A leading light of Australian motor racing, Roland Dane, has purchased one of the world’s most successful small ocean racing yachts with the aim of taking top honours at XXXX Sail Paradise 2012, which will be staged by Southport Yacht Club off the Gold Coast from March 21 – 25.
And, to give his campaign the best possible chance of success, he has called on one of Australia’s top offshore racing sailors, former Sydney to Hobart race record-holder Michael Spies, to step aboard as project manager and sailing master.
Dane, who heads the Australian V8 championship winning motorsport team, Team Vodaphone, is a relative newcomer to offshore sailing, but he obviously harbours a determination to win on the water that is akin to his efforts in motor racing.
The yacht he has purchased and renamed Jessandra II is a Corby 36 design that has been prominent in regattas in Europe and Australia. Launched as Rosie in 2004 and re-named Rockall III when she was campaigned in Australia, this small yacht boasts an impressive list of firsts, including class winner in the 2011 Commodore’s Cup in the UK, and outright wins in the UK and German IRC class championships and at Cork Week. Last year she was second in one of the world’s major long-distance offshore events, the Rolex Middle Sea Race.
‘Our intention is to see Jessandra II as the most successful ocean racing yacht under 40ft in Australia,’ Spies said, ‘and there’s no better place to start that campaign than at Sail Paradise.’
Following XXXX Sail Paradise, Jessandra II will compete in the Brisbane to Gladstone Race at Easter then be prepared for the Audi IRC Australian Championship at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week in August.
Organisers of Sail Paradise confirmed this week that Queensland’s favourite beer, XXXX, would be the naming rights sponsor for the regatta.
‘It is wonderful to have XXXX back with us as a sponsor for a major regatta,’ said Southport Yacht Club’s CEO and former commodore, Neale Hollier. ‘They were behind the highly successful XXXX offshore series this club staged more than 20 years ago, so we look forward to enjoying similar success with them through Sail Paradise.’
Neale Hollier also confirmed that the social program for XXXX Sail Paradise was destined to match the pleasure that will come for the crews when racing their yachts along the shoreline of the Gold Coast’s famous golden beaches: ‘We’ve even planned a big beach party for the sailors, their families and friends this year. It will be something not to be missed.’
XXXX Sail Paradise 2012 will signal the opening of Tourism Queensland’s Season of Sailing.
For more information on XXXX Sail Paradise go to the regatta website, www.sailparadise.com.au
or contact Bronwen Ince at Southport Yacht Club: (07) 5591 3500.
Image caption:
Hi res images are available. Contact Bronwen Ince enquiries@southportyachtclub.com.au
Veteran Gold Coast sailor Colin Metcher (74) will again test his personal endurance at the tiller of his sports skiff Cool Change when the exciting fleet of mixed class dinghies and catamarans contest The Great Race on Saturday February 25.
This unique and exciting sailing challenge ranked among Australia’s most demanding small boat races again promises to sort the best from the rest over the 37.8 nautical mile (70 km) course from the The Southport Yacht Club Hollywell to finish off The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron on Brisbane’s Waterloo Bay.
Colin Metcher who won his first major trophy The South of Perth Yacht Club championship 58 years ago has an impressive list of International and National awards showcased in his personal trophy cabinet.
In fact he has sailed that many miles his race rivals believe he has salt water in his blood stream and turtle-neck barnacles growing on his skin.
His personal career resume includes winning the World Hydra catamaran championship plus a class win in the prestigious Hoek van Holland marathon in Europe.
To say he has a personal passion for the sport of sailing is an understatement as he has focused his career on planning and competing in major marathon events in West Australia before settling on Queensland’s Gold Coast where he as a principal organizer with Southport Yacht Club mate David Jorganson set the safety procedures in place for the inaugural Great Race seven years ago.
“Sure sailing is my passion and I’m proud of it” He said when pondering over the thought of subjecting his 74 year old muscles to another test of physical torture.
He has a good idea on what to expect, being the only skipper to have the distinction of completing all seven marathons since the first of these classic marathon races in 2005.
Further information is available from Colin Metcher on 0459 122 090.
By Ian Grant.
