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2016
Near record entries for Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race

Near record entries for Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race

NEWS
11 Jul, 2016 01:37:00 PM

Wild Oats XI leaving Sydney Harbour during the start of the 2015 Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race ©Andrea Francolini

Near record entries for Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race

Entries in the Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race have closed and officials from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s (CYCA) are pleased to announce that 76 yachts will start the race, the third largest number since the inaugural race in 1986.

This year’s fleet is only outstripped by 1997’s record 86 yachts and in 2009, when 80 yachts lined up for the start. The 31^st running of the race will not only be remembered for its large number, but for the quality of boats across the board, from the 100 footers down to the 30ft winner of last year.

At the front end are two super maxis - Sandy Oatley’s open record holder Wild Oats XI (22hrs 3mins 43secs set in 2012), with Mark ‘Ricko’ Richards returning as skipper, and Scallywag, the former Ragamuffin 100, recently purchased by Hong Kong businessman, Seng Huang Lee, who is continuing with the boat’s previous skipper, David Witt.

They will be joined by three V70’s. Peter Harburg returns with Black Jack, Jim Delegat has shipped Giacomo from New Zealand to Australia for the full season, and Maserati, newly purchased by Jim Cooney, joins Giacomo for a first assault on the 384 nautical mile race. Rupert Henry’s JV62, Chinese Whisper, returns; her third over the line in 2015 shows she can mix it at the front.

“It’s really exciting,” Mark Richards commented. “We’re really looking forward to getting back on the horse after the disappointment of Hobart. We didn’t know enough about the boat,” he said referring to the radical modifications completed on Wild Oats XI in time for the Rolex Sydney Hobart.

“We know the boat now. We’ve made some further tweaks and we’re ready to go. It will be our second race the modifications – the first race since the Hobart - and the competition looks exciting.

“Having said that, it’s been hard losing Bob Oatley and having Syd Fischer retire - both in the last six months. It’s devastating,” he said. “It’s great Ragamuffin’s been sold quickly and ready to go though. I think it’ll be a very interesting race when you look at the competition,” added Richards.

Vying for line honours, all are there for the main game too, overall victory for the Peter Rysdik Memorial Trophy. Rysdik was the driving force in getting the race off the ground in 1986.

Others favoured for the overall crown include defending champion, Komatsu Azzurro, Shane Kearns’ 35 year-old, joined by three standout TP52s; Matt Allen’s Ichi Ban, Geoff Boettcher’s Secret Mens Business (SA) and Paul Clitheroe’s 2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner, Balance.

Two Victorian yachts, Bruce Taylor’s Chutzpah and Phil Simpfendorfer’s Veloce could also come into their own, as could the year-old Concubine (Jason Ward) from South Australia and Simon Kurts’ three-time Sydney-Hobart winner, Love & War. Weather, tactics, crew work and a bit of luck are all part of the puzzle to winning.

John Cameron, whose two-year term as CYCA Commodore ends midway through this month, commented: “It’s a fleet of quality and quantity. We couldn’t be more pleased with the growing numbers in our major races and to see our sport in such a healthy state.

“It’s also gratifying for me to be taking part in the race again (he owns the yacht ‘More Witchcraft’), especially against a fleet of this high standard,” ended the Commodore, who has not competed since 2010 because of commitments to work and the CYCA.

More Witchcraft will be amongst those challenging for PHS honours, and the Commodore is hoping to return to the form that won him PHS overall in 2004 and PHS third overall in 2005. But he knows it is a big ask to get past the ‘flavours of the moment’; last year’s PHS winner Wax Lyrical (Les Goodridge), and She’s the Culprit, owned by the Culprit syndicate.

The Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race starts at 1300 hours on 30 July off Nielsen Park, Vaucluse, finishing at Main Beach on the Gold Coast. It is the first race of the CYCA’s Blue Water Pointscore, of which the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is the decider.

Spectators wishing to view the start can do so in style, as COAST will again be on the Harbour to catch the action of the Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race start. To book, go to: http://goldcoast.cyca.com.au/spectators

All information on the Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race is on the official race website: http://goldcoast.cyca.com.au

To view the current list of entries go to: http://goldcoast.cyca.com.au/the-yachts/