Olympic yachtsman to start Brisbane to Gladstone Race

7:28 AM Thu 9 Apr 2009 GMT

Triple Olympic yachtsman Ron Jenyns has accepted the invitation of a late call up to start the Brisbane to Gladstone Race from the deck of his charter vessel South Pacific ll tomorrow.

He accepted the role when Queensland Cruising Yacht Club Life Member Clarrie Noble was forced to stand down earlier today because of a family health crisis.

The experienced sea faring captain has a long history with the race and Queensland dinghy class sailing having won nine Australian Olympic Finn class championships besides representing Australia at the Olympic regattas in Rome Tokyo and Mexico City.

'I accept it as an honour to start the race', was his reply when approached by Race Director Herb Prendergast earlier today.

South Pacific ll will be protected by a barging buoy when her skipper fires the start signal for the historic 61st blue water classic at 11am tomorrow.

'We are not expecting any incidents in what should be another spectacular start' Herb Prendergast said.

There has been another downgrade in the weather forecast with the fleet now expected to start under spinnakers in a moderating and variable South East to Easterly breeze.

The softer wind system is not expected to alter the chance for the Brisbane sloop Black Jack to dominate the race for line honours.

However her owner Peter Harburg and principal helmsman and America's Cup sailor Mark Bradford could be forced to revise their tactical strategy to ward off the challenges from Graeme Wood in the Sydney Hobart Race bronze medallist Wot Now and the 2008 Gladstone race champion Ray Roberts and his Quantum Racing crew.

Black Jack expressed her exciting spinnaker sailing speed to complete the 628 n/ml Sydney Hobart Race with an impressive 13.3 knot average however her crew now hold little hope of completing the Gladstone Race with a similar average in the moderating weather system.

The latest forecast issued earlier this afternoon suggests the 48 yacht fleet representing Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland will experience winds between 18 to 20 knots for the first 42 mile leg to clear Moreton Bay and possibly light winds during the tactically demanding first night at sea.

by Ian Grant

Newsfeed supplied by