FINALLY A REWARD FOR 'BOSS HOG'

17 August 2007

Don Algie the founder of Airlie Beach Race Week had a special reason to celebrate the 18th Anniversary of the popular international regatta at the Abel Point Marina on Thursday night.

The proud owner skipper of the Warwick 66 Storm 2 the only skipper to race in all of the 18 regattas was finally presented with a title winner's trophy to display in his 'Hall of Fame'.

To many of the crews who contested the 2007 International Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week Don Algie was a winner well before he accepted the trophy as the Performance Cruising Class champion.

His vision and passion combined with personally backed financial support from the Hog's Breath Company laid the foundation for this friendly regatta which has provided some of the World's best sailors with a highly competitive and professionally managed event.

He has now handed over the helm after establishing the signature event which will continue to contribute a significant cash flow into the Airlie Beach community while also maintaining awareness in the national and international yachting community. Sure there was a deserved sense of pride when the sun tanned veteran accepted his trophy on behalf of his Storm 2 crew including his twin brother Bob and old primary school mate Bob 'Sir Robbo' Robinson.

But there were also special memories about the mates he has met by simply opening the door for them to come and race in the tropical wonderland and the place he proudly calls home.

The Storm 2 crew traditionally celebrated their popular win with frosted and frothy fluid which was a deserved reward for a tiring workload on the race course before claiming a narrow one point title win over the Whitsunday Sailing Club husband and wife team of Jeff and Helen Shipsey in their Elan 37 Sunrise while the experienced Mooloolaba Yacht Club combination of Col Thomas and Nick Cox co-steered the Hanse 370 Hans On into third place.

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Baby boat wins Meridien Marinas Race Week trophy

16 August 2007

Middle Harbour Yacht Club sailor Geoff Pearson justified the purchase price of his A35 ocean racing sloop Arajilla when Sydney Olympian Neville Wittey helmed her to a close IRC class title win in the International Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race week earlier today.

Arajilla seemed to be two paced in the gusty 15-22 knot trade wind but skipper Wittey was well aware that they only needed to finish in the top five to beat the star studded fleet for the title.

Whittey who showed his class in the lighter wind races simply had to stay in touch with the race clock and while Arajilla staggered upwind it was a different story on the spinnaker runs where the small sloop wave surfed to log the required speed and claim the important points.

However Arajilla was clearly outsailed on corrected handicap when Quest helmed by Jamie Macphail won an exciting 2 hour 53 minute 40 second tactical match race to win the final over Karl Kwok's Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club sloop Beau Geste . Quest set up her win with unmatched speed on the spinnaker runs to eventually record her impressive 1minute 5 second victory while Beau Geste finished with more than two minutes to spare over the defending champion the Ray Roberts skippered Quantum Racing.

The crew of Arajilla who flew a protest flag prior to the start breathed a sigh of relief when she finished fourth to win the title with the consistent score of 5-2-1-1-1-4 while Michael Hiatt steered his Victorian sloop Living Doll to record a 4-1-2-4-2-3 winning the Silver Medal ahead of the defending champion Quantum Racing 1-7-4-5-1-3. Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club's Hussy expressed her liking to the stronger winds when owner skipper John Bacon steered her to a comfortable win in the Premier Cruising class.

This was Hussy's second win in three years and clearly showed she is race prepared to contest the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week IRC Cruising class championship which starts off Dent Passage on Saturday.

Hussy finished the series with a 1-1-1-3-1 to beat the West Australian skipper John Moore in This Way Up by 3 points while Esprit skippered by Victoria's Garry Anderson filled third place.

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REWARD FOR RESCUE.

Wednesday 15 August.

Townsville Cruising Yacht Club skipper Leon Thomas is poised to claim his career best result by winning the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week Sports Boat championship with Rock 'n' Roll.

Thomas who enjoys sailing for fun in the intensely competitive class exercised a duty of care when he sailed off course to rescue a fellow competitor during the windy race around the Double Cone Islands.

