Commodore and Mayor agree 21st is best series ever

by Rob Kothe on 6 Jan 2002 This 21st Strathfield Pittwater and Coffs Harbour Race Series has definitely been the best ever say the Royal Prince Alfred's Commodore and the Coffs Harbour Mayor.

On Thursday morning Coffs Harbour Mayor, Councilor Jenny Bonfield walked along the sea wall to the finish line at the base of Mutton Bird Island to fire the canon, welcoming the line honours winner Grundig.

'This is the 21st year of this race, which has become very important for Coffs Harbour, both for the business community and the townspeople. The town is really embracing it'. Laughing, she said, 'The best thing about this year's race is the civilized time that I have to fire the finishing gun. If the wind had been stronger yesterday afternoon, I was expecting to have to get here in the dark to meet the line honours winner'.

RPAYC Commodore John Paul is racing his new yacht Cardinal Sin in the highly competitive Sydney 38 One design, part of the largest IRC fleet on record.

He said this morning 'This has been my seventh trip north from Pittwater to Coffs Harbour and it was certainly the best ride. This has definitely been the best series ever, with great competition and excellent weather.

The co-operation and involvement of the Coffs Harbour community has been outstanding and this can only lead to even better series in years to come'.