Whitsunday Sailing Club will set another milestone in the colourful history of Queensland sailing when they host the 2009 Great Whitsunday Fun race over their Pioneer Bay course on Saturday.
This traditional race will again attract another impressive fleet including the fast lane sailing catamarans to the majestic square rigger Solway Lass.
The race around fixed marks on Pioneer Bay is unique in Australia with all the crews simply understanding that they are competing for the most worthless trophy in the sport – an empty bottle of rum mounted on a slab of Mackay rainforest cedar.
But for the past 33 years ever since The Dahlia and the former pearling lugger Torres Herald staged their ‘grudge match’ for a bottle of rum the colourful sails and the tradition of simple sailing fun have been set.
Again the fun factor will become a major priority when the crews formulate their tactical strategy on having their yachts name engraved alongside some famed yachts including Australia’s inaugural Americas Cup challenger Gretel and Sydney Hobart line honours winners the maxi yachts Apollo and Ragamuffin.
This year The Great Whitsunday Fun Race will present a ‘grudge match’ of a different kind when the Millar twins Peter at the helm of the fast lane sprint machine Cynophobe and Scott co-steering the Australian Multihull ocean racing champion Rum Raider duel for prestigious line honours trophy.
Peter Millar and sailing master Dave Chittleborough presently hold the ‘Gun Boat’ trophy and have made no secret about their intention to retain the title leaving the Rum Raider crew with the challenge to chase their white water wake over the Pioneer Bay course on Saturday.
Both Peter Millar and his team of thrill seeking sailors will be aiming for their fourth consecutive line honours win and are well prepared to answer any expected challenge from the equally determined Rum Raider crew.
Interest will also focus on the battle for the fastest conventional keel yacht trophy and the team’s trophy when the battle lines are drawn between traditional rivals Idle Time (Kevin Fogarty), Sandpiper (Colin Pruden) and Wobbly Boot (Craig Piccinelli).
All three crews have a preferred wind strength and the result will hinge on the weather conditions with Wobbly Boot favoured in the stronger wind range.
Charles Wallis and Seddon Cripps who co steered Reignition to win the Performance Handicap trophy in the 2008 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week will be also race tuned to challenge for the fastest monohull trophy.
Reignition showed she is on the pace with a top result in the Sun Ferries Magnetic Island Race Week on Cleveland Bay.
They were particularly impressive scoring a 2-2 in the opening two races but crashed to a fourth when they broke the line at the start and added further damage to their point score and individual reputations when they converted the spinnaker into a ‘prawn net’ during race three.
“That was a race we would prefer to forget” Said Seddon Cripps.