By Ian Grant.
Save Our Seas solo circumnavigator Ian Thomson will have the opportunity to share the experience of sailing around Australia alone when he co-skippers the famed Brindabella on a record challenge later this year.
Thomson a proud member of the Whitsunday Sailing Club endured the physical torment and associated stress when he set the solo record of just over 42 days last year.
Both he and Brindabella’s owner Jim Cooney will head the challenge to chase down the present Around Australia record of 37 days, 1 hour, 23 minutes and 57 seconds.
Remarkably the present record rests with Sydney skipper David Pescud and a crew of six all are members of the Sailor’s With Disabilities Ocean racing team.
They expressed their exceptional determination sailing through extremely cold and brutal wind and sea conditions to successfully complete the 6,500 nautical mile voyage.
The Brindabella challenge will face similar conditions which is planned to commence with the first favourable weather window in May.
Meanwhile the famous pocket-maxi which has broken and still holds more major ocean race records than any other yacht will have a full scale evaluation trial in the 2011 Brisbane to Gladstone race starting on Good Friday April 22.
Despite having the Sydney to Mooloolaba and Sydney to Southport race records and the fastest Rolex Sydney Hobart Race time by a conventionally ballasted keel yacht this will be Brindabella’s maiden Brisbane to Gladstone race.
However while Brindabella has proved her speed in spinnaker sailing in strong wind and wave surfing conditions she is unlikely to challenge the super fast 20 hour 24 minute 50 second record established by the Grant Wharington skippered Skandia Wild Thing in 2004.
But the 308 n/ml race will provide an interesting shake down trial as her crew prepare to take on the far more demanding 6,500 nautical mile challenge to circumnavigate the coastal seaboard of mainland Australia and Tasmania in less than 37 days.
The required average speed of just over 7.3 knots is certainly not beyond the mighty Brindabella but as Ian Thomson knows from the many challenges he endured alone last year that the ‘on watch’ crew will need a lot of luck with the weather to keep the challenge ahead of the clock.
His weather recordings from 12 months ago may only serve as a guide following the long and wet monsoon season however Ian Thomson remains confident of becoming the first Australian deep sea sailor to have the solo and crewed Around Australian records officially stamped in his log later this year.