Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Race - Five days to go

by Suellen Hurling on 1 Aug 2010 Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Race 2010 - As Wild Oats X, Black Jack, Lahana, Carbon Credits, Victorie, Colortile, Wasabi and Local Hero battle it out in the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race (ASGCYR), other competitors in the Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race (B2K) are putting the final touches onto their boats ahead of the 3pm start on Friday 6 August.

Race Organisers Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron (RQYS) are watching the tracker and standings closely on the ASGCYR website with the above boats all listed as favourites on the system.

The trackers being used in the fourth B2K race are being supplied by UK company Yellow Brick. They were finally released from customs on Saturday 31 July and are due to arrive at B2K Headquarters on Monday morning.

'We researched a lot of tracking options and decided that Yellow Brick were the best and would provide what we were after,' said RQYS General Manager Paul Hughes.

The system is completely wireless and will provide boat positions every 15 minutes for the duration of the race.

'The trackers will actually be plotting boats before the start so everyone will be able to see the boats coming from Rivergate Marina and RQYS - not a moment of action will be missed!' continued Hughes.

Spectators are welcome to join the fleet and watch them depart in real life with the start taking place east of Green Island on Brisbane's Moreton Bay. The boats will then make their way north along the specatular Queensland coast before finishing outside Keppel Bay Marina where the party will begin.

The long range forecast is predicating a strong SWS breeze peaking at 22 knots at the time of start which will come as a pleasant change for the fleet from the 2009 start which started in five knots. The fleet will push against a flood tide for the first three hours of the race before getting pushed out to sea.

A day into the race the boats will cruise up the coast with a 12-15 knot south easterly.

The current race record stands at 29 hours 24 minutes and 11 seconds, set by Peter Harburg's Reichel Pugh 66 Black Jack in the 2009 race.

For more information check the website/

Race Website: http://www.brisbanetokeppel.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/brisbane2keppel/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/brisbanetokeppel.com/

SMS Registration: http://www.brisbanetokeppel.com/sms

The Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race is part of Queensland Tourism's Season of Sailing calendar and is proudly sponsored by O'Reilly's Real Estate, Angove Wines, Morgan's Seafood, Capricorn Tourism, Rockhampton Regional Council and of course Club Marine.

The race is hosted by Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron with the support of Keppel Bay Marina, Keppel Bay Sailing Club, Yeppon Coast Guard and Bundaberg VMR.