The Rock 'n' Roll crew were racing mid fleet when sheet hand Mark Kennedy was washed out of the cockpit of the Bruce Tardrew helmed Too Hot to Trot.

"We had a bit on at the time when Mark slipped out and were pleased to see Rock 'n' Roll alter course and pick him up". Tardrew said.

"Come on mate you can come with us" Thomas jokingly said when they hauled Kennedy onboard.

Apart from being wet and cold Kennedy was happy to start a race in one sports boat and finish in another while Thomas later claimed redress which ultimately elevated Rock 'n' Roll from ninth to first on corrected handicap.

Thomas has continued to race consistently in a mixed range of winds to record a 1-4-2-3-9-3-5 to lead the Brett Whitbread skippered It's What You Do by two penalty points while Victorian Heath Walters helming Melges Asia Pacific holds third another 6 points off the pace.

West Australian skipper John Moore expressed his strong wind sailing skill when he steered This Way Up to an important win in the Premier Cruising class championship.

Moore has shown his preference to race in stronger winds and simply proved too fast in the gusty 15-22 knot breeze steering This Way Up to a 1 minute 54 second win over the Garry Anderson skippered Esprit while championship leader John Bacon finished third with Hussy.

Only three points now separate Hussy, This Way Up and Esprit which suggests the three crews will almost certainly enter in a tactical match race in the final race to decide the 2007 championship.

The return of stronger winds also allowed Quantum Racing to claim a line and corrected handicap double in the IRC class championship but her skipper and crew seem certain to lose the defence of their 2006 trophy wind.

Quantum Racing beat the improving Karl Kwok skippered Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club sloop Beau Geste by 19 seconds after five hours of intense tactical racing while the title hangs in the balance with Arajilla leading the series into the final with 10 penalty points lost compared with the Michael Hiatt skippered Living Doll 12 points, Quantum Racing 18 points and Beau Geste 19 points.

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ARAJILLA SETS THE PACE

14 August 2007

Sydney's Middle Harbour Yacht Club skipper Geoff Pearson is just two races away from winning the prestigious IRC championship at the 2007 International Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week.

Less than a week ago Pearson regarded as a happy club competition sailor casually prepared his new Archambault 35 Arajilla for her first serious race against a star line up of champions including the defending trophy winner the Ray Roberts skippered Quantum Racing and former Rolex Sydney-Hobart winner Bob Steele in his new Farr TP 52 Quest.

Pearson realising he was short on regatta racing experience elected to invite Sydney 2000 Soling class Olympian Neville Wittey to be the sailing master and helmsman which has proved to be a master stroke on the warm and tricky waters of the Whitsunday Islands.

Wittey know in some circles as 'Captain Slash' because of his personal determination to win on the race course has turned the low handicapped Arajilla into the form yacht of the competition.

Winning is never easy in the very competitive IRC class fleet and the standard has been lifted to the highest ever in the 18 year history of the Whitsunday Sailing Club hosted regatta.

When the defending champion Ray Roberts steered Quantum Racing to a convincing win in the opening race there was a feeling that the champion crew headed by world title winning tactician Steve McConaghy was again going the set the pace. But that changed dramatically when Arajilla showed her handicap rated speed to claim four impressive wins to presently hold a six point lead with her 5-1-1-1-1 score card.

Arajilla's race time of 5 hours 40 minutes 30 seconds for the 34 n/ml passage race over the Airlie Beach- Saddleback Island -Airlie Beach course was not fast but it was fast enough to allow her to record another win on corrected handicap beating the Harold Clark skippered Invincible by 1 minute 34 seconds with the Michael Hiatt skippered Victorian yacht Living Doll another 49 seconds away third.

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HUSSY IN A HURRY.

Monday 13 August 2007

Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club skipper John Bacon has shown his high performance Sydney 39 cruiser/racer Hussey is in a hurry to win the Premier Cruising class championship in the 2007 International Meridien Marinas Race Week regatta at Airlie Beach.

