Jeff Brown and 007 set to take on stronger winds

by Ian Grant on 23 Apr 2012 Whitsunday Sailing Club President Jeff Brown has a confident smile whenever a moderate trade wind blows at a steady velocity over the Whitsunday Passage. He instinctively accepts the stronger winds are more suitable to his personal style when he skippers the ageing 007 in the mid-week club sprint race point score series on Pioneer Bay.

Both skipper and crew mastered their favourite moderate strength trade wind and slightly sloppy seaway to score an important win in the 16th race of the series on April 18th.

It was a victory which the crew enjoyed after they used the elements to the fullest advantage eventually recording a one minute 10 second win over the Kevin Fogarty skippered Twister while Ross Winterbourn helmed Bobby D into third another one minute three seconds off the pace.

The win while showing that 007 had a dominating edge in handicap rated boat speed their overall 16 race progressive score places them in 10th and unlikely to threaten the leaders Craig Piccinelli‘s Wobbly Boot on 65 points, John Galloway’s Queensland Marine Services 81 points and the improving Twister (Kevin Fogarty) on 91 points.

Club Commodore Rob Davis holds a strong grip on the Division 3 point score after steering Breakaway into third place behind the match racing Hooter (Terry Kelly) and Serendipity (Roger Boast).

The Breakaway combination presently holds a 24 point lead over the lower handicapped Hooter while the John Hudson helmed Riff Raff retains a chance to reduce their nine point deficit when the sails are tensioned for the remaining trophy races on the tricky waters of Pioneer Bay.

Rob Davis has won a share of the major trophies however he continues to respect the quality of his rivals by making sure Breakaway holds the important consistent boat speed to finish ahead of Hooter and Riff Raff when they continue their duel for the points.

Meanwhile Damien Suckling steered Another Fiasco to another line honours win over arch rival Terry Archer’s Questionable Logic.

The margin of 44 seconds at the finish allowed Damien Suckling steering the slightly larger Scott Jutson designed 43 Another Fiasco to breathe a sigh of relief after his crew repelled the tactical challenge from the smaller Admirals Cup 40 Questionable Logic and overall class handicap winner 007.