Four way fight for Cumberland Yacht Charters trophy

by Ian Grant on 20 Apr 2009
The tactical competition to win the Whitsunday Sailing Club Cumberland Yacht Charters trophy on a warm Pioneer Bay has continued to heat up between Queensland Marine Services, Wobbly Boot, Idle Time and Sandpiper.

All four skippers John Galloway, Craig Piccinelli, Kevin Fogarty and Colin Pruden are separated by the narrow margin of two points after three races and are equally determined to protect their reputations in a 'no-holds barred arm-wrestle' for the trophy.

Both John Galloway (Queensland Marine Services) and Craig Piccinelli (Wobbly Boot) have each won a heat with Queensland Marine Services (1-9-2) 12 points leading Wobbly Boot (5-6-1) 12 points under the count back rule, while Idle Time (7-2-4) 13 points presently holds third, one point clear of the improving Sandpiper (6-5-3) 14 points.

As the results suggest, the battle for the much sort after Cumberland Yacht Charters trophy is far from over with any one of the four equally determined and experienced crews having the proven skill to win.

Based on average corrected course times Wobbly Boot with a 2-51-50 is the fastest over the three races, leading Queensland Marine Services (2-52-36), Sandpiper (2-53-36) and Idle Time (2-54-38), but those results are now history and the pressure will be on when they fight for the important clear wind advantage on Pioneer Bay later this week.

The Idle Time crew will be looking for a return of a moderate to fresh South East breeze while the Queensland Marine Services and Wobby Boot crews prefer to race in a variable 10-15 knot breeze similar to race three when Wobbly Boot held a speed advantage to claim the important first place points by 1 minute 29 seconds over Queensland Marine Services, followed 12 seconds later by Sandpiper.

They are evenly matched but John Galloway will need to be very protective of his sailing space to generate the required all angle sailing speed for Queensland Marine Services to outpace her higher .830 handicap rating.

In a normal time frame 2.7 seconds a minute may not seem much but the Queensland Marine Services crew regard it as a crucial factor to deciding the result of their match race against the more favourable .785 rated Wobbly Boot.

Both skippers and crews are well known for their aggression and it would be foolish for Wobbly Boot to try and engage the faster Queensland Marine Services in a drag race and neglect keeping the tactical option open to apply a protective cover on Idle Time and Sandpiper.

It’s difficult to nominate which of the four crews will win particularly when they are known to have the reputation of being tough to crack when the going gets tough.

A similar match race is looming to decide the Division 3 class series with one penalty point separating Lorna Rose Too (Peter Mitchelson) 2-5-1 Breakaway (Rob Davis) 3-2-4 and Concubine (Brian Fleming) 1-5-3.

The tactical focus will be on the Breakaway crew who will need to find an edge in speed to gain a separation from her lower handicapped rivals or miss out on controlling the point score before the final on April 30.