomes drenched in spray as Cynophobe reaches her peak sailing speed.
They were all out to protect their reputation as the fastest sailing crew and promised to set some super fast course times during the longer island passage races to take a stranglehold of the fastest crew at the regatta.
However, while interest naturally focuses on the maiden regatta performance of Cynophobe, similar interest was generated around the tactical battle for Grand Prix IRC trophy which is sure to be highlighted by the performance New Zealand’s James Farmer skippered Georgia and the defending champion Living Doll skippered by her Victorian owner Michael Hiatt.
Also Ray Roberts, who won the 2008 series, returned after winning a number of championships on the recent Asian circuit.
This trio promise to again set the pace while similar interest will surround the racing in the evenly matched Farr 40 one-design class where Mooloolaba Yacht Club ‘Old Salt’ Bob Robertson plans to ‘turn up the heat’ at the helm of Cracklin Rosie when the sails are tensioned for the expected ‘nip-n-tuck’ dog-fight against Bobby’s Girl, Night Nurse and Lambourdini.
Veteran Brisbane sailor Howard Lambourne owner skipper of Lambourdini remained ‘tight lipped’ about his crew selection. However, there was a strong pre-regatta rumour that his long time mate the 1968 Mexico Flying Dutchman class, Olympian Carl Ryves, would play a vital role in the tactical strategy.
While the even boat speed clash between the Farr 40s remains open, Bob Robertson and his Cracklin Rosie crew believe they are up to the challenge to claim the class clash over Lambourdini, Night Nurse and Bobby’s Girl.  
(h A full report from all the action at Airlie Beach will appear in the next issue of Afloat).

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Girl Power

Queensland Academy of Sport athletes Elloise Brake and Ashley Warlow added the U16 World 420 dinghy sailing championship to their impressive careers in Israel during July.
The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron crew sailing at the international level for the first time and on unfamiliar waters in the Mediterranean Sea port of Haifa showed their tactical maturity to qualify for the open age group Gold Medal sail-off finishing 26th overall to eventually claim a commanding victory in the age group.
Queensland has become an emerging force in youth sailing under the astute coaching of Beijing Olympic Coach Adrian Finglas.
Later this month another star pupil 15-year-old Sunshine Coast Matthew Flinders College student Madison Kennedy will represent Australia in the World Youth Olympic regatta in Singapore.

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Queensland’s Medal Haul

Yachting Queensland have continued to invest wisely with the high performance sailing program dominating the class results in the International Sail Melbourne regatta.
The State yachting team jointly coached by Beijing Olympic Yngling class mentor Adrian Finglas and the talented Yachting Queensland resident coach Ben Callard mastered some tricky sailing conditions on Melbourne’s Port Philip Bay to complete a best ever medal haul at the important international regatta.
Gold Coast 470 dinghy skipper Mathew Belcher now racing with Sydney’s 2008 Olympic Gold Medallist Malcolm Page led the medal charge winning seven heats to firm their grip for rep honours at the 2012 Olympic regatta in London.
Belcher and Page were in a class of their own discarding one of their heat wins as their worst performance as required under the scoring system.
This was another outstanding result for Belcher and Page who are a ‘new look’ crew being prepared by principal Australian Olympic coach Victor Kovalenko to defend the Gold Medal won by Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page in China.
Meanwhile, Angus Galloway and Andrew Gough again proved why they are regarded as the most consistent performers in the 420 dinghy class adding the Sail Melbourne title to their impressive season which include the Queensland and New South Wales open championships plus the Sail Sydney and now Sail Melbourne title.
Their Queensland team mates Sasha and Jaime Ryan finished all open class heats in the top seven and topped this consistency to claim the best all female crew result and third overall in the open series while Eloise Brake and Ashley Warlow clinched their career best result with the bronze medal.
North Queensland skipper Duncan Macgregor won the Scud class from 2008 Paralympics silver medallist Dan Fitzgibbon while teenage female skipper Ella Evans won the 4.7 Laser dinghy Gold Medal just ahead of the teenage Gold Coast helmsman Josh Franklin.
Queensland sailors added to the ‘Gold Rush’ when Southport Yacht Club’s Adam Lahey and Troy Ruston won silver in the 29er Skiffs while Sunshine Coast Laser Radial skipper Mitchell Kennedy kept his Australian Youth championship prospects alive with another promising result.
The normally modest nature of Coach Adrian Finglas was temporarily replaced with personal pride when he commented on the Queensland team achievements.
“This overall team result is Queensland’s best ever at Sail Melbourne,” Finglas said.

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Changing scene at Magnetic Island

Wayne Millar’s Zoe.Ocean racing sailors representing clubs from the colder southern latitudes have made arrangements to cast off the ‘winter blues’ with some exciting regatta racing in the tropical paradise of Magnetic Island.
The annual aquatic migration from Tasmanian, South Australian, Victorian and New Zealand ports began in late July with the Audi Sydney to Gold Coast race while several delivery crews plotted their courses to the T-shirt and shorts winter sailing environment in warmer latitudes of north Queensland.
Yachts of all shape, size and speed potential make the lengthy sea journey to enjoy some sailing exposure as they prepare for the major summer events including the Rolex Sydney Hobart and the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour events.
Normally the warm water sailing journey would end with a week of exciting racing at the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week but thankfully that has changed with the new sailor friendly Sun Ferries Magnetic Island Race Week on Townsville’s Cleveland Bay.
The word is now out and the fleet numbers which previously had a strong representation from North Queensland clubs between Airlie Beach and Port Douglas has attracted the attention of a number of high profile sailors including former Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours winner George Snow, Bob Robertson and long distance cruising sailor Roger Ramsay.
Townsville Cruising Yacht Club’s Zoe and Quattro who staged a close match race for the IRC trophy in 2009 are among the record entry of 57 yachts representing clubs from Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland who have accepted the Notice Of Race this year.