Quantum Racing pre-race favourite for 61 year old Courier-Mail Cup

5:39 AM Fri 27 Mar 2009 GMT

'Quantum Racing' Crosbie Lorimer Click Here to view large photo

Sydney Ocean racing skipper Ray Roberts better known around the Australian waterfront as Hollywood Ray is expecting to be under the pump when he defends his 2008 Brisbane to Gladstone Race trophy over Easter.

The colourful skipper who steered Quantum Racing to impressive wins in the Brisbane-Gladstone and the Audi Sydney to Gold Coast blue water Classic plus the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week during 2008 is the pre-race favourite to win the prestigious 61 year old Courier-Mail Cup.

However while Quantum Racing has the form on the board she will be seriously challenged by an impressive list of rivals including the Victorian sloop Shogun (Robert Hanna) 2008 Queenslander of the Year Graeme Wood in Wot Now and the super fast Queensland yachts Black Jack (Mark Bradford) and Wedgetail (Bill Wild).

Both Ray Roberts and his World championship winning tactician Steve McConaghy openly agree that Quantum Racing will be seriously challenged to finish ahead of their Sydney Hobart race rivals in what promises to be the most interesting Gladstone Race since 1995 when Ray Roberts steered Millennium to her impressive win.

There will be no chance to sit back and enjoy the scenery in fact there is a very strong possibility that all crews will be pressed to the limit of endurance and tactical skill to record the fastest corrected handicap time over the challenging 308n/ml course.

The Quantum Racing crew will have a slight advantage with their successful 2008 tactical notes but that alone will not be enough to stall off the challenges from Wot Now, Wedgetail, Shogun, Blackjack and the lower handicapped previous race winners Corum, Wistari and Pagan.

Black Jack proved she was among Australia's fastest maxi chasers when the 20.12m pocket rocket averaged 13.3 knots to finish 6th fastest in the 628 n/ml Rolex Sydney Hobart Race a result which has installed the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron sloop as the favourite to win the line honours trophy.

While this was an impressive Hobart Race result the Black Jack crew will need to maintain a tight tactical cover on the smaller 15.85m Wot Now which averaged a remarkable 12.8 knots to claim a popular result of third overall and a career best result for her popular owner skipper Graeme Wood.

by Ian Grant

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Quantum Racing pre-race favourite for 61 year old Courier-Mail Cup

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