Mooloolaba Yacht Club dual Audi Australian IRC Ocean racing champion Rod Jones will contest the 348 nautical mile Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Race on August 6th.
Meanwhile both skipper and crew continue with a work in progress program to ensure the yet to be raced Alegria IV will be all ship shape to test her boat speed against an impressive line up including their former Australian champion Acadia now owned by Keppel Bay sailor Tim McCall.
The design pedigree of Alegria IV suggests she will be an impressively fast yacht and will need to be fast to finish with a top result in her maiden race against a fleet which includes the 2009 line honours record breaker and IRC handicap winner Black Jack (Mark Bradford) and the 2010 Brisbane to Gladstone champion Wedgetail (Bill Wild).
Both skipper Rod Jones and crew have the success of racing in the longer distance coastal passage races to be rated among the top handicap contenders while a State of Origin war on the water will highlight the 348 n/ml match race for line honours between Queensland’s Black Jack and the near identical New South Wales Reichel Pugh 66 Wild Oats X skippered by Mark Richards.
Black Jack winner of back to back line honours in the Brisbane to Gladstone and Brisbane to Keppel races has the track record but her crew will face a supreme test to retain their undefeated record in Queensland’s major blue water classics.