Quokka 1st British Boat in IRC National Championships

Posted on 10/06/2009 in Team Gill

Bookmark and Share

Quokka 1st British Boat in IRC National Championships

Peter Rutter and his crew on the Gill supported ‘Quokka’ were first British boat in the UK IRC Nationals. However after a closely fought battle they lost the overall event win to the Irish Mills 39 ‘Mariners Cove’. Scoring 3 race wins and 5 seconds Quokka was winning the event up until the final lap of the last race but as the wind died they were unable to keep up with the larger ‘Mariners Cove’ who sailed a superb event to record 5 firsts and 3 seconds.

Steve Norbury, tactician on Quokka explained ‘we spend every race battling with Mariners Cove, swapping first and second place on almost every leg. Both boats are at the top of their game and we sailed an impeccable series. Against any other boat we would have won but with Mariners Cove we have met our match. They sailed even better than we did and deserved the win. We are now looking forward to a re-match when we travel to Ireland next month!”

Conditions for the event ranged from 5 knots with blazing sunshine to 20 knots and rain. The Quokka crew were wearing KB racer trousers with the new Crosswind jackets. These Jackets are made from a thermal material but are also waterproof and windproof. They proved ideal in the very changeable conditions keeping the crew warm and dry in the wet but preventing over heating in the sun.