Sunrise leads John Sails Trophy Division 2
'Sunrise - Elan 37 - a glorious day in the Whitsundays'
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Jeff Shipsey and his Sunrise crew will be looking over their shoulder when the Whitsunday Sailing Club fleet contest the important third race of the John Sails Trophy Division 2 class series on Pioneer Bay this week.
Sunrise heads the points table after two very close and competitive races and her skipper and crew will need to protect their sailing space when the sails are tensioned for the important third heat of the series which promises to make Sunrise the tactical target as the battle for the trophy heats up.
Skipper Shipsey will need to sail another consistent tactical race to protect his narrow 1 point lead and 7-2 nine penalty point score from the Stewart Key skippered Crescendo (1-9) 10pts, Rising Farrst (Tim Osborne) 2-8, Wobbly Boot (Craig Piccinelli) 4-6 and Treasure Vlll (Harold Menelaus) 5-5.
Crescendo, Rising Farrst, Wobbly Boot and Treasure V lll had the edge in handicap rated boat speed to beat Sunrise in the opening race however skipper Jeff Shipsey held the upper hand to take control of the lead with an impressive second to the Alan Sneddon skippered Pacific Phoenix last week.
All five skippers will be targeting for a top three finish with the Sunrise crew expected to have little opportunity to race in uncontested space as her rival crews mount a challenge.
This week's important heat 3 results will hinge entirely on which crew can manage to sail smart under pressure while also maintaining the required all angle sailing speed to outpace their respective handicap ratings.
A similar boat on boat match race will be played out when Brian Fleming's Concubine and the Mick Phillips skippered Shearwater enter into a test of tactical supremacy to control the battle for the Division 3 series.
Concubine with a win in the opening race leads under the count back rule while Shearwater missed her chance to lead outright when she finished third last week.
Both Concubine and Shearwater are evenly matched and their tactical battle for the important points is again expected to be intense with Mick Phillips looking to improve on his 2-3 score after missing second place by one second last week.
Peter Millar's power sailing catamaran Cynophobe outpaced her 1.050 rating to claim an important 56 second corrected handicap win over Brandy Creek Ferry (Graham Matthews) and The Bird (Russell Hubbard) in the Multihull class.
However Brandy Creek Ferry with a 3-2 score retains control of the struggle for the John Sails Trophy with a four point advantage over Sirrocco (Bob Thompson) and Cheetah (Steve Halter) while fourth placed Cynophobe is expected to continue to climb back into trophy winning contention later this week.
by Ian Grant 
Devonport, TAS
