Black Jack
By Ian Grant.
Peter Harburg the popular owner of the champion Queensland Ocean racing yacht Black Jack is preparing to spend the early part of Easter paying another personal tribute to his late father Clive Harburg.
Peter who will stand watch on the deck of the speed sailing Black Jack will have fond memories of his father who passed away aged 90 on July 24 2002 when Black Jack contests the start of the 2012 Qantas Link Brisbane to Gladstone Race on Good Friday April 6th.
His father the famed ABC sport commentator was assigned to broadcast the start of the inaugural Brisbane to Gladstone Race from the Woody Point Pier on Good Friday morning 64 years ago.
“I remember the occasion very well although I was a small boy enjoying a day out walking along the pier with my father”. Peter Harburg said recently.
Now a little over six decades later Peter Harburg has formed his Black Jack racing team to carry on the strong family bond with Queensland’s premier blue water classic.
Black Jack a super fast American designed and built 20.3m pocket-maxi named after personal friend and Formula One World champion Sir Jack Brabham OBE has already claimed a special place in Gladstone Race history winning the line honours trophy in 2009 and 2010 while finishing second last year to the larger Peter Millard skippered Lahana.
The exciting Black Jack raced under principal helmsman Mark Bradford and the Mooloolaba yachts Audi Centre Sunshine Coast (Rod Jones) and the Bob Robertson skippered Lunchtime Legend head another impressive fleet.
Audi Centre Sunshine Coast is the former 2006 line honours winner Heaven Can Wait which has been recently modified for the dual Audi Australian championship winning skipper Rod Jones to set a future Rolex Sydney Hobart challenge in their race diary.
The high performance OceanBuro ocean racing team have focused their attention on contesting the 308 n/ml Brisbane to Gladstone race followed by the Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Race in early August as a lead in to entering the 628 n/ml Rolex Sydney Hobart in 2013.
Meanwhile both skipper Rod Jones and his equally talented crew including World champion Etchells sailor Bucky Smith and Queensland Academy of Sport sailing coach Adrian Finglas will continue with the required learning curve to have the exciting Hugh Welbourn designed sloop on the pace for her serious ocean racing challenge.
They will no doubt be hoping for a fast spinnaker sailing trade wind forecast to make sure that the revamped Heaven Can Wait has the speed to beat her 2006 line honours winning performance of 35 hours 16 minutes 32 seconds.
Race veteran Bob Robertson a dual winner of the 64 year old Courier Mail Cup with Sellar’s Witchcraft 11 and Corroboree has been nominated among the corrected handicap favourites with his new Beneteau First 40 Lunchtime Legend.
However he is not prepared to place the traditional bets of Bundaberg Rum on the result until the final entries which promise to include last year’s winner the 2012 Audi Australian champion Hooligan are declared by race director Herb Prendergast.
http://www.qldyachting.org.au/event.asp?ID=44444&format=popup
Hi Folks,
Hope all are well, with Seton Prettejohn’s help we have a new website up and running. See www.louisiades.com (www.louisiadesrally.com still works as well).
I will upload some more of the best hero shots we have to the photo gallery… but I am also keen to put up other pics…so email any pics you would like to add to the gallery.
Any suggestions for next year’s rally, edits or suggestions for the website welcome!
Our Rally support for the community doesn’t stop. We have been in constant contact with Amos Osborne, Jonathon Amos’s dad. (The kid with the tongue at Panapompom). With support from Rotary and ex Rally folk Jonathon received another few treatment of a drug in port Moresby…this was intensive in-patients treatment for three months…unfortunately there been no improvement so Jonathon is eligible for ROMAC…but this means he need to await a surgeon/hospital/anaesthetist etc. willing to donate time etc. I have advised Rotary/ROMAC to tell us if they need cash support.).
The money we raised for Paneati has just been sent to them today (there was doubt about bank details and who would get what so I held off until I had a consistent message from the Clinic’s head nurse and the Chair of the board. All sorted now so some trained electrons are sending the K5000 off.
