Heaven Can Wait - One Lap Dash,24 hour and now 12 hour race

by Mark Cherrington on 22 Mar 2012 Heaven Can Wait Charity Yacht Race organisers have announced an additional event – a 12 hour race around Lake Macquarie, designed to appeal to sports boats, trailerables, trailer-sailers, and anyone who doesn't feel up to a full 24 hour race, or wants more of a challenge than the daylight-only One Lap Dash.

Run in conjunction with the Royal Motor Yacht Club Toronto, the 2012 Heaven Can Wait race will be held on September 29-30, commencing at 11 am.

As in past years, it raises funds for men’s cancer research and support programs, with all monies raised through entries going to the Cancer Council of NSW, plus an amount to Marine Rescue NSW.

Over the past two years, the race has raised over $75,000 for these causes.

This year will see the event offer three options:

1. The full 24 hour race from 11 am on September 29 to 11 am on September 30

2. The One Lap Dash around the entire course, and also starting at 11 am on September 29, and finishing back at Royal Motor Yacht Club Toronto during the afternoon

3.The new 12 hour race, starting at 11 am on September 29, and finishing at 11 pm that night.

As with the 24 hour race, the 12-hour race is a 'distance over time' event, with competitors logging their positions using their on-board GPS as of 11 pm, and reporting it to the race committee.

Both the 24 hour and 12 hour races will require boats to comply with YA Cat 5N safety standards, while the One Lap Dash is a Cat 7 event.

Competitors will be able to enter into all three events, just a single event, or any combination of them.
Heaven Can Wait Yacht Club commodore Shaun Lewicki said the decision to offer a 12 hour option was for a number of reasons.

'We have been asked to offer a 12 hour option by a number of previous competitors, as well as potential competitors, who wanted something more challenging than the One Lap Dash, but did not have a suitable boat to do the full 24 hour race in reasonable comfort.

'We also thought it provides a good option for those who have done the One Lap Dash, but would like to step up to a day/night race.

'And because the 12 hour race finishes by 11 pm, boats can be back at Toronto by around midnight – or stop and anchor close to where they finish – so there are none of the fatigue-management issues associated with the 24 hour race.

'We anticipate that by offering a 12 hour option, we will see a significant increase in the number of boats participating in this year’s and future Heaven Can Wait races,' Lewicki Heaven Can Wait website