Spinnaker Tales

by Ian Grant on 30 Apr 2003 Sunshine Coast yachtswoman Sue Rasmussen knows the ropes after serving a successful offshore racing apprenticeship aboard Jim Cradock’s Soraya.

Recently she turned that experience into a success as a skipper after patiently waiting in the wings to produce her command performance by helming Soraya to her first Mooloolaba Yacht Club Lady Skippers championship in 14 years.

Normally Soraya would have been helmed by co-owner Lynn Sharpe but illness prevented her from taking the wheel for the keenly fought 4 race series which produced some close tactical racing.

Ros Leitch became the early title favourite when she skillfully helmed Sunshine Coast Roofing High Anxiety to a convincing win in the first race.

But the title battle intensified when Kathy Wirgan piloted Jaroda Tide to win heat 2 to present a four way tie between Jaroda Tide, Soraya, Sunshine Coast Roofing High Anxiety and Hot Tub.

As expected this rather tight tactical battle continued to intensify when the title contenders sailed on to the course for the final two races.

Ros Leitch predictably showed her class and the light wind sailing speed of High Anxiety to win both line honours over the Sue Rasmussen helmed Soraya but her winning margins failed to outsail her high .9008 handicap rating finally finishing fourth on corrected time behind Tamika (Phyllis Smith), Soraya and Happy Days (Zoe Benton).

Soraya with her progressive 3-2-2 score (7 pts) became the provisional title leader over High Anxiety (9pts) and Jaroda Tide (10pts).

Naturally there was a high degree of nervous tension when the title contenders selected and then protected the advantage in the final heat with a clear wind start.

High Anxiety again demonstrated her unmatched all angle sailing speed to clearly dominate the race beating Soraya by just over 8 minutes for line honours.

At one stage this margin appeared to be enough for Leitch to firm a grip on the prestigious Lady Skippers trophy when High Anxiety finished with the faster corrected handicap time over Soraya.

But the Phyllis Smith skippered Tamika crew effectively changed the title score on the final leg of the course when they claimed another impressive handicap win with a 1 minute 8 second margin.


There was a deserved element of pride when the Soraya crew eventually claimed the title with their third place which gave them a narrow 1 point win from a consistent 3-2-2-3 score while High Anxiety (1-4-4-2) and Tamika (6-6-1-1) filled the minor places.

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Mark Bradford will defend his 2002 Sun City Homes Australian Winter Etchells championship off Mooloolaba over the June Queens Birthday holiday weekend.

Bradford and his Racer X crew have proved they are on the pace with a recent win in the New South Wales championship where they beat a high standard fleet including former World champion Cameron Miles and the top ranked Peter McNeill.

This series will serve as another important evaluation for the World championship to be decided over the Mooloolaba Yacht Club offshore courses in July 2004.