MV Siletu (the Nimowa ambulance) has blown a cooling hose, special reducing bent one…so I am off to Cummins tomorrow to pick it up and get it couriered to Alotau.
Lastly, for those that think the rally is worthwhile and/or like the Louisiades…could you send me a one or two sentence comment (that I can quote) on how good the rally/and or Louisiades are…we need to compile some quotes for PNGTPA.
Cheers,
Guy Chester
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
Louisiades Yacht Rally 2012
Organiser
By Ian Grant.
Eva Lorenz the happy Whitsunday Sailing Club Optimist sailor now has a better understanding of her physical endurance following the Australian championship on Brisbane’s Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Waterloo Bay courses.
She has endured some relatively tough physical tests during her career but very few can compare with the day after day grind of racing which tested the heavy wind sailing skills of the 118 competitors racing for the 2012 Open Australian championship.
The boisterous south east breeze and the associated current flow from the January king tides resulted in the race course presenting a serious test of heavy wind sailing in the 15 race championship with the open Gold Medal resulting in an outstanding performance by Victorian teenager Jack Graves while New Zealand skippers Alistair Gifford and Lola Stoodley claimed the minor medals.
This normal summer weather system presented all of the solo dinghy skippers with a supreme test of physical endurance when they were required to lean hard in the hiking straps for long periods to master the sloppy seaway.
Whenever the wind gusts above 12 knots the waters of Waterloo Bay have a defined history of testing the sailor’s tactical and physical endurance and this championship which resulted in a deserved for Jack Graves also identified a wealth of talent in the fleet.
Not every young sailor was expecting to be presented with racing in the physically tough elements but those who managed to start smart and sail with a relatively dry bilge when shunting the snub bow into the corrugated sea surface typically known as the Waterloo Slop generally protected their reputations.
For Eva Lorenz the challenge was totally different to club racing in small fleets on the tropical warm waters off Airlie Beach.
But Eva was on a mission to improve her Australian ranking after finishing 42nd in the 2011 National series.
Her target was to sail smart and focus her tactical skills on finishing the regatta in the top 30 she achieved her goal finishing 25th overall and the 5th best female behind Lola Stoodley, Jaime Swalvey, Annabelle Davies and Sarah Kirke.
Remember where you were in 1983 when Australia won the America’s Cup? Remember the song….. “I come from a land downunder!” Now is your opportunity to experience the thrill and excitement of America’s Cup racing – by getting out on the water and under sail on board Alan Bond’s KA5 Australia.
During the Newcastle Australia Day festivities, America’s Cup sailing experiences will be taking place. Visit the Australian 12m Historic Trust at the Newcastle Maritime Museum and sign-up for our $199 membership and you can join our crews as we take to the water in pursuit of the America’s Cup history. Be quick as space is limited.
Don’t miss out! Pre-book your sailing membership by calling 0415 577 724 or 0414 462 663, or email: membership@australian12m.com
You can take the helm steering a course for victory, man the grinders as you tack and gybe. Get on board and create history on Newcastle Harbour, sailing the legendary KA5 Australia and KA14 Steak n Kidney – Stars n Stripes and Dennis Conner not included!
The KA5 Australia and KA14 Steak n Kidney will be on show at the Newcastle Maritime Museum wharves, Australia Day, where you can take a step back in time and experience the thrill and excitement of 12 metre America’s Cup racing of the 1980′s.
Both yachts are owned and operated by the Australian 12m Historic Trust, an all volunteer organisation formed for the purpose of acquiring, restoring and preserving Australia’s former 12 metre America’s Cup racing yachts.
The two 19 metre KA5 Australia and KA14 Steak n Kidney are warhorses of Australia’s many challenges in the famed America’s Cup during the 1970’s and 1980’s. They were constructed under the 12 metre design rule and represent an era of America’s Cup racing when the competing yachts were elegant and fast.
