Lord Howe Island is a magical sailing destination

by Rob Kothe on 11 Sep 2001 This year, the G.Gray Motor Body Repairs Gosford to Lord Howe Island
race which is in its 28th year, will have a record fleet. The enduring appeal of
this race (which is a tough 408 mile qualifying race for the Sydney to
Hobart blue water race) is the destination ... according to the sailors who
keep going back there time after time.

Wayne Millar, the big North Queensland sailor, first sailed to the
magical Lord Howe island almost 20 years ago, with a bunch of surfing
mates. “For five weeks we were anchored in the Lord Howe lagoon, I am a
goofy footer surfer so I favoured the left hand break. We surfed and
fished all day and lived on the boat, it was a great introduction to
Lord Howe Island’.

Millar has sailed into the Lord Howe lagoon on eight occasions since
his surfer days. He sailed in Brisbane to Lord Howe races before sailing
in the 20th, 21st and 22nd Gosford to Lord Howe races on the Inglis 47
'Decimator' and in 1998, sailed his Sydney 41 'B-52' into a second place on IMS handicap.

Townsville based Millar is a strong competitor on the Australian ocean
racing circuit. Last month he placed third in the Australian IMS
Nationals on his Sydney 41 'Zoe' in the Whitsundays. Soon, his
boat will sail 3000 kilometres south for another race to Lord Howe Island, 900 kilometres north east of Sydney off the New South Wales coast.

For him the Gosford to Lord Howe race is the perfect qualifying race for
the Sydney to Hobart. 'It’s a hard ocean race, but it’s a great
destination and we are looking forward to October 27th'.

Another sailor who knows Lord Howe well is Sydney sailor Nigel Holman,
who is backing up for his seventh Broken Bay start.

Nigel Holman whose first Cuckoo’s Nest, a Lyons 40, won the tough 1993
Sydney to Hobart, after he came second in the Lord Howe race that same
year. For three years 1997, 1998 and 1999, Holman took the little Lyons 30 footer 'Fujuitsu' on this long Category One ocean race.

Last year he sailed his Sydney 41 'Zurich.' This year his new 'Cuckoo's
Nest', a brand new Sydney 38 One Design, will be amongst the favourites.

‘It is a great race; you can see the Island from 80 kilometres away at
sea and the sense of anticipation amongst the crew as the boats approach is
great. This will be the first big ocean race for our new boat and we can
hardly wait to get there this year. It might only be a short distance
from Sydney on Qantas but we will enjoy the sail and its another world
when you get there. It's easy to see why its such a popular cruising boat
destination too’.

To view the full entry list and to see details and photos of boats and
Lord Howe Island itself, go to the race web site
http://www.sail-world.com/gosford2lordhowe

The major sponsor for the G.Gray Motor Body Repairs Gosford to Lord
Howe Race is G.Gray Motor Body Repairs in Gosford.

Minor sponsors include Qantas Link, NBN3 Television, Milky Way Holiday
Accommodation (Lord Howe), and Sail-World.com

For more information contact Media Director Rob Kothe - 02 9799 9496 - or
media@sail-world.com