QantasLink Brisbane to Gladstone becoming a tactical dual

by Nigel Statham on 19 Apr 2014 The QantasLink 66th Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race start was not without incidents with Arcadia, Guilty Pleasures and Whitebirds breaking the start line prematurely and having to return and start correctly.

The wind pattern was as forecast around five knots and Black Jack and Alive started a battle for the lead, covering the 10 kilometre journey to the Osbourne Point buoy off Redcliffe in 55 and 60 minutes respectively. This tactical battle was still going at 6am Saturday at the top of Fraser Island however both yachts speed had reduced to around one knot.

For the rest of the fleet it was a little slower with the two Farr 40’s The Fat Controller (Cameron Pryce) and Guilty Pleasures VI (Leon Thomas) challenging twice Australian IRC champion Rodney Jones at the helm of Audi Sunshine Coast

With these three playing cat and mouse, Tim McCall’s Arcadia made a remarkable recovery from the start problem to join in the challenge prompting Race Director Herb Prendergast to comment 'this is a good example of how starting in clear wind can be more beneficial than risking a premature start'.

The majority of the 30 yacht fleet at daybreak stretched from Double Island Point to Indian Head, the halfway point of the course to Gladstone with Sassy (Philip Lazzarini), Airstream (Alan Coelho) and Wistari (Scott Patrick) herding up the tail Event website