“This is an incredible opportunity for members of the public to experience our America’s Cup history – hands on”, said Benjamin Morgan, President of the Australian 12m Historic Trust.
“Both the KA5 Australia and KA14 Steak n Kidney will be open to the public for inspection. There will be a $5 cover-charge, which goes towards the maintenance, restoration and preservation of these two iconic yachts.”, he said.
The Australian 12m Historic Trust is an all volunteer organisation. You can become a member by contacting us on mobile; 0415 577 724 or visiting; http://www.australian12m.com
For further information, or for interviews contact;
Mr Benjamin Morgan
President, Australian 12m Historic Trust
Mobile: 0415 577 724
By Ian Grant.
When Australia’s SB3 sports boat crew of skipper Glenn Bourke, Rod Jones and Greg Macallansmith finished a close 4th in the 2011 World championship in England they made a personal commitment to win a medal at the 2012 series at Hamilton Island later this year.
They have plans to set the benchmark in Australian fleet racing at the 2012 Australian championship on the tricky River Derwent next month before contesting the Queensland championship during the Southport Yacht Club Sail Paradise regatta in March.
In actual fact their sailing wet suits will have little time to dry out with the Club Marine Blue racing team nominated to contest all of the major class regattas in Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland with the month of May the only period left vacant in their racing diary.
The trio of talented one-design sports boat sailors were in brilliant form when they recorded a runaway win in the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week series on the windy Dent Passage course last August.
Glenn Bourke a former Australian Olympic Laser class helmsman and CEO of the international standard Hamilton Island resort expressed his skills with his Sunshine Coast crewmates Rod Jones and Greg Macallansmith has set a promising challenge in place to end the high performance English sailors domination at the past four World championships.
This will not be an easy assignment but the Club Marine Blue crew promise to press home a decisive local course advantage when the first World championship to be decided in the Southern Hemisphere is contested in the warm tropical Whitsunday Islands from December 12-20.
Meanwhile the exciting standard of fleet racing in Australia has attracted the attention of the exceptionally talented skippers Nathan Outteridge and Matthew Belcher who have been selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Olympic regatta in London later this year.
Both skippers have shown an interest in being on the starting line at the 2012 World championship with Matthew Belcher and his 470 class Olympic team mate Malcolm Page gaining valuable fresh wind sailing experience during the 2011 Queensland championship at Hamilton Island in August.
The high performance Club Marine crew are excited about the opportunity to race against a number of the World’s high profile sailors including the Olympians Nathan Outteridge and Matthew Belcher and World Dragon class champion Nick Rogers from Tasmania plus the defending champion Geoff Carveth of England.
After winning the State championship in August Glenn Bourke said “We were happy with a strong result from a fresh wind regatta which tested our skill and endurance”.
“However that result is history and our attention will now be focused on being physically and mentally prepared to be on the pace for the World championship”.
That long campaign starts in the cooler latitudes of Tasmania next month where local idol Nick Rogers is expected to be the pacesetter when the strong fleet of SB3 sailors test their tactical reputations to become the 2012 Australian champion.
The presenters and crew from Channel 10’s ‘Places We Go’ enjoyed a day of sailing on the beautifulNoosaRiverwith
Noosa’s Youthsail instructors to show case the beautifulNoosaRiverand surrounds and the largest Sailing Program in the Country.
Round the World Sailor – Jessie Martin and AFL footballer – Clint Bizzell are presenters for Places We Go, now in its 4th season,
joined the Noosa Youthsail instructors Ali Blundell and Ryan Palk
to spend the day sailing in the McDonalds – Noosaville sponsored Youth Development Blazer 23.
Picture perfect weather provided a wonderful backdrop as the Blazer 23 weaved in and out of the Youthsail Holiday Program dinghy’s between the Noosa Yacht & Rowing Club andNoosaHeadsWoodBay.
