Surefoot still knows how to win

6:40 AM Mon 23 Mar 2009 GMT

'Surefoot from above in the King George River in the Kimberlies whilst undertaking repairs and maintenance.' Chad Banfield

Rod Sawyer has continued to show there are many more competitive sailing miles left in the racing life of the 28 year old Swedish designed sloop Surefoot.

In her heyday Surefoot raced against the best yachts in the World when she represented the Royal Papua Yacht Club at the 1983 Champagne Mumm Admirals Cup in England.

However time and hard racing in a wide range of sea and wind conditions form calms to rig and hull stressing gales have taken their toll but she still manages to show her competitive speed when the wind blows above 12 knots.

Sure her sails are race weary and windblown but this failed to stand in the way when skipper Rod Sawyer and crew still managed to show that the 'golden oldie' still has what it takes in terms of racing to her .774 rating by winning the second race of the Hog's Breath Trophy series over the Whitsunday Sailing Club course on Pioneer Bay.

Surefoot was in her element when the moderate 15 knot East-Sou-east breeze presented her crew with the opportunity to show her pace gaining first use of the wind and uncontested sea room to clearly show she was on the pace matching Jeff Brown's 007 and Stewart Key in Crescendo when they settled into what ultimately proved to be an even contest for line honours.

All three crews were protective of their reputations and never relented on the opportunity to sail in clean wind and the line honours was far from being resolved when the sails were trimmed for the important final leg of the course.
The Surefoot crew deserved to claim 'the bragging rights' when they stepped clear of the challenge to secure a popular 18 second line honours victory over 007 with Crescendo another 32 seconds astern.

Skipper Rod Sawyer his crew were happy with the result however they were unsure if their course time was fast enough to also win on corrected handicap.

They had protected their rating against the higher handicapped and first heat winner 007 but the lower .766 rated Crescendo p-resented a threat until the fell out of favour to beat the clock allowing Surefoot to become the outright series leader with a 13 second win over Crescendo while the John Galloway skipper Queensland Marine Services filled third place by a narrow 11 seconds over Kevin Fogarty's Idle Time.

Rod Sawyer will certainly become a target for tactical attention when the fleet compete for the import points on Pioneer Bay this week.

Both he and crew have raced under similar pressure before but the honour of winning the 2009 Hog's Breath trophy is far from being settled with old Surefoot needing to repeat another tough grind to outpace her rivals and allow her crew the deserved opportunity to enjoy some fine dining at the Hog's Breath Cafe as the 2009 trophy champions.

by Ian Grant

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Surefoot still knows how to win

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