Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race draws to a close

by Suellen Hurling on 4 Aug 2009 Every yacht that started the 3rd Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race on Saturday 1 August managed to race for the entire distance incident free and finish in the beautiful waters of Keppel Bay.

The final yacht to finish the 348 nautical mile race was David Moran’s Northshore 340 Escape. David and his crew crossed the finish line at 0249 hours this morning Tuesday 4 August.

The winning crews have received their trophies and congratulatory bottle of Bundaberg Rum and most are now departing Keppel Bay Marina and either heading north for Airlie Beach Race Week or back to their home port.
Peter Harburg and his Black Jack crew took the Line Honours, IRC Division 1 and IRC Overall prizes. Crew member Ashley Deeks was at the presentation to accept the prizes on behalf of the proud owner.

'I know Peter would like me to thank all the sponsors for the supporting the race and to Keppel Bay Marina for making us feel so welcome,' said Deeks at the presentation. 'We really enjoyed this year’s race and look forward watching the fleet increasing in numbers. It was a close race with Evolution Sails boys and it was great to have them racing this year. They really made us work hard. Next year it would be great to see some other big yachts join us in the race and take on the record.'

Black Jack smashed their 2008 race record by four hours with the fastest time now sitting at 29 hours 24 minutes 11 seconds.

Overall winner on PHS was the Farr 40 Cracklin Rosie. Proud owner and skipper Bob Robertson was at the presentation to accept his prize.

'We had a great time. The boat has had a major refit and we really noticed the difference,' said Robertson. 'It’s great to win the overall PHS Division and we hope to be back next year to defend our title.'

The Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race is hosted by the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron with the cooperation of Keppel Bay Marina. The naming rights sponsor for the 2009 race was Club Marine and they were joined by O’Reilley’s Real Estate, Rockhampton Regional Council, Capricorn Tourism, Angove Family Wines, Budget Rent A Car and Rosslyn Bay Inn.

Full results and photos are available from the race website – www.brisbanetokeppel.com

The race date for 2010 will be announced soon.

RESULTS

Line Honours
Black Jack (Peter Harburg)

IRC Overall
1st Black Jack (Peter Harburg)
2nd Evolution Sails (Ray Roberts)
3rd Cracklin Rosie (Bob Robertson)

IRC Division 1
1st Black Jack (Peter Harburg)
2nd Evolution Sails (Ray Roberts)
3rd Cracklin Rosie (Bob Robertson)

IRC Division 2
1st Corum (Geoff & Todd Anderson)
2nd GOA (Colin Loel)
3rd Georgia Express (Andrew Knights)

PHS Overall
1st Cracklin Rosie (Bob Robertson)
Cadibarra 8 (David Netherton)
GOA (Colin Loel)

PHS Division 1
1st Cracklin Rosie (Bob Robertson)
2nd Cadibarra 8 (David Netherton)
3rd Bribie Star (Peter Sherwood)

PHS Division 2
1st GOA (Colin Loel)
2nd Corum (Geoff & Todd Anderson)
3rd Dream Lover (Rick Morgan)

Navigators Prize
Dream Lover