Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race start this Saturday

7:10 AM Wed 22 Jul 2009 GMT

'Ragamuffin chases Quest to the Heads - Sydney Gold Coast Race 2008' Crosbie Lorimer Click Here to view large photo

The Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race will start off Nielsen Park in Sydney Harbour this Saturday, 25 July 2009, at 1pm when a fleet of 80 yachts will line up for the 384 nautical mile race to the finish line off Southport's Main Beach on the Queensland Gold Coast.

The Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race will mark the start of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's 2009/10 offshore racing season and seven race Blue Water Pointscore Series which includes the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
The Audi Sydney Gold Coast is also the third event in the four part Audi IRC Australian Championship. To be eligible for the major prize, an Audi Q7 and the Audi IRC Australian Championship perpetual trophy, yachts must compete in at least three of the four IRC point-scoring events. Following the conclusion of the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race, the Audi leader flags will be passed onto the new pointscore leader before the final event, Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, commences on 21 August. The current pointscore leader is Rod Jones's Queensland based Archambault 40 Alegria.

Entries for the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race include line honours contenders Bob Oatley's Wild Oats X, the 2007 line honours winner of this race, Peter Millard and John Honan's 98ft maxi Lahana, Stephen Ainsworth's Reichel Pugh 63 Loki , Andrew Short's Reichel Pugh 80 Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Peter Harburg's Reichel Pugh 66 Black Jack.

Queensland entries include Alegria (Rod Jones), Black Jack (Peter Harburg), and Mondo (Ray Sweeney). There are eight Victorian entries including Aileron (Henk Welleman), Belle (David Currie), Chutzpah (Bruce Taylor), Living Doll (Michael Hiatt), Scarlett Runner (Robert Date), Shamrock (Tony Donnellan), Shogun (Rob Hanna), and Terra Firma (Nicholas Bartels). South Australia will be represented by Kym Clarke's Fresh while Ray Haslar's Jive Talkin' will sail under the burgee of New Zealand's Keri Keri Cruising Club.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting light to moderate westerly to north westerly winds for the 1pm start on Sydney Harbour this Saturday, 25 July. Based on the current pre-race forecast, the Audi Sydney Gold Coast course record of 27 hours 35 minutes 3 seconds set in 1999 by Brindabella looks safe for another year.

For a full list of Audi Sydney Gold Coast entries go to goldcoast.cyca.com.au/yachts.asp?key=26

by Jennifer Crooks

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Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race start this Saturday

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