It's on for young and old in Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race
by Di Pearson / RPAYC media 3 Apr 16:33 AEDT
11 April 2025
Anarchy - out to upset the applecart - Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race © Andrea Francolini
A wide-ranging field of 33 boats is lining up for the 2025 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race which starts on 11th April at 1pm, the 39th running subject to restrictions on number of entries, as the marina at Coffs Harbour Yacht Club is currently undergoing a refurbishment and the region is still in damage control after Cyclone Alfred.
It is an interesting fleet for the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club's race with anyone from pros and club sailors and young and older alike, taking on the unpredictable coastal classic.
A new player to the racing scene has emerged with the Dara Johnson skippered Slingshot, a silver hulled Gunboat 68 with black sails from Queensland's Whitsundays. Bought in 2023, she enjoyed high profile racing in Europe with Sir Irving Laidlaw as his 17th Highland Fling. In 2019, she was the first gunboat built in France.
"Adrienne Cahalan is navigating and Steve Quigley is Sailing Master," Johnson said of the two who raced on Wild Oats XI together for some time. Cahalan was the fastest woman around the world in 2004 on Steve Fossett's maxi catamaran, Cheyenne.
"The team is built around young females and I introduced Adrienne to the mix," said Johnson who has been a fixture around the waterfront for a good part of his life.
Maddy McLeay, a past 29er national champion now campaigning a 49erFX with Tash Bryant, is one of the younger set who will benefit from sailing with Cahalan and Quigley. Chelsea Williams is the other. Both come from the CYCA's Youth Sailing Academy where they have excelled in match racing.
"Maddy runs the boat with me. She's in charge of the rigging and does all the trades. She's First Mate and runs the pit, which is complicated on this boat. This is a great opportunity for Maddy and Chelsea. I've worked hard not to bring in other rockstars," says Johnson, adding, "The same crew will continue up to Hamilton Island Race Week. "
Slingshot will have both multihull and Queensland company on the start line. Stephen Barton's J'Ouvert and Darren Drew's Wind Cheetah, both from the host club, are the other multihulls racing for line honours and the race record. Dale Mitchell set a new multihull record of 17 hours 3 minutes 5 seconds in 2023 with the ORMA 60, Rex, in light conditions, taking just 5 seconds of the previous record!
Trouble & Strife, Matthew Williams' Cookson 12 and Awen, David Hows' Open 60 skippered by Sharon Ferris-Choat, are the other Queenslanders racing in the 226 nautical mile race.
Then there are those going two-handed. Mike Shelley's Q, a Farr 36 from Lake Macquarie, will be sailed by he and Ian Gilkes, for the yacht's first time in the race. "Yes, the boat's named for Q in the James Bond movies," Gilkes confirmed.
"We haven't done a lot of two-handed sailing together, just the last six months really. Mike asked me if I wanted to do the Pittwater Coffs two-handed and I said, 'Why not? It suits me - I'm tagging along! I have a boat myself and we sail with each other from time to time. We've done a couple of races in Newcastle and others.
"Mike's done the race before, but I haven't. Mike's taking time off for it and I might be a retiree, but I'm not pulling out (retiring)," said Gilkes, who is aware of only three finishing last year's extremely light and tricky race. "The boat is pretty prepared and we'll finish."
Like Slingshot, Q will have local company. Three more other entrants are coming from 'The Lake' region: Paul Beath's two-handed J/99, Verite (one of last year's retirees), Jon Lattimore's Inglis 39 Stampede and Tim Gleeson's Beneteau First 36.7, Summer Salt.
For the first time too, Mark Ayto from Sydney has entered Western Morning, an S&S 34 "I've had for just over two years. It's very much a project," Ayto said.
"I brought it up to race condition in October, but it's time to take it up a notch, so it's into the Coffs Race. Anto (Sweetapple) and I did a lot of two-handed sailing on my last boat, Local Hero, including this race in 2022. Now Anto and I are doing it again double-handed.
"The Coffs race timing is perfect for us. We get a long race in, but it's not too long a race. We're an old boat and slow, so it'll take us a while to do it. The boat's ready and we're ready for it. It's a good segue into the next set of races - Sydney Gold Coast and northern circuit."
Starting off Barrenjoey Headland, other entries include Grant Pocklington's Bakewell-White 40, Anarchy, Mark Grifith/Andy Kearnan's TP52 Koa, Andrew Kemp's XC42, Penzance, Richard Harris' Cookson 50 Sticky and Elizabeth Tucker's First Light.
Tucker purchased the Class 40 and sailed it from Europe to Australia with former owner, Cole Brauer, with the intention of taking on the 2027 Global Solo Challenge.
"This will be my first offshore race in Australia with the boat," Tucker says of her Za Ocean Racing program. "We are sailing four up with my Project Manager Mitch White, Bridget Canham and Karen Ewels. We want to learn as much as we can."
"We haven't trained together for the race, but we'll do that along the way. I'm putting together an all-women crew for the Sydney Hobart and I've had 90 applicants so far," Tucker said.
She is in good hands. White is a respected sailor whose business is boat management, while Canham and Ewels were crew on all-women Sydney Hobart crews in the nineties. Canham stayed active in the race on other yachts over the years, including the 2022 and 2023 Hobarts with Kathy Veel - the first two women to double-hand in the race.
A race briefing will be held at the RPAYC on Thursday 10 April from 6:30pm.
For all information, including entry list please go to: www.pittwatertocoffs.com.au.