Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race 2024

News
2010
Silverware up for grabs in the Silver Jubilee Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race

Silverware up for grabs in the Silver Jubilee Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race

NEWS
02 Aug, 2010 09:29:00 AM

Stephen Ainsworth's RP63 Loki won the Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race overall in 2010

Silverware up for grabs in the Silver Jubilee Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race

At this point Stephen Ainsworth’s Sydney based RP63 Loki looks to have the IRC overall silverware in the bag, a result which will be confirmed in the coming hours as more in the fleet cross the finish line off Southport’s Main Beach.

Now that the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race line honours trophy has been determined, the focus has switched to the coveted handicap prize, the trophy which assumes a level playing field rather than the rewarding the uber-sized for setting the quickest course time.

Based on the pre-race forecast it was touted as a small boat contest for handicap but the breeze never really shut down at the front end, which is reflected in the provisional results with Loki currently leading from Bob Oatley’s RP66 Wild Oats X.

Overnight and this morning 13 yachts had completed the 384 nautical mile rock hop up the coast from Sydney which began on Saturday, the closest finish of those the 1 minute 20 second blanket that separated Syd Fischer’s TP52 Ragamuffin, Geoff Boettcher’s South Australian RP51 Secret Mens Business 3.5 and the Victorian TP52 Calm, skippered by owner Jason Van der Slot.

A whopping 33 boats are due to finish before 7pm this evening with the majority of those still at sea expected overnight and into the early hours of tomorrow morning, making this a nippy jaunt up the coast compared to last year’s amble when the tailenders were still at sea well into Tuesday evening.

Sydney might be hosting the Sydney International Boat Show but the cream of Australia’s grand prix yacht racing scene is at the Gold Coast and locals are encouraged to come to Southport Yacht Club today to see them on display at the marina.

At this stage organisers are expecting to conduct the official race prizegiving Tuesday afternoon at the SYC.

Overnight the fleet enjoyed solid pressure and good boat speeds with most opting to capture the evening land breeze and rock hop up the coast between Coffs Harbour and Cape Byron averaging 8-12 knots through the water.

As a cold front makes its way up the coast today the forecast is for winds to increases to WSW 15/20 knots, reaching 20-25 knots offshore in the morning and 20-30 knots offshore tonight which will bring those still racing home in quick time.

From Southport many boats will join the whale migration north, crews escaping the vestiges of winter in Sydney and Melbourne and heading to the warm waters of the Whitsundays for some tropical salt water action.

Some, including headline acts Black Jack and Wild Oats X, will be on the start line of next week’s Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Race followed by Meridien Marinas Airlie Race Week and finally, the culminating event, Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.

Results at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week will also decide the winner of the 2010 Audi IRC Australian Championship.

Harvey Milne’s Archambault 31 Aroona from Sydney was well positioned at the top of the series pointscore going into the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race and Anthony Paterson and his ‘truckers’ from Lake Macquarie have served the owner well in this race, currently fifth overall on IRC handicap and provisionally the leading division 4 boat.

Audi Australia together with ONE HD, Australia’s only dedicated free-to-air digital sports channel, will show highlights from the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race on Monday 23 August at 8.30pm on ONE HD, as part of the four episode wrap of the Audi IRC Australian Championship.

Fleet positions are available via Yacht Tracker at http://goldcoast.cyca.com.au