yacht tracker pittwater to coffs

Two-handed Mistral wins Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race

Rupert Henry’s Mistral, co-skippered by Greg O’Shea, has been announced winner of the 2023 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race from another double-handed crew, Jules Hall and Jan ‘Clogs’ Scholten on Disko Trooper Contender Sailcloth.

The two boats from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia repeated their feat of top two overall in last year’s Cabbage Tree Island Race and each led the Pittwater to Coffs race at various points. In fact the 226 nautical mile coastal classic nearly ended in a double-handed shoo-in, but Craig Douglas and his fully crewed Popeye broke the stranglehold to claim third overall. 

Henry said of the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club’s challenging light weather race, “It was a good double-handed fleet and weatherwise it suited the smaller boats (his is a Lombard 34). It was a good fleet all around. We were lucky the bigger faster boats didn’t get too far away from us.

“We watched the other double-handers closely. We also picked fully crewed boats to keep up with, like Popeye, XS Moment (Ray Hudson) and Tempo (Michael Smith) – she sailed well,” Henry said of the Kernan 44.

“We didn’t have a lot of rest, but we had fun. All in all it was a soft race that suited the slippery designs like the J99 (Disko Trooper) that was constantly snapping at our heals.”

Henry continued, We’d get a break, then park up. The wind went around the clock twice during the race – unusual for a shorter race. So there were a few sail changes and lots of spinnaker packing.”

Around Port Macquarie the bigger boats got away from Mistral and Disko Trooper, but the pair reeled them in.

“There’s a lot of good sailors here,” Henry mused. “They take this race quite seriously. Calendar wise, it’s a good one for finding good crew. Lot of heavies in the bar, so you know it’s high standard of racing,” said the yachtsman who had not done the race previously.

With long time co-skipper, O’Shea, Henry also won the IRC Two-Handed division of the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart. With his former yacht, Chinese Whisper, the two clean-swept the 2018 Melbourne Osaka double-handed yacht race, taking line and overall wins in all categories and smashing the race record. They are a hard act to beat.

In a real family affair, Henry’s father, David Henry ,also contested the race two-handed with his modified Sydney 36 Cruiser Racer, Philosopher and finished 15 th overall.

“While we were bobbing around still racing, my son (Otto), was doing the delivery back to Sydney on Andoo Comanche,” he said of the three generations of sailors in his family.

Disko-Trooper Contender Sailcloth gave Mistral a good run for their money and also topped the ORC leaderboard from other two-handers, Chris O’Neill/Ian Smith’s Blue Planet (which won PHS overall) and Rum Rebellion (Shane Connolly/Tony Sutton).

Hall commented, “It was a fabulous race, a thinking race. We were keeping a close eye on Mistral and they obviously sailed a fantastic race. Our start was good, but around Cape Three Points we were in a lull. Mistral got a jump on us at Newcastle as they were better placed when land breeze kicked in.”

The 2021 Sydney Hobart Two-handed winner acknowledged the hardest part of the race was from Smoky Cape to the finish.

“Then the sou easter came in as forecast and we took off,” Hall said. “We were doing 7 knots and Mistral 3 knots and we thought ‘this is it’, but then it reversed. It was pouring with rain. We couldn’t see a thing. The sou easter came back but was too late for us!

He agreed balancing current and wind was hard and that keeping a close eye on that and the water temperature was imperative. “You couldn’t make a single mistake. Little mistakes made a big difference on that course.

“We had a great boat-on-boat race with She’s The Culprit (owned by the Culprit Syndicate from Newcastle). We’d be in front of them, then they’d get in front of us. It was good fun.”

Popeye beat double-handed Rum Rebellion to third place by just eight minutes. A thrilled Craig Douglas said his Beneteau First 47.7 “is probably the heaviest boat in the fleet. She’s old with furniture, microwaves, the lot on board, but I worked out how to make her go.

“We had the boat prepared, the right sails and the right people. The greatest thing that made a difference was tactics. We kept the boat going in light air and that’s what got us to stay with the lead boats in the first three or four hours.”