Skipper Bacon and his long term sailing mate Andy Macphail have applied similar tactical strategy that paved the way for Hussy to win her class in the Hogs Breath Race Week over the Whitsunday Sailing Club courses three years ago. They have shown the benefit of that experience in the present series winning the Double Cone-Armit Island race on Friday followed by runaway wins over the Molle Island and Gumbrell Island passage race courses on the weekend to hold a perfect 1-1-1 score with an accumulative time advantage of 12 minutes 49 seconds.

"Andy has been at the top of the game with his skill to create a fast sail shape besides making sure Hussy is in the right place on the course".

"He is a great sailing mate who has that gifted skill to create boat speed while also contributing to our tactical strategy" Bacon said.

However while Hussy has been the star performer leading the West Australian skipper John Moore in This Way Up by six points and the Sandringham Yacht Club sloop Esprit (Garry Anderson) by seven points there is still three searching races to go before John Bacon can consider preparing a victory speech.

Jim Shannon has continued to prove his lovely S&S 34 Meltemi can continue to race competitively with the modern yachts by leading the 23 yacht fleet for the Cruising class championship.

Meltemi a veteran of numerous Australian offshore races including the Sydney to Hobart and the Brisbane to Gladstone classics presently holds a 4-10-2 score to lead the Whitsunday Sailing Club sloops Sunrise (Geoff Shipsey) and Treasure (Harold Menelaus).

All three crews are separated by only 2 points which suggests the veteran Jim Shannon and the meticulously prepared Meltemi will become the focal point of tactical attention during every mile of the final three races. Duty of care for the life of a fellow competitor has allowed Townsville Cruising Yacht Club skipper Leon Thomas the deserved honour to lead the very competitive Sports Boat series with his Thompson 7 Rock 'n' Roll.

Thomas and his Rock 'n' Roll crew lead the series with a 1-4-2-3 score while the Brett Whitbread skippered It's What You Do and the Heath Walters helmed Melges 24 remain in title contention.

However Thomas remains as the hero of the class after he recovered Sunshine Coast sailor Mark Kennedy when he was dramatically washed out of the cockpit of Too Hot to Trot in the opening race.

Kennedy spent some anxious moments in the water before the Rock 'n' Roll crew changed course and stopped racing to recover their wet and startled racing rival eventually finishing ninth which was later elevated to first when International Juror Doug Talty applied the time redress rule.

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OLYMPIAN APPLIES THE MASTER TOUCH.

Sunday 12 August 2007

Sydney 2000 Soling Olympian Neville Wittey applied the master's touch when he steered Geoff Pearson's Middle Harbour Yacht Club sloop Arajilla to a commanding lead in the 2007 International Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race week IRC class championship today

Wittey who is the first to acknowledge that the crew contribute to getting the yacht over the line selected all of the smarter tactical options with the variable 10-12 knot South East breeze to play a major part in formulating the successful strategy.

The Arajilla crew who sailed into title contention by winning the 28 n/ml Island passage race in similar winds on Saturday were again the masters of racing over the shorter windward leeward course on the Whitsunday Sailing Clubs Pioneer Bay courses.

Arajilla a cruising version of the successful European designed and built Archambault A35 and the smallest yacht in the fleet produced the consistent all angle sailing speed to outpace her 1.031 IRC rating winning the important third race of the series by 1 minute 23 seconds from the Victorian sloop Living Doll (Michael Hiatt) with another 34 seconds to West Australian Allan Brierty's Limit.

They applied a similar strategy in race four starting at pace in clear wind as their larger rivals led by Bob Steele's Farr TP 52 Quest, the New Zealand sloop Wired (Rob Bassett) and the defending champion Ray Roberts in Quantum Racing entered into another exciting match race for line honours.

Quest skilfully handled by her very experienced crew remained under constant pressure before finally drawing away to claim a 53 second win over Wired with Quantum Racing filling third place another 1-32 off the pace.

However Arajilla was again the fastest on corrected handicap claiming her third win from four races to progressively lead the championship by 4 points from Living Doll with Quest another 2 penalty points behind in third place.

Local Pioneer Bay skippers Chris Nicoll (Africa), Roger Down (True Love) and Peter Mitchelson Lorna Rose Too are poised to stage a mate against mate duel for the Performance Handicap class trophy.

