Please select your home edition
Edition
RS Sailing 2021 - LEADERBOARD

Wind gods answers Heavens prayers

by Ian Grant on 15 Apr 2006
World championship winning sailor Peter Hollis was sailing towards a career best Brisbane to Gladstone race result when Heaven Can Wait maintained her grip on the line honours trophy this morning.

Heaven Can Wait powered with a building spinnaker sailing breeze had weathered Breaksea Spit Light and was logging almost 8 knots towards Lady Elliot Island.

Her position report confirmed a comfortable lead over the smaller Brisbane Bill Wild skippered sloop Wedgetail while the former Sydney-Hobart winner Quest of Queensland (Kevin Miller) held third place ahead of the Mooloolaba yacht Corum (Michael Balkin) and the Sydney yacht Sirromet Life Style Wines (Michael Spies).

All the leading yachts had improved their overall average speed thanks to the freshening south easterly breeze which also encouraged the crews of the older and lower handicapped yachts to sail into possible contention to win the race outright.

However at the 11 am fleet report today the battle for the fastest corrected handicap time and the prestigious 58 year old The Courier-Mail Cup entered an exciting stage with at least eight crews holding a trophy winning chance.

Sirromet Life Style Wines made her charge when skipper Michael Spies cleverly elected to sail on a compass bearing inside the normally accepted lay line between Indian Head and Sandy Cape to avoid the south flowing current.

This tactic has the potential to develop into a race winning decision as Sirromet Life Style Wines joined Wedgetail, Heaven Can Wait, Corum, Wistari, Quest Of Queensland and the small Sandgate sloop Battleship Gray to complete what has proved to be a demanding tactical struggle to record the fastest corrected handicap time.
Cyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTERJ Composites J/45Rooster 2023 - FOOTER

Related Articles

UpWind by MerConcept announces 7 female athletes
For the inaugural season of Ocean Fifty Racing After four days of physical and mental tests, individual interviews, and on-water racing, seven female athletes have been selected to join the very first UpWind by MerConcept racing team.
Posted today at 1:43 pm
Last Chance for 2024 Olympic Qualification
Starting this weekend at the Semaine Olympique Française The Last Chance Regatta, held during the 55th edition of Semaine Olympique Française (Franch Olympic Week) from 20-27 April in Hyères, France, is as it says – the last chance.
Posted today at 5:42 am
35th Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta Day 1
Easy start to an exciting week The 35th Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta got off to a slow start today with unusual calm southerly winds which prompted the race committee to shorten the Old Road course.
Posted today at 3:49 am
5.5 Metre Alpen Cup at Fraglia Vela Riva Day 1
Cold start but hot racing on Lake Garda, Italy The Jean Genie (GBR 43, Peter Morton, Andrew Palfrey, Ruairidh Scott) won two out of three races on the opening day of the 2024 5.5 Metre Alpen Cup, on Thursday, which is being hosted by the first time by Fraglia Vela Riva.
Posted on 18 Apr
First six OGR finishers all Whitbread veterans
Whitbread yacht Outlaw AU (08) crosses the finish line at 13:39 UTC to claim the Adelaide Cup Former Whitbread yacht Outlaw AU (08) crosses the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes finish line at 13:39 UTC, 18th April after 43 days at sea ranking 6th in line honours and IRC for Leg 4.
Posted on 18 Apr
Clipper Race fleet set to arrive in Seattle
After taking on the North Pacific Ocean Over 170 non-professional sailors, including 25 Americans, are on board a fleet of eleven Clipper Race yachts currently battling it out in a race across the world's biggest ocean and heading for the Finish Line in Seattle.
Posted on 18 Apr
Alegre leads the search for every small gain
Going into 2024 52 Super Series season The first of the two new Botin Partners designed TP52s to be built for this 52 Super Series season, Andy Soriano's Alegre, is on course to make its racing debut at 52 Super Series Palma Vela Sailing Week.
Posted on 18 Apr
Trust A+T: Best in Class
Positive feedback from this Caribbean racing season Hugh Agnew recently sailed with SY Adela under Captain Greg Perkins in the Antigua Superyacht Challenge. They went on to win the Gosnell's Trophy - a great result.
Posted on 18 Apr
10 years of growth and international success
J/70 celebrates its 10th anniversary With nearly 1,900 hulls built and National Class Associations in 25 countries, the J/70 is the largest modern sport keelboat fleet in the world.
Posted on 18 Apr
America's Cup Defender christened "Taihoro"
Cup Defender named “To move swiftly as the sea between both sky and earth.” In a stirring ceremony, Iwi Ngati Whatua Orakei gifted and blessed the name ‘Taihoro' on the boat that Emirates Team NZ will sail in their defence of the 37th America's Cup. The launch event took place at the Team's base in Auckland's Wynyard Point.
Posted on 18 Apr