Airlie Beach Race Week - First Performance Multihull entry

8:22 AM Wed 30 May 2012 GMT

'McMoggy - Airlie Beach Race Week 2012' Corrie Gardner

Airlie Beach Race Week 2012, organised by Whitsunday Sailing Club, is being held from 10th to 16th August. The first Performance Multihull entry for Airlie Beach Race Week has been made by Alasdair Noble with his vessel McMoggy, a light, fast ocean cruiser. This will be the first Airlie Beach Race Week for both owner and vessel. Alasdair purchased the New Zealand built craft earlier this year and is looking forward to cruising up to Airlie Beach and then on to Magnetic Island for a season of sailing.

'I've been a casual racer and I have done the Whitsunday Multihull Rendezvous about seven times but this will be my first Airlie Beach Race Week. I had a 37 foot cat called 'Bushytales' but it wasn't really a racing boat so I am pretty excited and keen to compete in Race Week', Alasdair said today.

McMoggy is a Schionning Waterline 1350 and was built as a racer/cruiser for the New Zealand Coastal Classic. Built in 2000 it was sold in 2009 and went to Noumea for a couple of years before being brought to Australia late last year. Alasdair says the boat is set up to live aboard and he is looking forward to testing out the cruising and racing capabilities of the boat. Alasdair and his partner are taking a few months off to sail north to the Whitsundays to compete in the regattas, where they will be joined by a crew of friends from Brisbane.

'I have heard about Airlie Beach Race Week from local friends so I am keen to support the event. I love sailing in the Whitsundays and think everyone else should be up here too.'

The Whitsunday Sailing Club has included a PHS multihull division to encourage cruising yachtsmen like Alasdair to join in the regatta. Sailing Secretary Tania Watson says, 'the more divisions and types of yachts we have the better. We are really excited to introduce the PHS division for multihulls after the success of the OMR division over the past two years and we hope to see strong numbers enter, especially as these multihulls can then compete at Magnetic Island. We encourage the sport of sailing so we want to open the event to as many boats as possible.'

Airlie Beach Race Week website

by Corrie Gardner