GOLDEN OLDIE WINS BRISBANE-GLADSTONE YACHT RACE.

by Ian Grant on 22 Apr 1999 www.sail-world.com.au

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Modified 33 year old plywood sloop Saltash 11 upstaged the more modern yachts when she was officially declared the corrected time handicap winner of the 1999 C.U.B. Brisbane-Gladstone COURIER- MAIL CUP on Easter Monday.

The 9.39m sloop which only sails in one race a year after spending 50 weeks on her road trailer in a dusty Bulimba boat shed completed the 308 nautical mile race in 27th line honours place in the 83 yacht fleet recording an elapsed course time of 35 hours 7 minutes 49 seconds.

When her rating was applied to the handicap it proved how well the little sloop was sailed by her talented crew of skipper Ian Wright, sailing master and brother Bill Wright, navigator Peter Cavill and sail trimmer Tony Reik.

Saltash 11 was a clear winner finishing 1 hour 49 minutes 1 second faster than the Brisbane Mumm 36 Sea Noble Engineering (Rob Noble) and the consistent Sunshine Coast sloop The Last Picasso (Bob Robertson) to claim her 4th overall race win just one win behind the all time great Norseman which claimed her remarkable score by winning in 1951,1952, 1954, 1955 and 1956.

There is no IMS class sloop in Australia which will match the converted Y/W Diamond class day sailor Saltash 11 in the combined type of wind sailing angle and sea conditions which prevailed over Easter.

Saltash 11 is no freak she is just a small sloop that is well sailed and when surfing waves prevail with the added pressure of wind in the 20 knot range at the right beam or astern of the beam angles she will run away with the race.

Her waterline length of 9.39m and light hull weight sailing on a light displacement wetted surface that is designed for speed is part of the success.

What really makes it happen is her crew who virtually sail her like an ocean racing dinghy chasing the peak speeds and the thrill of the ride down the face of the ocean swells while they sustain the energy on hard tack rations.

Each ride above 12 knots adds to the required speed to sail above her handicap rating and to beat some of the best modern day designs by such a wide margin suggests that her crew simply have the stamina and skill to drive the little 33 year old yacht to the limit of her potential.

Both Sea and The Last Picasso were also well sailed to finish the 308 nautical mile race with a rare dead heat on corrected time.

But the recorded race times were later adjusted when race officials granted 32 minutes redress to the crew of Sea for their role in the rescue of Kevin Costin and Peter Elkington who accidentally fell off the sloop Talk It Up shortly after the yacht weathered Lady Elliot Island in fresh spinnaker sailing winds on Easter Saturday afternoon.

The split second time covering the snap of the lower life line on Talk It Up and Costin and Elkington falling into the sea as the sloop broached away and unable to start her engine to pick the stranded crew members up effectively changed the whole complexion on the race.

They were only in the water for a short time before their class and race rival Sea Noble Engineering rescued them.

However both yachts race under the International Measurement System Rule which requires yachts to race and complete the course with the same crew bodyweight onboard.

Naturally this incident has presented a complex situation for Queensland Cruising Yacht Club officials to resolve before the final race results beyond first place can be officially declared.

The same situation effects the Channel Handicap class where Sea Noble Engineering with her granted redress provisionally wins overall from the well sailed Redcliffe Peninsula Yacht Club sloop Outsidedge and the Gladstone Cape 35 Restless (Ray Hobbs).

Peter and Shane Gaddes the principal crew members of Outsidedge who sailed so well to win the event outside of incident have appealed against the redress.

However the Performance handicap class proved to be a very popular win for the veteran Gladstone sloop Wistari capably skippered by Scott Patrick.

Wistari winner of her first of four races 28 years ago revelled in the fast reaching and running winds to finish with a narrow but deserved class win over the 18m schooner Windjammer (Lee Clough) and the 11.6 m sloop Terror (Ian Gleeson).

Only 2 minutes 45 seconds split the trio creating one of the closest performance handicap results in the 51 year history of the classic.

NORTRUSS G-WIZZ WINS LINE HONOURS MATCH RACE.

Mooloolaba Yacht Club sloop Nortruss G-Wizz won an absorbing duel to take the 51st CUB Brisbane Gladstone Race line honours trophy ahead of the equally impressive Cruz Control skippered by Maynard Smith.

Nambour skipper Ross Rayner and wife Yvonne joint owners of Nortruss G -Wizz won their first major race line honours with a convincing course time of 29 hours 39minutes 10 seconds.

This was an impressive performance and fully justified the time which was taken to make the sloop skip-shape after she terminated her boom during the wild breach in the Bundaberg Rum Sydney-Mooloolaba race the week before.

Nortruss G-Wizz was pushed to her speed sailing potential in the ideal conditions to hold a marginal edge in speed as she raced within in sight of Cruz Control for the entire course.

Sail changes and gybes were common on both yachts as the crews searched for the edge in speed before Nortruss G-Wizz finally sealed her win sailing the 308 n/ml passage race with an average advantage of 4.6seconds per mile.

Ian Gleeson who took 8 years of his recreation time to build the much smaller 11.6m Terror in the rumpus room of his family home experienced the deserved rewards for his labour of love by helming the sloop into third place.

Terror showed exceptional down wind sailing speed to finish a little over an hour behind Cruz Control and also prove she is one of the fastest sloops of her size in the country.

“We just hung on and enjoyed the ride, it was a real buzz”. veteran skipper Gleeson said.