Shifty breeze causes shift in tactics - Qld Yacht Charters Trophy

by Ian Grant on 23 Feb 2009
Continuing instability in the tropical weather pattern has contributed to some interesting results in The Queensland Yacht Charters trophy series contested over the Whitsunday Sailing Club courses on a warm Pioneer Bay.

A number of normally reliable tacticians have literally been forced to constantly revise their race strategy as the unreliable prevailing wind has been spiced with numerous changes in velocity and direction.

It is not unusual for this type of weather to prevail in the tropics during the warm month of February adding a further element of discomfort to the skippers and crews who have been ‘dumped’ on the unfavourable side of the shifty breeze.

Generally they are prepared to accept natures unfavourable gift but it becomes difficult to handle when their individual boat speed becomes sticky leaving next to no chance to feature in the major places on corrected handicap.

However the weather factor has and will continue to play a major role in deciding which crew will win the ‘bragging rights’ later this week when the final will decide the crew has successfully used their lucky cards in the gamble against nature to claim the Division 2 trophy.

The pre-final pressure rests with skippers Terry Archer (Africa), Tim Osborne (Rising Farrst) and Stewart Key in Crescendo who has managed to keep their trophy winning chances alive in what is proving to be a combined test of luck and smart sailing.

All three crews deserve to win but even they are not prepared to nominate who that will be.

Competition for the Queensland Yacht Charters Division 3 class also hangs in the balance but the trophy duel is far less complicated with old rivals Peter Mitchelson at the helm of Lorna Rose Too heading into a boat on boat match race against Rob Davis in Breakaway.

The separation between the two evenly matched crews is generally decided in seconds as demonstrated in race two when the slightly higher handicapped Lorna Rose Too claimed a 10 second line honours win over Breakaway.

However while skipper Mitchelson and the Lorna Rose Too crew were happy to apply an effective wind shadow on their rival the line honours margin was not enough to beat Breakaway on corrected time.

There is no doubt that the private match race will continue on Pioneer Bay this week when the two crews go head to head to decide who will have the opportunity to prepare a victory speech.

Rob Davis who is forced to count a fifth from the first heat is the underdog but the Breakaway crew who are known for their never say die attitude have been known to fight from behind which places the tactical pressure on series leader Lorna Rose Too.

The progressive point score suggests that Lorna Rose Too has the upper hand but Peter Mitchelson can expect to be tested when the Breakaway crew formulate their race strategy around making sure that the Lorna Rose Too crew remain tucked away with no chance to record a faster corrected handicap.