Team GUE sets sights on the Bundy Blue

by Traci Ayris on 27 Jan 2008
While Aussies around the country took the day off to celebrate the establishment of the first European settlement, many sailors contesting Skandia Geelong Week were battling it out on Geelong's Corio Bay with a different national focus - their Australian titles.

With two races to go, Chris Williams and his crew aboard the Thompson T7 Team GUE have consolidated their lead in the inaugural ASBA National Sports Boats Championship and the Bundaberg Rum National Sports Boats title at Skandia Geelong Week.

Seven T7’s are racing in the twenty-two boat sports boat fleet with the main opposition out on the course coming from six Melges 24’s, also competing for their one-design national championship title.

Team GUE is never too far from a podium finish in Geelong with four firsts and a second place to their name in the Bundaberg Rum National Sports Boat series over six years. West Australian skipper Heath Townsend has brought his almost-new Melges 24 Kaito to Geelong for the first time and he’s thrown down a challenge that Team GUE ignores at their peril.

In race one the start was delayed by an hour due to light and variable breezes. It became increasingly difficult for the fleet to lay the windward mark as it was attached to the canting keel of Rob Gough’s Solitude. The modified Magic 25 from Tasmania carrying two crewmembers was sailing well before they snagged the mark, creating chaos on the race course as it dragged for about 30 metres. Unable to sail out of the tangle, one of the crew eventually dived overboard to free the mark after the fleet had sailed around them but the incident cost Solitude heavily, relegating it to 18th position overall.

Williams was first on handicap with Richard Parkes’ Dri Dek Escapade from South Australia enjoying a dream run to take second place. The fleet waited again for the breeze to get race two started and as not long after the fleet got away the race was quickly abandoned due to a 180 degree wind shift.

The breeze built to a variable 20 knots which suited Team GUE perfectly while providing challenging shifts up and downwind. By race three the sports boats were enjoying exhilarating rides in fifteen to twenty knot winds. The Melges 24’s proved their consistency in all conditions with Heath Townsend picking up a valuable win.

Currently four points behind Williams, Townsend obviously has Kaito well tuned and he’ll be looking for a strong finish tomorrow, the final day of racing. Veteran sports boat campaigner Cam Rae posted an OCS in race four on Bendigo Private but still has a hold on third place in the series.

Williams is obviously finding conditions on Corio Bay to his liking once again. With 20 knots out of the south expected on the course tomorrow, Williams possibly has one eye already on the coveted “Bundy blue” race jackets which the winning crew will pick up, along with a couple of national titles, at Monday afternoon’s presentation