Sunferries Magnetic Island RW - The King is Dead, Long Live the King

by Rob Kothe and Al Constable on 8 Sep 2009
Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week 2009 final report.

For the last decade, Wayne Millar and his Zoe crew have been the Kings of Keelboat racing in Townsville. That all changed today when Graham Donnell’s Quattro, the Elliott 11 sloop new to the Townsville Yacht Club fleet, won the Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week 2009 IRC title.

Last year's champion Wayne Millar sailed his Sydney 41 Zoe into second place with Belinda Cooper's Sydney 32 Groove third.

Zoe was fastest around the 17 mile course over Cleveland Bay finishing ahead of the smaller Quattro, but on handicap it was another win and the series victory for the Quattro team.

Dockside Graham Donnell said ‘A great regatta, great sailing weather. Wayne and his team are tough competitors and it’s an honour to win here.'

Millar commented 'We were well beaten in this regatta. The Quattro team outsailed us comprehensively. They deserved this victory.'

In the Performance Racing Division, Colin Wilson’s Never A Dull Moment enjoyed the 12 - 16 knot breeze and took line honours victory from Charles Wallis Reignition. Graham Van Brederode’s Fortified third.

On handicap, Phil McGuire’s Kachina was first, with Apollo V1 (Paul Stuart) and Never A Dull Moment filling the minor placings.

The Overall Performance Racing Division winner for 2009 is Apollo V1, from Kachina and Never A Dull Moment.

The famous America's Cup designer Ben Lexcen designed Apollo VI for Allan Bond. It missed the cut for the Australian 1984 Admirals Cup team but she was still a fast boat in her day. This afternoon Stuart was full of praise for the Apollo VI crew and the venue. 'Back in 1984 they discovered this boat needs a big headsail so it does not chop wood in a seaway. We did not have one today, so that was tough. We sailed as a tight team and the crew work just kept getting better and better. Townsville Yacht Club and Sunferries must be congratulated for such a great event.'

There was great wind out on the bay for the Sports Boat fleet. Leon Thomas’ Guilty Pleasures flew around the course in two hours and thirty-one minutes and forty two seconds. Rival Townsville sports boat Stoked, skippered by Patrick Stokes was second and Michael Unwin’s Fuzzy Logic was third.

The 2009 Overall Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week Sports Boat Champion is Stoked. Guilty Pleasures was second and Fuzzy Logic was third.

Patrick Stokes commented after the race 'Great breeze at top mark, the sports boats lit up on the run. Leon is a great sailor, sailed exceptional upwind leg but we took back 90 seconds on the run. We expect top see more sports boats here in the future. Its a perfect place to sail sports boats, warm water, warm breeze, great conditions.'

Cruising with Spinnaker Division 1 line honours went to Don Algie’s Storm 2, from Bob Robertson’s On Location, with Brian Pattinson’s Seaduction third.

On handicap the win went to John Sloan’s Delphian from Townsville Yacht Club Commodore Murray Whitehead’s Savanna with On Location third.

Overall winner of this division for 2009 is On Location, from Paul Wise’s Instant Karma. Third was Delphian.

Dockside Sir Robbo said 'another great day, changing course was a brilliant idea. This is a great venue, only a few minutes from the marina to the race area. Great facilites here too and very affordable accomodation options. I can see this being a 100 boat regatta in the future.'

Magic, Doug Ryan's Farr 1104, was fastest over the course in the Cruising with Spinnaker Division 2 today. Farrago, Paddy McCutcheon's Farr Phase 4 was second, with Mick Gillum’s Swarbrick S99 The Major third.

Jeni Anne, John Phelan’s Elan Impression 344, took the handicap win. The Major was second and Bob Barnes’ Supersonic 27 Librian was third.

Overall Doug Ryan’s Magic is the Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week Cruising with Spinnaker Division 2 Champion, from Farrago and Librian.

Today’s Multihull division line honours winner was Graeme Etherton’s The Boat, from Mal Tynan’s Barbarella with Shaun Watson’s Slinky Cat third.

On handicap it was Barbarella, from The Boat and Slinky Cat.

The Multihull Champion is Barbarella. The Boat was second and Slinky Cat third.

Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week Results 2009

IRC Racing Division

Rank Boat Skipper Club Home town
1st Quattro Graham Donnell TCYC Townsville
2nd Zoe Wayne Millar TCYC Townsville
3rd Groove Belinda Cooper CYC Cairns

Performance Racing Division

Rank Boat Skipper Club
1st Apollo VI Paul Stuart TCYC Townsville
2nd Kachina Phil McGuire TCYC Townsville
3rd Never a dull moment Colin Wilson CYCA Sydney

Sports Boat Division

Rank Boat Skipper Club
1st Stoked Patrick Stokes TCYC Townsville
2nd Guilty Pleasures Leon Thomas TCYC Townsville
3rd Fuzzy Logic Michael Unwin TCYC Townsville

Cruising Spinnaker Division 1

Rank Boat Skipper Club
1st On Location Robert Robertson MYC Melbourne
2nd Instant Karma Paul Wise RBYC Melbourne
3rd Delphian John Sloan Melbourne

Cruising Spinnaker Division 2

Rank Boat Skipper Club
1st Magic Doug Ryan PDYC Port Douglas
2nd Farrago Paddy McCutcheon TCYC Townsville
3rd The Major Mick Gillum TCYC Townsville

Cruising Non Spinnaker Division

Rank Boat Skipper Club
1st Vantage Robert Kimlin TCYC Townsville
2nd Aussie Rules Richard Cerny TCYC Townsville
3rd Volare Grant Thompson DYC Melbourne

Multi Hull Division

Rank Boat Skipper Club
1st Barbarella Mal Tynan TCYC Townsville
2nd The Boat Graeme Etherton TCYC Townsville
3rd Slinky Cat Shaun Watson TCYC Townsville

Event website: http://www.magneticislandraceweek.com.au