Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week overall

by Airlie Beach Race Week media on 1 Sep 2011 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week, held from 12th to 19th August 2011, was sailed from Meridian Marinas impressive Abel Point Marina.

The 2011 event set a new record with 130 entries, 1200 plus sailors and the fastest yacht in southern hemisphere lined up for the regatta.

Race Director Denis Thompson commented ‘This is the number one sporting event in Airlie Beach each year. 'Huey' turned on four days of glorious sunshine and great 15-20 knot sailing breeze, which lightened off in the last two days.

‘Because of the size of Meridien Marinas Abel Point Marina, multihulls have become a feature of this event. This year’s fleet was certainly the best ever.’

The fastest yacht in the southern hemisphere, the offshore racing trimaran TeamVodafoneSailing, Simon Hull’s ORMA 60 from New Zealand led a very impressive multihull fleet which included Mal Richardson’s Nacra 36 Malice and Keith Glover’s Grainger trimaran Trilogy.

'This regatta has been a major highlight of our Australian trip, not just because of its magnificent sailing conditions but because of the welcome we got here and the response from the Multihull community we met,' said Simon Hull.

Multihull Series winner was J’Óuvert, Peter Berry's Prescott Whitehaven 11.7 on count back from Trilogy. TeamVodafoneSailing finished third.

The Sports Boat fleet at Airlie is the best in the Asia Pacific. Overall Sports Boat Series winner for 2011 was Pierre Gal's Sport 8xx Kiss. Brett Whitbread's Egan 7.27 Blokes World finished second with Richard Devries' Go Majik third.

After the final race Pierre Gal was smiling. ‘Very happy with the boat and very happy with my old crew.’ Trimmer Jan 'Clogs' Scholten chimed in ‘This win is a great reward for Pierre. He designed this boat, built it, built the sails, motivated this crew together and helmed us to a good series win.'

SMS Division 1 Winner Richard DeVries Magic 25 Go Majik from Evergreen and Kaito.

SMS Division 2 Winner Pierre Gal's Sports 8 xx Kiss. Blokes World was second, Stealthy third.

IRC Racing Series winner was Peter Sorensen's Sydney 36CR The Philosophers Club, finishing one point ahead of Brilliant Pearl and Nutcracker.

At the final night’s prize giving, Peter Sorensen announced very seriously that The Philosophers Club had voted this event the ‘Best Regatta in the Universe for 2011’.

Further Results:
IRC Cruising - Darryl Hodgkinson's Beneteau 45 Victoire

Performance Racing - Duncan Hine's Custom Steiner 29 Redshift

Super 30 Series – Leon Thomas Guilty Pleasures III

Cruising Division 1 - Phillip King's Salona 44 Last Tango

Cruising Division 2 - Peter Mitchelson's Austral Clubman 8 Lorna Rose Too

Cruising Non-Spinnaker - Henry Kelder's Bavaria 34 Bluenose

The prestigious Boss Hog Trophy went to Leon Thomas and Guilty Pleasures III

For those who missed this year's superb weather, great racing, wonderful entertainment and camaraderie at Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week remember there is always next Airlie Beach Race Week website