SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week 2011 final day - All to play for

by SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week on 6 Sep 2011 Day 5 was the final day of racing at SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week 2011.

With the weather forecast predicting eight to 10 knots from the south east, PRO Denis Thompson set the IRC Racing, Performance Racing, Multihull and Cruising with Spinnaker 1 Divisions Course 23, the Launs Beach Race. This 16.5 nautical mile course took the fleet to a clearing buoy one nautical mile upwind of the start line then across Cleveland Bay towards the Launs Beach and return.

Cruising with Spinnaker Division 2 and Cruising Non-Spinnaker divisions were set a similar, but shorter, 13 nautical mile course.

For many crews today was 'make or break' with podium placings still undecided in several of the divisions.

Shortly after 11.00am Don Algie’s Storm 2 won the Cruising with Spinnaker Division 1 start from Solona II (Phillip King) with Cloud Nine (Ron Hayden) and Boudicea (Mike Steel) following close behind.

Colin Wilson’s Never a Dull Moment started well in the Performance Racing division followed by John McNamara’s Iota.

Mal Richardson’s Malice won the Multihull start from Gavin Le Sueur’s eDoc and Mal Tynan’s Barbarella.

After yesterday’s early race retirement due to hitting a submerged object, Malice was back to her best flying around the course in the freshening breeze and crossed the finish well ahead of the fleet. In fact no other boat was in sight as she took the gun, approximately one hour and ten minutes after starting.

IRC Racing line honours went to Leon Thomas' Guilty Pleasures III from Graham Donnell's Quattro, with Gary McCarthy's Brilliant Pearl third. The handicap placings were the same.

The 2011 IRC Racing division Champion is Graham Donnell's Elliott 11 Quattro from the Townsville Cruising Yacht Club. She finished one point ahead of Leon Thomas' Farr 30 Guilty Pleasures III. Gary McCarthy's Beneteau 34.7, Brilliant Pearl from the Mooloolaba Yacht Club, was third.

Dockside Graham Donnell commented 'We had to fight hard to hold out Leon Thomas and his crew. I want to thank my team for a great effort all season.'

Leon Thomas said 'We forecast Quattro would be the boat to beat in this regatta. They outsailed us and are well deserved winners.'

Colin Wilson’s Never a Dull Moment took the Performance Racing division line honours. Iota was second, with Belinda Cooper's Groove third. The handicap win went to Ian Hamilton's Akarana. Paul Stuart's Apollo VI, a Lexcen One Tonner was second, with Groove third.

The 2011 Performance Racing division Champion is Groove, Belinda Cooper's Sydney 32 from Cairns. John McNamara's modified Farr 40 Iota was second on countback from Colin Wilson's Lyons, Never a Dull Moment.

Cooper and her Cairns and Port Douglas crew, seven women in all, were excited with their win. She said ‘The seven girls have done it!

'Lovely day out on the water, it was a much better race than expected and we did much better than I expected we would do.’

Malice took Multihull line honours from Graeme Etherton's The Boat with Mal Tynan's Barbarella third. The handicap win went to Barbarella from Malice and The Boat.

The 2011 Multihull Champion is Malice, Mal Richardson's Nacra 36 from Port Douglas. Barbarella, Mal Tynan's Schionning from the Townsville Cruising Yacht Club was second with eDoc Gavin Le Sueur's Crowther Design from the Cairns Yacht Club third.

There was a sensation today when eDoc capsized midway through the race. Once safely back at the Nelly Bay marina Gavin Le Sueur explained what happend.

'Our first ‘Choctop’ said the skipper from Cairns, in reference to Morton Bay sailors who count the number of dinghies returning to dock with mud-stains on their mast tips after a strong day on the water.

'It all happened in slow motion, entirely my fault, lots of lessons learned. No one was hurt and the boat's back in the marina and we will be at the party tonight.'

Mal Tynan (Barbarella) commented 'A great regatta. More breeze than we needed but we've had a great battle with Graeme Etherton and The Boat. Lots of fun.'

The 2011 Multihull Champion is Malice, Mal Richardson's Nacra 36. eDoc Gavin Le Sueur's Crowther Design finished second with Graeme Etherton's Crowther Lightspeed, The Boat third.

'We are very proud of this Nacra 36, we are redesigning the boat in stages. You will see lots more of her in time to come' smiled the new multihull champion Richardson.

Storm 2 (Don Algie) took line honours in Cruising with Spinnaker Division 1. Solona II (Phillip King) was second, with Cloud Nine (Ron Hayden) third. The handicap win today went to James Finch's Warrigal from Panacea (Mick Gillum). Pacific Phoenix (Alan Sneddon) was third.

The 2011 Cruising with Spinnaker Division 1 Champion is James Finch's Finch 40 Warrigal, from the Townsville Yacht Club. Boudicea, Mike Steel's Dufour 34 from the Townsville Cruising Yacht Club was second, with Solona II, Phillip King's J&J AD Boats third. This was a tightly fought series indeed, with just one point separating each of the top three.

James Finch commented dockside 'Our beautiful old steel boat did us proud at this regatta.'

Doug Ryan's Magic took Cruising with Spinnaker Division 2 line honours. Second was Fly N High, Gary Bruce's Ross 780 second, with Gary Davidson's Clipper of Capricorn third. Cool Me Down, Naree and Peter's Sonata 6.7 from the Townsville Cruising Yacht Club took the handicap win. Magic was second with Fly N High third.

The 2011 Cruising with Spinnaker Division 2 Champion is Fly N High, Gary Bruce's Ross 780 from the North Queensland Cruising Yacht Club (in Bowen). Fellow NQCYC member Greg Hudson's Catalina Capri 25 was second on countback from Doug Ryan's Magic, from the Port Douglas Yacht Club.

After the day's racing Gary Bruce was beaming. 'We won the Battle of Bowen!!'

Cruising Non-Spinnaker line honours went to Chris Waldron's Time Lord. Barry Waugh's The Waugh Ship was second, with Andrew Burford's Tucana. Watusi, Ken Rickards Adams 13 took handicap honours from Fenina, David Vidler's Folkboat. Highland Fling, Andrew Parker's Feeling 346 was third.

The Cruising Non-Spinnaker Division was closely fought and in the end, just one point separated the top three. The 2011 Champion is Freya, Russell McLaughin's Catalina from the Townsville Cruising Yacht Club on countback from Chris Waldron's Time Lord from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. Valhalla Peter and Paula Cox's Dufour 385 from the Cairns Yacht Club was third, just one point further back.

With racing concluded for another year everyone is looking forward to the presentation night, which will mark the end of another highly successful SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week.

Full results for 2011 SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week are available at www.magneticislandraceweek.com.au