Brisbane Gladstone Record under threat

by Rob Kothe on 6 Apr 2007 Martin Riley’s racing catamaran Raw Nerve is flying across Brisbane's Moreton Bay this afternoon, on record pace in the 2007 Brisbane to Gladstone Race.

While a north easter of hardly more than eight knots delivered a soft start for the big multihull fleet, a strong southerly change brought winds over 15-18 knots as the fleet rounded the St. Helena mark and headed for Tangalooma.

Raw Nerve, rounded in a cloud of spray at 11:41 and she was followed two minutes later by Tony Considine’s APC maxi, with Keith Glover’s Trilogy a similar time back. Then came Free Spirit, Akimbo, Rogntudjuuu, Trillium, Earthling, Renaissance, Ketos, Captain Jack, Spellbound, Cutloose, Catalina, Black Diamond, Iris of Bergen, and Raja.

Just before the race start Raw Nerves designer and racing helmsman Stuart Bloomfield predicted that if the wind reaches its maximum strength in the high 20’s when the leaders are off Sandy Cape, then Raw Nerve’s 2004 Race record could be under severe pressure and a predawn blast up into the Gladstone River is quite possible.

At Easter in 2004, Raw Nerve crossed the finish line off Auckland Creek at 05:55:09 to complete the race with the remarkable elapsed time of 18hrs 55 minutes 9 seconds.

Certainly the wind provided a perfect angle for the racing fleet as they blasted across the Bay. This afternoon and evening the catamaran sailors will keep looking to the south expecting to see the threatening clouds deliver more wind and a fast race north.

No sleep for the multihull fleet, way too much adrenalin, it will be a wild and wet ride before the fleet reaches Gladstone tomorrow.