Pittwater and Coffs Harbour Regatta - Competing field complete

by Lisa Ratcliff on 5 Dec 2012 The competing field for the next year’s Club Marine Pittwater and Coffs Harbour Regatta is finally complete as Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club Commodore Phil Arnall and his Corby 43 Anger Management leads a strong fleet of contenders vying for sailing glory in the first sail racing event of 2013. The Club Marine Pittwater & Coffs Harbour Regatta is scheduled on the second of January with the race starting at around 1 p.m off Palm Beach Headland and finishing at Coffs Harbour.

Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club Commodore Phil Arnall and his Corby 43, Anger Management, is one of a number of visiting entries lining up for the Club Marine Pittwater and Harbour Regatta in the New Year.

Also on the current starter’s list from up north is Lake Macquarie Yacht Club entrant, Peter Hewson’s Sydney 41, Storage King Wallop, and from across the border Bill Wild has nominated his racy RP55, Wedgetail, from Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron.

'The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club welcomes all enquiries and applications from category 2 keelboat owners interested in what is typically a challenging overnight race,' said RPAYC Commodore, Rob Curtis.

'Our premier blue water event is strongly supported by RPAYC members and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, plus we have a number of entries from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and Middle Harbour Yacht Club.

'We welcome owners from all clubs and we look forward to activating our ambassador program on arrival at the RPAYC marina, and continuing the great hospitality at the finish,' added Curtis.

Given the start is 'down the road', Arnall is a fan of the annual 226 nautical mile Pittwater to Coffs ocean race, which starts 1pm January 2 off Palm Beach Headland and finishes at Coffs Harbour.

'The start is pretty easy for us Novocastrians. Hopefully it’s just an overnight race; 30 hours of sailing to a good destination. We’ll stay for a couple of days’ recreation then bring the boat home. Unfortunately we can’t stay for the regatta as my son Richie and I have a wedding to get to'.

Father and son have had a long sailing association and while there is the occasional barney, Arnall assures the 'chequebook rules'.

'Richie I have sailed together since we’ve had boats together, probably from the time he was eight, which is more than 20 years ago. I’m skipper and cheque book signer and he’s navigator and organiser.'

The boat’s moniker, Anger Management, is unrelated to family ties promises Phil. 'We decided on the name when we were sailing the first Anger Management, a Beneteau 40.7, back from the broker Vicsail in Sydney.

'I wanted to call it The Shed, but in deference to some of the interactions between the delivery crew we decided on Anger Management, which has since become an iconic name around Newcastle with the Corby being the third boat by that name.'

In this year’s Pittwater to Coffs yacht race, Anger Management finished eighth over the line and 12th on IRC handicap in 2012. On their likely performance come January Arnall says, 'We will be more competitive than last year. It was our first on the water with the new boat, it takes time to learn and know where things are.

'We’ll have our stable crew with us and we’ll try to find boats with a similar IRC rating to race against. Touch wood it will be one of those pleasant races, if not the duration means we won’t be stuck out there forever.

'We have two Newcastle boats going in the Sydney to Hobart; as I say to them, ‘we play in the shallow end of the pool going to Coffs’.'

Entries for the Club Marine Pittwater & Coffs Harbour regatta close this Friday, December 7 at 5pm.

The 2013 Club Marine Pittwater and Coffs Harbour Regatta Notice of Race is available from the Pittwater and Coffs Harbour Regatta website