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11:16 PM Tue 31 Mar 2009 GMT
Gladstone Race veteran Bob Robertson has his back to the wall to have his Farr 40 sloop Cracklin Rosie ready to meet the 11am start deadline for the 61st Brisbane to Gladstone blue water classic on Good Friday.
The Caloundra skipper who has the distinction of winning two Brisbane to Gladstone classics and finishing third overall in the gruelling Rolex Sydney Hobart Race with one of his many previous yachts Queensland Maid is known as a tenacious fighter but this may be one challenge he will lose.
His boat problem started last August when Cracklin Rosie and several other yachts including the 2008 Rolex Sydney Hobart champion Quest hit Surprise Rock during the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.
Cracklin Rosie and her embarrassed skipper and crew came off second best when the sloop suffered damage to her hull and rudder.
Last week the high performance racing yacht presented a forlorn image resting in a cradle on the hard stand at Keppel Bay Marina (Yeppoon), after Bob Robertson had discovered the leak during her delivery voyage to Brisbane.
'There was just too much water flowing in from the rudder post to consider the seaworthiness of yacht'.
'It's a problem that I could really do without and I've started to tick off the days to complete the repair and be on the start line by Good Friday April 10'.
'However the repair is in good hands with local boat builder and former Gladstone Race winner Mal White who has the experience to solve the problem, but then I will need a favourable weather window for the voyage to Brisbane' a concerned Bob Robertson said.
Finally the veteran skipper may see some light at the end of the tunnel with a recent change in the coastal weather pattern.
The southerly wind and huge seas which have tortured the barnacles on the exposed coastal rocks for the past six weeks have finally taken a rest and been replaced by calms and fickle winds.
This is the type of weather window that Bob Robertson needs to be on the start line and then prepare to defend his proud reputation against a high quality fleet of equally determined crews headed by the Black Jack combination and the defending Courier Mail Cup winner Quantum Racing, skippered by Ray Roberts of Sydney.
Peter Harburg's Black Jack skippered by the talented America's Cup sailor Mark Bradford completed a rare line and corrected time double in the longer Brisbane to Keppel race last July, before winning the line honours title over Wild Oats X at the 2008 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.
This form suggests Black Jack will retain her undefeated Queensland line honours title while Quantum Racing and her Victorian sister design, the Robert Hanna skippered Shogun, will feature in a spirited battle of ocean racing strategy to finish ahead of the top Queensland challengers including Kevin Miller's Bribie Star and her match race Farr 40 class rivals Elleven (David Elliott) Night Nurse (Russell McCart) and possibly Cracklin Rosie.
by Ian Grant
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