Maxi Yacht Team win empty bottle trophy

by Ian Grant on 1 Sep 2002 Expensive former international champion maxi yachts Boomerang, British Defender and Siska combined to win the most useless trophy in the World of yachting against a fleet of more than 100 yachts in the Hot FM Great Whitsunday Fun race sailed off Airlie Beach yesterday.

Skippers David Haines, Brendan Wickens and Damien Suckling all masters of racing maxi yachts were officially declared the overall winning team before a huge crowd of fun loving spectators at the Whitsunday Sailing Club last night.

Earlier yesterday Boomerang the former American owned maxi yacht cleverly skippered by David Haines mastered the light 6-8 knot sea breeze to record and impressive win over British Defender (Brendan Wickens) and George Canfield at the helm of Ragamuffin.

Boomerang completed the 15n/ml race in 1 hour 47 minutes for an average speed of 8.42 knots to claim the fastest monohull yacht award while the smaller and lighter catamaran e multihulls Flat Chat skippered by Keith Roberts demonstrated her power sailing speed in the light winds to record an 11.02 knot average in registering their runaway win in the Multihull class.

However based on team points Boomerang, British Defender and Siska with their 1-2-7 score were the clear winners of the rare and useless trophy, an empty Mt Gay Rum Bottle mounted on a slab of rainforest cedar.

Other outstanding performances were recorded Craig Piccinelli at the tiller of his Whitsunday Sailing Club Young 88 Wobbly Boot which recorded a relatively fast 7.65 knot average to win her Division 3 title in the under 30ft racing class while the high performance Sydney 38 Hidden Agenda steered by Brian Gills won the Division 2 class with a course average speed of 8.06 knots.

Skipper Haines and his team were given the traditional three cheers by their rival skippers representing clubs form various ports of the world including Germany, China, Italy, New Zealand and Australia when he accepted the trophy on behalf of the Southern Cross Sailing Team.

RESULTS: Hot FM Great Whitsunday Fun Race Overall winning team Boomerang (David Haines), British Defender ( Brendan Wickens) and Siska IV (Damien Suckling).

Fastest Monohull: Boomerang 1-47-00. Fastest Multihull: emultihulls Flat Chat (Keith Roberts) 1-31-20. Maxi Yachts: Boomerang 1, British Defender 2, Ragamuffin (George Canfield, Qld) 3 Div 1 Cruising: Sydney (David Sampson, NSW) 1, Intrigue Of Stornaway (Gary Foster, China) 2, Millennium (John Clayton, NSW) 3.Div 2 Racing Class: Hidden Agenda (Brian Gills, Qld) 1, Sandpiper (Bob Spearman, Qld) 2, Pianola (David McMahon, Qld) 3. Div 2 Cruising Class: BYO (David Turner, NSW) 1, Kundiawa (Greg Drewer, Qld) 2, Longnose (Andrew Stransky, NSW) 3. Div 3 Racing Class: Wobbly Boot (Craig Piccinelli, Qld) 1, Breakaway (Rob Davis, Qld) 2, Chrysalis (John Barry, Vic) 3. Div 3 Cruising Class: Out Of Africa (Dave Dellow, Qld) 1, Bus Stop (Vic Brown, Qld) 2, No Compromise (Chris Baillie, Qld) 3. Div 4 Racing Class: e Multihull Flat Chat (Keith Roberts, Qld) 1, Wahoo (Neville Hooey, Qld) 2, Sirocco (Michael Eaton, Qld) 3. Div 4 Cruising Class: Windsong (John Kestle, Qld) 1, Spirit (David Mitchell, Qld) 2, Freyja (Don Kitson, Qld) 3. Div 5 Gaffers and Luggers: Centurian 1, Solway Lass 2, Wyuna 3.



Maxi Class: Boomerang 1, British Defender 2, Ragamuffin (George Canfield, Qld) 3.