Popeye sailed the least miles of the fleet (227nms as witnessed by the tracker). “And we were aware of doing that,” Douglass said. We didn’t rhumbline it, but we calculated tide and current to sailing as few miles as possible.

“Having Julie Hodder navigating and Shane Guanaria on tactics worked well. We genuinely worked hard,” the Middle Harbour Yacht Club yachtsman said.

Dale Mitchell’s Rex, which took the multihull record and line honours yesterday, was also declared overall winner under the Offshore Multihull Rating Rule (OMR). Drew Carruthers’ self-designed and built Rushour, placed second and Darren Drew’s Wind Cheetah third.

Follow the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race on the yacht tracke r at: https://yb.tl/pittwater2023

Video highlights from Bow Caddy Media at: https://youtu.be/AVY6xl6Lv1g

All information, including entries, on the official website: www.pittwatertocoffs.com.au

Di Pearson/RPAYC media

@rpayc #rpayc #pitt2coffs

Further information: Di Pearson Nautical Promotions Email: [email protected] Phone: 0410 792 131

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2024 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race

Wishing all our participating members the best of luck during this year’s Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race.

With 28 entrants including one multihull and seven two-handed entrants the race is set to start on Friday 22 March at 1300hrs.

Our participating yachts are:

• Antipodes – Geoff Hill
• Blue Planet (TH) – Chris O’Neill
• Highway Patrol – Michael Blaxell
• Tempo – Michael Smith
• Whisper – David Griffith
• Wot’s Next – Charles Cupit

Blue Planet

Highway Patrol

Wot’s Next

Inity skippered by Andrea Davey

Participating for the first time in the Two-Handed division is our Sailing Office’s very own Andrea Davey, skippering on the Figaro 3, Inity.

Make sure to follow the race tracker here and the full list of entries can be found here .

CYCA Principal Sponsor

Cyca official sponsors, helly hansen, club marine, sydney brewery, lgt crestone, the luxury collection, winnings appliances, roads and maritime services, cyca youth sailing academy sponsors and supporters, helly hansen, forecasts.global, vibe hotels, network marine, sun foundation.

Pittwater Online News

2024 pittwater to coffs harbour yacht race.

Pittwater to Coffs: Line honours to XS Moment – Jupiter wins overall

Monday March 25, 2024

Fortune favoured the sticklers in the 2024 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race; just three entries hung on in the light to non-existent breezes, Ray Hudson’s XS Moment taking line honours just after midnight last night, while the two-handed crew of Ian Smith and Billy Sykes on Jupiter crossed the line second to claim overall honours.

Jupiter arrives to a beautiful sunrise in Coffs Harbour - pic courtesy RPAYC

The final boat to finish the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club’s 38th running of the race, Transcendence Rudy Project, was sailed two-handed by the father/son combination of Martin and John Cross. They finished nearly an hour after Jupiter in 2d 18h 7m 22s . All three crews are to be lauded for the courage of their convictions in finishing the protracted race while all others gave it away, mainly due to work commitments this morning.

XS Moment, an XP44 design, finished the race to Coffs Harbour at 00.36.38 hours this morning in the time of 2 days 11 hours 36 minutes 38 seconds. For her crew’s efforts, XS Moment’s crew were rewarded with third overall and a Division 1 win. 

We were actually near the top of leaderboard when the retirements started, so we decided to give it a bit more time and thought, ‘Stuff, we’ll hang in,” Ray Hudson said this morning.

It was looking pretty awful at Seal Rocks where most retired from, but the skipper (Hudson) was silly enough to make the decision to keep racing and the crew were happy to hang in. It made it worthwhile to stay in,” Hudson said. 

“I have a new saying,” XS Moment’s owner/skipper said: ‘If you’re silly enough to race you should be wise enough to finish.”

Hudson and crew were happy they held their resolve because, “A 9 knot sou’ wester came in about three hours after Pretty Woman retired and we made the best of it. 

