Gold Coast crew head Sportsboats - MMABRW

Gold Coast sail maker Graham Sheering has successfully applied his skill onto the waters of Pioneer Bay to lead the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week Sports Boat championship.

Sheering was short of a crew and invited his cousin Neil Sheering and Troy Ruston to join him in the limited space on the deck of the 'baby boat' Quantum Sails.

What the small 6 m yacht has lacked in size has not prevented the crew from becoming the giant killers of the championship which has attracted Australia's fastest including the former French Kiss Americas Cup sailor Pierre Gal in the New South Wales sprint machine Conquistador.

The super fast Conquistador left a white water wake on the sun drenched Pioneer Bay winning both races with exceptionally fast course times however her crew failed to generate enough pace to outsail her high 1.020 handicap rating leaving the .801 rated Quantum Sails to be the star performer.
'I thought it would be a good idea to go sailing again and bought the little tacker a few months ago'.

'She was a little tired and had been sitting on her road trailer just gathering dust. I guess it was a case of liking her lines'. Graham Sheering said.

Quantum sails had already won two major trophies before heading to Airlie Beach and her makeshift crew have carried on with that success scoring a second on Friday behind the Runaway Bay Yacht Club team mate Noel Leigh-Smith (Vivace) before taking a firm grip of the 'Bragging Rights' in today's perfect 15 knot trade winds to become the outright series leader with a 2-1-1 (4 point) score.

West Australian Heath Townsend skippering the Melges 24 Kaito remains in contact with a 4-2-7 13 point score, one point clear of Vivace 1-4-9 14 points.
Several angry (Protest) flags were flown on the course however they are not expected to alter the progressive results.

by Ian Grant