Soft and variable 10 -15 knot trade winds and slight seas have been forecast for the final race of the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week on a tame and picturesque Whitsunday Passage today.
The wind is expected to be spiced with irregular direction changes to the East which indicates the spring sea breeze is not far away.
This forecast will certainly please the specialist light wind sailors who battled against bruising 30 knot Southerlies in earlier races to maintain their chances of winning the highly competitive class championships in the final race of the series over the 23 n/ml Molle-Daydream Island course today.
Crews and tacticians will also need to cast their vision beyond the bow to evaluate the wind and maintain a vigilant Whale watch after several pods including adults and new born calves were sighted playfully breaching in The Whitsunday Passage and The Molle Channel yesterday.
Victorian skipper Alan Whiteley and his Cougar ll crew will certainly value the opportunity to enjoy racing in a picturesque and warm water environment after cleverly outsailing the international standard Grand Prix IRC fleet in the previous eight races to firm a strong grip on the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week championship trophy.
Cougar ll only needs to finish in the top eight today to win Australia’s premier race week trophy while the speed sailing 20.3m Brisbane maxi chaser Peter Harburg’s Black Jack will claim the fastest yacht of the regatta trophy ahead of Bob Oatley’s Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours champions in Wild Oats X.
Interest will also focus on an intense State of Origin War on the Water between the Rod Jones skippered Sunshine Coast sloop Alegria and the equally impressive Ray Harris skippered Sydney sloop Honeysuckle when they enter into a slug fest to decide the IRC division 2 championship.
Short of having blood flowing in the scuppers the traditionally proud Queensland crew on board Alegria are experienced and prepared to engage the Honeysuckle crew in a ‘dog-fight’ to protect their one point lead and ‘roll the blues’ in what promises to be the most exciting class race of the regatta.
by Ian Grant
7:49 PM Fri 29 Aug 2008 GMT
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