“It was just under 60 hours of racing (just short of the longest Pittwater Coffs when in 1982, line honours winner, Short Circuit, took 62h, 33m, 57s to complete the course), but it felt longer than the four Sydney Hobarts I’ve done. Our perseverance paid off.” 

Ian Smith’s two-handed entry, Jupiter, co-skippered by Billy Sykes, finished at 06.36.15am this morning, completing the course in  2d 17h 36m 15s to win the race overall and win Division 2. They swept all before them except for ORC overall.

Smith shared: “We were here to race. We had no intention of pulling out. I think for most others (retirees) it was work as the conditions looked like a shutdown all the way.”

Jupiter’s owner described the conditions: “Light, but good in patches, we got 12 knots and a bit stronger from the west coming into Coffs. None of it was predicted. It ended up being an enjoyable race, notwithstanding the wind holes. We kept pushing on and making up 5 percent here and 10 percent there. It all adds up eventually. 

“We’re very happy with our win. The race was worthwhile. We were going to be there for however long it took. Billy is an elite sailor and in double-handers you really have to an all-rounder with you. 

“We had a mistake-free race. The secret is transitioning into the next phase of the race. We had a pre-race strategy and we executed it. We played a strategic game, not one major thing, lots of 5 percenters,” Smith said.

“We are appreciative of both the Royal Prince Alfred and Coffs Harbour Yacht Clubs  for putting the race on. It takes a lot of volunteers to make it happen and it can’t be done without them. 

“XS Moment did a great job hanging in,” Smith ended. 

Photo: XS Moment (11744) in good shape after the start. Photo; Andrea Francolini.

From Transcendence Rudy Project, it was a good second place overall. Her owner, Martin Cross said, “What a race. It’s a race that will be remembered. Looks like we’ve won ORC.” They did – and in doing so, also won ORC Division 2. 

“It’s really funny, because for most, Seal Rocks was the nadir. It was actually beautiful, glassed out, ships standing still. It looked like a painting. That was the moment we decided to stay with it. 

“It took us around six hours to get around Seal Rocks. You’d get a bit of breeze, get momentum and then it would die again. If you forgot you were racing, it was beautiful, with the sunset, sea life and still water.”

However, Cross was not happy with the wind gods: “They were terrible to us most the time. We were up and down like snakes and ladders. If it was not for the un forecast bits of wind at the end, we’d still be out there. 

“I play great tribute to my co-skipper and son John. He showed great tenacity and effort in us keeping on going. It’s a great father and son memory and one of the best offshore races we’ve done because it was so smooth.”

All three finishers said they would do the race again.

Despite a low count on finishers, Coffs Harbour Yacht Club graciously put out the welcome mat to competitors and officials. 

For full results and all information please go to: www.pittwatertocoffs.com.au 

To see the routes, retirements and finishers, check the tracker: https://yb.tl/pittwater2024 

Four yachts in race for Pittwater to Coffs honours

Sunday March 24, 2024

In extraordinary circumstances, just four boats are left racing for line and overall honours in the 2024 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race this morning, extreme conditions of up to  only 5 knots and mostly no wind, have forced the retirement of most the fleet, including David Griffith’s Whisper, which had led the race until retiring late yesterday afternoon.

The four ‘stayers’ are led on the water by Ray Hudson’s XP44, XS Moment, while the others are two-handed entries: the J/99, Jupiter (Ian Smith and Billy Sykes), the Beneteau Figaro 3,  Intiy (Andrea Davey and Marc Depret) and Transcendence Rudy Project, a Jeanneau Sun Fast 33 (Martin and John Cross).  All are from Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, organiser of the annual 226 nautical mile race, barring Jupiter, which hails from Manly Yacht Club.

While XS Moment leads the line honours chase, at 9.40am she was making progress, but still 68 nautical miles short of the finish line and is currently second overall. At this stage, she is not likely to finish until tomorrow (Monday) evening.

