Port2Port Rally arrives Bundaberg

9:33 PM Mon 26 Oct 2009 GMT

'Circumnavigators traditionally celebrate their arrival home' . Click Here to view large photo

More than fifty yachts taking part in the Annual 'Port2Port' Rally - Port Vila in Vanuatu to the Port of Bundaberg, have arrived into the Queensland port, with the last stragglers soon to arrive.

Lesley Grimminck, organiser of Port2Port Rally - .. .

The rally is always, in true cruising tradition, strictly not competitive. However, prizes are given for the yacht that most accurately forecasts its arrival time. The Bundaberg Cruising Yacht Club, a band of dedicated volunteers who formed the club just to run the rally, traditionally turn on an exhausting welcome for the newly arrived sailors.

The rally consists of cruisers from many nations, many of them circumnavigators who use the rally as a fun way to finish their Pacific crossing, with many children taking part as part of a family adventure.

Bundaberg Cruising Yacht Club president Lesley Grimmick said yachts from 10 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, the USA and Great Britain, took part in the rally.

Cruising kids play in the marina after arriving from Vanuatu - .. . Click Here to view large photo

Rally participants will have a packed program at Bundaberg Port Marina, culminating in a public open day on Saturday, which will include a Volunteer Marine Rescue display.

The AGL Action Rescue Helicopter will also demonstrate a water rescue.

The American and European yachts will continue on to Darwin and South East Asia, while many of the Australian boats have completed their circumnavigations.

Among the Australian completing circumnavigators are the Hawkins family from Sydney on yacht Vagabond Heart, completing a 5 year circumnavigation before their children had to attend high school, and retired couple Roko Katnich and Sue Crennan, completing a thirteen-year circumnavigation on Talinga Too, which commenced as a three-year voyage.

by Des Ryan

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Port2Port Rally arrives Bundaberg

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