6:08 AM Mon 22 Mar 2010 GMT
A bit more breeze on Saturday night March 20th , (by probably 85 knots), when Cyclone Ilui sailed over the Gateway to the Whitsundays, than entrants in the 2010 Meridien Marina's Airlie Beach Race Week will want to see in August, when this major Queensland regatta comes of age at the 21st annual event.
Owners and charterers of suitably found boats are invited to apply for entry in the 21st Annual Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week, on the waters of Pioneer Bay and the Whitsunday Passage from 12th to 19th August 2010. The Whitsunday Sailing Club (WSC) is the organising authority.
There are some important additions to the invited classes of boats for this 21st birthday party.
Race Director Denis Thompson has added Racing Multihulls to the fleet for 2010.
He explained today 'We will have OMR rated multihulls which will be racing on their own courses both around Pioneer Bay and amongst the Whitsunday Islands - while many regattas excluded the racing multihulls because of space considerations at big regattas, for the first time we are able to take advantage of the large area of the Meridien Marinas Abel Point Marina to expand our fleet.
'We expecting another big year with the ever growing Sports Boat fleets and now their big brothers the Super 30's which include boats like Farr (Mumm) 30's, Melges 32's will be joining the fun.'
We have lots more news, but right now go to
www.airliebeachraceweek.com.au
and grab the 2010 NOR.
Classes
i. IRC Racing Class will have an IRC TCC greater than 0.950. The Race Committee may amend this limit if required.
ii. One Design Classes (Sydney 38, Etchells, Ross 780s ...etc) will have a current Class One Design Certificate, which will be lodged with the Race Committee prior to the commencement of racing.
iii. IRC Cruising Class will have a maximum Hull Factor of 9.8 and are fitted out to cruising standards. The Race Committee may accept boats that fall outside these criteria.
iv. Performance Racing Class will be less than 30 m LOA and will be handicapped by the Handicap Committee.
v. Cruising Class will typically have at least a permanently installed stove, galley sink, head, and at least four berths. All boats typically shall have working sails of Dacron construction unless the race committee grants dispensation. Boats shall advise the Race Committee at the time of entry of the sails carried aboard and their material construction. The Race Committee may reject boats that do not meet the spirit and intention of Cruising Class.
vi. None-Spinnaker Class will have the same requirements as for Cruising Boats, but shall not carry a
spinnaker at any time whilst racing.
vii. Sports Boat Class will be trailerable boats that meet the requirements of the Australian Sports Boat Association rules and will be handicapped using the Sportsboat Measurement System (SMS).
viii. Inshore Sports Boat Class will be trailerable Sports Boats that do not meet YA Special Regulations Category 5.
ix. Multi-Hull Class will be Multi-Hull boats that have a current Offshore Multihull Rule (OMR) rating greater than 0.700
x. Super 30 Class will be high performance keel boats up to 9.75 metres in length and will be handicapped using Australian Measurement System (AMS).
The Notice of Race has just been posted and the online entry system had hardly been switched on then in came the first rush of entries.
The local PHS fleet continues to grow, in just a few days there have been four entries, now with the Terry Archers Sydney 40 Questionable Logic at the top end of the speed band.
A quick response too from the Sports Boats, Heath Townsend's Kaito comes across again from West Australia for the Airlie Beach Race Week action and the battle of the Stealths will continue with Mark Buchbach's Raptor the first to stake a claim.
The SB3 inshore sports boat fleet will be bigger than we've seen before as Rod Jones from Oceanburo explains' The SB3 fleet will enjoy North Queensland's best this year when they again join in at Airlie Beach Race Week and then for the first time race at Audi Hamilton island Race Week.
'Each regatta offers something different to the teams and the SB3s are keen for each to become a permanent part of the fleet's annual regatta circuit.'
The IRC fleets will of course play a large part in the 21st annual Airlie Beach Race Week, as year after year, after year, the top performing IRC racers at Hamilton Island Race Week, have come off a very competitive week of racing.
As long time dual regatta campaigner Michael Hiatt who sails Living Doll so successfully comments 'It's not rocket science, for all serious players or any one who wants to be, that extra week of practice in the Whitsundays delivers the goods.'
by MMABRW Media
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