Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race - Black Jack claims Line Honours

by Nigel Statham on 19 Apr 2014 Black Jack took line honours in the 2014 QantasLink Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race at 8.50pm on Saturday night with an elapsed time of one day nine hours 50 minutes and 17 seconds. She crossed the line shortly after a fantastic firework display thanks to the Gladstone Harbour Festival, causing many of the spectators to remember the days that the first boat home was traditionally welcomed over the finish line in the same manner.

Whilst the crew of Black Jack will now enjoy the hospitality of Port Curtis Sailing Club, all bar one other yacht are still out on the race course. Alive, the second yacht has finished just over an hour behind Black Jack but the bulk of the fleet will not be seen until well after dawn on Sunday; the last yacht in the fleet has a current eta on Monday!

Because the fleet is so spread out, the crews of both Black Jack and Alive are in for a long wait until they find out if they are going to be the winners of the prestigious Courier Mail Cup which is awarded to the winner of the race on corrected time.

Black Jack skipper Mark Bradford summed up the race 'slow but a great race, light tropical yacht racing at it’s Event website