After three days of light weather racing followed by a rest day, the 100 boat Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week fleet will be bracing for breeze later today. This is the 20th annual Race Week regatta, which is considered to be the biggest sporting event in the annual calender of this Whitsunday gateway community.
A high pressure system over the southern Coral Sea is extending a ridge along the Queensland east coast, producing fresh south easterly trade winds along the coast north of Cooktown.
As the high moving over New South Wales reinforces this ridge, these winds will become fresh to strong north of Cooktown late today, extending south to the Whitsundays late on Tuesday and into Wednesday.
Additionally, a fresh to strong south easterly surge will move northwards over southern tropical waters today, reaching Bowen by this evening and the Cardwell area on Wednesday morning.
Timing will be the issue today for the Airlie Beach racing fleet, while winds will start in the 10-15 knot range, they will build, to 15-20 knots and up to 30 knots, after racing has finished for the day.
The Grand Prix IRC fleet, the IRC Cruising, Cruising and Sports boats fleets starting on passage races amongst the Whitsunday Islands from 1030, while the Inshore Sports fleets will start around 11am and the Performance Handicap around 1130 will be racing windward/leeward laps on the more protected Pioneer Bay Waters.
The biggest smiles on the race course, if the wind comes in early will come from Ray Roberts and his Evolution Racing team. Robert's Cookson 50 won this series as Quantum Racing last year. She is currently in third place overall behind Michael Hiatt's Farr 55 Living Doll and Rob Date's Reichel Pugh 52 Scarlet runner.
Evolution Racing, a high tech canting keeler needs stronger conditions to allow her to reach her full potential and she is expected to get that later today and tomorrow.
As skipper Roberts commented yesterday, 'Give us breeze and we could smoke the fleet.' That is certainly the case, in one offshore race last year she hit a blazing 32.5 knots.
Smiling too will be Airlie beach Race Week founder Don Algie whose magnificent Warwick 66 Storm II will enjoy the conditions in the IRC Cruising fleet.
The Sports Boat fleet will be expecting some wet and wild rides over the next two days, with Pierre Gal's Sport 8xx Conquistador, Bob Cowan's Stealth 8 Stealthy, and Bruce Tardrew's No Limits expected to shine.
There will certainly be some fun and games on the water, because light conditions often allow sloppy crew work to remain unpunished but as winds lift, any mistake can bring a boat and her crew undone.
A more detailed weather analysis will be available on this site after 7am.
Here are the series results to date.
IRC Racing
Series Results [IRC] for Division 1 up to Race 4 (Drops = 0)
Place Ties Sail No Boat Name Skipper From Design Sers Score Race 4 Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 R55 LIVING DOLL Michael Hiatt RYCV Farr 55 9 5 1 2 1
2 SM11 SCARLET RUNNER Robert Date SYC RP52 11 2 6 1 2
3 8899 EVOLUTION RACING Ray Roberts CYCA Cookson 50 12 1 2 6 3
4 9009 NIGHT NURSE Russell McCart RQYS Farr 40 16 3 3 5 5
5 6530 CRACKLIN ROSIE Robbo Robertson RQYS FARR 40 19 4 7 4 4
6 6838 E11EVEN Ian Thomson RQYS Farr 40 IRC 23 6 8 3 6
7 M4 CADIBARRA 8 John Netherton MOOLOOLABA Jones 42 26 8 4 7 7
