Club Marine Pittwater and Coffs Regatta - One week to close of entries

by Damian Devine on 1 Dec 2012 The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club is expecting a late of wave of entries with just a week to go before the end of registration for the upcoming Club Marine Pittwater and Coffs Harbour Regatta 2013. The 226nm Category 2 Club Marine Pittwater to Coffs Harbour ocean race will mark the first race of the New Year and the regatta, when it gets underway on 2 January 2013 at 1pm.

Four races will follow in Coffs Harbour with two sprint and two 20nm offshore races on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 January to round out the five-race regatta. The regatta offers IRC, ORCi, PHS and shorthanded divisions with the inaugural Australian Performance Handicap (PHS) Championship running in parallel, with all boats eligible to enter. To date, 26 boats have elected to enter the PHS Championships, making way for an exciting regatta in this division.

Congratulations to Grant Dawson and Brent Lawson’s Kerisma, a modified Ker 11.3 from the Middle Harbour Yacht Club, who have had their regatta fee waived after winning the 2013 regatta entry promotion.

In 2012 Kerisma finished 10th IRC overall in the Pittwater to Coffs Race and seventh IRC in the overall regatta. However, they didn’t go home empty handed, picking up two trophies for a second placing in the ORCi division for the overall regatta and third ORCi for the ocean race.

This will be their third assault in the Coffs regatta and the crew of nine are looking forward to the race to Coffs. 'We are really looking forward to the event and we’re hoping to improve on our results from 2012. The Coffs race last year was on the nose the whole way and we never got to crack the sheets, let alone think about putting up a kite. We’re hoping for an opportunity to see some running or reaching in the 2013 event.

'It’s a great race – we love the atmosphere at the RPAYC and the Coffs Harbour Yacht Club puts on a great reception for us when we arrive. Last year we competed in the regatta for the first time and we really enjoyed the courses and competition,' said Dawson

Recent entries include Darryl Hodgkinson’s Audi IRC Class B Australian Championship winning Beneteau 45, Victoire, 2010 PHS winner Rob Carr and Kerry Burke’s Northshore 370, Mortgage Choice Rumba, Philip Dash’s Beneteau 40, Justadash, and Michael Selby X-412, Cyrene 3. The regatta will also see more than 12 new boats in this year’s regatta.

Regatta celebrations will kick off with a bang at a huge New Year’s Eve beach-style party at the RPAYC on 31 December for club members and visiting competitors. There will be fireworks over Pittwater at 9pm and midnight. The mandatory race briefing will be held on 1 January at 6pm followed by a welcome cocktail party and the mandatory weather briefing on 2 January at 9am, prior to the start of the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour offshore race at 1pm off Barrenjoey.

RPAYC volunteers will act as ambassadors for visiting yachts, greeting crews, showing them to their berth at the marina and liaising with the skipper and crew to address any needs they may have.

To ramp up the hospitality even further, on arrival in Coffs Harbour all competitors will receive a cold case of beer and be warmly welcomed at the Club Marine sausage sizzle hosted by Volunteer Marine Rescue on the marina.

The receiving club, the Coffs Harbour Yacht Club has been busy preparing to accommodate the competitors when they arrive. The Mayoral reception and passage race prize giving will take place on Friday 4 January.

Close of entries is next Friday, 7 December 2012. The 2013 Club Marine Pittwater and Coffs Harbour Regatta Notice of Race is available here. Online entry via Top Yacht Software

For race enquiries and documentation please contact the RPAYC Sailing Office on (02) 9998 3771 or Pittwater to Coffs website