Sportsboats set to smash Airlie Beach Record

by Rob Kothe on 26 May 2008 Over the last five years the numbers of sports boats racing at Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week has continued to rise steadily but in 2008 the fleet numbers are expected to jump to a new record, with the fleet racing under the new Sportsboat Measurement System (SMS).

A combination of tropical shirt weather in the depths of the Australian winter, steady trade wind breezes, flat water on Pioneer Bay, interesting island courses and plenty of friendly accommodation has made the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Regatta one of the key Sportsboat events on the Australian calendar.

The formation of the Australian Sports Boat Association in 2007 and the adoption of the modified Australian Measurement system now called the Sportboat Measurement System (SMS), has lifted sports boat racing to a new level.

There were 22 boats racing at the inaugural Australian Sports Boats Nationals at Skandia Geelong Week.

Regatta Director Denis Thompson had the foresight to arrange for Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week Sports Boat racing to be SMS.

There are now 45 boats measured under SMS, with last Saturday’s Measurement Day (May 24th) in Brisbane, adding 14 boats measured, with six or eight more expected to be measured over the coming months.

Last year there was a highly competitive fleet of 18 sports boats going wet and wild at Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week, this year the Bethwaites, Elliotts, Melges Stealths, Thompson’s and assorted others, could number over 30 according to ASBA secretary Cam Rae.

Geelong based Rae has been very active on the southern circuit for many years but he, like many others, will be venturing north for the first time with his Thompson 8 ‘Weapon of Choice.’

‘Sportsboat are the most exciting racing boats around’ he said today. ‘They deliver more Bang for Your Buck, than any other racing keelboats and the formation of our own Class Association with a single rating certificate, has encouraged many sailors to join the regatta circuit.’

‘We will have the big guns at Airlie Beach including Vivace and Stealthy.

There more new boats too. There could be half a dozen Melges 24’s and Pierre Gal will be there with a new Sport 8 and Chris Williams and Team G.U.E. will be facing the starter with an as yet un-declared new boat too.

‘But the important thing is that with the SMS handicap rating, any of the 30plus boats could win the regatta.’

'Yachting Victoria has been very supportive of our efforts to get a uniform national rating system, which is now being used in every Australian state. We would love to see it spread to Asia and New Zealand, so we can run Asia-Pacific Championships in years to come.'

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