Idle Time continues to win events despite her name

by Ian Grant on 12 Jun 2006 Kevin Fogarty’s Space Sailor sloop Idle Time has continued to make a mockery of her registered name by continuing to win Whitsunday Sailing Club events on Pioneer Bay.

The comfortable cruiser/racer rarely spends idle time at her mooring with her skipper and crew flying their battle flag in all of the major events including Airlie Beach Race Week, the Dent to Dunk Island race the Whitsunday Offshore series and the Tropical Peaks race.

Last week Idle Time expressed her light wind sailing speed to clinch the important points in the first race of the Division 2 class Cumberland Charter Yachts trophy.

This was another rewarding result for her crew who returned to short course racing after filling third place in the Dent to Dunk Island Classic, behind the Mike Davies skippered Hamilton Island Yacht Club sloop Sandstone and the John Clayton helmed pocket-maxi Millennium.

Both skipper and crew turned the value of the most recent racing miles into a deserved 43 second corrected handicap win leaving the Jason Randell skippered Turtle Time and Laurie Gubb’s Tropicali to resolve an enduring light wind match race for the minor places.

All three crews will again be front line challengers when the second heat of the series is decided this week.

They all have the ability to win however the Idle Time crew holds the upper hand on the points table and are not expected to release their ‘grip’ on the Cumberland Yacht Charters trophy.

Division three class winner John Hudson’s Lady Hawke will also be aiming for the major points after they cleverly outpaced their fleet rivals in last weeks first heat.

Lady Hawk racing with a slightly higher .705 rating produced the all angle sailing speed to finish with a 27 second win over the .640 rated Felicity (Lachie Wilson), while Roger Boast helmed Sunflower (.700) into third, another five seconds off the pace.

Skipper Hudson is aware that he will become the centre of tactical attention when the sails are tensioned for the important points this week, but he remains confident to prove that winning form is good form and it would be no surprise to see the Lady Hawk crew win again.

However the tactical challenge will continue to intensify for the Idle Time and Lady Hawk crews this week when a strong wind system is expected to test the fleet as they continue with their preparation to be race ready for Airlie Beach Race Week regatta titles over the same courses in mid August.