Quantum Racing's shaky grip on Courier Mail Cup

by Ian Grant on 7 Apr 2007 Popular Sydney Ocean racing skipper Ray Roberts held a loose grip on his second Courier-Mail Cup win in the Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race earlier today.

Roberts who has already won the Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island Race Weeks plus the Audi Sydney to Gold Coast race trophies was named as the provisional handicap leader when Quantum Racing completed a windy race in Gladstone earlier today.

Quantum Racing a New Zealand designed and built sloop fitted with a revolutionary canting keel was well sailed in fresh spinnaker sailing winds to log the fastest corrected handicap time.

But her win hangs in the balance as the smaller yachts in the fleet surfed the face of the building wind and waves under spinnakers towards a possible upset win this afternoon.

Quantum Racing with her provisional 31.96 corrected time leads Ichi Ban (35.53) and Wot Yot (35.58) while the combination of the strong wind warning system and the building waves allowed Saltash II (Ian Wright) 38.23, Wistari ( Scott Patrick) 38.83 and Alegria (Rod Jones) 39.68 with both distance and time to become serious challengers.

Both Saltash II and Wistari have won before in similar strong wind systems and they continued to log a fast time between the fleet reports to pose as a threat to the more modern sloops as they entered their thirtieth hour at sea at 1700 hours today.