Jupiter is second on line and leads the race overall, but with a distance of 81 nautical miles to reach the finish. Intiy is close behind, while the father and son on Transcendence Rudy Project still have 94 miles to go.

On retiring, David Griffith said from Whisper, “We have pulled the pin and headed to Newcastle. It’s very disappointing. We feel terrible about pulling out, but the time going on is getting ridiculous as people have to go to work.

“There’s not a breath of wind,” Griffith ended.

And with the greatest reluctance, long time RPAYC member, Richard Hudson retired Pretty Woman early last evening. 

Hudson said, “We have retired. It’s the first time in around 150 Cat 1 and Cat 2 races. To retire like this is very disappointing. We had a bit of a south-easter but it’s fading and the forecast doesn’t look good. . with nothing ahead.” You could feel his pain.

Pretty Woman - a reluctant retiree late yesterday. Photo: Andrea Francolini 

Coffs Harbour entry, Fez, Pierre Gal’s Stealth 12 catamaran, was among the latest retirements: “All OK on board. Continuing to Coffs,” Gal reported.

Meanwhile, quite a few entries, including three from Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club and Craig Douglas’ Popeye from MHYC/RPAYC, retired off Seal Rocks and headed to Newcastle where the crew were taking advantage of a hot meal and drinks at that Club. 

Douglas, trying to make the best of a tough situation, claimed: “We’ve won line honours in the Pittwater-Seal Rocks-Newcastle race.”

The 38th running of the coastal classic will not be forgotten in a hurry.

Meanwhile, four boats continue their slow journey to Coffs Harbour, not wanting to let the weather gods get the better of them. 

Coffs Harbour Yacht Club always puts on a warm welcome and volunteers from the Club are looking hopefully forward to greeting any finishers.

For further updates and all information please go to: www.pittwatertocoffs.com.au  

Follow the remaining yachts on the race tracker at: https://yb.tl/pittwater2024 

by Di Pearson

Whisper leads slow Pittwater to Coffs race 

Saturday March 23, 2024

David Griffith’s Whisper is today leading a drawn-out 2024 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race, using the current to slip away from the rest on the 226 nautical mile course, as conditions refuse to play ball.

However, it was my no means the slowest race on record. That honour goes to Short Circuit, the 1982 the line honours victor, which took 62h, 33m, 57s to complete the course. 

At 11.00am Saturday, 22 hours into the race, the majority of the fleet was parked up close to the coast at Seal Rocks on the NSW coast. The light air faded to almost nothing on the course with parking lots aplenty – nobody missed out. 

Whisper, a JV62, was the line honours favourite going into the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club’s 226 nautical mile race. She had broken free of the pack and was gliding along at an average of 5.5 knots with an ETA in Coffs Harbour of 5am Sunday.

Wind instruments on Whisper late this morning - pic courtesy Whisper

Behind Whisper by 28 nautical miles, Tempo, Michael Smith’s Kernan 44, was leader of the pack at Seal Rocks.

A short time later, Craig Douglas retired Popeye from the race, citing time constraints. Travelling at just 1 knot behind Seal Rocks and most of those on board having work commitments, Douglas had no other option. A shame, as Popeye, a Beneteau First 47.7, placed third overall last year. 

Paul O’Rourke’s Mako was next to go from this tactically challenging race, choosing to head home to Newcastle, as they were close by. Ascalon (Ian Quarrie) and Minerva (Edward Cox) followed suit. A short time later, Cooloola (Alan Hill) and Antipodes (Geoff Hill) called time too.

Before midday, Griffith reported from the race: “It’s been so slow, but always with a 0.7 to 1 knot of current pushing us north. Now we’ve hit the adverse current – 1.2 knots south! We have a Code Zero up and we’ve just put up an A1,” he said describing their light weather sail.

“We’ve had lots of park-ups and it was tough getting through the first five miles,” Griffith ended.

At 2pm, Whisper had 91 miles to make the finish. Behind her, Tempo was still leading the bulk, but still had 126 miles to sail to the Coffs Harbour finish line.

