Maurice Drent Boating Services trophy Race 3 on Pioneer Bay

10:35 PM Sun 21 Jun 2009 GMT

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Mystery surrounds the reversal of form shown by skipper Col Forster when he helmed Esoteric to a tied eighthth place in the important third race of the Maurice Drent Boating Services trophy series on Pioneer Bay last week.

Esoteric which proved to be the pacesetter winning the first two heats impressively in similar wind and sea conditions appeared to have the all angle handicap rated speed to continue her domination over the competitive Whitsunday Sailing Club fleet but that was 'blown away' in the 12 knot breeze.

The race proved to be a personal triumph for Colin Pruden who won the head of the table setting at meal time when he steered Sandpiper to a 'grudge match' victory over his arch rival and father-in-law John Galloway.

They became intensely involved in their own line honours match race for the minor places when Jeff Brown and crew combined cleverly to master the warm tropical trade wind to seal a grip on the fastest course time with 007. Brown had sailed a clever tactical course which appeared to have been consistently fast to outpace their .820 time correction factor when they completed the sprint race course in 52 minutes.

007 had provisionally salvaged her handicap when she won the line honours by a comfortable 2 minute 15 seconds over the John Galloway skippered Queensland Marine Services which was forced to relentlessly apply a tight wind shadowing cover on Sandpiper to win the private family line honours match race by 14 seconds.

But any chance of the 007 crew enjoying a drink at the dock to celebrate a line honours and corrected handicap victory were dashed when Colin Pruden exercised the advantage of his lower .781 handicap rating to claim a six second win over 007 while Queensland Marine Services (.798) was another 39 seconds off the pace.

However while all three crews sailed smart to deserve the rewards Col Forster's Esoteric crew still control the important points table with their 1-1-8.5 (10.5 pt) score.

Skipper Forster has been served with a warning that there is no margin for error in this competitive standard of fleet racing and must finish in the top five in the final to be assured of winning the 2009 Maurice Drent Boating Services Division 2 series.

As expected the Esoteric crew have automatically become the target for tactical attention with the main threat expected to be enforced by Queensland Marine Services 4-8-3 (15pts), Wobbly Boot (Craig Piccinelli) 5-4-7 (16pts) and Idle Time (Kevin Fogarty) 7-6-4 (17pts).

This trio have won a share of the monthly trophies and are keen to test the Esoteric sailing team when the sails are tensioned for what promises to be a spirited trophy decider.

Russel Watts will face a similar tactical challenge at the helm of Rastas in the Division 3 class final.

Rastas presently holds a 1-6-1 score and a four point lead over Tui Hergatt's Eliza but is also required to protect her point advantage with a finish in the top five.

by Ian Grant