Sunrise wins Whitsunday Escape Trophy series race
A surprisingly light northerly wind tested the skill of the Whitsunday Sailing Club fleet when they battled for points in the Whitsunday Escape Trophy series on Pioneer Bay last week.
'Jeff Shipseys Sunrise - Elan 37'
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The rather lazy summer breeze had an element of twist in direction and rarely blew above 9 knots giving the more skilled light wind sailors a chance to feature.
Skipper Jeff Shipsey expressed his skill at the helm of Sunrise to maintain unmatched speed protecting his low .750 handicap correction factor to register a relatively comfortable 1 minute 9 second win from Jeff Brown (007) who just pipped the Harold Menelaus steered Treasure Vlll by one second for the minor places.
The one second margin proved valuable allowing Jeff Brown's 007 crew to maintain at 2 point lead in the Division 2 series with a 1-2 score while the battle for the minor places continue to intensify between Sunrise (4-1) and the joint third placed Wobbly Boot (Craig Piccinelli) 2-7 and Kevin Fogarty's Idle Time 3-6.
Jeff Shipsey will be hoping 'Old Huey' will deliver a similar weather system to Pioneer Bay for the important third race of the series in a bid to break the consistent light wind performances by progressive trophy leader 007.
But Jeff Brown is always a very tough opponent to unsettle particularly when he gets the opportunity to sail his own race in uncontested wind and sea space.
The tactical battle between the 007 and Sunrise will again be a highlight as both crews remain keen to control the point score leaving Wobbly Boot and Idle Time to resolve their match race to determine the top three places after this week's important third heat.
Crafty skipper Mick Phillips also demonstrated his light wind skill to steer his Spencer 30 Shearwater to a 1 minute 14 second win in the Division 3 class while Serendipity (Roger Boast) finished with a faster 15 second corrected handicap to push Breakaway (Rob Davis) back to third.
First heat winner Brian Fleming finished a close fourth to retain the class lead on count back from Serendipity 3-2 while Amadeus (Peter Johnson) has kept his trophy chances alive by holding third place.
However all three crews are aware that they will need to protect their sailing space as Shearwater and Breakaway continue to show the form that has the potential to change the points table when the sails are tensioned on Pioneer Bay for the important third race this week.
by Ian Grant 
