2026 SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week Day 2: New winners on another glamour day
by Di Pearson/SMIRW media 29 Aug 01:00 PDT
27 August - 2 September 2026
All attention on Cinquante on day 2 of SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week 2026 © Revolution Productions
New winners on another glamour day
Superb sailing conditions and post racing fun continued on Day 2 at SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week (SMIRW) and better still, the day produced new winners in every division, in spite of conditions being similar to yesterday's.
Six Fathoms Race Day took the fleet on Strand races, giving Townsville locals and holidaymakers a special view of racing along the foreshore at lunchtime on a tropical sunny day in Far North Queensland. As the boats rounded a laid mark close to the Strand, the breeze was in and the action was fast.
It will be an amazing time up here when the Olympic Sailing Competition comes to the waters of Townsville and today's race gave the region a taste of what to expect when the Games come to town in 2032 and for the preceding Test Events.
It was an all NSW showdown in the IRC Division. In the end Grant Golombick's TP52, Quest (NSW), had the goods on yesterday's winner, the JPK 10.80, Saltwater Wines (Tom Woods) and David Hamilton's Farr 40 One-Design, Seeking Alpha.
Golombick said, "The teamwork was flawless. We made less mistakes than the rest. I was a bit worried when breeze died out like it did yesterday, but our tactician, Pete Farrugia, did a good job. They are a great bunch of guys and girls and we stuck with our plan."
Golombick added, "Magnetic is quite a relief - it's like the brochure advertised," he said. The other great thing is being able to get off the boat and be in the centre of everything. It has the upper hand with non-sailors too because it has all the great activities."
They Sydney yachtsman finished: "I have to thank Ollie (David Oliver) from Musto. He's given us a huge amount of support with all our sailing gear." SMIRW's official merchandise is from Musto, which is onsite at Peppers Race Headquarters. The superior wide range of clothing is popular and the pop-up shop is open before and after racing each day.
Tasmanian Hughie Lewis scored the honours in SeaLink Spinnaker Division 1 with his RP46, Hartbreaker. In doing so, takes a very early lead in the series.
Not realising he had won, Lewis quipped, "I can sing better than I can sail!" This is in reference to Lewis' background, concocted by A1, which had decided he is the same person as the famous American singer of the same name, despite the latter spelling his Christian name Huey!
"We thought we were fourth or fifth, but a win's a win," Lewis said. "It was good on the course. A nice breeze of up to 25 knots on the way home. Most of it was 15 to 18 knots."
The Tasmanian said that when the wind pressure increased, "We put the foot down because they (Daguet 2) are quicker, but we ran a spinnaker from the south mark to the shipping mark and that's where we took a bit of time out of them.
'We pulled the spinnaker up for the last quarter mile to the finish just to try to take some time out of them. The crew worked very hard to get as much time as we could on Daguet 2."
Lewis was chuffed that Daguet 2 owner, Rob Aldis, "came and congratulated us. They finished second today and we battle with them all the time. They are the boat we have to keep an eye on. We came equal fourth with them yesterday, now we are first and second overall with just a point between us!"
Crew Hartbreaker is looking forward to lay day: "We are going to the Arcadia pub for lunch and we'll end up at Picnic Bay at some point. Last night we had a nice barbecue at Peppers in the pool area. We like to eat together as a crew."
Division 2 went to John Kint with his Adams/Radford 57 footer, Bundaberg. Fellow Victorian entry, Mika (Brian Yarnall) was second. There was little more than a minute in it.
"Yes, we're doing it pretty hard," Kint said laughing. "We had a good day again (he was third yesterday). We got the double of first over the line and firs overall. The windward legs weren't fun in the short and nasty chop, but we managed to get through it. The old is behaving very nicely," Kint said of his 38-year-old boat.
Kint admitted the conditions suited Bundaberg, "especially on the run down under 65 to Code sail to the Townsville mark. It was perfect for us." We are definitely working on keeping the good results up. There are no slouches in our division."
Like the rest, Kint and his crew are looking forward to tomorrow's lay day. "We're going to Picnic Bay to look at the activities there and then we're coming back to Peppers for a BBQ with our fellow Royal Geelong members on Phoenix49 (Brenton and Jennifer Carnell)."
Non-Spinnaker went the way of Apres Vous, the Beneteau Oceanis 473 owned by Andrew Watson (Vic). There was a minute in it to Pru Bennett's Bavaria 44, Cloudbreak (NSW).
"It's always a good day when you're out on the water," Watson said. "Today was Apres Vous weather, they (Beneteau Oceanis') need breeze. We sailed well and the crew was fantastic."
Watson and co. sailed the boat up from Airlie where it's kept. "It was built in 2005 and still has the original sails," he said, before adding: "This is a fantastic regatta, it's all close and it's a credit to the volunteers that run it."
Principal Race Officer Denis Thompson told his volunteer on-water team this morning, "The wind will be pretty much the same as it was yesterday. He split the seven divisions between two Strand courses. IRC, along with Spinnaker Divisions 1 and 2's course was 21 nautical miles, while the rest did a similar but slightly shorter 19.8nms.
Today was Tropical Dress Day, with prizes to be awarded to the best dressed tonight. A number of crews went to town - because they like to represent this fun tropical regatta as it should be done.
And pre the winners' announcement, the Six Fathoms Tropical Cocktail Party, started at 5pm on the deck at Peppers Race Headquarters and was in full swing early on, as everyone was in the mood ahead of tomorrow's lay day.
To add even more fun to the night, the crowd are to be entertained by the rock band, 'Cranky Pants'. Back by popular demand, they play a wide repertoire from oldies to current hits, suiting the mix of ages at Race Week to a tee. The dance floor is always jammed until late into the night, as crews party bop till they drop.
A lay day full of fun and surprises awaits at the Townsville Airport Island Breeze Festival where there will be something for everyone - from kids to grown-ups - at Picnic Bay. For tomorrow only, free shuttle buses from Nelly Bay to Picnic Bay return are available from 8.30am to 5pm.
Racing will resume on Monday from 11.00am, when a Passage Race is planned for all but SeaLink Spinnaker Division 1, which will undertake two short races starting at 11.30am.
SMIRW is supported by Townsville City Council through Townsville Enterprise and Tourism and Events Queensland.
For full results and all information, please visit: www.magneticislandraceweek.com.au