The crew swapped stories and talked about the benefits of the wonderful sport of sailing for kids. The Youthsail program at Noosa delivers over 12000 lessons per year including around 2000 in their Access Disabled Program and has been a finalist in the Australian Yachting Awards for the last 2 years running.
Ryan Palk will be leaving next month for the European Laser series whilst Ali Blundell will be sailing with Troy Forrest and Todd McVay competing at the SB3 Victorian State Champs inGeelongfollowed by the SB3 National Champs inHobartas a lead up to the World Championships in December.
SunshineCoastDestination CEO, Steve Cooper added “Sunshine Coast Destination Ltd (SCDL) is excited to welcome and host Channel 10’s Places We Go program on theSunshineCoast. The crew have been capturing the more adventurous attractions in our region including the iconic Noosa Yacht and Rowing Club with presenter Jesse Martin taking to the waters with some of the up and coming younger local sailing talent. Due to be televised in March, the program will provide a perfect boost to the Club in exposure and value for the wider Noosa region moving into the 2012 holiday season.”
By Ian Grant.
Teenage Whitsunday Sailing Club 420 class sailors Klaus Lorenz and Ollie Annear overcame the important lack of class experience to finish 10th in the OAMPS Australian Youth championship on the windy Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron courses earlier this month.
Klaus has always shown exceptional talent with a dedicated training program to climb the ranks in the Australian Optimist Dinghy class and was not out of his depth steering his dinghy Drag Queen to a deserved top ten result.
He had a soul searching decision to make regarding his future career after finishing with the Bronze Medal at the Australian Optimist Championships hosted by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in 2011.
The time had arrived for the talented tropical water sailor to step up to a class which would not only offer a competitive one-design racing environment but also provide the young skipper and his long term school mate Ollie Annear with the opportunity to race against the best 420 crews.
Because of their age they had that Optimist dinghy racing with the Whitsunday Sailing Club fleet was over and accepted the challenge of combining and improving their individual skills in making sure they were on the pace in the Olympic trainer 420 class.
Both Klaus and Ollie were excited after announcing the decision in August and just five months later they gave notice that Drag Queen was on the pace in spite of training alone on Pioneer Bay.
“Racing in the 420 class was an easy decision to make, however both of us understand the challenges that are ahead but we are young and prepared to do the hard yards”. Klaus Lorenz said last August.
Klaus and Ollie are not only school friends but great mates with a personal dedication to help each other to become recognized as North Queensland’s best young sailors.
Judging by the results of finishing 8th in the Open Australian championship and 10th in the OAMPS Youth championship the Drag Queen crew are destined to achieve their goals in 2012.
They have learnt that boat preparation and endless hours of training to improve their boat skills have overcome the lack of racing regularly in big fleets.
Meanwhile the testing waters of Pioneer Bay will become the important test bench for the promising 420 class racing team who will be focusing their careers on becoming selected to represent Australia at a future World Youth championship.
By Bronwen Ince
Australia’s leading professional yacht race manager, Denis Thompson, has been confirmed as Race Director for Sail Paradise, the summer offshore regatta which will be staged by Southport Yacht Club, on the Gold Coast, from March 21 to 25.
At the same time, dynamic and innovative marine sculptress and artist, Jo Wooler, of Mojo Creations, has completed the magnificent ‘Sail Paradise’ perpetual trophy out of polished marine grade stainless steel. The impressive award is styled around the shape of a billowing gennaker and is mounted on a timber base which embraces the surge of the sea.
Queensland offshore sailing legend, Bob Robertson, already has his name on the trophy as the winner of the inaugural Sail Paradise regatta with his yacht, Cracklin’ Rosie.
Sail Paradise is evolving as ‘THE’ exciting new regatta in southeast Queensland. It caters for the widest possible range of sailboats – from offshore racing keelboats and cruising yachts to multihulls and sport boats.
After enjoying the inaugural Sail Paradise regatta so much, there is no holding back Bruce Absolon this year. He has already entered his Volvo 60, Nikon–Spirit of the Maid, declaring that as well as simply wanting to sail in such a satisfying series, he will use Sail Paradise as a warm-up for the Brisbane to Gladstone race, starting April 6.
