2026 SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week Day 1: First winners come home on a high
by Di Pearson/SMIRW media 28 Aug 01:27 PDT
27 August - 2 September 2026
Hectic start line on day 1 of SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week 2026 © Revolution Productions
The sun was out ready on opening day at SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week (SMIRW) and the breeze was piping in nice and early for Tropic Petroleum Race Day and competitors couldn't wait to get on the waters off Maggie Island for an 11am start.
IRC Division winner, Tom Woods' JPK 10.80, Saltwater Wine, defeated David Hamilton's Farr 40 One-Design, Seeking Alpha (NSW) and Garth Ryan/Kate Leeson's Wazza Red Boat (Qld) to take the win. Woods and his crew were on a high when they finished.
"We had a really good day," Woods said. I've got a really good navigator from Fremantle (WA) with me (offshore yachtsman Kingsley Piesse) and David O'Dowd (another offshore sailor) on the bow. There's some new guys since we did the Sydney Gold Coast, Brisbane Mackay (Woods finished third) and Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island race weeks.
"Sandy Higgins (2025 505 World Champion) has joined me up here. It's good to have him on board and James Turner as well. It's lucky I know nice people who are also good sailors," said Woods, who himself won the 1984 505 Worlds with Dean Blatchford. My 505 was called Saltwater Wine, that's how I named this boat," he said.
Back on the race track today, Woods recalled, "We started at the pin and port tacked the fleet, then banged out to the right. We just had to sail low and keep moving till the pressure came in. The boat doesn't like light air. The day worked right for us. On the way home, Kingsley rerouted the downwind leg because the breeze went back to the right and swung to the left again. It gained us a lot of ground."
Woods finished, "I'm blessed to have people who are friends who want to come sailing with me. It was awesome coming home from the race. We talked about what we could do better, but nobody could come up with anything."
Spinnaker Division 1 went to the Italia 13.98 Vincitore, owned by Victorian Peter Russell. Two Sydney 38's filled out the top three - Andrew Lloyd/Mary Ann Harvey's Clockwork (SA) and Kim Jaggar's Cinquante (NSW). While Russell scored quite the win - there was just short of five minutes in it - there was, as expected, little between the '38's' - 49 seconds to be precise.
Russell was ecstatic with their day and win: "A slow start, but we picked a few right shifts that kept us up with the leaders," he said. "We had a good kite run. Everything just went right today - one of those days.
"We've only been up north twice before. It's all about having a bit of adventure coming up here. This is as far north as we've ever been and we enjoyed the 10 to 14 knots today. It touched about 20 coming home."
Vincitore does most her sailing in Melbourne and Russell said, "We've had the boat for eight years. It's one of only two Italia's in Australia. The other is a racing model. We've got things like and air fryer and other comforts on board!"
In Spinnaker Division 3, Gary Davison's Solaire, a Jeanneau 37 from Tasmania had the goods on her closest rivals, but it was close. Solaire won by 44 seconds to Keith Masters' Bavaria Vision 40, Windmaiden (NSW). Andrew McConaghy's Northshore 38c, Dragonfly (Qld) was third.
"We had an interesting start," Davison confessed. "We were over early, so did a 360 degree turn to restart." After enjoying a good beat up to Cleveland, he said, "We then had a problem finding the mark, but eventually worked out where it was. I think we picked up a bit of time with our helmswoman, 'Marg the Magnificent' Neeson. She's a great downwind steerer."
Davison came to Magnetic Island with a composite crew, "Three are retained from Hamo, where we finished second and we added three new ones for up here. We did this event two years ago and came almost motherless last, but were second at Hamo that year too."
Among the three incoming is John Rallings. "He's 60. We invited him because he lowers the average age of the crew (most of us are in our 70's) And it's his wedding anniversary today. We needed someone on the foredeck who didn't need a mobility scooter or a walking aid - and he's a great sailor as well!"
As to being here competing, Davison said, "I was one of those very sad people who organised not to work on the day entries opened and I was ready to go 'click' on the entry just so we didn't miss out. I got in just before it timed out!"
In the Multihull division, Graeme Etherton's The Boat, from the host club, made the best of ideal conditions and local knowledge to overcome challenges from Gordon Beath's Roamance (NSW). Ray Martin's Beatrix from Western Australia, placed third.
"It was around 10 knots and picked up to a nice 15 and stayed that way most the day, although it dropped off towards the end. It was a nice day out, plenty of breeze to keep you going, you weren't going to be becalmed today. No disasters to cause too much strife either, we had a good day," Etherton surmised.
Principal Race Officer, Denis Thompson, sent IRC, Spinnaker 1 and Spinnaker 2 divisions on the 22nm Four Foot Rock Race, while Spinnaker Divisions 3 and 4 along with the Non-Spinnaker division and multihulls sailed the 14 nautical mile Cape Cleveland Race.
A south/easterly of mainly 10-15 knots that bent as racing progressed, suited the chosen courses. "The sea is quite flat so they should have a good day," Thompson said this morning. Thompson also mentioned, "It's good to see entries up in the IRC class again."
The six-day series hosted annually by Townsville Yacht Club (TYC) looks likely to be just what the yachties ordered: "It looks like a windy week, but not excessive. I expect to see good racing from all divisions."
Competitors agreed. "The weather looks great for us," one crew member on Wazza Red Boat said. "Be great to get another good result," he said referring to their third overall at Airlie Beach Race Week earlier this month. The Adams 10 crew are particularly keen to beat Saltwater Wine. Why? "Because we beat them at Airlie, they beat us at Hamilton Island!"
Back at Peppers Race Headquarters, MC, Scott Hillier had the crowd revved up, as the day's highlights were played on the big screen, ready for Denis Thompson to announce the daily prize winners. Following on, 45rpm were ready to get the crowd up dancing with a blend of Rock & Roll and country hits.
Racing is due to continue from 11am tomorrow.
Entries at SMIRW, supported by Townsville City Council through Townsville Enterprise and Tourism and Events Queensland, are comprised of across IRC Rating, Spinnaker, Non-Spinnaker, Multihull and Trailable Yachts classes.
For full results and all information, please visit: www.magneticislandraceweek.com.au