2015 Land Rover Sydney GC Yacht Race - Entries close with 67 yachts

by Di Pearson on 13 Jul 2015 2015 Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race - Entries in the 2015 Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race close on Friday evening and have exceeded the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s expectations, with 67 boats signed up for the Blue Water Pointscore opener.

Boats representing NSW, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia in the 384 nautical mile race top last year’s fleet by a dozen. It is another clear indication of a revival in numbers at major Australian yachting events this past 12 months.

“This is the most entries we’ve had since 2011, when 69 yachts were entered,” John Cameron, Commodore of the CYCA said. “It’s pleasing to note that in the year since I became Commodore, yacht racing has become more popular, with numbers the best they have been in recent years in Club events,” added Cameron who has raced at the CYCA for over 20 years.

“It’s also pleasing to see four entries coming from Southport Yacht Club and we are looking forward to some friendly interclub rivalry,” the Commodore added.

A vast array of yachts will take part in the race’s 30th edition. From Rupert Henry’s newly purchased JV62, Chinese Whisper (ex Jethou), to a reinvigorated TP52 fleet via new owners Matt Allen (Ichi Ban), Geoff Boettcher (Secret Mens Business) and 2014 overall winner, Sam Haynes (Celestial). They will join Balance (Paul Clitheroe), Cougar II (Anthony Lyall) and Frantic (Michael Martin).

Two canting Cookson 50s, in Victoire and Pretty Fly III, will battle each other as well as the TP52s; while there are a variety of 10 Beneteaus which will enjoy in-house competition.

Roger Hickman will celebrate Wild Rose’s 30th birthday in this 30th race and will try to match his 2014 Rolex Sydney Hobart victory with honours in this race, for which he already has an enviable reputation. ‘Hicko’ has won twice (1994 with Wild Rose and 1997 with Atara), finished third in 2013, second in 1992 and 1993, with a third in class 1996.

Last year’s winning boat, Celestial, is now in the hands of Bruce Foye and Sebastian Bohm, and the pair will be under pressure to put in a performance worthy of the Rogers 46 now called ‘The Goat’. In the past, Foye has pumped out some great results in the Sydney 38 class.

Sibby Ilzhofer is the only female boat owner/skipper represented in the race with her Farr/Cookson 47, Dare Devil. Newcastle based Ilzhofer sailed her first Hobart race last year as a boat owning skipper and won the Jane Tate Memorial Trophy as the first female skipper to finish.

The largest boats are Anthony Bell’s 100ft Perpetual Loyal and Peter Harburg’s 70ft Black Jack, which will fight it out for line honours. The two were at close quarters all the way to the finish line last year. In the end, Bell’s boat finished second on line to Wild Oats XI (which is currently in the USA), nearly two hours ahead of third placed Black Jack.

At the other end of the scale are Quikpoint Azzurro (Shane Kearns), the S&S 34 footer, and L’Altra Donna, the Summit 35 owned by Andy Kearnan who sailed her to fourth overall in 2013. These and the other ‘small fry’ will be keeping their fingers crossed for good breeze to bring them home.

Starting on Saturday July 25, the date coincidentally marks what would be the 100th birthday of the late Peter Luke, co-founder of the CYCA in 1944, and the last survivor of the nine skippers who participated in the inaugural Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in 1945. Luke died when he was 92, but his family will mark this special occasion in Sydney as the fleet sets sail.

The Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race starts at 1300 hours on July 25 from Nielsen Park on Sydney Harbour, and finishes at Main Beach, Southport. From there, crews will receive the usual warm welcome from Southport Yacht Club, the race finishing partner.

Family, friends and enthusiasts can follow the race and their favourite yachts via the CYCA’s proven yacht tacker on the official race website.

For more information on the Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race, click here.

