Twenty Six Years of Hamilton Island Race Weeks

2:35 AM Tue 25 Aug 2009 GMT

'Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2009,' Andrea Francolini / Audi &copy

Today is the lay day for the 194 yachts in the 26th Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.

This is the most popular offshore regatta in the southern hemisphere but at it's start 26 years ago, no one would have guessed it would be continuing today, as the first few years were certainly rocky.

Entrepreneur Keith Williams had begun developing Hamilton Island as a tourist resort; by late 1983 it was still largely a building site.

The charter yacht industry was burgeoning over on the mainland and a Melbourne sailor Dave Hutchen; one of the founders of Club Marine was operating Banjo Paterson as a charter boat out of Airlie. He and another Victorian sailor Leon O'Donoghue, who was a Whitsunday Rent a Yacht partner, approached Williams with the idea of a Hamilton Island Yachting Regatta.

Said Williams; 'What is a Yachting Regatta?' They explained and Hamilton Island Race Week was born.

They issued a Notice of Race, received an enthusiastic response and realised they needed to find a Principal Race officer. Melbourne sailor, Warwick Hoban who had been involved with the ORCV through the 1970's and was known as an excellent race manager, was approached.

He recalls; 'When Leon rang me; my first question was where is Hamilton Island? He explained the whole concept and I was silly enough to accept.

'The first event started on the Saturday after Easter in 1984. The resort was pretty much a work in progress. There were of course no towers, there were bures and the Alamada Lodge provided the main accommodation.

'The marina had been constructed but there were only a few buildings on the harbour side and all the roads were gravel.

'That first Race Week it just poured with rain. Every day all day, by the end of the week, the event was being re-titled Hamilton Rain Week and it was being sailed in the Wetsundays.

'But in spite of the ankle deep mud, everyone had a fantastic time. The atmosphere was just great and in the over 20 years since, it's the same combination of venue and camaraderie which just keeps bringing sailors back.'

The next year was a total contrast Hoban recalls. 'In 1985, the weather was perfect for sunbaking, brilliant sunshine every day and no wind... except on the Sunday morning at the end of week, just as the crews were checking out, a nice breeze came up. A nice breeze that fanned the flames as much of the main resort building burnt to the ground.'

Queensland yachting journalist and marine icon Ian 'Stripey' Grant tells the story. 'I was down having breakfast and was asked politely by a kitchen hand would I mind having breakfast on the lawns because there was small fire in the back of the kitchen.

'There were no sprinklers in those days. Forty Minutes later the Dolphin Room, the Phoenix Room and the Reception area was gone.'

In spite of these two inauspicious years, Hamilton Island Race Week has continued to grow and it is now unchallenged as the Premier Racing Regatta in the Southern Hemisphere. Certainly one of the attractions always has been the variety of weather that greets the sailors. It's always been T-shirts and shorts sailing, regardless of the time of year.

In 1989 Cyclone Aviu swung out of the Coral Sea from the Solomons' and hit the Whitsundays in the middle of Race Week. Winds of 60 knots were seen. The Coral Sea course was shortened, but it was still very warm for southern sailors.

Hoban, keen to be out of Melbourne in winter, was the driving force behind the move from just after Easter to August and that change occurred in 1992.

Hamilton Island Race Week - Yachts leave Dent Passage, competing on Day 8 of the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week Yachting event off Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia, on Saturday, August 25, 2007. Race Week attracts competitors from around the world and is Australia’a largest - Jack Atley&copy Click Here to view large photo

The weather since then has been typical southeasterly trades of varying intensity.

Many sailors will remember the white squall that hit the Molle Island start line in 1998. Thirteen spinnakers blew out as the Grand Prix fleet exited Dent Passage.

Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - Humpback whales come to watch the boats racing in the Whitsundays - Jack Atley&copy Click Here to view large photo

Times have moved on, the highly regarded Denis Thompson is now the Regatta Director and the the new powerhouse of Australian Sailing sponsorship, Audi, is in action. Their involvement certainly shows that Race Week at Hamilton Island will continue to be a must do event on the South Pacific scene.

Sail-World is again providing its on-water coverage from Audi Hamilton Island Race week.

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