Airlie Beach Qld Saturday August 13 2011.
Team Vodafone added another impressive course time to their log book when the power sailing trimaran completed the Meridian Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week 34 n/ml Saddleback Island race with a 14.81 knot average.
Skipper Simon Hull supported by a crew of 11 clever sail handlers left their smaller rivals again struggling in her white water wake after a relatively soft wind start on Pioneer Bay.
For a brief time the super fast trimaran which officially races under the famed New Zealand Yacht Squadron burgee seemed to be temporarily ‘glued to the water’ but that soon changed when Team Vodafone flew her windward hull in the stronger wind beyond Grimston Point.
She produced another impressive wave kissing ride for her crew on the spinnaker run north to Saddleback Island where the sail trimmers heated up the gears on the ‘Coffee Grinders’ (winches) while Team Vodafone continued to stretch her lead over the fleet.
They finally completed the course with an elapsed time of 2 hours 17 minutes 45 seconds and just under an hour behind the Port Douglas catamaran Mal Richardson’s Malice with another 20 minutes to the cleverly sailed Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron trimaran Trilogy skippered by Keith Glover.
However while the Team Vodafone crew registered another impressive line honours win her elapsed time failed by a little over 10 minutes to record a rare line and corrected handicap result.
Keith Glover who has raced a lot of successful miles with the small tri Trilogy finished with the fastest corrected handicap 10 minutes 31 seconds in advance of Team Vodafone while the Victorian skipper Tim Pepperell filed third another 6 minutes 6 seconds of the pace.
After two races Trilogy (2-1) 3 points leads Team Vodafone (3-2) 5 points while the local Whitsunday Sailing Club catamaran the Peter Berry skippered J’Ouvert 1-5 6 points holds third overall.
By Ian Grant.