2011 Around Australia Ocean Race and Rally - the latest update !

7:14 PM Sun 5 Jul 2009 GMT

'Marten 49 Optimus Prime Photo: Trevor Taylor' Various - see captions Julian Plante

Eleven days ago West Australian Bob Williams launched the 2011 Around Australia Ocean Race and Rally events.

Here is Bob's latest update.

'We are delighted with the take up so early into the life of the event. The race event has captured the imagination of many sailors and we will shortly be delivering more information to the cruising fleet, which is likely to see a rapid boost in that fleet.

'We currently have 54 Event Slot Reservations (33 for the Race, 21 for the Rally).

'The majority are from the Pacific Ocean coast with New South Wales dominating but the Indian Ocean Coast, represented by Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria, are all consistently claiming slots ensuring a hot state vs. state competition is well in the making.

'Overseas entries have been received from New Zealand, the UK, and the USA.

'We are attracting some very serious and well known racers and have some state of the art yachts rearing to go, both multihulls and monohulls. The names 'Marten' 'Reichel-Pugh', 'Davidson', 'Beneteau' and 'Sydney Yachts are appearing often. The largest yacht is 100' the smallest yacht interest is from a Mini 650! As soon as we get owner permission we will be bringing you owner and yacht profiles.

'Fremantle Sailing Club - by far the largest yacht club on the West Coast - is currently the most highly represented yacht club with five members reserving a slot. We are expecting many more from this fine club that is home to most of the States' racing and cruising fleets.

'For those in Victoria considering reserving a slot the The Royal Yacht Club of Victoria is hosting an event information evening on July 17. We look forward to meeting and welcoming more Melbourne racers and cruisers to the event.

'The more the multiple starts format of the race event is becoming understood the more interest we are receiving from prominent yacht clubs around Australia that wish to be involved.

'In many cases it will be the first time a major sailing event will have a start and a finish in their port. In most cases, two starts and finishes bringing international attention to those ports and the clubs involved. We have some exciting suggestions to incorporate port-to-port race events that we are keen to integrate into the 2011 Around Australia Ocean Race. More on this soon.

'In addition to the ten ports the racing fleet will use, the cruising fleet will have an almost unlimited list of potential stops to make around Australia. Cruising Associations in each State and the Northern Territory are encouraged to register their interest in being involved to lead the way in your home waters.

'An FAQ page will also be added to the website to answer many of the questions commonly asked.

'But for now please complete your Event Slot Reservation. We will accept beyond the 100 limit of entrants we have set for the Race and 200 set for the Rally to allow for some attrition but the date we receive your slot reservation may become crucial in the not too distant future.'

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