Brisbane to Keppel Yacht Race interlude for SB20 team

by Ian Grant on 1 Aug 2012 Australian Ocean racing champions Rod Jones and Greg Macallansmith will temporarily step aside from their SB20 World championship campaign to contest the 348 n/ml Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel race this weekend.

The successful sailing duo will team up with a group of equally talented sailors from the Oxygen high performance sailing team to man the deck on the modified Welbourne 50 A5 Audi Centre Sunshine Coast.

Skipper Rod Jones the principal organiser for the SB20 World Championships to be held at Hamilton Island from the 12th to 20th December has welcomed the chance to return to face another serious test against his tactical ocean sailing strategy.

Apart from finishing with a creditable fifth on line honours in the Brisbane to Gladstone Race over the Easter weekend A5 Audi Centre Sunshine Coast has remained motionless at her mooring in the Mooloolah River while skipper Glenn Bourke and crew mates Rod Jones and Greg Macallansmith combined their skill to win the Australian SB20 championship in Hobart.

This weekend’s ocean race is set to be contested in a typical winter weather system of an unstable wind which has a history of bending towards the land between the dusk to dawn hours has shown little indication of blowing at the velocity to propel line honours favourite Wild Oats XI at the required boat speed to challenge her 24 hr 22 minute 20 second record set last year.

However while the forecast promises to be challenging the Mark Richards helmed Wild Oats XI which shattered Brindabella’s record in the Sydney Gold Coast record last Sunday morning with an average speed of 17.4 knots remains as the short price line honours favourite.

The race for outright handicap honours is expected to unfold into a match race between the consistent performing Mark Bradford skippered Black Jack and the smaller challengers A5 Audi Centre Sunshine Coast, the recently launched Kerumba (Tam Faragher) and veteran Sunshine Coast skipper Bob Robertson’s Lunchtime Legend.

Black Jack following her runaway win in the Brisbane to Gladstone race and a second in last week’s Sydney to Gold Coast race has the proven form guide to be ranked as the corrected handicap favourite.

But while the Black Jack crew are set to chase the wake of the speed sailing Wild Oats XI the match race to decide third place on line honours between A5 Audi Centre Sunshine Coast, Kerumba and the Stewart Lewis helmed Ocean Infinity is expected to play a major role in determining the corrected handicap places.

Based on the recent form which ranks Black Jack as Australia’s best sailed pocket maxi places them as strong chance to win while the experienced coastal passage racing crews on A5 Audi Centre Sunshine Coast and Lunchtime Legend have the proven offshore sailing experience to sail to their handicap rating.