Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race - Bumper fleet anticipated

by Jennifer Crooks on 3 Jun 2014 With the close of entries for the 29th Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race still six weeks away and 26 entries already received, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia is gearing up for a bumper fleet.

'This year, the Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race is shaping up as one for the history books,' Commodore Howard Piggott said.

'We expect even more yachts than ever will be vying to win the race overall and have their name engraved on the Peter Rysdyk Memorial Trophy, provided the conditions favour them,' the Commodore said.

'And of course it will be a battle royale between the two super maxis, Wild Oats XI and Perpetual Loyal to be the first to cross the finish line off Main Beach, Southport, just as it was last year between three others.'

So far, five interstate entries have been received by the CYCA. From Victoria are Bruce Taylor’s Caprice 40 Chutzpah; John Newbold’s Reichel Pugh 51 Primitive Cool, and Hugh Ellis’ Beneteau First 44.7 Twitch.

Taylor regularly travels to Sydney for the CYCA’s races and although he has not won the Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race overall, he has won and finished third in division and has also had divisional success with his Sydney 38, also named Chutzpah.

Last year’s Hobart race proved a baptism of fire for John Newbold, who battled gale force conditions off Tasman Island to finish a respectable 15th overall after acquiring and renaming the successful Secret Mens Business 3.5 a month earlier. Newbold and crew are now geared up for better things, having come to grips with the yacht.

Hugh Ellis purchased Twitch earlier this year out of Tasmania and competed in the rugged Melbourne to Port Fairy race. He and the crew finished an excellent second under IRC.

Samurai Jack, owned by Moreton Bay dweller, Michael Lazzarini, is coming down from Queensland. It is anticipated Lazzarini will be joined by up to three others from the Sunshine State, including Peter Harburg’s Volvo 70 Black Jack which finished third in a three-way tussle for line honours all the way to the finish in last year’s race on her maiden ocean race with Harburg.

Tasmania is also represented with Audere, Michael Pritchard’s Beneteau First 45, and interstate numbers are expected to build in the coming weeks.

Locally, Craig Neil’s Judel Vrolijk 42 Elena Nova will make her ocean racing debut after emerging onto the scene in April when she finished fifth in Class B at the Australian IRC Championship.

Better known names in the fleet from NSW include current Blue Water Pointscore Series champion Wild Rose, Roger Hickman’s Farr 43; Celestial, Sam Haynes’ Rogers 46; Southern Excellence II, Andrew Wenham’s Volvo 70 and Pretty Fly III, Colin Woods’ Cookson 50.

'We are very excited by the level of competition and strong performances that yachts competing in the Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race will deliver,' Tim Krieger, Land Rover Australia’s Brand Manager said.

'It’s what we aim to deliver with the Land Rover experience – a competitive edge and technological innovation that can take on the unique challenges of their surroundings and deliver top performance.'

The Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race starts on Sydney Harbour at 1pm on Saturday 26 July. It takes the fleet from the Nielsen Park start line, down the Harbour and out through Sydney Heads, before turning left to head to the finish line off Main Beach at Southport, on Queensland’s Gold Coast.


Entry can be completed online until 1700 hours on Friday 11 July by logging on to website.

To view the Notice of Race click here.