Doug Allen crowned CQ Champion 2016

Updated: Jun 20, 2021

The International One Meter CQ Championships have been sailed and won in light to moderate conditions on the Gladstone Marina last weekend.

An unfavourable off shore wind direction saw the even moved from Spinnaker Park to a more appropriate racing area near the new VMR building along the western bank of the marina, allowing for unrestricted and perfect 5-10 knot breeze all weekend. Skippers from the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Coast, Bundaberg and north to the Whitsundays joined the Gladstone contingent to make a strong 21 boat competition.

Day One and the Kawana Waters sailors of Doug Allen, Geoff Morris & Garry Russell posted some good scores while Gladstone skipper Steve Bray started off the day with a start to finish win. Aaron Farrar started showing some dominance at the pointy end of the fleet with a good win and some healthy top 4 finishes to be right in contention. Doug Allen then showed the fleets who was the man to chase with back to back wins and a string of top 3’s. One time Gladstone member, now sailing from the Fraser Coast, Dave Laurie sailed a flawless 4th race to post a good win and a great recovery from the previous race. Mark Bebeke from the Bundaberg club started stringing together some good A-Fleet finishes later on the first day as did local Laurie Donohoe and Kawana’s Jack Kelly. Gladstone stalwart, Grant Cooper, swung back into contention with three wins in a row to round out the day. This left Grant and Doug Allen as equal leaders with Aaron Farrar a close third heading into day two.

Day two and it wasn’t long for the cream of the radio controlled sailors competing to rise to the top. Kawana’s Doug Allen shook off any of the previous night’s ‘quiet ones’, living up to his mantle of pre-championship favourite, stamping his authority on the event with a string of wins and top three finishes. Aaron Farrar traded blows with Doug on the scoreboard but couldn’t match his consistency and his uncanny ability to stay out of trouble. Overnight leader Grant Cooper slightly slipped down the scoreboard, polarizing his trouble free day one sailing, having to recover from disastrous starts to post some hard fought semi decent scores however the horse had bolted and the minor placings were the only positions up for grabs.

There were occasional patches of brilliance from Geoff Morris, Jack Kelly and Ross Mackay from Club Kawana but consistency was hurting their campaigns. The locals did celebrate a unique milestone late in the day with Phil Brown eventually joining Ian Mackay, Steve Bray, Laurie Donohoe, Aaron & Grant in the A-Fleet for the first time… all together.

PRO for the event Iain Ashe called time late on Sunday and legend scorer David Black proclaimed Doug Allen as CQ Champion for 2016. A brilliantly run and friendly event was praised by all skippers and officials.