The Official
Website of the
International
Sailing Federation

Joe, built in Finland and officially launched in Australia on the July 16 has proved to be a new generation cruiser racer despite her skipper Steven DAVID, sailing master Chris LINKS and tactician Darren JONES still coming to grips with which 'sail-fast string' to pull.

However while the race tuning process has been a steep learning curve for the Joe crew they have continued to improve as the series of tactical racing continues against the Australian IRC champion Ticket of Leave skippered by Kevin WOOD of Melbourne.

Joe's 'think tank team' gave the sloop every chance in what proved to be a supreme tactical test of racing in a changing current with a variable 8-15 knot breeze spiced with 15-30 degree direction changes.

In some cases the wind proved to be a headache for most tacticians but the crew on Joe snapped at every opportunity to sail the shortest windward leg at the shortest and fastest possible angle to build a race winning lead as they approached the Molle Island group.

A torn sail hampered the race winning chances of title leader Ticket Of Leave and when spinnakers were set Joe held and advantage over the match racing Benetau 'Beach Balls' Ticket of Leave and Howard PIGGOT'S True North to eventually score a very important win.

As expected Chris LINKS was impressed with another strong performance from the Joe crew.

"We have a great crew onboard and they all have contributed to getting Joe up to speed quickly". Links said.

Joe, essentially a fast cruising yacht with all of the modern appointments including an air conditioned saloon and galley below deck has entered into a championship match race with the high performance IRC class pace setter Ticket Of Leave for the Hog's Breath Race Week title.

They won today's race by the narrow margin of 1 minute 7 seconds after 3 hours 20 minutes of intense racing.

The win has also allowed Joe with her consistent score of 1-2-2-1 to lead the series by 1 point over Ticket of Leave 3-1-1-2 with the Peter Hayes skippered High Anxiety 11 third with 5-4-4-4.

Full results are available on the event website at the address below.