John Galloway wins Heat 1 of Cumberland Charter Yachts trophy

9:40 PM Sun 5 Apr 2009 GMT

Crafty Pioneer Bay skipper John Galloway and his Queensland Marine Services crew returned to the winners circle in the first heat of the Cumberland Charter Yachts trophy over the Whitsunday Sailing Club course last week.

Galloway who has won a sting of trophies in recent seasons showed he was back in form by selecting the best tactical options from the light 5 knot sea breeze to beat Hogs Breath Trophy winner the Jeff Brown helmed 007 by 20 seconds while line honours winner the Shannan Hart skippered Tropical Journey filled third another 12 seconds astern.

Tropical Journey was in a class of her own winning line honours by a runaway 4 minutes 28 seconds over 007 but her crew needed more distance in the race to hold any chance to outpace their .930 handicap rating.

However skipper Hart and crew were happy with the result and have every intention to repeat the performance in the second race of the series this week while Queensland Marine Services should again find the required all angle boat speed to outpace her .815 time correction factor.

The fickle light winds also played into the hand of Brian Fleming when he selected the best tactical options to steer Concubine to her comfortable 1 minute 56 second win in the competitive Division 3 class over Peter Mitchelson's Lorna Rose Too which just managed to stall off line honours winner the Rob Davis skippered Breakaway by 8 seconds.

Brian Fleming's Concubine crew who struggled to finish sixth in the windy Hogs Breath Trophy again expressed his preference to sailing Concubine in light winds.

He accepted that Breakaway would be the pacemaker and cleverly elected to sail his own race while making sure that Concubine remained in phase to protect her lower handicap rating.

Skipper Rob Davis was equally determined to win the line and handicap double but he failed to shake the persistent Brian Fleming who was determined to take full value of Concubine's lower .712 rating against Breakaway .754 and Lorna Rose Too .735.

All three crews held a winning chance when they completed the important first half the course however while the Breakaway crew clawed clear of the pack to score a 1 minute 15 second line honours win over Concubine with another 24 seconds to Lorna Rose Too her elapsed time was not fast enough to win the line and handicap double.

Meanwhile Breakaway which has showed she is consistent over the complete wind range may get her chance to control the point score with stronger winds forecast for this week's second race of the series.

The return of moderate South East trade winds will also be welcomed by WSC Tasar dinghy sailing veterans Bruce Carter and Jim Hayes who believe they have the tactical skill to match their rivals to win the 2009 Queensland championship over the Easter weekend.

They have done the hard yards and possess the tactical dinghy racing experience but they will need to back this with aggression and physical stamina to win the title against a competitive group of younger rivals.

by Ian Grant

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