Whitsunday Sailing Club despite being geographically disadvantaged from the main stream of Queensland sailing has maintained a strong investment in attracting the local youth sailors to compete in class racing on Pioneer Bay.
Club Flag Officers have always encouraged the new generation members to enjoy their dinghy sailing irrespective of the results.
Their well managed try sailing days combined with the encouragement and advice provided by senior club members has provided a strong bond with the Optimist dinghy sailing team who recently contested the 2012 Australian Championship at Brisbane’s Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron.
Several of the young Whitsunday Sailing Club Optimist racing team including 10 year old Hamish Swain racing for the first time at the national level experienced some serious challenges to maintain clear sailing space in the big fleet.
However they all were vastly improved individual sailors at the end of the regatta with Hamish Swain being rewarded as the best National sailor in his age group while the talented Eva Lorenz again expressed who skill to be selected in the Australian team to contest the 2012 New Zealand championships.
These results remain as a deserved reward for the team and the sailing training under present coach and former Australian Optimist championship Bronze Medallist Klaus Lorenz.
Klaus Lorenz basically self taught has a personal understanding of the challenges which the young tropical water sailors face but he represents an example that if you commit the time to endless hours on the ‘training track’ the results will dramatically improve.
Naturally he has spent a lot of time with his younger sister Eva making sure her career remains on track but he is similarly interested in being sure all the team of happy Optimist sailors continue to benefit building their skill and confidence.
Both Eva Lorenz and Hamish Swain have now returned to their respective class rooms to enjoy the admiration from their school mates.
However shortly after the school bag is packed at the end of the day they will enter the nautical class room at the Whitsunday Sailing Club to continue with their important training sessions.
Black Jack
By Ian Grant.
Peter Harburg the popular owner of the champion Queensland Ocean racing yacht Black Jack is preparing to spend the early part of Easter paying another personal tribute to his late father Clive Harburg.
Peter who will stand watch on the deck of the speed sailing Black Jack will have fond memories of his father who passed away aged 90 on July 24 2002 when Black Jack contests the start of the 2012 Qantas Link Brisbane to Gladstone Race on Good Friday April 6th.
His father the famed ABC sport commentator was assigned to broadcast the start of the inaugural Brisbane to Gladstone Race from the Woody Point Pier on Good Friday morning 64 years ago.
“I remember the occasion very well although I was a small boy enjoying a day out walking along the pier with my father”. Peter Harburg said recently.
Now a little over six decades later Peter Harburg has formed his Black Jack racing team to carry on the strong family bond with Queensland’s premier blue water classic.
Black Jack a super fast American designed and built 20.3m pocket-maxi named after personal friend and Formula One World champion Sir Jack Brabham OBE has already claimed a special place in Gladstone Race history winning the line honours trophy in 2009 and 2010 while finishing second last year to the larger Peter Millard skippered Lahana.
The exciting Black Jack raced under principal helmsman Mark Bradford and the Mooloolaba yachts Audi Centre Sunshine Coast (Rod Jones) and the Bob Robertson skippered Lunchtime Legend head another impressive fleet.
Audi Centre Sunshine Coast is the former 2006 line honours winner Heaven Can Wait which has been recently modified for the dual Audi Australian championship winning skipper Rod Jones to set a future Rolex Sydney Hobart challenge in their race diary.
The high performance OceanBuro ocean racing team have focused their attention on contesting the 308 n/ml Brisbane to Gladstone race followed by the Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Race in early August as a lead in to entering the 628 n/ml Rolex Sydney Hobart in 2013.
Meanwhile both skipper Rod Jones and his equally talented crew including World champion Etchells sailor Bucky Smith and Queensland Academy of Sport sailing coach Adrian Finglas will continue with the required learning curve to have the exciting Hugh Welbourn designed sloop on the pace for her serious ocean racing challenge.
They will no doubt be hoping for a fast spinnaker sailing trade wind forecast to make sure that the revamped Heaven Can Wait has the speed to beat her 2006 line honours winning performance of 35 hours 16 minutes 32 seconds.
