Sydney Yachts enjoy Whitsunday Racing

by Martin Thompson on 12 Sep 2007 A large fleet of Sydney Yachts made the annual migration north for the winter to compete in the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week and the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.

Commencing just two days after the Sydney International Boat Show, both events provide the perfect stage to display the real performance potential of the yachts that were on display at the show. With its entire range present at the Whitsunday’s, Sydney Yachts was once again able to demonstrate its race-winning pedigree by dominating the results in all divisions its yachts had entered.

At Airlie Beach Race Week, victory went to the Sydney 39CR Hussy. Repeating her form from three years prior, when the same boat won the iRC Cruising divsion Hussy convincingly blitzed her opposition with four firsts and two thirds on IRC to walk away with the Premier Cruising trophy. Second in the division was the West Australian Sydney 36 This Way Up, with the Melbourne Sydney 38 Cinquante coming fourth. In the strong PHS division, Wallop, a Sydney 41, placed a well-deserving second.

Skipper John Bacon and Hussy took the prestigeous Boss Hog trophy for their wonderful effort at Airlie Beach. This trophy has mostly gone to the Big Boat class so it was a great coup for the Sydney 39CR.

John Bacon commented. 'We love the boat and we love the Airlie Beach series. Its a great honour to see our name on the Boss Hog Trophy.'

Proving to be an exceptionally popular event, Audi Hamilton Island Race Week assembled a record fleet of high calibre racing amongst all divisions. With over 30 yachts competing for the podium in the Cruiser Racer IRC division, an exciting tussle was always expected. After a well-sailed regatta, the Sydney 36CR Equinox narrowly missed the win by a single point from Mark Griffiths’ Bull 9000.

'We sailed a great final race and thought we had won, which we needed to in order to win the series' said Anthony Dunn from Equinox. 'Only when we were tying up at the dock did we notice that two boats had taken a vastly different course on the long leg home against the current and had sailed right around the fleet in a gutsy yet rewarding move.

The Bull 9000 also thought we had won the series and came in offering congratulations until they too realised the result from the day, which had sealed them the victory. They sailed well all week and are very worthy winners' Anthony added.

Third was the Archambault 35 Arajilla. 'Given the Archambault’s favourable rating, it was rewarding for the Sydney 36CR to not only beat it over the line, but also triumph over it on IRC' Said Martin Thompson of Sydney Yachts.

Between the Sydney 39CR Hussy and the fleet of Sydney 36CR’s competing for the Cruiser Racer IRC trophy, Sydney Yachts filled five of the top 10 places in this division.

It was a similar story in the Premier IRC Division with Paul Clitheroe’s beautifully presenting Sydney 47CR, Balance, placing third in Premier IRC behind the larger Espresso Forte and the Marten 49, Carrera. This credible result achieved by Paul’s corinthian crew adds to the success of the Sydney 47CR at Hamilton Island where it has won this division for the past 3 years.

Thompson continued 'What was so pleasing with the Sydney 36CR was to see so many new boat owners having their first Hamilton Island experience and at times stirring up the regulars.

'Andrew Hurt's 'Onya' had two top three places, an excellent result for a very new boat. Dennis Coopers 'Amante' struggled on the first day upwind against Equinox but soon began to improve her upwind speed. John Moore's 'This Way Up' and David Bates' 'Supernova' also had angles of magic with their asymmetric spinnakers whenever the reaching angles allowed.'

For details regarding the launch or information on the Sydney 36 Cruiser Racer and the full range of Sydney Yachts, please contact Martin Thompson, Sydney Yachts Sales Manager on (02) 9979 8044 / 0414 41 41 00 or info@sydneyyachts.com