200th entry lodged for Hamilton Island Race Week
'Spinnaker action on Wayne Millar’’s Zoe'
Sail-World.com/ AUS © Click Here to view large photo
After surviving a near-death experience during the tragic 1998 Sydney to Hobart race, colourful Townsville yacht owner, Wayne Millar, moved Hamilton Island Race Week to the top of his annual sailing agenda.
This week, almost a decade later, Millar's entry was the 200th lodged for the Audi sponsored Race Week - the 25th anniversary edition of the celebrated event.
'The fact that we are the 200th entry confirms every belief that I've held about Race Week,' said the gregarious, 195cm tall Millar. 'It's become one of the world's best regattas, and it's sailed at the best venue on the planet. There's no better place to be in August each year than at Hamilton Island Race Week.
'It's a regatta that just keeps bringing you back. I've competed 14 times since 1991 and done almost every one since the 1998 Hobart.'
Millar will be racing his smart 41-footer, Zoe, the yacht he purchased to replace his similar sized B-52 after it was almost destroyed by a mountainous wave during the '98 Hobart race. It was overwhelmed, rolled over then remained upside down for four minutes with Millar and seven crew trapped inside, all the time not knowing their fate. At the same time two other crew were on the outside clinging to the upturned hull.
'We went back to the Hobart race with Zoe three years later just to complete the unfinished business,' Millar said. 'Then, with that task complete, we decided we would only go to races we knew we would enjoy, and Hamilton Island went to the top of the list. We now compete to have fun on the water and on shore, that's why Race Week is so good.'
Included in Zoe's crew at Race Week will be Mark Vickers, who was one of the two crew on deck when B-52 was rolled over, plus West Australian Scotty McAllister, a member of the Australia II sailing team when the America's Cup was won a quarter of a century ago this September.
With Audi Hamilton Island Race Week scheduled from August 23 to 30, and entries still being accepted, it is almost certain that last year's record fleet of 216 will be exceeded.
One yacht that now won't be present is Graeme Wood's 52-footer, Wot Now. She broke her rudder in this week's Audi Sydney-Gold Coast race and it cannot be replaced in time.
There is also a race to get three other Grand Prix division boats to Race Week after they too were damaged during the past week.
Peter Harburg's recently acquired 66-footer, Black Jack, suffered structural damage when it hit a huge ship mooring buoy on Sydney Harbour during a practice session for the Gold Coast race. Then, in the first few hours of the race, two of the frontrunners that were 'heading for Hamo' were forced to retire with damage. The bowsprit on Bob Oatley's Wild Oats X broke after lashing attaching the bobstay to the bow failed. Then soon after that incident Steven David's 60-footer, Wild Joe, had an altercation with a whale and lost its forward rudder.
Both Black Jack and Wild Oats X are being repaired in Sydney and will depart for Hamilton Island in the next few days. Wild Joe is currently being sailed to Brisbane where a new rudder, which is being made on the Gold Coast, will be fitted. Steven David said the schedule to have his yacht ready for Race Week would be tight, but he expected to be there.
The late delivery of a modified mast and new rigging sees Race Week's Grand Prix division defending champion, Yendys (Geoff Ross), also racing against time.
Ross' only option has been to have Yendys sail directly from the Gold Coast to Mackay, south of Hamilton Island, this week so that the new rig can be stepped there.
'We wanted to do the rig change in Sydney before the Gold Coast race, but that couldn't happen because of the delays,' Ross said. 'Now we've got bits and pieces of the rig coming from all over the world to Mackay, and hopefully everything will lock into place for us there. The job will take about five days to complete.'
Yendys is one of the three yachts making up the Australian team that will compete against the kiwis in the inaugural round of the South Pacific Cup at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.
Audi Hamilton Island Race Week is Australia's most awarded regatta. It has been recognised as Queensland's 'Best Significant Event' at the annual Queensland Tourism Awards on three occasions, and also taken out two Australian Tourism Awards.
by Rob Mundle 
Thirroul, NSW