For further updates and all information please go to:  www.pittwatertocoffs.com.au  

Follow the yachts on the race tracker at:  https://yb.tl/pittwater2024 

Slow start Pittwater to Coffs as skipper recalls honeymoon race! 

Friday March 22, 2024

It was an extremely slow start to the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race at 1pm, with the fleet still bobbing around the Barrenjoey Headland start line at Pittwater as spectators left the course and Mako’s skipper, Paul O’Rourke, recalled his last Coffs Race: “It was 1991 and it was my honeymoon!” 

“It’s true. I took my bride, Kay, and my best man along, so it’s been a long time between races. We raced on Crocodile. It was a big fat cruiser and we won PHS, because it was a rough, windy race. 

“To be, fair, we did some cruising on Pittwater beforehand and Kay had done some deliveries with me,” O’Rourke said, laughing.

So 33 years later, O’Rourke has returned to the scene of the crime to try his luck once again in Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club’s (RPAYC) 226 nautical mile race. Like the rest, he is dealing with the light conditions as best as he and Mako’s crew can. 

Paul Beath and Theresa Michell before the start. Photo: Andrea Francolini

CEO of Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club, O’Rourke and crew on their Sydney 40, are competing alongside two other entries from his club: Paul Beath’s two-handed J/99, Verite (co-skippered by Theresa Michell) and She’s the Culprit, a modified Inglis/Jones 39 owned by the Culprit Syndicate. 

“I’m happy we have three boats from Newcastle doing the race. She’s the Culprit is our long-standing nemesis. They were parked up next to us at the Alfred’s (RPAYC), so there’s been plenty of banter going on,” the Newcastle yachtsman said. 

His thoughts on the race ahead were mirrored by fellow competitors: “It’s going to be light and out of the east, so it’ll be a challenge for most. It will suit the lighter weight boats (like the J designs). We expect a bit of a light upwinder for the first 12 hours, so pretty challenging.“

Mako’s crew hope to be home and hosed at Coffs Harbour by Sunday morning, but the weather will dictate finish times. They are looking forward to seeing Coffs Harbour Yacht Club’s volunteers, who greet the fleet each year and to a cold drink or two.

Michael Blaxell owns the smallest boat in the fleet. Highway Patrol is a 30 foot Dubois 30: “We’re thinking it will take us a while to get to Coffs because of the light weather, but at least it’s warm,” he said. “We’ve packed lots of extra water and food with the theory we won’t get there till Sunday, or later... 

“Our little boat likes light breeze, but I think there will be a bit of reaching along the way. We don’t carry a Code Zero, so we’re hoping the bigger boats and the reaching boats don’t get away from us. 

“I’m looking forward to the race, though. We’ve done it twice before and finished fifth last year.”

Simon Cruickshank owns Joust,  a J/111, one of the lighter boats in the fleet. He said, “We’re super excited because of the light winds. We should sail reasonably well. That is the plan,”

Should the race remain predominantly light, J designs such as Verite, Joust, Blue Planet, Jupiter and Rumchaser, along with Highway Patrol are likely to shine. And indeed, Highway Patrol was looking good a couple of hours into the race.

David Griffith’s JV62, Whisper, is fancied to take line honours, although if predicted reaching conditions arrive in time, she could be threatened by Geoff Hill’s Santa Cruz 72, Antipodes.

The Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race is made up of monohulls, including eight two-handed crews and a multihull. 

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Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race 2024

Early entries start ball rolling for 2024 pittwater to coffs harbour yacht race.

Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) has opened entries to eligible monohull, multihull and two-handed boats for the 2024 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race to start at 1pm on Friday 22 March.

Two-handed entries for the 38th running of the race are expected to be popular again, after Rupert Henry and Greg O’Shea won the 2023 race overall with Henry’s Lombard 34, Mistral. Two-handers also claimed second (Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth), fourth, sixth and seventh places.

