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Sail-World.com : 2010 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week - Trans-Tasman rivalry
2010 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week - Trans-Tasman rivalry
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Australian crews will face up to another test of Trans-Tasman rivalry when the battle lines are drawn for the 2010 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week IRC trophy later this year.
Champion Cruising Yacht Club of Australia skipper Ray Roberts and his highly talented crew who proved they are on the pace with outstanding results on the South East Asia circuit will contest the series with the high performance New Zealand designed and built Cookson 50 Evolution Racing.
The 2008 champion who lost the 2009 series under the count-back rule to the Victorian Michael Hiatt’s Farr 55 Living Doll has already lodged his entry documents with regatta Director Denis Thompson.
Both skipper Ray Roberts and his master tactician Steve McConaghy have an outstanding major race record in IRC class racing winning successive Brisbane to Gladstone races and the 2008 Meridien Marinas trophy plus a unique line and corrected time double in the 2008 Audi Sydney to Gold Coast race.
Their record of 1-2 in the past two major Race Week regattas over the Whitsunday Sailing Club courses adds confidence to her challenge to win the 2010 series in mid August.
They proved they were on the pace when they answered the past Trans-Tasman match racing challenge against the Anatole Masfen helmed Cookson 50 Pussy Galore.
However while the Evolution Racing team are proud of their success they will be pressed into withstanding an intense tactical ‘dog fight’ to protect their reputation against the latest New Zealand challenge presented by Auckland barrister Jim Farmer QC and his Georgia Racing team.
The sixth Georgia a state of the art IRC –optimised Trans Pac 52 named after Jim Framer’s daughter and designed by the Botin and Carkeek who the created Audi Med Cup winning sloop for Emirates Team New Zealand has the potential to win another major trophy for New Zealand.
This impressive challenger designed with a fixed keel and rigged with a complete wardrobe of North Sails promises to become a strong contender to set the pace with her crew including long term ocean racing mates Ricky Royden and George Hendy.
Georgia will also have a significant New Zealand Americas Cup influence in her crew with two well known AC sailors electing to re assume their amateur status to be on board for both the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week followed by the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week in late August. 'I think it is a tribute to the boat that they are happy to sail with us on that basis'. Jim Farmer said.
The self proclaimed workaholic who says he builds and races his yachts to keep him away from working to a strict 24/7 routine has set an impressive challenge in place to be a front runner with his new ocean racer when the battle lines are drawn to decide the best from the rest on the warm Whitsunday Island waters in August.
by Ian Grant
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http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=68862
1:38 AM Mon 26 Apr 2010 GMT
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