Airlie Beach Race Week - Notice of race released for 25th anniversary

by Heidi Walton on 5 Mar 2014 2014 Airlie Beach Race Week - The Notice of Race is out for the 25th anniversary of the Airlie Beach Race Week, where the racing is marvellous and the parties memorable.

Event organisers, Whitsunday Sailing Club, are promising that both competitors and their supporters will have an enjoyable time at Race Week which is on from the 8 to 15 August 2014.

The invited divisions in 2014 are IRC, PHS, Sports Boats, Cruising Spinnaker, Cruising Non-Spinnaker, OMR and Cruising Multihulls.

An added bonus for monohulls and multihulls is Abell Point Marina’s offer of a discount on berth rental fee for the month of August.

Entry to Race Week opens on the 15th March can be completed online through the event website. The closing date for all entries is 1st August 2014.

With well over 100 entries expected for this anniversary year, a number of the 2013 podium placed boats have indicated they intend returning for another year of great racing.

The 2013 IRC Division champion, Howard Piggott’s Beneteau First 40 Flying Cloud, has Airlie Beach Racing Week pencilled in their northern racing program. 'We are certainly hoping to be there if all our plans come together. It’s a marvellous event,' Piggott said.

IRC Division bridesmaid, Mooloolaba Yacht Club’s Gary McCarthy and his team on the Beneteau 34.7, Brilliant Pearl, are rearing to get back up north. In the last two years McCarthy has finished in second and then in third on count-back. He has his sights set on first place this year.

After dominating the Performance Division in last year’s Race Week, a disappointed Philip Groves has advised he won’t have Huntress there this year to defend his title due to an overseas business trip. Also missing this year will be Matt Allen’s very competitive Farr 400 Ichi Ban as Allen will instead campaign his Carkeek 60 in the IRC Division.

Local skipper Damian Suckling, who finished second to Huntress last year, is pleased they won’t be returning this year, but he knows that absence of that visitor doesn’t ensure he will have an easy ride to the podium. 'Our local competition, Charles (Wallis) and Reignition will be there. We have a pretty good battle most years.

'There will be a dark horse from down south. Until we see the entries we don’t know who it will be, but there is always a southern dark horse. We have a couple each year,' Suckling said.

Royal Yacht Club of Victoria’s John Raff and his team on Kate had a great time last year battling it out in Cruising Division one with the Ginnivan brothers’ Fifty Shades of 50 to finally finish in second overall. This year he is leaving his Kate at home and travelling north with a different boat.

'Ray Nankervis sailed with me last year. This year he is bringing his boat Kalm and we are going to sail with him. It’s a 48-foot Buizen, a lovely cruising boat. We won’t be anywhere near as competitive in Kalm. It’s a more sedate boat so this year we won’t be so aggressive in our racing,' Raff said.

Raff also reported the crew from Biddy Hu, most of which sailed with Raff last year, are an 'eighty per cent chance of bringing Biddy Hu up as well and they will likely be in Cruising Division one or two.'

The 2013 Sports Boats Division champion, Noel Leigh-Smith will be in Airlie this year. 'We were just discussing this today. We will be back with the Viper to defend the title in the Sports Boats.

'I think this year by all counts it will be tough. Peter Sorensen is going to revive Conquistador and Brett (Whitbread) with Bloke’s World will come. We are trying to get quite a few up there,' Leigh Smith said.

The black speed machine that ran down everyone in the Multihull Division one in 2013, the Seacart 30 Morticia, is another possible starter. Morticia’s Shaun Carroll admitted while they are keen to get to Airlie Beach they firstly had to get home from South Australia and the Australian Championship, which they won, and work out their winter program. 'We are undecided as my wife is due to give birth to our first one in about a month. We have done a lot of Airlie Beach regattas and we love it up there.'

Rounding off the early entry list will be Don Algie’s big Storm 2. Algie has competed in every Airlie Beach Race Week since it started and he has confirmed that he and his team of mates won’t be missing the 25th year.

All the event details and race documentation can be found on the event website.