Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore returns with Flinders Islet Race

Matt Allen's Botin 52 Ichi Ban won the 2019 Flinders Islet Race. © Hamish Hardy / CYCA

More than a third of the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race fleet will begin their 2021/22 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore (BWPS) campaign tomorrow, with a strong fleet of 44 boats set to take on the Flinders Islet Race.

The 88 nautical mile race starts at 1000hrs near Point Piper on Sydney Harbour and takes competitors south down the coast to round Flinders Islet, approximately one nautical mile east off Port Kembla Harbour, before returning to finish in Sydney Harbour.

This is the first of four races in the 2021/22 Audi Centre Sydney BWPS, which culminates in the return of the Rolex Sydney Hobart on Sunday 26 December.

Among the fleet is Matt Allen's Botin 52 Ichi Ban, overall winner of the 2019 Flinders Islet Race, and David Griffith's JV62 Whisper, the Line Honours winner that year.

Matt Donald and Chris Townsend will begin the defence of their Audi Centre Sydney BWPS title, with Gweilo one of six TP52s in the fleet alongside Sam Haynes' Celestial, Gordon Ketelbey's Zen, David Doherty's Matador, Craig Neil's Quest and Seb Bohm's Smuggler.

The race will provide an early preview of the Two-Handed Division's debut in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, with seven double-handed crews beginning their Audi Centre Sydney BWPS campaign: Crux (Carlos Aydos and Peter Grayson), Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth (Jules Hall and Jan Scholten), Eora (Rupert Henry and Greg O'Shea), Local Hero (Mark Ayto and Anto Sweetapple), Rum Rebellion (Shane Connelly and Graeme Dunlop), Salt Shaker (Peter Franki and Drew Jones), and Speedwell (Campbell Geeves and Wendy Tuck).

Follow the live tracker on the race website and the CYCA's social media channels for coverage of the race.

Meet the fleet...

2021/22 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore schedule

Race 1: Flinders Islet Race - 1000hrs Saturday 6 November
Race 2: Bird Island Race - 1000hrs Saturday 13 November
Race 3: Cabbage Tree Island Race - 1900hrs Friday 3 December
Race 4: Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - 1300hrs Sunday 26 December

The history

The CYCA first introduced the Blue Water Pointscore in 1958, won by Graham Newland's Lion 35 Siandra.

Matt Donald and Chris Townsend's TP52 Gweilo is the defending Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore champion.

Gweilo won overall honours in the 2020 Bird Island Race and was third overall in the 2020 Cabbage Tree Island Race.

Only eight skippers have won the Jack Halliday Perpetual Trophy multiple times.

Official website: bwps.cycaracing.com