Nicoll steered Africa to an important win in race three to lead the series on 17 points while his Whitsunday Sailing Club rivals True Love on 20 pts and Lorna Rose Too 21pts remain in title winning contention.

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CHAMPION FAILS IN SOFT WINDS.

By Ian Grant. At Airlie Beach.

Sat 11th August 2007

Ray Roberts and his Quantum Racing team placed their Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week title defence in jeopardy on a warm Whitsunday Passage earlier today.

Quantum Racing after being the star performer with a line and corrected time double in the opening 28n/ml Double Cone Island race on Friday struggled in a lighter 12 knot South East breeze beaten for line honours by the tactically well sailed Farr TP52 Quest (Bob Steele) while Geoff Pearsons Sydney A35 steered by Sydney 2000 Soling Olympian Neville Wittey scored an impressive corrected handicap win.

A combination of lighter winds and a tricky tide flow had all skippers and tacticians thinking about the best options particularly on the slog south to the Molle Island group.

Selecting the best option presented a number of different strategies but the skippers who sailed closest inshore away from the swifter flow of the current were in the best shape when spinnakers were set for the run to complete what proved a test on crew skill and patience over the 30 n/ml course.

Quest steered by Martin Thompson to the tactical strategy of Jamie MacPhail and the navigation skills of North Sails Julian Plante was the star performer winning the line honours by sailing the 30 n/ml race with a clear 6.7sec/ per mile speed advantage on Quantum Racing.

However while Quest had easily accounted for Quantum Racing the consistent rated speed of the lower handicapped A35 Arajilla (1.031) and Living Doll (1.303) paved the way for them to fill the major places on corrected time with Quest taking third just one minute clear of the improving Farr 40 OD Night Nurse (Russell McCart).

After two races Quest with her 2-3 leads the series by one point from Arajilla 5-1 Living Doll 4-2 and Quantum Racing 1-8. Former Hog's Breath Race Week champion John Bacon looks set to take a stranglehold on the Premier Cruising class championship with his pace setting Sydney 39 cruiser/racer Hussy.

Perfectionist sail trimmer Andy MacPhail provided skipper Bacon with the speed advantage which they progressively built on to eventually win by a runaway of 6 minutes 14 seconds over the lower handicap rated Liesl (Greg Clinnick) while line honours winner Esprit (Garry Anderson) was another 35 seconds off the pace.

After 2 races Hussy with her impressive 1-1 (2 pts) leads the series by four points from Liesl 4-2 (6pts) and West Australian John Moore in This Way Up 2-4 (6Pts)

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QUANTUM RACING FIRST AND FASTEST.

Whitsunday Sailing Club, Airlie Beach Qld. Friday 10th August 2007

Defending champion Ray Roberts and his Quantum Racing combination excelled in perfect trade wind sailing conditions to score an important win in the opening race of the 2007 International Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week in the Whitsunday Islands today.

Roberts who won the 2006 series with his DK46 steered his impressive canting keel Cookson 50 to a close win over the equally impressive Farr TP52 Quest helmed by Jamie Macphail for owner Bob Steel of Sydney.

When the 28n/ml island passage race started in an ideal 12-15knot south east trade wind it soon became evident that the race was going to develop into a boat on boat match race with both crews matching manoeuvre for manoeuvre on the spinnaker run to Double Cone Island.

As expected there was nothing between both high performance crews when the sails were tensioned for the beat upwind to the finish.

Tactician Steve McConaghy who had the added value of having sailed these waters before on Colin O'Niells 'Boss Hog' trophy winner After Shock and last year on Quantum Racing needed the experience from those valued miles to answer the persistent challenge from the Quest crew.

Both skippers and tacticians watched each other closely covering every move in an Americas Cup type match race with the slightly smaller Quantum Racing managing to hold out the challenge to win line honours by the narrow margin 51 seconds after logging a course average of 9.2knots.

