Heaven Can Wait wins Gladstone line honours

by Ian Grant on 16 Apr 2006 Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron claimed another important trophy when Peter Hollis steered Heaven Can Wait to a slow line monohull honours win in the 58th Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht race.

Skipper Hollis and crew headed by the talented sailing master Adrian Finglas ghosted across the finish line at 22-16-32 tonight to record the elapsed time of 35 hours 16 minutes 32 seconds and a course average of speed of 8.73 knots.

This was the slowest race since 1996 when Hammer Of Queensland took 41 hours 15 minutes 33 seconds.

Heaven Can Wait finished second last year and she was poised to claim the ‘bridesmaid’ role again when race record holder Skandia held the honour of leading the 48 yacht fleet out of Moreton Bay before she was dramatically forced to retire with a canting keel problem

The Heaven Can Wait combination claimed the lead off Mooloolaba and her crew never looked back as they collectively worked hard to make every mile count finally completing the course with a respectable average speed in a wind that rarely gusted above 15 knots.

They had the strongest gust of 19 knots over the deck near Gatcombe Head however the increase in hull speed only lasted for a brief period before the breeze faded leaving them with a challenge to finish before the tide turned.

Wedgetail entered Gladstone Harbour almost two hours later and faced a long slow sail against a four knot current in a bid to displace Heaven Can Wait as the provisional leader on corrected handicap.