Marinonics Sail Paradise - Regatta day 1 trophy hunters enjoy RDO

by Lisa Ratcliff on 10 Jan 2011 Marinonics Sail Paradise designer and artist, Jo Wooler, was inspired by her life on the sea and the creatures within and has been designing and creating unique marine sculptures since 2002.

The perpetual trophy for the IRC winner of the Marinonics Sail Paradise series, hosted by Southport Yacht Club from January 10-15, is her first sailing trophy and Wooler says she enjoyed spending nearly a fortnight crafting the piece from marine grade stainless steel.

Wooler, who creates under the banner of mojocreations, met SYC Commodore Rob Mundle at last year’s Audi Hamilton Island Race Week and the talk turned to trophies. The cruising sailor was commissioned and the trophy crafted, inspired by Southport Yacht Club’s sails logo and representing a gennaker, an asymmetric spinnaker used in lighter winds.

Unlike its launch last year, light winds are not on the menu for the second annual running of the Gold Coast’s newest offshore regatta with the first day of competition postponed today due to adverse conditions.

Some crews are taking the opportunity to work through on board job list including the Wild Oats X crew which is making the most of the RDO with a working bee to check everything is tickety-boo before they face off against fellow headline act, Peter Harburg’s well-oiled 66 footer Black Jack representing the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron.

While Bob Oatley’s RP66 Wild Oats X spends most of the year in Sydney, this week it’s flying the Hamilton Island Yacht Club’s burgee with the island’s CEO Glenn Bourke at the helm in the absence of regular skipper Mark Richards, who is in the USA on business.

Other crews have been enjoying the Gold Coast’s many nearby tourist attractions with their families and a spot of lunch at SYC while the locals have returned to work to await principal race officer Denis Thompson’s decision late this afternoon on whether the 39 boat fleet, including a strong division of IRC boats and RL trailer sailers contesting their national championship, is likely to be sent out tomorrow.

The torrential rain that was meant to be falling on the Gold Coast today is still sitting just north of the city, the large black clouds inching south and threatening to unleash a deluge.

The latest forecast for Double Island Point to Point Danger includes a strong wind warning. Until midnight tonight winds are forecast to be SE/NE winds 20/25 knots south of Cape Moreton, increasing to 25/30 knots this evening with the swell E/SE 2.5 to 3 metres and rain, heavy at times with thunderstorms.

Tomorrow, Tuesday January 11, winds are expected to be E/NE 20/25 knots south of Cape Moreton with rain thunderstorms while Wednesday’s forecast is similar with winds SE/NE 20/25 knots, tending SE 15/20 knots from the south during the day.

www.sailparadise.com.au