However the battle for the more valued corrected handicap points was much closer with Quantum Racing winning by 35 seconds from Quest while Karl Kwok's crew made up from very skilled Americas Cup match racing sailors had to settle for third place points when Beau Geste finished another 1 minute 20 seconds astern of Quest.

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HIGHLY COMPETITIVE FLEET ENTER DUEL FOR RACE WEEK TROPHY

Airlie Beach Thursday August 9 2007.

A very competitive IRC class fleet including former Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race winner Karl Kwok are race prepared to stage an interesting match race for the 2007 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week trophy.

Skipper Kwok and his talented crew including Americas Cup sailor Gavin Brady put the new Reichel Pugh designed sloop Beau Geste through her paces generating impressive speed during a test of light wind sailing on Pioneer Bay today.

But the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club sloop will need to repeat the performance when she lines up against the defending champion Quantum Racing in the 28 n/ml Double Cone-Armit Island Race tomorrow.

Both Beau Geste and Quantum Racing are radically different in design and it will take some smart tactical thinking and a mistake free crew technique to prove which combination is the faster on their IRC handicap ratings.

Quantum Racing which has the same tactical team of skipper Ray Roberts assistant helmsman Jamie Wilmot and World title winning tactician Steve McConaghy aboard will start as the favourite based on their win in 2006.

However the Quantum Racing team will be forced to retain a consistent all angle sailing speed to protect their winning chances not only against Beau Geste but also be aware that former Sydney-Hobart race winner Bob Steel has the crew on Quest who have the hard racing experience to force the championship battle into a three boat match race.

The high performance sports boat fleet will also provide some interesting racing to resolve their class championship. Former World 18ft skiff champion Peter Sorensen has returned to set the line honours pace with Vivace while the small Sunshine Coast sloop Rip It Up (Daniel Van Dukedom) and the impressively fast Stealthy (Bob McCamley) are expected to offer strong opposition to Vivace for the more important corrected handicap points.

The opening race for the 96 yacht fleet representing Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia is expected to be fast and spectacular with a strong ridge promising to bend 15-20 knot South East Trade winds onto the warm waters of the Whitsunday Passage in time for the 1130 hour start signal.

By Ian Grant.

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By Ian Grant at AIRLIE BEACH. -

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club skipper Karl Kwok winner of the 1997 Sydney Hobart race has nominated his New Zealand built Reichel-Pugh designed sloop Beau Geste for the 2007 International Meridien Marinas Race Week at Airlie Beach.

Beau Geste launched earlier this year has already demonstrated her class by winning the prestigious Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Kawau trophy in late February before crossing the Tasman Sea to finish with the third fastest corrected handicap in the Audi Sydney to Gold Coast race in March.

The custom built sloop represents an impressive challenge to win the IRC class trophy against a very strong fleet over the Whitsunday Sailing Club courses.

They will certainly set their tactical attention on producing the required all angle boat speed to match the 2006 champion Ray Roberts and his inform Quantum Racing crew.

This will be a test of character for the Beau Geste combination however they are more than capable of mastering the unfamiliar sailing conditions as they proved by winning the major international Sydney-Hobart Blue Water classic almost 10 years ago.

However Ray Roberts and his multiple World title winning tactician Stephen McConaghy will again be the pacesetters having dominated the Australian offshore racing circuit with the new Quantum Racing since winning the Airlie Beach Race Week and Hamilton Island Race Week titles during August 2006.

The Mick Cookson designed Quantum Racing proved to be a strong performer in the Gold Coast race surviving the full grunt of a vigorous Southerly Buster spiced with 45 knot rain squalls to score another impressive win.

They have set the bench mark but only time will tell if the champion Quantum Racing crew are fast enough to match Beau Geste when the sails are tensioned on the warm waters of Pioneer Bay and The Whitsunday Passage during the short course racing championship in August.

At the moment Quantum Racing heads the betting order to win back to back titles at Airlie Beach but the crew of Beau Geste and the New Zealand 15.8m sloop Wired skippered by Rob Bassett have the potential to spoil the victory celebrations for skipper Ray Roberts and his successful offshore yacht racing combination.