Africa wins Queensland Yacht Charters Trophy

5:33 AM Mon 9 Mar 2009 GMT

'Rising Farrst' Gail Harrower Click Here to view large photo

There was absolutely no hint of disorderly conduct when John Hudson steered Riff Raff to a final heat win in the Queensland Yacht Charters series on a surprisingly calm Pioneer Bay.

Skipper Hudson and his Riff Raff crew showed they were disciplined and not prepared to drift into any 'foul play' apart from protecting their space and opportunity to sail to their handicap rating in the prevailing 9-11 knot breeze.

Riff Raff is no sprint machine however her crew possess the knowledge and required technique to keep her sailing above the required pace to be competitive on handicap.

They also understand that every race presents new challenges and this was again the case when Riff Raff had to struggle in matching tacks against her corrected time rivals when the slower and lower handicapped group staged their own 'dog-fight' in the back pack of the fleet.

Skippers Laurie Gubb (Tropicali) and Jeff Brown (007) are never easy to roll and are even more difficult to beat in winds below 12 knots.

However the Riff Raff crew wisely elected to sail in clear space when they set their target on engaging the slightly faster Kevin Fogarty skippered Idle Time as their pacemaker when Don Algie's Storm 2 predictably produced unmatched speed eventually drawing away to record a commanding 7 minute 1 second line honours victory over Treasure V111 (Harold Menelaus), while 007 kept her handicap chances alive by filling third place, another 1 minute 41 seconds astern.

OO7, rating .789 had narrowly pipped Storm 2 (.925) by 37 seconds to become the progressive pace-setter on corrected time but skipper Brown remained reluctant to open the door of the liquor locker and shout the crew a frosted 'Toohey's'.

While skipper Jeff Brown would have enjoyed a cold drink on a warm day he left the celebration on hold while Riff Raff (.723) and Tropicali (.722) continued their race against the clock.

The 007 crew were not giving up but they understood that Riff Raff and Tropicali were in a strong position the gate crash their party when the sails were tensioned for the final leg to the finish.

Riff Raff finished 52 seconds ahead of Tropicali to record the fastest corrected course time leaving Tropicali and 007 to fill the minor places.

This was by far their best performance in the four race series while inconsistent results of 13th in race 2 and seventh in race 3 spoilt their chance of finishing ahead of Africa and Rising Farrst after their disappointing 10th and 11th.

Obviously provisional leaders Terry Archer (Africa) 2-7-2 and Tim Osborne (Rising Farrst) 7-2-3 who were only separated by one point became too involved in their own private match race, but they were clear on points with Africa winning the Queensland Yacht Charters Trophy by two points from Rising Farrst with final heat winner Riff Raff another point off the pace.

by Ian Grant

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