Hamilton Island Race Week - 'Maid' to return in spirit

5:45 AM Tue 19 May 2009 GMT

'Early light and light winds: The fleet sets sail at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week' Jack Atley Click Here to view large photo

There will be cause for a double celebration for Queensland yachtsman Bruce Absolon when he steers his latest yacht across the Whitsunday Passage at the start of Audi Hamilton Island Race Week in August.

It will mark the 20th anniversary since the Farr 65 design made its Australian offshore racing debut, and that was at Race Week. But more importantly for Absolon, participation at AHIRW 09 will see him 'getting back into the saddle' after the tragic loss of his previous yacht, the 14.5 metre long Ausmaid.

A few weeks ago Ausmaid was dismasted during a micro burst of severe weather off Noosa and subsequently wrecked on a deserted beach. The three crew on board were rescued.

In the late 1990s Ausmaid was the unchallenged champion of ocean racing in Australia: a dual Hobart race winner (1996 and 2000), and in between she did not miss the podium on the three other occasions she contested the classic.

As saddened as he was with the loss of such a great yacht, Absolon set about finding a suitable replacement, and he succeeded. When Audi Hamilton Island Race Week starts on August 22 he will be at the helm of what was the original Brindabella, the Farr 65 that in more recent times has been named Infinity III and based at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

She is to be renamed Brinders, and as a tribute to Ausmaid there will be a sub-title: Spirit of the 'Maid'. Absolon will be taking Infinity III back to the way she looked when she first competed at Race Week by having her copper-coloured hull repainted in the original powder blue. He will have crew from both Infinity III and Ausmaid making up the team and hopes that Brindabella's original owner, George Snow, will join him.

The desire to compete Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 09 remains strong across the full spectrum of Australian keelboat sailors. The entry list now stands at 60, and the numbers will expand rapidly over the next few weeks as owners and crews finalise their plans to be at what is recognized as Australia's premier week-long regatta.

Organisers are equally busy developing new agendas for activities both on and off the water, all aimed at ensuring that the sailing and social activities are par excellence.

Race Week is Australia's most awarded keelboat regatta and biggest offshore classic. Last year it attracted a record fleet of 225 for its 25th anniversary event.

All details can be obtained from the website - www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au

by Rob Mundle

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