Adelaide to Port Lincoln Yacht Race - Preview

by Harry Fisher on 15 Feb 2015 More than 50 boats have entered for this year's Adelaide to Port Lincoln Yacht Race next Friday including several interstate competitors.

A total of 44 boats are entered in the racing division, which will leave Adelaide at 3pm, while seven boats have entered in the cruising division, who have the earlier 10am start.

Interstate boats are well represented this year with five Victorian boats and one Western Australian making the trip to Adelaide for the race.

Atop the list of interstate boats is Rob Date's 52-foot Reichel-Pugh Scarlet Runner, a former three-time Adelaide to Port Lincoln line honours winner.

Western Australian Michael Giles and his crew on Sydney 47 Endorfin also head to Adelaide for the boat's first Adelaide to Port Lincoln race and will also compete in the Lincoln Week regatta that follows.

Alan Woodward's Beneteau First 45 Reverie, Martin Power's 44-foot Bacardi, Peter Young's The Brothers and Pete and Marissa Chalkley's Hush make up the remainder of the interstate boats all making the trip over from Victoria.

Four boats will compete in the race from the Port Lincoln Yacht Club headed by another Sydney 47, Fresh, owned by Kym Clarke.

Sources have told Down Under Sail that bets between Fresh and Endorfin have already been placed with the wager standing at 20 jugs of rum and cola for the first boat over the line.

Other Port Lincoln boats racing include Grant Eckermann's Speakeasy and Jonathan Newbury's Sextant, which are entered in the racing division while Guy Manthorpe's Tauremka will compete in the cruising division.

Among the fleet are some top contenders including Adelaide to Port Lincoln race veteran Geoff Boettcher's newly purchased TP-52, formerly Beau Geste and now renamed as Secret Men's Business.

Boettcher will be joined in the race by his rival Date on Scarlet Runner, which rekindles the flames of a rivalry between the pair from years gone by.

Unfortunately Scarlet Runner missed last year's Adelaide to Port Lincoln race due to commitments racing overseas but is back in 2015 for another crack at Boettcher.

The early money looks to be on the TP-52 for line honours however depending on weather conditions, the race for IRC honours is wide open.

Sydney 47's Fresh and Endorfin, as well as Jason Ward's Concubine, Cailin Howard and David Oliver's Aikin, Andrew Corletto's Shining Sea and Andrew Saies Two True also look to be in contention for the overall IRC result.

Sailors with their boats already in Adelaide will look to get a bit of early practice in on Wednesday night with a twilight race at the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia, sponsored by Quin's Yacht Brokerage and Adelaide Boat Sales.

The four-day Lincoln Week regatta will also be a popular event with a total of 33 entries in both racing and cruising divisions.