Two-handers also nabbed the top five places overall under ORC, with Jules Hall’s Disko-Trooper_Contender Sailcloth, co-skippered by Jan Scholten, taking the top place from Chris O’Neill’s Blue Planet, co-skippered by Ian Smith and Shane Connelly’s Rum Rebellion, co-skippered by Tony Sutton.

Martin and John Cross led the overall standings for a time last year but ultimately placed sixth overall and fourth in the two-handed division.

“We’ve done the race a few times before. We won all the two-handed divisions the first year we did it,” Cross recalled of he and son John’s victory on Transcendence Crento.

“Obviously the competition increased last year and that’s a good thing. It was high quality with Mistral and Disko Trooper. Both have won the Sydney Hobart two-handed division.

“It was a small boat race last year, so it wasn’t surprising to see them do well. No matter what, you have to go hard, because everyone else is sailing to their capabilities.”

Cross said he and John will be on the start line again this year: “We’ll be there. The father and son thing is something we enjoy,” he said.

Marc Depret has entered his Beneteau Figaro 3, Intiy, in the two-handed division after placing 17th under ORC for eighth in the two-handed division in 2023.

On the fully crewed front, Queenslander Geoff Tomlins has entered Flat White, a Radford 12.2 owned by Jen Linkova. It will be Flat White’s first tilt at the race. It is also a first for Tomlins and his entire crew.

“None of the crew have done the race before. There’ll be six of us. Four are from Queensland and one each from Wollongong (NSW) and Geelong (Vic),” Tomlins said.

“We’re excited about doing the Pittwater to Coffs. It’s a different sort of race for us. We’ll be spending a couple of days in Coffs before heading off to do the other major races in our program.”

Richard Hudson is another regular entrant with the modified IC45, Pretty Woman. The local sailor’s crew will again feature youths from RPAYC.

“We’re getting back into short course racing with the  Pittwater Regatta  first. It will help polish our crew work before the Pittwater to Coffs,” said Hudson, who along with his crew, scored a divisional second and won the IRC Corinthian Trophy in December’s Rolex Sydney Hobart.

“I enjoy the Coffs Race and it’s a good destination. There’s lots for crews and family to do in Coffs,” he said.

Both multihull and monohull records are on the line in 2024. Rex, the ORMA 60 skippered by Dale Mitchell (Qld), broke the multihull record in 2023, set by another ORMA 60 in 2014. Rex clipped just 5 seconds off that record in the time of 17 hours 3 minutes, despite weather indicating a slower race.

However, the monohull record set by Peter Harburg’s 100 foot Black Jack (Qld) in 2022 of 17hrs 10mins 31secs remained safe, as Andoo Comanche’s wide hull was not suited to the softer conditions.

Notice of Race and entry can be found on the official website:  www.pittwatertocoffs.com.au  with entries closing at 1700 hours on 8 March.

Follow the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Race on social media:

• www.facebook.com/royalprincealfredyachtclub
• www.instagram.com/rpayc

by Di Pearson / RPAYC

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Black Jack leads fleet in Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race

As expected, Peter Harburg’s super maxi Black Jack made the best of the start in Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club’s (RPAYC) Club Marine Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race this afternoon.

Due to start at 1pm off Barrenjoey Headland, signalling the start of the chase for line and overall honours, the fleet was recalled when too many yachts were over the line early.

General Recall out of the way, it was a clean start the second time around, with 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours victor, Black Jack, leading the way. Behind the 100-footer representing Yacht Club de Monaco, was David Griffith’s JV62, Whisper and 2021 Sydney Hobart winner Ichi Ban (Matt Allen).

Two-handed entry, Speedwell, was around 15 minutes late to the start. Campbell Geeves and Olly Gill have work to do to catch up to their contemporaries.

A messy and lumpy sea in a 15-18 knot east/nor-easterly wind will have some wishing they hadn’t had lunch.

