CYCA members have won the major trophies in the 60th Brisbane to Gladstone Race, with line honours going to Ichi Ban, Quantum Racing winning IRC overall and Wot Yot placing third.

Commodore Matt Allen’s Volvo 70 Ichi Ban got the gun mid-morning on Saturday and Queensland Cruising Yacht Club officials this evening declared Ray Roberts’ Cookson 50 Quantum Racing the winner of the 60-year-old Courier Mail Cup as overall IRC winner of the 308 nautical mile race.

Second place went to the Queensland yacht Wedgetail (Bill Wild), third to CYCA director Graeme Wood, skippering his TP52 Wot Yot.  The three CYCA boats, Ichi Ban, Quantum Racing and Wot Yot had earlier crossed the finish line in the top three positions in fleet.

Their combined IRC results gave the CYCA the Federation Cup teams trophy by a comfortable margin.

Ray Roberts and his crew mastered a mixed range of ocean sailing conditions with an impressive race average speed of 11.76 knots in a breeze that presented many tactical challenges.

Roberts, a veteran of 17 Hobart Races and his world championship-winning tactician Steve McConaghy sailed Quantum Racing above her rating to take IRC handicap honours.

Quantum Racing’s prospects of winning the Courier Mail Cup strengthened overnight when the lower rating boats ran out of time with Saltash II  the nearest challenger.

This is Ray Roberts’ second overall win in the Brisbane to Gladstone Race,  in 1995 he steered Millenium to victory. He also placed second to Saltash in 2007 with Quantum Racing. 

“They (the crew) were a little disappointed with the second place to Saltash II in 2007 and used this as the incentive to step this year,” Roberts said. – Peter Campbell