8 YC400 FORD PREFECT Brett Young CYCSA Beneteau first 40 34 7 5 11.0C 11.0C
9 88888 SAMURAI JACK Noel Humphreys MBYC Farr39ML mod 36 9 11.0F 8 8
10 R50 SHOGUN Robert Hanna RGYC Cookson 50 fixed kee 44 11.0C 11.0C 11.0C 11.0C
IRC Cruising
Series Results [IRC] for Division 1 up to Race 3 (Drops = 0)
Place Ties Sail No Boat Name Skipper From Design Sers Score Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 8395 TYPHOON Barry Kelly NCYC Farr 395 4 1 1 2
2 FRA9500 ON Y VA John Moore RQYS Beneteau 44.7 8 4 3 1
3 6669 CARBON CREDITS Geoff Pearson MHYC Beneteau First 45 9 2 2 5
4 4.0S 2960 DANCING LADY Robert Pennell RQYS Farr 11.6 16 3 4 9
5 771 DOUBLE O SEVEN Jeffrey Brown WSC Northshore 38 mod 16 8 5 3
6 RQ64 OCEAN AFFINITY Stewart Lewis RQYS Marten 49 19 7 6 6
7 BOW3 BOUDICEA Mike Steel TCYC Dufour 34 Regatta 20 6 7 7
8 SP3 SUREFOOT Rod Sawyer WSC Norlin 21 9 8 4
9 N6 TEAM SMART Tony Ross SYC Archambault 40 22 5 9 8
10 7407 CHANCELLOR Morgan Rogers CYCA Beneteau 40.7 33 11.0C 11.0C 11.0C
Performance Racing
Series Results [EHC] for Division 1 up to Race 3 (Drops = 0)
Place Ties Sail No Boat Name Skipper From Design Sers Score Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 AUS3232 ROCK N ROLL Kim Williams RANSA Melges 32 12 1 2 9
2 6754 AIRLIE RETREAT George Challoner RMYC ELAN 37 13 5 5 3
3 202 REIGNITION Charles Wallis WSC MBD42 17 6 1 10
4 1.0S 4260 RISING FARRST Tim Osborne WSC Farr 1104 20 7 12 1
5 4.0S 1236 LOCAL HERO Peter Mosely MHYC BH36 20 4 3 13
6 W13 FALLEN ANGELS Damien Suckling WSC Atkinson 24 20 3 6 11
7 2.0S 8041 LORNA ROSE TOO Peter Mitchelson WSC Austral Clubman 8 21 2 11 8
8 999 TRUE LOVE Roger Down WSC Farr 116 21 10.0P 4 7
9 640 WOBBLY BOOT Craig Piccinelli WSC ModYoung88 23 12 9 2
10 588 IDLE TIME Kevin Fogarty WSC Spacesailer 25 14 7 4
11 9111 ROPABULL Mike Roper RMYC/BB Beneteau 42 26 8 13 5
12 5013 AIR APPARENT Steve Wright NQCYC Young 31 27 13 8 6
13 9.0S 4054 PACIFIC PHOENIX Alan Sneddon WSC BENETEAU 405 35 9 14 12
14 6146 KIONI Nick Athineos CYCA Beneteau First 47.7 35 11 10 14
Sports Boats
Series Results [SMS] for Division 1 up to Race 5 (Drops = 1)
Place Ties Sail No Boat Name Skipper From Design Sers Score Race 5 Race 4 Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 1.0S G108 LAMINAR CAPITAL Cam Rae RGYC Thompson 8 7 1 1 1 4 [9.0]
2 5887 GUILTY PLEASURES Leon Thomas TCYC Thompson 7 7 [7.0] 2 2 1 2
3 AUS558 WHAT THA Heath Townsend GBYC Melges 24 15 5 5 3 2 [7.5]
4 Q38 NO LIMITS Bruce Tardrew RQYS Stealth 8 18 2 3 10 3 [11.0]
5 7008 ZUTE Stephen Hunter SYC Thompson 7 21.5 [13.0] 4 7 7.5 3
6 RQ777 RAPTOR Mark Buchbach RQYS Stealth 7 22.5 4 7 4 [12.0] 7.5
7 105 CONQUISTADOR Pierre Gal CHYC sports 8 xx 24 6 8 5 5 [13.0]
8 RQ202 STEALTHY Bob Cowan LMYC Stealth 26 8 [9.0] 6 6 6
9 7018 COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTI Chris Byrne SYC/CCSC Thompson 7 30.5 11 [11.0] 8 7.5 4
10 E46 OMEN Andrew Holden RQYS Elliott 7 33 12 [14.0] 9 11 1
11 DS808 M.J.R OUTRAGE Tony EcCles RMYC Duncanson Phuket 8 36 10 [13.0] 12 9 5
12 734 X2 TANGENT Simon Vincent NQCYC Elliot 780 espx 38 3 12 13 [14.0] 10
13 7 GUIDED MISSILE John Rae MYC STEALTH 8 42 9 6 14 13 [14.0]
14 SA780 PRIMAL SCREAM Tom Jordan MYC Elliott 780 43 [14.0] 10 11 10 12
Sports Boats – Inshore
Series Results [SMS] for Division 1 up to Race 5 (Drops = 1)