Black Jack, skippered by Mark Bradford, is loaded with talent, including America’s Cup sailors, Adam Beashel and Dean Phipps from New Zealand. Harburg’s yacht was left to her own devices, as Christian Beck withdrew LawConnect from the race.

Before the race, David Griffith said from Whisper, “We’re ready,” referencing the start of the 36th edition of the 226 nautical mile race.

“We’re here to try and win. I’ve got the right people to help me do that; Iain Murray, Michael Coxon and Tom Braidwood are in my core crew,” he said.

Whisper is in fine form, having recently broken the Montague Island race record. She also placed fifth overall and fifth over the line in the 2021 Sydney Hobart.

The bane of his and others’ lives are the TP52s, in particular Ichi Ban (Matt Allen). In December, Ichi Ban became only the third yacht to win the Sydney Hobart three times and in February she won the Adelaide to Port Lincoln Yacht Race. The Pittwater to Coffs is one of the rare races Allen and his TP52 are yet to win.

Allen’s crew includes Mat Belcher, the most decorated Olympic 470 sailor in history, world-class navigator Will Oxley and the RPAYC’s own Alice Tarnawski, a product of the RPAYC Youth Development program.

Fifteen minutes before the start, Carl Crafoord, owner/navigator of Sail Exchange reported: “The rain’s stopped, the sun’s out and we are in a 15-17 knot east/north-easterly. It’s on the nose to get out of here and then it’s supposed to be a gradient easterly of 15 to 20 knots.

“It should be a good race for us. Unfortunately though, it will get light towards the end and that will favour the bigger boats, while it will be doughy and slow for us,” he said from the nav station of his Cookson 12.

The highly regarded navigator experienced unforeseen difficulties when he arrived at his yacht this morning: “We were doing last minute jobs we didn’t know about until we got on board. We had to change the alternator on the motor, fix the Wi-Fi and our computer screen. It was a bit of a rush,” the Middle Harbour Yacht Club member explained.

John Turnbull, owner of RPAYC entry, Luna Blue, was raring and ready to go. “They’ve forecast a pretty good easterly for the first 24 hours. It may shift a little to the north, so it’s straight on the rhumbline at good speed for us. The forecast suits us,” he said from his Beneteau First 45.

At the smaller end of the fleet are the likes of Highway Patrol, a Dubois 30 (9.14 metres) owned by Michael Blaxall, Shane Connolly’s 9.9 metre J/99 Rum Rebellion and Martin Cross’ 10 metre Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300, Transcendence Crento.

Among the notable double-handed entries is Speedwell (Campbell Geeves/Olly Gill), Rum Rebellion (Shane Connelly/Graeme Dunlop), Local Hero (Mark Ayto), Transcendence Crento (Martin and John Cross), Runaway (Tim Alexander/Mark Goode) and Intiy (Marc Depret/ Rouzbeh Katrahmani). Intiy is a radical downwind flyer, the first of the one-design Beneteau Figaro 3s to be launched in Australia.

Depret, who hails from the host club, remarked before the start, “The more south that’s in the breeze, the better it is for us. As soon as we get a chance to pop the Code Zero up, we will. It will be a chance to put distance on the rest.

“At the moment though, the predicted easterly isn’t ideal for us, but it’s OK. The wind will be in the lower range in the beginning. I think there will be squalls and rain clouds, but I don’t think we’ll be parked, we’ll be moving. The question is, in what direction? That is the general feeling at the moment,” he said.

On arrival in Coffs Harbour, crews will be welcomed at Coffs Harbour Yacht Club (CHYC) and the Club will have the barbecue and bar running on the weekend of 9 and 10 April.

The Club Marine Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race presentation will be held on Sunday 10 April at Coffs Harbour Yacht Club.

Follow the Club Marine Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race on the tracker at: http://yb.tl/pittwater2022

Leaderboard link: https://yb.tl/Leaderboard/pittwater2022

Please see today’s video highlights at: https://youtu.be/7NreiurSPyE

All information, including entries, on the official website: http://www.pittwatertocoffs.com.au

Di Pearson/RPAYC media

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