Cynophobe scores runaway win in Hog's Breath Trophy series

10:21 PM Sun 15 Mar 2009 GMT

'Cynophobe in flight' Ian Grant Click Here to view large photo

Peter Millar and his crew including long term sailing mate Dave Chittleborough almost fringed the speed limit when they scored a runaway win in the Hog's Breath Trophy series on Pioneer Bay last week.

The combination who had previously dominated Multihull class racing over the Whitsunday Sailing Club course with the lightweight catamaran Spud Gun have progressively set a new standard of racing in the fast-lane with the Tony Grainger designed sprint machine Cynophobe.

It is fair to say that skipper Peter Millar and Dave Chittleborough are speed freaks and they are rarely happy when the exciting Cynophobe has her two hulls stuck to the water.

However the mood changes when the trampoline is drenched in spray and the thrill seekers are riding high above the water when Cynophobe flies her windward hull and reaches speed in excess of 20 knots.

This was the case when a more docile 15 knot trade wind returned to Pioneer Bay after the threat Cyclone Hamish.

The relatively moderate breeze and the slight .2 metre wind wave presented the multihull class fleet with near perfect racing conditions but the second race of the series was only a few minutes old when first heat winner Cynophobe left their rivals to chase a white water wake when skipper Peter Millar aided by the sail handling skills of the crew took control in a chase to outsail their penalty plus 1.085 time correction factor.

Peter Millar had little mercy for his twin brother Scott steering the former Australian Multihull champion and dual Brisbane to Gladstone race winner Rum Raider when Cynophobe left Rum Raider (.950) and the Rupert King helmed Overdrive(.835) to settle into a match race for the minor line honours and corrected handicap places.

The Cynophobe crew repeated their first race result with another convincing performance eventually handing their rivals another lesson in speed sailing when they outpaced their correction factor on all angles of sailing to complete the course with a 5 minute 56 second win over Rum Raider who just managed to scrape home with a 4 second advantage on Overdrive.

As this result has proved the Cynophobe crew will start as odds on favourite to win the important third race of the Hog's Breath Trophy this week adding to the chance for her crew to become the 2009 champions with a perfect score result.

They already stand four points clear with their unmatched 1-1 score leaving Rum Raider (4-2) the Graham Matthews skippered Brand Creek Ferry (2-5) and Overdrive (3-5) to settle the battle for the minor places.

All three minor place challengers will need a miracle to happen to hold any prospect of destabilising the fast sailing Cynophobe combination when the sails are tensioned for another test of individual crew skill and tactical racing strategy over the Whitsunday Sailing Clubs sprint race course this week.

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Cynophobe scores runaway win in Hog's Breath Trophy series

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