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Ian Grant
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Whitsunday SC News December/January 2010 - 2009/12/21 22:50 RUNNING THE RHUMBLINES.
By Ian Grant.
Whitsunday Sailing Club Corsair dinghy sailors Bruce Carter and Jim Hayes are well prepared to defend their 2008 Australian Championship Silver Medal on the tricky Lake Munmorah course at Budgewoi.
The only knowledge they have of the sailing conditions is that the course is similar to racing on Lake Macquarie but apart from that skipper Bruce Carter and tactician Jim Hayes will be ‘clutching at straws’.
However when they headed south to race in their first Corsair Nationals on Brisbane’s Bramble Bay in 2008 they faced a very similar challenge against their career skill and experience.
Like all talented sailors the Carter/Hayes combination expressed their long term sailing experience to win the Silver Medal testing both the tactical skill and boat speed of the National champion Aaron Hunt along the way.
The preparation for the 2008 series was the result of a late decision made over a ‘few frosties’ on the deck of the Whitsunday Sailing Club but they still managed to show the skills to master the Bramble Bay ‘Torture Track’ to serve notice that they have the tactical clout to be considered as a 2009 Gold Medal chance.
They will miss the energy and enthusiasm of 2008 crewmate teenager Klaus Lorenz who is presently involved with his preparations to contest the Australian Optimist championship however Colin Chengody who may be a stranger to Corsair racing knows which ‘strings’ to pull.
However the trio would prefer a forecast of fresh southerlies to rough up the shore dump on Noela Place Beach and provide them with the chance to express their sail handling skills on the spinnaker sailing angles.
According to Jim Hayes who is well known for his laid-back type attitude “This trip is about socialising, sailing and showing the flag to represent the WSC at the National level”.
But their rivals should be warned that deep down there is a burning desire to prove that - near enough is never really good enough – and the racing team from Airlie Beach will certainly be aiming at becoming the best in the class for 2009.
Another major medal result will also support the proposal for the Whitsunday Sailing Club to host a future Corsair class Australian championship on Pioneer Bay which has already proved to be a perfect dinghy, catamaran and yacht racing destination.
Meanwhile the Bruce Carter, Jim Hayes, and Colin Chengody racing team will have the opportunity to form a strong bond during the long road trip from the warm and humid Queensland tropics to the cooler sailing climate on the picturesque New South Wales championship venue at Lake Munmorah.
More importantly they will have the time to ‘talk it up’ and make sure that the tropical shirt sailors who enjoy the atmosphere of a post race party will gain the result to protect their ranking and reputation as a friendly but serious title challenger when the sails are tensioned for the title off Budgewoi.

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Ian Grant
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Re:Whitsunday SC News December/January 2010 - 2010/01/08 20:59 RUNNING THE RHUMBLINES.
By Ian Grant.
Sailing master Brett Young proved he was on an important mission when he escaped from the cold climate of the South Australian winter to compete in the 2009 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week last August.
The experienced blue water sailor had the principal task to fine tune a new Bruce Farr designed Beneteau First 40 in the pleasant tropical winter environment with yacht racing in the Whitsunday Islands.
It was very much a fact finding mission for Brett Young when the sails were tensioned for the first time and the expectations remained positive when he skippered Ford Prefect to a 4-7-5 result against serious opposition including the 2008 champion Evolution Sails (Ray Roberts) and the eventual 2009 IRC champion Living Doll (Michael Hiatt).
However the Ford Prefect crew had ‘kick started’ a promising campaign gaining a progressive improvement in boat speed on Pioneer Bay before heading across the Whitsunday Passage to continue with the tuning process in the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.
Her sail number YC 400 progressively came under surveillance attracting the tactical attention of the eventual 2009 Audi Australian IRC class champion Rod Jones and his master tactician Adrian Finglas when the new South Australian sloop defeated Queensland’s Alegria by 5 seconds to record her first win in the log book.
They also fought a nip-n-tuck duel to win race seven by 10 seconds when the ‘luck of the Irish’ failed to smile on the Tony Donnellan skippered Victorian sloop Shamrock.
A second to Alegria in the final race added a bonus to the regatta campaign when owner Andrew Saies and Brett Young prepared Two True Evolution for the toughest race of all over the 628 n/ml Rolex Sydney Hobart course.
This course is well noted for leaving the best intentions and preparations wallowing in the wind however her crew racing under the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia burgee remained keen to add value to their yacht tuning program in the Whitsunday Islands.
Her 1000 nautical mile delivery trip from Adelaide to Sydney remained as ‘work in progress’ but after a gruelling 3 days 23 hours 49 minutes and 3 seconds of sailing against a mixed bag of weather including drifting in a calm the Two True crew outsailed the international standard fleet to become the 64th winner of the prestigious Tattersall’s Cup regarded as the World’s best ocean yacht racing trophy.
Owner skipper Andrew Saies proudly accepted the trophy and acknowledged the performance and dedication of his crew.
“This was a team effort we had some moments of luck and others drifting astern with the current”. He said.
But their real moment of celebration came when fellow rival Matt Allen Commodore of The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia officially declared Two True as the outright 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart champion with her 41 minute 25 second and 3.97 second per nautical mile corrected handicap advantage over the Mark Welsh helmed Wicked and the Ian Mason skippered Next.
Andrew Saies is yet to confirm however Two True now has the proven form guide to be a strong contender for the 2010 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week next August to cap off a successful campaign which began on the Whitsunday Sailing Club courses a little over four months ago.

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