Winter Heatwave for Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week

This year Race Week activities will be starting on Thursday August 13th and run until Thursday August 20th.

Principal Race Officer Tony Denham will be once again back in charge of the fleets.

Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week traditionally hosts Australia's largest regatta of high performance, trailerable sports boats and this year the fleet is bigger than ever.

There will be seven classes overall; IRC Racing Class, IRC Cruising Class, Performance Racing Class, Sports Boat Class, One Design Class, Cruising Class and the Non-Spinnaker Class for cruising yachts without spinnakers.

Airlie Beach Race Week is being hosted at Meriden Marinas Abel Point Marina located on Shingley Drive, Airlie Beach that over the past year has seen significant improvements to increase the marina's capacity and facilities.

It will be an exciting week of racing. In the IRC Racing Class, Michael Hiatt's Farr 55 Living Doll will be the big gun, but Ray Robert's Cookson 50 Evolution Racing, with previous winning form at this regatta, will be a boat to be reckoned with. Rob Hanna's fixed keel Cookson 50 Shogun and Rob Date's brand new Reichel Pugh 52 Scarlet Runner will also be strong contenders. Shogun has won at Airlie Beach before, as has Living Doll. Scarlet Runner recently impressed with a divisional win in the Gold Coast Race.

The 40 footers will have a 'battle royal' and could, as in past years, threaten the bigger boats on handicap. Russell McCart's Night Nurse, Ian Thompson's E11even and Bob 'Robbo' Robertson's Cracklin Rosie, all fresh from the Brisbane to Keppel Race, will need to be watched.

The Performance Handicap fleet will be, as always, hard fought with Whitsunday Sailing Club boats including Damien Suckling's Fallen Angels, Kevin Fogarty's Idle Time, Tim Osborne's Rising Farrst, Roger Down's True Love and Craig Piccinelli's Wobbly Boot all in the mix.

The Sports Boat fleet action will be wet and wild on Pioneer Bay and the hot temperatures will add to their racing enjoyment.

Another fun week for the Cruising fleets with 40 boats set to enjoy some scenic passage sailing out of Pioneer Bay.

You can discover more about the event at www.airliebeachraceweek.com.au

12:45 AM Tue 11 Aug 2009 GMT

'Living Doll expected to lead the Airle Beach fleet' Sail-World.com /AUS &copy Click Here to view large photo

'Bring T-Shirts and Sun block ' that is the urgent message for southern sailors heading north for the Tropical T-shirt Regatta, the 20th annual Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week (MMABRW) which starts this Thursday 13th August.

Regatta Director Denis Thompson says forecast temperatures could reach 28-29 degrees for the first two or three days of the regatta. He commented 'Just because you are shivering in Sydney and Melbourne don't be fooled, you will need lots of tropical t-shirts and sun-block and you can forget your winter jackets.'

This weather forecast is just a reminder of why sailors from across the southern states continue to flock north for the winter sailing season in the Whitsundays.

The 2009 overall fleet numbers are well above expectations and may well exceed 100 boats, with a few stragglers seeking dispensation for late entries.

There is an excellent Grand Prix fleet and a record Sports Boat fleet, as well as an impressive number of Performance Racers, IRC Cruisers and 40 Cruising entrants.