Farr 40 battle at Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week

8:17 AM Wed 12 Aug 2009 GMT

'Bob Robertson right(Cracklin Rosie) - Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race' Suellen Hurling &copy

Bob Robertson has focused his ocean racing interest on steering his Farr 40 Cracklin Rosie to a top scoring result in the opening race of 2009 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week on a warm and surprisingly calm Whitsunday Passage.

He has accepted the weather forecast which has predicted the normally windy waters will be engulfed in an unseasonal calm for the opening race of the regatta on Friday before the more reliable trade winds return on Monday.
Meanwhile the veteran skipper and his Cracklin Rosie crew remain confident after finishing with a deserved third overall in the Brisbane to Keppel Race earlier this month.

However he has made no secret about his preference to race in a stronger wind system but remains confident of protecting his reputation in the private Farr 40 class match race against his tactical sparring partners Russell McCart in Night Nurse and Ian Thomson at the helm of Eleven.

All three almost identical sloops will become involved in a private match race which is expected to keep them on the pace to outsail their individual handicaps but they can expect an even tougher task to sail on equal terms to claim overall corrected handicap honours ahead of the very competitive Evolution Racing skippered by Ray Roberts of Sydney and the top Victorian yachts Living Doll (Michael Hiatt), Shogun (Robert Hanna) and Scarlet Runner (Robert Date).

These crews have not headed into the friendlier and warmer tropical climate to personally improve their sun tan after spending most of the winter off the water they are presently totally prepared to show the champion Sunshine Coast skipper Bob Robertson and his class mates that they are more focused on winning the important series.

However they remain aware that the veteran Mooloolaba skipper rarely backs away from a tactical dog fight and generally has produced his best results including a third in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race and two Courier-Mail Cup victories in the Brisbane to Gladstone Race when the odds are stacked against him.

Fellow Mooloolaba Yacht Club skippers Nick Cox and Col Thomas who jointly race the European built sloop Hans-on will face a similar highly competitive challenge to achieve class honours in the Cruising Class championship.

The Hans-on crew generously supported by Mt Gay Rum sponsorship will need to leave their colourful tropical party shirts on shore and engage a serious tactical racing strategy to feature in the battle for class honours.

They are all talented sailors and expect to be again challenged to sail above their handicap rating in a fleet which has attracted a widely diversified list of fast cruising yachts including the regatta founder Don Algie skippering the defending champion Storm ll.

Naturally the Storm ll crew remain as the class favourite however the Hans-on combination who will be advantaged with setting their boat speed against the top local Whitsunday Sailing Club sloops Queensland Marine Services (John Galloway) and Colin Pruden's Sandpiper has the potential to create an upset.

by Ian Grant

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Farr 40 battle at Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week

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