The rapidly expanding SB3 sport boat class has nominated Sail Paradise for its Queensland championship, and already the man behind the class in Australia, Rod Jones, has entered his boat, Club Marine.
The offshore course area for Sail Paradise is considered to be one of the best for yacht racing in Australia. The majority of the courses will be set just off the surfline of the Gold Coast’s famous golden beaches, while the distance races for the keelboats will see them sail a stimulating and challenging passage south to Cook Island, on the Queensland/NSW border, and return.
Southport Yacht Club is well recognised as being the friendliest yacht club on Australia’s east coast, and regatta organisers will be out to ensure that this reputation is retained during Sail Paradise. Apart from there being an entertaining social agenda planned for the club, families and friends accompanying competitors will have the opportunity to experience the many and varied attractions of the region – from the unspoiled natural beauty of the hinterland through to the beaches and some of the world’s best theme parks.
The Notice of Race and entry form are on the regatta website – www.sailparadise.com.au
Sail Paradise 2012 is supported by Gold Coast City Council and Gold Coast Tourism.
Image Captions
1) Jo Wooler, of Mojo Creations, hands over the spectacular Sail Paradise Trophy to Southport Yacht Club Commodore, Rob Mundle. (Image: Southport Yacht Club)
2) The waters off the Gold Coast’s magnificent golden beaches are among the best you will find for an offshore regatta. (Image: Gold Coast Tourism)
Released: January 11, 2012
By Ian Grant. Black Jack the Peter Harburg owned and Mark Bradford skippered maxi-chaser is poised to set a fast course time in the Queensland Cruising Yacht Club Surf to City Ocean race this weekend. The impressive speed sailing yacht has set her best times when racing in moderate to fresh spinnaker sailing winds and given a forecast of 20-25 knot South East Trade winds stands to challenge the present race record of 7 hours 10 minutes 46 seconds set by the catamaran Flat Chat in 2002. Designed by the successful American loft of John Riechel and Jim Pugh Black Jack named after World motor racing champion Sir Jack Brabham a person friend of Peter Harburg has already secured line honours wins in the Brisbane to Gladstone and Brisbane to Keppel races which has naturally delighted her popular owner. Black Jack which was laid up on the hard stand over the past 8 months while Peter Harburg pursed his motor car racing interests in Europe will use the Surf to City race as a full ‘dress rehearsal’ for the 2012 Brisbane to Gladstone Race starting on Good Friday April 6th. Her crew including the successful Investec Loyal Rolex Sydney Hobart Race line honours winning crew members Mark Bradford and Vaughan Prentice completed their first training session on Moreton Bay last Friday and are fully prepared to express their speed sailing skill. “We have re-stepped the mast and are ready to go racing again”. Peter Harburg Said. As expected Black Jack is strongly favoured to post another line honours win ahead of the match racing Farr 40’s Lambourdini (David Lambourne) and Bribie Star (Ken Down). But her crew will face a challenge of consistently recording a boat speed in excess of 12.55 knots over the tactically demanding open ocean leg of the course from the Southport Seaway to the North East Channel entrance and the tricky final stage to the finish line off the Fisheries Beacon in Bramble Bay. Both the principal skipper Mark Bradford and the crew have the proved potential to set a new record but the result rests with the prevailing forecast which appears promising. There is little doubt that Black Jack will leave a white water wake for her smaller challengers to follow with interest focusing on the match racing duel between the almost identical Farr 40’s Lambourdini and Bribie Star who officials nominate as the most likely to fill the minor line honours places behind Black Jack. Hopefully the promise of an ideal trade wind forecast will be set in place to provide the fleet with a fast spinnaker sailing breeze to set a form guide in place for the Qantas Link sponsored 308 nautical mile Brisbane to Gladstone Race over the Easter Weekend.SPINNAKER TALES.
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012