Stealthy, high-performance sports boat racing

by Ian Grant on 14 May 2012 High-performance Brisbane small boat designer Allan Carwardine set a high standard in Australian Sports Boat racing when he introduced his super fast Stealth 8 to the regatta racing scene.

Stealthy which he skippered to a high list of impressive results in major events on Moreton Bay and during the Airlie Beach Race Week has continued to show her class under her present owner the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club skipper Bob Cowan.

Skipper Bob Cowan who regards the Airlie Beach Race Week as the best place to test your pace is again among the early entries to contest the 2012 class championship over the Whitsunday Sailing Club courses from August 10-16.

They will not be alone in their chase to reaffirm Stealthy as the class pacesetter with Stealth rivals Guided Missile (John Rae) and Raptor (Mark Buchbach) also entered for what promises to be a very exciting series.

As expected the battle for the champion sports boat sailing team at the 2012 Airlie Beach Race Week has attracted another highly competitive standard including the Graham Sherring skippered 2012 Bay to Bay champion the New Zealand designed Leech 650 Stay Tuned.

Southport Yacht Club skipper Graham Sherring is no stranger to racing on Pioneer Bay having scored a runaway win in the Sports Boat series with his ‘baby’ Egan designed Quantum Sails in 2008.

During that series four years ago he and his principal helmsman cousin Neil Sherring had a decided advantage of sailing in their own space but that will not be the case later this year with Noosa Yacht and Rowing Club’s Bob McCamley also lining up with his Leech 650 Slingshot.

However the result from Stay Tuned winning her very first race in the Bay To Bay classic suggests this impressive performance recorded in light winds will be a good form guide when Australia’s best Sports Boat crews from West Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland compete for the class championship in the warm tropical Whitsunday Island waters later this year.

Meanwhile Victoria’s Royal Geelong Yacht Club skipper Cam Rae skippering the exciting Shaw 650 Monkey Business also promises to race in the fast lane when rival New South Wales Shaw 650 Tickety Boo (Mike Hinchey) enter the tactical arm wrestle against Stay Tuned and Slingshot for the honour of being crowned the fastest 650 at Airlie Beach Race Week 2012.