Surefoot wins Cumberland Charter Yacht series

by Ian Grant on 1 Jul 2008 Rod Sawyer added another important trophy win to the racing log of his 26 year old sloop Surefoot when they won the Cumberland Charter Yacht series on the Whitsunday Sailing Club course last week.

The Peter Norlin designed Surefoot which has the career distinction of racing under the Royal Papua Yacht Club burgee at the Admirals Cup in England set the pace to clinch the four race series by a narrow one point margin over the Kevin Fogarty skippered Idle Time with another penalty point to Treasure Vlll (Harold Menelaus).

It was a tight series with Pacific Phoenix (Alan Sneddon), Queensland Marine Services (John Galloway), 007 (Jeff Brown) and Treasure Vlll each winning a heat however all four crews failed to remain consistent to match Surefoot which was cleverly sailed in the varied range of winds to claim the trophy with her 3-9-2-5 score.

Treasure Vlll was clearly the star performer in last week’s trophy deciding race convincingly outpacing her .868 handicap correction factor to win the first and fastest double in a variable South East breeze.

Skipper Harold Menelaus enjoyed the opportunity to sail in uncontested wind and sea room at the head of the fleet while an intense handicap rated match race developed between Africa (Terry Archer), Idle Time, Sunrise (Jeff Shipsey), 007 and Surefoot for the series deciding points.

As expected there were no favours requested or consented when all four crews were forced to protect their space and maintain the crucial opportunity to sail in clear wind.

Surefoot needed to generate consistent speed to sail on equal terms to mount a challenge against the series leader Africa.

Both crews were separated by one point and this became the focus of tactical attention when the fleet settled into their individual challenges to set the fastest corrected handicap.

Veteran skipper Harold Menelaus and his Treasure Vlll crew sealed an early claim on the major points when they cleared out from any prospective challenge.
But unfortunately the battle for the more important series winning points proved to be a tactical minefield for skipper Terry Archer and the Africa crew when they were buried in the pack with no escape route to produce the pace to protect their .743 handicap rating and trophy leading point score.

Tactical attention then focused on skipper Rod Sawyer however he managed to sail a high percentage of the race in uncontested space but generally struggled for pace when the breeze failed to blow the wrinkles out of Surefoot’s race weary sails.

However skipper Rod Sawyer has sailed too many miles to let a trophy winning chance slip from his grasp eventually finishing fifth in a tight time frame when Idle Time and Sunrise were split by one second to decide the minor places behind Treasure Vlll while another 28 seconds separated 007, Surefoot, Queensland Marine Services and Another Fiasco.

This close hard fought result eventually allowed Surefoot to win the Cumberland Yacht Charters trophy by the slender margin of 13 seconds.