2015 Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race - Series Entries

BOAT NAME	SAIL NO	SKIPPER	FROM	DESIGN	STATE
ABRACADABRA	5612	James Murchison	RSYS	Tripp 47	NSW			Y
AFTER MIDNIGHT	8778	Mark & Greg Tobin	CYCA	Farr 40 Mod	NSW	Y
ALACRITY	7447	Matthew Percy	SYC	Beneteau First 44	QLD	Y
AMANTE	6609	Dennis Cooper	CYCA	Sydney 36cr	NSW			Y
ANGER MANAGEMENT	11011	Phil Arnall	NCYC	Corby 43	NSW	Y
ARIEL	A140	R Forster /P Damp	CYCA/SASC	Beneteau First 40	NSW	Y
ART EQUITY MAHLIGAI	NZL1	Murray Owen	RPNYC	Sydney 46	NSW			Y
AUSREO	6755	Ian Creak	GFS	Beneteau 47.7	NSW	Y
BALANCE	7771	Mike Green	CYCA	Farr Tp52	NSW			Y
BEAR NECESSITY	MH115	John Blair	BSC	C & C 115	NSW
BIG KAHOONA	6603	Steve McManus	RMYCPH	Beneteau First 44.7	NSW	Y
BLACK JACK	52570	Mark Bradford	RQYS	Juan K	QLD			Y
BLACK SHEEP	33345	Derek & Martin Sheppard	CYCA	Beneteau 45	NSW	Y
BRINDABELLA	10000	Jim Cooney	CYCA	Jutson 80	NSW
CALIBRE	7777	Richard Williams	CYCA	Sydney 38	NSW			Y
CELESTIAL	6952	Sam Haynes	CYCA	Jv Tp52	NSW
CHANCELLOR	8824	Edward Tooher	CYCA	Beneteau 47.7	NSW			Y
CHINESE WHISPER	AUS-13	Rupert Henry	CYCA	Judel Vroljik 62	NSW			Y
CLOSE HALLED	M3	Graeme Hall	LMYC	Beneteau First 40	NSW	Y
COUGAR 11	5200	Anthony Lyall	RYCT	Transpac 52 Farr	TAS	Y
CYRENE 3	8412	Mike Selby	CYCA	X-412	NSW			Y
DARE DEVIL	RF5095	Sibby Ilzhofer	NCYC	Farr/Cookson 47	NSW	Y
DOLCE	9550	Pierre Gal	CHYC	Inglis 47 Mod	NSW	Y
ELENA NOVA	65007	Craig Neil	MHYC	Judel & Vorlijk 42	NSW			Y
ESPRESSO FORTE	8181	Laurence Freedman	CYCA	Farr 55	NSW			Y
FRANTIC	GBR5211L	Michael Martin	NCYC	Tp52 Donovan	NSW	Y
GREAT XPECTATIONS	6343	Rod Wills	CYCA	X-43	NSW			Y
HARTBREAKER	B330	Alan Breidahl	RBYC	Reichel Pugh 46	VIC	Y
HELSAL3	262	Rob Fisher	RYCT	Adams/Barrett	TAS	Y
ICHI BAN	AUS001	Gordon Maguire	CYCA	J/V 52	nsw
ICHI BAN.	AUS01	Matt Allen	CYCA	Carkeek 60	NSW			Y
JUSTADASH	7722	Philip Dash	MHYC	Beneteau First 40	NSW			Y
KAYLE - SWD	7878	John Whitfeld	CYCA	Lyons 54	NSW			Y
KERAZY	11044	R Curtis G Tailby	RPAYC	Ker 11.3	NSW	Y
KOMODO	9327	Andrew Butler	RPAYC	Farr 40	NSW	Y
L'ALTRA DONNA	6935	Andy Kearnan	CYCA	Summit 35	NSW			Y
LAST TANGO	8975	Phillip King	CYCA	Salona 44	NSW
LE BILLET	10447	M Tinworth / M Waterhouse	RPAYC	Beneteau First 44.7	NSW	Y
LEE-WAY	135	Tony Horkings	SYC	Northshore 38	QLD	Y
LOCAL HERO	1236	Matthew Bassett	MYC/NHSC	Bh36	NSW			Y
MERLIN	93	David Forbes	RSYS	Kaiko 52	NSW			Y
MORTGAGECHOICE RUMBA	6232	Kerry Burke	MHYC	Northshore 370	NSW			Y
NOT A DIAMOND	RQ2404	David Redfern	RQYS	Beneteau First 40	QLD	Y
OCC. COARSE LANG ONE	8009	Robert Alder	RPAYC	Cookson 12	NSW	Y
ONESAILS RACING	AUS8899	Ray Roberts	CYCA	Farr 55	NSW			Y
PAINKILLER FORTE	6063	Rod West	SYC	Jeanneau	QLD	Y
PAPILLON	6841	Phil Molony	CYCA	Archambault A40rc	NSW
PATRICE	360	Tony Kirby	CYCA	Ker 46	NSW
PATRICE SIX	MH777	Shaun Lane	MHYC	X-Yacht 41	NSW	Y
PERPETUAL LOYAL	SYD1000	Anthony Bell	CYCA	Juan-K 100	NSW
PMA YEAH BABY	A5	Louis Ryckmans	CYCA	Welbourn 50	NSW
PRETTY FLY III	10007	Greg Marshall	CYCA	Cookson 50	NSW			Y
PRETTY WOMAN	545	Richard Hudson	RPAYC	Farr 45	NSW	Y
QUIKPOINT AZZURRO	3430	Shane Kearns	CYCA	S & S 34	NSW	Y
SAMURAI JACK	88888	Michael Lazzarini	QCYC	Farr39ml Mod	QLD	Y
SECRET MENS BUSINESS	YC3300	Geoff Boettcher	CYCSA	Tp52 J/V	SA	Y
SHE	4924	Phil Bell	SYC	Olson 40	QLD	Y
SHES THE CULPRIT	370	David Odowd	NCYC/LMYC	Inglis-Jones/Hart 39	NSW	Y
ST JUDE	6686	Noel Cornish	CYCA	Sydney 47	NSW			Y
STAMPEDE	77	J Lattimore M Mcdonald	LMYC/NCY	Inglis 39	NSW	Y
SWISH	226	Steven Proud	MHYC	Kernan 44	NSW			Y
THE GOAT	421	Sebastion Bohm Bruce Foye	CYCA	Rogers 46	NSW			Y
TRITON	6377	Michael Cranitch	CYCA	Lc60	NSW			Y
VICTOIRE	AUS5299	Darryl Hodgkinson	CYCA	Cookson 50	NSW			Y
WASABI	AUS88	Bruce McKay	CSC	Sayer12	NSW			Y
WAX LYRICAL	248	Les Goodridge	CYCA	X 50	NSW
WILD ROSE	4343	Roger Hickman	CYCA	Farr 43	NSW			Y
XS MOMENT	11744	Ray Hudson	RPAYC	X Yachts Xp44	NSW	Y