Race veteran Bob Robertson a dual winner of the 64 year old Courier Mail Cup with Sellar’s Witchcraft 11 and Corroboree has been nominated among the corrected handicap favourites with his new Beneteau First 40 Lunchtime Legend.
However he is not prepared to place the traditional bets of Bundaberg Rum on the result until the final entries which promise to include last year’s winner the 2012 Audi Australian champion Hooligan are declared by race director Herb Prendergast.
http://www.qldyachting.org.au/event.asp?ID=44444&format=popup
By Ian Grant.
Eva Lorenz the happy Whitsunday Sailing Club Optimist sailor now has a better understanding of her physical endurance following the Australian championship on Brisbane’s Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Waterloo Bay courses.
She has endured some relatively tough physical tests during her career but very few can compare with the day after day grind of racing which tested the heavy wind sailing skills of the 118 competitors racing for the 2012 Open Australian championship.
The boisterous south east breeze and the associated current flow from the January king tides resulted in the race course presenting a serious test of heavy wind sailing in the 15 race championship with the open Gold Medal resulting in an outstanding performance by Victorian teenager Jack Graves while New Zealand skippers Alistair Gifford and Lola Stoodley claimed the minor medals.
This normal summer weather system presented all of the solo dinghy skippers with a supreme test of physical endurance when they were required to lean hard in the hiking straps for long periods to master the sloppy seaway.
Whenever the wind gusts above 12 knots the waters of Waterloo Bay have a defined history of testing the sailor’s tactical and physical endurance and this championship which resulted in a deserved for Jack Graves also identified a wealth of talent in the fleet.
Not every young sailor was expecting to be presented with racing in the physically tough elements but those who managed to start smart and sail with a relatively dry bilge when shunting the snub bow into the corrugated sea surface typically known as the Waterloo Slop generally protected their reputations.
For Eva Lorenz the challenge was totally different to club racing in small fleets on the tropical warm waters off Airlie Beach.
But Eva was on a mission to improve her Australian ranking after finishing 42nd in the 2011 National series.
Her target was to sail smart and focus her tactical skills on finishing the regatta in the top 30 she achieved her goal finishing 25th overall and the 5th best female behind Lola Stoodley, Jaime Swalvey, Annabelle Davies and Sarah Kirke.
By Ian Grant.
When Australia’s SB3 sports boat crew of skipper Glenn Bourke, Rod Jones and Greg Macallansmith finished a close 4th in the 2011 World championship in England they made a personal commitment to win a medal at the 2012 series at Hamilton Island later this year.
They have plans to set the benchmark in Australian fleet racing at the 2012 Australian championship on the tricky River Derwent next month before contesting the Queensland championship during the Southport Yacht Club Sail Paradise regatta in March.
In actual fact their sailing wet suits will have little time to dry out with the Club Marine Blue racing team nominated to contest all of the major class regattas in Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland with the month of May the only period left vacant in their racing diary.
The trio of talented one-design sports boat sailors were in brilliant form when they recorded a runaway win in the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week series on the windy Dent Passage course last August.
Glenn Bourke a former Australian Olympic Laser class helmsman and CEO of the international standard Hamilton Island resort expressed his skills with his Sunshine Coast crewmates Rod Jones and Greg Macallansmith has set a promising challenge in place to end the high performance English sailors domination at the past four World championships.
This will not be an easy assignment but the Club Marine Blue crew promise to press home a decisive local course advantage when the first World championship to be decided in the Southern Hemisphere is contested in the warm tropical Whitsunday Islands from December 12-20.
Meanwhile the exciting standard of fleet racing in Australia has attracted the attention of the exceptionally talented skippers Nathan Outteridge and Matthew Belcher who have been selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Olympic regatta in London later this year.
Both skippers have shown an interest in being on the starting line at the 2012 World championship with Matthew Belcher and his 470 class Olympic team mate Malcolm Page gaining valuable fresh wind sailing experience during the 2011 Queensland championship at Hamilton Island in August.
The high performance Club Marine crew are excited about the opportunity to race against a number of the World’s high profile sailors including the Olympians Nathan Outteridge and Matthew Belcher and World Dragon class champion Nick Rogers from Tasmania plus the defending champion Geoff Carveth of England.
