Passage Races define Hamilton Island Race Week

by Rob Kothe on 29 Aug 2008 Since the inaugural Hamilton Island Race Week in Easter of 1984, the difference between this event and the southern regattas has always been the passage races.

Rather easy really, there are 76 islands in the Whitsundays group and it is course management made easy, with such a scatter of marks of the course laid out in these azure blue waters.

As Denis Thompson, Regatta Director and PRO commented yesterday, ‘The feed back we get every year reminds us that the island passage races are the most popular races we run, they really define the racing in the Whitsundays. Skippers say time and time again, send us round islands, we love the sight seeing.

On a cautionary note Thompson continued ‘There are navigational as well as tactical decisions to be made when racing in the Whitsundays. For 25 years navigators have had to thread their way around outlying reefs and rocks. Attempting to cut corners comes at a cost as boats have found here again this week. 222 boats rounded Surprise Rock safely on Wednesday, three went too close.’

While the IRC Grand Prix divisions one and two will race windward leeward on Catseye Bay today, the second last day of the 2008 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, it is one of the most popular short island courses today.

The IRC Premier Passage, IRC Passage, Cruising 1, 2 and 3, Cruising Non spinnaker, Performance GP, Performance Passage 1 and 2 divisions that is the other 199 boats in the 225 boat 2008 race week fleet.

The 21.3 nautical mile race starts in Dent Passage heading north, round the top of Dent, down round Pine Island, then four nautical miles up beside Long Island, around White Rock and back to the finish line in Dent Passage.

Tomorrow the regatta will close with the traditional Molle Island race, that along with the Lindeman Race bookends this regatta, depending on the tides which one is first or last.