Lord Howe Island Race or cruise there
by Helen Hopcroft on 5 Nov 2007
Azzurro with Mt Gower in the background - Hempel Gosford to Lord Howe race Sean Kelly
http://www.gosfordsailingclub.com.au
The Hempel Gosford to Lord Howe Island race is over for another year and the fleet will shortly return to mainland Australia with tall tales and spectacular photographs of the world heritage listed island. For many competitors the first time they see the island is when they arrive on their boats. This year former Lord Howe resident Craig Wilson was on hand to help guide the fleet to safe anchorage and over the years he has also helped numerous cruising boats arrive at the island.
Wilson explained that he started helping with the arrival of the Gosford to Lord Howe fleet when he was in primary school.
‘I was at school and was only ten years old when the first race happened in 1974. I took a couple of days off school to use our small runabout to assist with water and fuelling the boats as they needed it. I was running backwards and forwards, thought it was great and have been involved ever since. I’ve never missed one.’
Wilson observed that the island was growing in popularity as a cruising destination and that during the Christmas or Easter break it was not unusual to see about a dozen yachts in the island’s lagoon.
The maximum draft in the island’s lagoon is about 2.2-2.3 metres and there are 15 permanent moorings. During the annual race they had difficulty filling the lagoon moorings because ‘modern racing yacht tends to have a draft of over 2.2m.’ Another five moorings are available for the use of Gosford to Lord Howe boats with another five boats at anchor, meaning that the island can accommodate a maximum fleet of 25 vessels.
Wilson suggests that boats considering visiting the island contact the port authority (Richard Buckley on (02) 6563 2199) before leaving home. Once boats have arrived at the island Buckley maintains watch on VHF 12; the port is run by the island’s police and Buckley is also the acting customs officer.
‘Normally what happens is that when someone arrives they’ll be piloted by radio into the lagoon and onto a mooring. There are well marked leads on the north passage so that’s not normally a problem.’
Entry into the lagoon can sometimes be difficult and in these circumstances the port authorities will usually point out a decent area to anchor and shelter from the weather until entry becomes possible. We asked Wilson what conditions were likely to make arrival difficult.
‘Anything over about 25 knots from the west/ south west makes it very difficult because you get a lot of water running out of the very narrow passages which makes very short sharp seas which makes it quite nasty.’
Over the years the race has become a more family orientated affair with many competitors electing to stay in one of the island’s many guest houses and have their friends and family fly over to meet them. There are reportedly about 12 flights a week to the island but tourist numbers are still strictly controlled with a limit of 400 tourist beds shared amongst about 18 guesthouses. However these restrictions don’t include yachties who stay on their boats.
The best way to get around on the island is by pushbike and Wilson said that many of the most popular activities revolved around the island’s spectacular scenery.
‘Most of the activities are based around the ocean: diving, snorkelling, fishing, sight seeing cruises. But there’s also lots of great bush walking and there are guided walks up Mount Gower which is just under 3000 ft tall; it’s an all day trip.’
The island has a number of cafes and restaurants so eating out isn’t a problem, though Wilson reports that provisioning for an extended voyage can be expensive due to the cost of air freight. Chandlery supplies are extremely limited so a high degree of self reliance is recommended. There is a slipway but it is for local and very shallow draft boats only.
A number of island operators offer deep sea fishing tours and a glass bottomed boat tours the island’s reef which is the southern most coral reef in the world. Prize presentations for the Hempel Gosford to Lord Howe race are known as the ‘fry up’ because the ceremony is accompanied by a delicious feast of locally caught kingfish.
‘Kingfish is the most sought after and popular fish on the island…If you get out on one of the deep sea fishing boats you’re pretty much guaranteed to catch a good feed of kingfish.’
Boats interested in joining next year’s Hempel Gosford to Lord Howe fleet are advised to contact host Gosford Sailing Club; the 414nm race and the Sydney/Hobart are the only category one offshore races that run every year in Australia.
Race organiser Mark Greenwood describes the event as ‘a true blue water race’ and observed that once you rounded the buoy off Terrigal ‘it’s 408nm NE straight out to sea.’ He said that the beauty of the island makes the race unique as ‘there are not many other destinations like it.’
Gosford Sailing Club contact details:
http://www.gosfordsailingclub.com.au
Gosford Sailing Club Ltd, 28 Masons Parade, Gosford NSW
Postal Address: P.O. Box 187 Gosford NSW 2250
Telephone: 02 4325 7216 FAX: 02 4323 4488
Email: gossail@ozemail.com.au
Hempel contact details:
Hempel Australia Pty Ltd
12 Fitzgerald Road,
Laverton North VIC 3026
Telephone: (03) 8369 4900
Fax: (03) 9360 0894
Email: sales_melbourne@au.hempel.com
http://www.hempel.com
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