Quantum Racing declared IRC overall winner

by Lisa Ratcliff on 2 Aug 2006 Ray Roberts’ DK46 Quantum Racing has been named IRC overall handicap winner of this year’s Sydney Mooloolaba Yacht Race which is due to finish later this afternoon.

Roberts’ Sydney based DK 46 enjoyed an extraordinary summer of sailing during 2005-06 and he has started the 2006-07 series in similar spectacular fashion with this race the opening race of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s offshore calendar and Bluewater Pointscore Series.

In late 2005 with a chartered Quantum Racing Roberts won the Kings Cup in Thailand on IRC followed by an overall win in the 2005 Rolex Trophy and a top ten placing in the Rolex Sydney Hobart in December. They finished a close second at Sailing South Race Week in Hobart in early January before heading to Geelong where he and his top crew collected the winner’s trophy in the Scotchman’s Hill Series at Skandia Geelong Week. Finally they won the Royal Langkawi International in Malaysia in February this year.

Roberts, CEO of Workforce Marine and Workforce International, attributes their ongoing success to crew consistency and having a pre-race strategy – and sticking to it.

'We map out our overall game plan before the race and having a core crew helps you stick to that plan,' said a delighted Roberts this morning once results were confirmed. 'It’s easy to let your concentration lapse in a race like this so maintaining the level of commitment and never dropping your bundle is the secret.

'I enjoy this race very much, tactically it’s very interesting. We got a great start before Flirt and XLR8 got the jump on us. Gradually we clawed our way back with the turning point for us coming in the final 24 hours after we made the right decision to head inshore at Coolangatta and sail right along the beach'.

Roberts and his key crew including Stuart Broom, tactician Steve McConaghy, navigator Bryan Northcote and trimmer Scott Hinton will next head to Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island race weeks before resuming their Farr 40 campaign. He’s considering more races in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Bluewater Pointscore and will definitely be on the start line for this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Roberts wouldn’t be drawn on the state of NSW yacht racing versus Victoria’s supposed revitalisation given the results of this race however he agreed the fact the participation level of the Victorians is currently so high is very positive. 'From my perspective it is good to see Victorians getting involved once again in the major bluewater races.'

Second overall and first in IRC Division B is Chris Dare’s Victorian Corby 49 Flirt and third is another Victorian boat, Graeme Troon’s XLR8 which was helmed by John Savage and which also claimed the top honours in IRC Division A.

Alan Brierty’s brand new Sydney 38, Limit, representing Western Australia and sailing in its debut race, threatened to push its way into the top three at one stage but will still be delighted with fourth in the IRC overall results and winning IRC Division C and the Sydney 38 Division.

IRC Division D results are yet to be announced.

Overnight 20 yachts crossed the finish line off Port Cartwright at Mooloolaba in fast succession between 10.00pm and 5.30am this morning, raising the volume and the bar revenue at Mooloolaba Yacht Club considerably. In fact given it was mostly a light air race, the most wind could be being generated this morning in the careful dissection of each of the 468 nautical miles.

The provisional PHS winner Sailors with disABILITIES will miss this afternoon’s trophy presentation at Mooloolaba Yacht Club as they are one of eight yachts continuing on in the Sydney Mackay Yacht Race.

Sydney Mooloolaba line honours winner Skandia, which is expected to claim her second line honours win when she completes the Sydney Mackay Yacht Race mid afternoon today, will also be absent from the prize presentation for good reason.

Darren Cooney’s Inner Circle is second on provisional PHS results with the third placed Rum Consortium’s Philip’s Foote Witchdoctor still to finish.

The final two boats in the Sydney Mooloolaba fleet, Sal Ridulfo’s Plus 16 and Phillip’s Foote Witchdoctor look like continuing their boat for boat race right to the finish line, due just 30 minutes apart later this afternoon.

Apart from the many wildlife sightings, this year’s race has been largely uneventful with just one of the 37 boat fleet that set out on Saturday afternoon from Sydney Harbour failing to reach the finish.

Full provisional results are available on the official race web site http://mooloolaba.cyca.com.au under Standings