After winning the State championship in August Glenn Bourke said “We were happy with a strong result from a fresh wind regatta which tested our skill and endurance”.
“However that result is history and our attention will now be focused on being physically and mentally prepared to be on the pace for the World championship”.
That long campaign starts in the cooler latitudes of Tasmania next month where local idol Nick Rogers is expected to be the pacesetter when the strong fleet of SB3 sailors test their tactical reputations to become the 2012 Australian champion.
The presenters and crew from Channel 10’s ‘Places We Go’ enjoyed a day of sailing on the beautifulNoosaRiverwith
Noosa’s Youthsail instructors to show case the beautifulNoosaRiverand surrounds and the largest Sailing Program in the Country.
Round the World Sailor – Jessie Martin and AFL footballer – Clint Bizzell are presenters for Places We Go, now in its 4th season,
joined the Noosa Youthsail instructors Ali Blundell and Ryan Palk
to spend the day sailing in the McDonalds – Noosaville sponsored Youth Development Blazer 23.
Picture perfect weather provided a wonderful backdrop as the Blazer 23 weaved in and out of the Youthsail Holiday Program dinghy’s between the Noosa Yacht & Rowing Club andNoosaHeadsWoodBay.
The crew swapped stories and talked about the benefits of the wonderful sport of sailing for kids. The Youthsail program at Noosa delivers over 12000 lessons per year including around 2000 in their Access Disabled Program and has been a finalist in the Australian Yachting Awards for the last 2 years running.
Ryan Palk will be leaving next month for the European Laser series whilst Ali Blundell will be sailing with Troy Forrest and Todd McVay competing at the SB3 Victorian State Champs inGeelongfollowed by the SB3 National Champs inHobartas a lead up to the World Championships in December.
SunshineCoastDestination CEO, Steve Cooper added “Sunshine Coast Destination Ltd (SCDL) is excited to welcome and host Channel 10’s Places We Go program on theSunshineCoast. The crew have been capturing the more adventurous attractions in our region including the iconic Noosa Yacht and Rowing Club with presenter Jesse Martin taking to the waters with some of the up and coming younger local sailing talent. Due to be televised in March, the program will provide a perfect boost to the Club in exposure and value for the wider Noosa region moving into the 2012 holiday season.”
By Ian Grant.
Teenage Whitsunday Sailing Club 420 class sailors Klaus Lorenz and Ollie Annear overcame the important lack of class experience to finish 10th in the OAMPS Australian Youth championship on the windy Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron courses earlier this month.
Klaus has always shown exceptional talent with a dedicated training program to climb the ranks in the Australian Optimist Dinghy class and was not out of his depth steering his dinghy Drag Queen to a deserved top ten result.
He had a soul searching decision to make regarding his future career after finishing with the Bronze Medal at the Australian Optimist Championships hosted by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in 2011.
The time had arrived for the talented tropical water sailor to step up to a class which would not only offer a competitive one-design racing environment but also provide the young skipper and his long term school mate Ollie Annear with the opportunity to race against the best 420 crews.
Because of their age they had that Optimist dinghy racing with the Whitsunday Sailing Club fleet was over and accepted the challenge of combining and improving their individual skills in making sure they were on the pace in the Olympic trainer 420 class.
Both Klaus and Ollie were excited after announcing the decision in August and just five months later they gave notice that Drag Queen was on the pace in spite of training alone on Pioneer Bay.
“Racing in the 420 class was an easy decision to make, however both of us understand the challenges that are ahead but we are young and prepared to do the hard yards”. Klaus Lorenz said last August.
Klaus and Ollie are not only school friends but great mates with a personal dedication to help each other to become recognized as North Queensland’s best young sailors.
Judging by the results of finishing 8th in the Open Australian championship and 10th in the OAMPS Youth championship the Drag Queen crew are destined to achieve their goals in 2012.
They have learnt that boat preparation and endless hours of training to improve their boat skills have overcome the lack of racing regularly in big fleets.
Meanwhile the testing waters of Pioneer Bay will become the important test bench for the promising 420 class racing team who will be focusing their careers on becoming selected to represent Australia at a future World Youth championship.