Curtis Skinner had good reason to leave his Laser Radial resting in the cradle over the Easter weekend.
The talented 18 year old who represented Australia at the 2009 Youth Worlds in Brazil has enthusiastically accepted a ‘bench’ place with the Peter Harburg Black Jack racing team.
Sure he will have to spend some time on the dock however he is prepared to accept being the youngest member of the team and to have access to some of the best sailing brains in the business including North Sails principals skipper Mark Bradford and main/trimmer Vaughan Prentice.
“Curtis Skinner is part of the future plans which Peter Harburg has in place to train and encourage local Queensland talent”. Mark Bradford said.
However while Curtis Skinner has remained loyal to the Black Jack ‘Battle Flag’ he was not prepared to spend Easter ashore and accepted crew role on Bill Wild’s Wedgetail.
The relatively young ocean racer handled the personal challenge like a seasoned veteran when Wedgetail became engaged in a drag race with the Bruce Absolon skippered Volvo 60 Nikon Spirit of the Maid while Black Jack power sailed away to secure back to back Gladstone Race line honours with a super fast 14.28knot average.
His Gladstone Race unfolded into a memorable experience when Nikon Spirit of the Maid and the smaller Wedgetail became involved in a tension packed match race to decide the minor places.
The result hung in the balance with Wedgetail finishing fast over the final metres of the 308 n/ml classic while Bruce Absolon looked nervously over his shoulder before claiming second by 1 second.
There was more excitement in store for the Wedgetail crew when they completed the course with the super fast corrected handicap of 34 hours 44 minutes 45 seconds to become the 62nd winner of the prestigious The Courier Mail Cup with a 9 minute 49 second advantage over Black Jack while Gladstone’s Jeff Paul skippered the Farr 30 RBS Morgan’s Immigrant to third place.
The result also allowed Cutis Skinner to claim a special place in Gladstone Race history as the youngest crewmember to win Queensland’s premier blue water classic.
By Ian Grant.