Treasure's day - Great Barrier Reef Boat Sales series

by Ian Grant on 18 May 2009
Veteran Whitsunday Sailing Club skipper Harold Menelaus helmed Treasure VIII to a convincing line and handicap win in the second race of the Great Barrier Reef Boat Sales series on a windy Pioneer Bay last week.

The crafty skipper placed his younger rivals on notice when he launched the Reichel Pugh designed sloop to contest the IRC Division 2 championship in the 2008 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week.

He was relatively happy with the maiden regatta result finishing third overall behind the New South Wales sloops Arajilla and Zen.

However the Treasure VIII crew have progressively developed their speed sailing technique to become the pacesetter following their spirited six second line honours win over the Shannon Hart skippered Tropical Journey.

Treasure VIII effectively produced unmatched speed on all angles to outpace her .852 time correction factor finishing with an important 53 second corrected handicap win over the lower .723 rated Rising Farrst (Tim Osborne) with Colin Pruden’s Sandpiper .784 filling third, another 54 seconds astern.

All three radically different designed sloops showed a preference to racing in the stronger trade winds with Treasure VIII building on her fifth in the opening race to become the overall Division 2 class leader with her 5-1 results while Rod Sawyer’s Surefoot 3-6 and the Craig Piccinelli skippered Wobbly Boot 6-4 head a compact battle for the minor places.

The pressure will be focused on the Treasure VIII crew to repeat the required handicap rated boat speed to protect her three point buffer, while the crews of Surefoot and Wobbly Boot face a similar test to protect their point score and reputations against the improving Idle Time and Sandpiper.

There is a very strong indication that friendships will be tested when the fleet line up to contest the important third race of the series later this week.

Treasure VIII will certainly become a target for tactical attention from Surefoot and Wobbly Boot but they will also need to protect their space and minor two point margin from Idle Time on 12pts, Sandpiper, Africa and Esoteric 13pts while Queensland Marine Services remains a threat on 14pts.

The battle for the Division 3 class trophy became less complicated when Graeme Douglas skippered the former Harold Menelaus owned Sunflower to another impressive win and a six point lead with a 1-1 and 2 score, while Peter Mitchelson provisionally holds second with Lorna Rose Too 6-2 on count back over Breakaway (Rob Davis) 5-3 and Concubine (Brian Fleming) 3-5.

Graeme Douglas and the Sunflower crew are expected to dominate the third race later this week while Peter Mitchelson, Rob Davis and Brian Fleming will continue with their personal battle to resolve control of the minor places.

The close competition combined with the experience of all three skippers and crews, suggest that the important race will turn into a hard fought fight with Lorna Rose Too narrowly favoured to protect her .751 rating against Breakaway .753 and Concubine .720.