Queensland Match Racing State Championship
'Katie Spithill and crew'
Richard Gladwell Click Here to view large photo
Sunshine Coast based Oceanburo Performance Sailing will officially introduce Americas Cup type match racing in Queensland when they host the 2008 Audi sponsored State Championship series off Mooloolaba Beach this weekend.
Fourteen one-design match racing teams representing New South Wales and Queensland have entered the high profile regatta which will be contested in identical Dart SB3 Sports boats.
The fleet includes the World ranked New South Wales Team Wot Chicks sponsored by prominent Australian yachtsman and 2008 Queenslander of the Year Graeme Wood.
Wot Chicks are currently ranked third in the World, behind the Claire Leroy and Lotte Pedersen Medgaard.
Skipper Katie Spithill and the Wot Chicks crew will use this intensely competitive Mooloolaba series to further refine their tactical strategy and technique before heading to Europe next month to represent Australia at the Match Cup in Sweden.
Their one-on-one match racing record which includes winning Australian championships in a wide range of classes like the physically demanding Sydney 38's suggests they will be the short priced favourite to add the Audi Queensland championship to their impressive list of achievements on Sunday.
They certainly deserve the respect and the ranking but this regatta has the potential to reveal some hidden challenges when they go head to head against the trio of specialist Sunshine Coast Dart SB3 skippers Sean O'Rourke, Kai Timm and Chris Annear.
The trio of National title winners are very protective of their personal reputations and they are known to be real 'dog fighters' in this form of racing which means Wot Chicks can expect to face a State Of Origin type war on the water during the round robin elimination rounds.
Interest will also focus on Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron's Suellen Hurling and the exceptionally talented Lauren Calder who will skipper the Audi Centre Sunshine Coast sponsored all female SB3 team.
Suellen Hurling and her crew of Etchells class champions Mike O'Brien and Darren Hutchison appeared to have impressive speed when they practiced in heavy wind and sea conditions last Monday.
However while it's important to be fast their real test will come when they are forced to match up in the tactical jousting to command and control the decisive first use of the wind.
All three sailors have separately achieved outstanding results in other classes however the intensely competitive nature of this regatta promises to test their ability and combined crew technique to master a totally different discipline with limited experience in the Dart SB3 class.
Lauren Calder's crew also looked impressive when they trialled alone on Monday without key crew member Shelly White who successfully steered her Sabot Stay Tuned to a runaway win in the Queensland championship on a windy Keppel Bay.
White who has been selected to represent Australia in the World Optimist championship in Turkey next month has also been selected to trial for a place in the Audi Centre Sunshine Coast sponsored Women's crew to contest the 2009 SB3 World series in Portugal.
by Ian Grant 
Margaret River or Osborne Park (severne shop), WA
