King in Overdrive in Edges Boat Yard trophy series

by Ian Grant on 26 Nov 2012 Whitsunday Sailing Club Multihull class skipper Rupert King has a complete understanding of how to extract the required handicap rated boat speed form his self-built trimaran Overdrive.

These days Rupert King, a proud New Zealand national, has become acclimatised to living in the tropics after setting off on a cruising adventure over seven years ago.

Overdrive built to the specifications of a cruising trimaran is no lightweight sprint machine however her proud owner skipper manages to enjoy his racing in the Edges Boat Yard trophy series on the warm waters of Pioneer Bay.

Skipper Rupert King and crew realised they had their backs to the wall when the ultra-light six knot sea breeze hardly raised a ripple on the course to present the skippers and crews with a test of patience and perseverance to sail to their respective handicap ratings.

However the Haydon Turnbull skippered Why proved to be a light wind sprint machine sailing the three lap course with an unmatched average of 16.33 minutes a lap to set up a strong claim on winning the line and corrected handicap double.

Unfortunately the Why crew fell short of their handicap target by a narrow one second margin when the heavier and slower Overdrive clinched top handicap honours by the narrow margin on one second leaving the crew of Why to wonder why and where they could find another second to outpace their .972 time correction factor.

Meanwhile the Overdrive crew presently hold the class ‘bragging rights’ while their rival crews in Why and Sirocco hold the expectation to lower their colours in the 45 race of the yearlong series this week.

The Bernie Van’t Hof skippered Swan 45 Tulip continued to maintain her winning edge over line honours rival the Charles Wallis skippered Reignition in the Division 2 mono-class race.

However while Tulip generally outsailed her rivals on all angles her boat speed was never fast enough to outpace her high 1.147 time correction factor.

They cleverly answered the challenge from all but one of their eleven rivals with the Kevin Fogarty skippered Beneteau 40 Twister completing a cleverly sailed race to record an impressive one minute 58 second victory over Tulip while the ever consistent John Galloway helmed Queensland Marine Services filled third another one minute 23 seconds astern.

Both class winning crews can expect to face some tactical attention when the course is set for the 45th race on the series on hopefully a windier Pioneer Bay later this week.