Victorians heading across Bass Strait

6:28 AM Fri 31 Oct 2008 GMT

'Chutzpah (Audi Sydney Southport 08)' Andrea Francolini / Audi &copy Click Here to view large photo

A fleet of 34 Victorian yachts will set sail into Bass Strait before sunrise on Saturday morning in the traditional Melbourne Cup weekend race to Stanley, on the north-west coast of Tasmania.

The race starts off Queenscliff at 0500 to give the yachts slack tide at The Rip as they head out from Port Phillip and set a course almost due south to the historic port of Stanley.

The 152 nautical mile race has added significance, as it is qualifier for the Sydney Hobart and Melbourne Hobart ocean races in late December.

Of the fleet of 34, 10 have already been nominated for the Rolex Sydney Hobart, with applications to enter the 628 nautical mile bluewater classic closing with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia on Monday. As of today, 93 yachts had been nominated.

Heading the Melbourne Stanley Race fleet is Geelong yachtsman Rob Hanna's latest Shogun, the former Living Doll he bought from Michael Hiatt following the big Queensland regattas.

Shogun is a Cookson 50 and Hanna has put together a strong crew including Geelong sailmaker Steve Bull. The boat has already won the IRC division of the first race of the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria's 2008-2009 Offshore Championship, from Port Phillip to Flinders in Westernport Bay.

Hiatt recently launched in Auckland his new Living Doll, a Reichel/Pugh-designed 55-footer built by Cooksons, but the boat has yet to arrive in Melbourne.

Another strong contender for IRC honours in the race to Stanley will be Royal Yacht Club of Victoria member Bruce Taylor with his latest Chutzpah, the Reichel/Pugh-designed ILC40, which will be contesting her second Sydney Hobart Race this year.

Other Rolex Sydney Hobart contenders heading for Stanley include Audacious (Greg Clinnick), the veteran Bacardi, now owned by Martin Power, Bombora (Greg Tobin), John Williams and Graeme Ainley's 53-footer Georgia which also will be entering her second Sydney Hobart, Goldfinger (Peter Blake & Kate Mitchell), INSX (Robert Sill), Jazz Player (Andrew Lawrence) and Wild Side (Martin Vaughan).

Most of the other boats in the fleet are expected to contest the ORCV's Christmas-New Year Races to Tasmania - the Launceston to Hobart, the traditional Melbourne Hobart West Coaster or the second running of the Melbourne Hobart Easter Coaster.