The largest fleet in more than 10 years is assembling to tackle the 2019 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast, with 78 boats preparing to take on the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 384-nautical-mile challenge, starting on Saturday 27 July.
“The 2019 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race fleet is fantastic – more than 20 boats up from last year,” CYCA Commodore Paul Billingham says. “It’s going to be a wonderful event, starting on Sydney Harbour – we hope sailing and sporting fans alike get right behind it!”
It is no surprise that interest in Sydney offshore events is high. This year sees the 75th running of the Sydney Hobart and “milestone” years like the 25th and 50th have historically attracted big fleets. The 75th will draw a much larger fleet than normal, and this is reflected in both the numbers and quality of entrants in qualifying races such as the Sydney Gold Coast.
The 78-strong 2019 Sydney Gold Coast fleet reads like a who’s who of Australian sailing. Headlined by the 2017 Tattersall Cup winner as overall winner of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Ichi Ban, skippered by Matt Allen, the fleet also includes a number of noteworthy entrants including 2017 PONANT Sydney Noumea winner Smuggler, the Oatley family’s Wild Oats X, Shane Kearns’ Komatsu Azzuro and reigning champion Chutzpah, skippered by Bruce Taylor.
For more on the 2019 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race visit www.goldcoast.cyca.com.au.