Place Ties Sail No Boat Name Skipper From Design Sers Score Race 5 Race 4 Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 55 MUSTO Shane Smith SYC Blazer 23 4 1 1 1 1 [1.0]
2 3384 AIRLE SAILS Jamie Jochheim WSC sb3 8 2 2 2 2 [2.0]
3 3357 WAGOP Michael McLean SYC sb3 13 3 4 3 [5.0] 3
4 AUS3381 BEER LAO Paul Hunt NQCYC SB3 15 4 3 [5.0] 4 4
5 3353 MARINETECH ELECTRICS Lachlan McLean RQYS Dart SB3 18 5 5 [6.0] 3 5
6 3352 DARTVADER Mark Prince NYC sb3 22 6 6 4 6 [6.0]
7 6798 SCRATCH Dave Griffin RMYC boatspeed 23 28 7 7 7 7 [7.0]
Cruising
Series Results [EHC Div1] for Division 1 up to Race 3 (Drops = 0)
Place Ties Sail No Boat Name Skipper From Design Sers Score Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 1.0S 80808 PANACEA 10% HARD COR Ken Christensen RBYC Beneteau 40.7 8 3 4 1
2 HKG1222 CHINA BLUES Bill McCarthy MYC X-442 8 4 2 2
3 5796 QLD MARINE SERVICES John Galloway WSC Holland 13 6 1 6
4 6556 MAGIQUE Chris Carlile CYCA Beneteau 14 7 3 4
5 H370 HANS-ON Nick / Col Cox / MYC Hanse 370e 15 1 9 5
6 2.0S 5178 TEAM ENSIGN Alexis Bisbas SYC Dubois 40' 19 2 8 9
7 W8 SANDPIPER WUTBA Colin Pruden WSC Swarbrick S111 19 9 7 3
8 M333 WHISPER FOUR John Hall SYC DUFOUR 44 20 5 5 10
9 6215 KAT Chris Stockdale CYCA Beneteau 50 27 13 6 8
10 SA10 STORM 2 Don Algie WSC WARWICK 66 29 12 10 7
11 6797 HOLY COW! John & Kim Clinton CYCA Beneteau Oceanis 50 30 8 11 11
12 6678 SUPERTRAMP Sue And Alan Pick RPAYC Beneteau Oceanis 46 34 10 12 12
13 BOW4 SILVERSHOT David Perkins MYC Beneteau 50 37 11 13 13
Cruising
Series Results [EHC Div2] for Division 2 up to Race 3 (Drops = 0)
Place Ties Sail No Boat Name Skipper From Design Sers Score Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 1.0S M406 SEDUCTION Richard Nichols MYC Lidgard 34 13 5 1 7
2 W677 SUNRISE Helen & Jeff Shipsey APYC/WSC Elan 37 13 4 4 5
3 5899 BOBBY D Ross Winterbourne NQCYC Farr 14 8 2 4
4 2.0S 5877 HYDRO THERAPY Mike Trickey WSC Beneteau First 33.7 15 7 6 2
5 W42 AFRICA Terry Archer WSC Bavaria 42 Cruiser 15 9 3 3
6 4262 SUNFLOWER Graeme Douglas WSC Peterson Santana 30 18 3 7 8
7 B408 RAMPALLION Roger Incledon RBYC S99 20 6 5 9
8 606 MORE INTRIGUE Merv Stephensen RQYS Northshore 38 C 21 11 9 1
9 B36 AMADEUS Peter Johnson WSC bavaria 36 23 2 11 10
10 730 TIDE UP Barry Smith NQCYC NOELEX Trailer Sailo 25 1 12 12
11 3610 TURTLE TIME Jason Randall WSC Swarbrick Spacesailo 26 12 8 6
12 B88 INGENUE Rosie Colahan RBYC Jeanneau SO 40 31 10 10 11
Cruising – No Spinnaker
Series Results [EHC] for Division 1 up to Race 3 (Drops = 0)
Place Ties Sail No Boat Name Skipper From Design Sers Score Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 W440 RIFF RAFF Dan White WSC Beneteau Oceanis 440 14 6 7 1
2 3.0S G8710 AKATEA John Garner RGYC Cookson 40 15 10 3 2
3 SM4400 MANLY TOO Peter McAdam SYC BAVARIA 44 15 8 2 5
4 271 SERENDIPITY Roger Boast WSC Bavaria 36 17 1 8 8
5 SYD8 TULIP Bernie Vanthof CYCA Swan 45 19 12 1 6
6 3.0S 4787 AVALON Norm House WSC Richards 37 20 3 14.0F 3
7 5.0S B4407 SEADUCTION Brian Pattinson RBYC beneteau 44.7 20 11 5 4
8 6702 JOIE DE VIE Wayne Banks Smith RPAYC Jeanneau Sun Odysse 20 9 4 7
9 2.0S BOW2 BLISS Pete Sheehy WSC Jutson 23 2 9 12
10 ST461 VALDOLESE Greg Sier SYC Beneteau 461 23 7 6 10
11 12 AZURE Peter Hall PYC JEANNEAU 39I 28 5 14.0F 9
12 BOW1 BENETTA Murray Sheer CCY Beneteau cyclades 43 29 4 14.0F 11
13 SM477 ESPRIT Garry Anderson SYC beneteau 47.7 42 14.0C 14.0C 14.0C
