Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race - Fleet continue to drift
by Nigel Statham on 20 Apr 2014
QantasLink Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race Nigel Statham
After a night of light to calm winds, frustration turned to despair for quite a few of the yachts in the Qantaslink 66th Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race this morning. At the 9am sked, Whitebirds and Frantic advised of their retirement from the race with ten yachts at the back of the fleet only now approaching Sandy Cape buoy and drifting in circles waiting for a sea breeze to eventuate.
Another ten yachts are tightly bunched at Lady Elliot Island, no doubt doing some impromptu coral viewing. Their arrival into Gladstone is likely to be after sunset tonight at the earliest.
With the bulk of the fleet still at sea, it is looking more likely that the Phillip Turner owned Alive with Duncan Hine at the helm is set to take honours in all of the handicap racing categories including winning the prestigious Courier Mail Cup.
It is the crew’s first attempt at winning a major race under its new ownership. A demanding offshore racing campaign has been set for this thoroughbred yacht including the Brisbane to Keppel Race, Melbourne to Vanuatu and the 70th Rolex to Sydney to Hobart Yacht Event website
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