Abandon your pots 'n pans?

Jane Virtue sailing Beneteau First 50 'The Matrix' in the 2013 Beneteau Cup © Troy Caswell

A percentage of crews readying for next month's Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race are super weight conscious and will take a back-to-basics approach when it comes to eating and sleeping during the annual winter offshore passage.

Like for most Australian regattas and ocean races, the cruiser/racers make up the bulk of the fleet and most of them have a different outlook on bluewater racing to the high-end lightweights.

Jane Virtue, sailing master on the Beneteau First 50 The Matrix, is out and about actively encouraging owners of cruiser/racers and racer/cruisers to sign on for the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron's 8th Brisbane to Keppel race starting at midday on Thursday July 31, 2014 from Moreton Bay.

She scoffs at the notion of roughing it offshore. "We have real meals, saucepans and frying pans and all the comforts. We believe in the crew eating correctly. Dry food....blow that for a joke. Everyone has a comfortable bunk and we enjoy the sailing."

The 343nm race kicks off a six week sojourn for The Matrix crew. From Keppel Island they'll deliver the boat further north to be part of the action at Audi Hamilton Island and Magnetic Island race weeks.

Virtue was born in the bush with barely a drop of water in sight. The former flying instructor took up sailing at middle age, ran a sailing school for 15 years then worked as director of coaching at Yachting Queensland. She and Dave Waller have been a successful duo since The Matrix's arrival at RQYS from France four years ago, he as owner and she as skipper/sailing master.

Waller purposely set the boat up with an older crew in mind, power winches easing the need for the young and muscly. "More mature crewmembers can enjoy their sailing without having a heart attack. Only the for'deckie needs the strength," adds Virtue.

Last year Mark Hipgrave's Beneteau First 36s7 The Healer struggled to the finish line in exceptionally light conditions, the crew on the last and smallest boat in the fleet not expecting such a noisy welcome, the kind normally reserved for winners.

Hipgrave isn't shy of an extended ocean crossing. He's competed in multiple Rolex Sydney Hobarts and in May took on his first single-handed challenge, the Solo Trans-Tasman Race from New Zealand to Mooloolaba with The Healer.

On the upcoming Queensland race, the keystone of RQ's offshore racing program, he says, "Doing the Solo was a great metal and physical challenge and very rewarding, but you are doing everything yourself. As long as we aren't flopping around and going backwards like we did last year in the tide off Gladstone the Keppel race will be a lot more fun, with company and sunshine. A lot better than a cold and windy Tasman Sea!"

Like many others, Hipgrave is turning the northern circuit into an extended sailing holiday.

Entries for the Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race are steadily building, now at 16 including Sydney based high-fliers Ichi Ban (Matt Allen) and Wild Oats XI (Bob Oatley/Mark Richards) racing for Hamilton Island Yacht Club.

The Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race, part of Tourism Queensland's Season of Sailing, is an important stepping stone in the annual winter keelboat and multihull march northwards and once again organisers are expecting a strong field.

This year will be the eighth edition and the time to beat for those chasing line honours glory is 24 hours, 22 minutes and 20 seconds set in 2011 by Wild Oats XI.

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