Please select your home edition
Edition
RS Sailing 2021 - LEADERBOARD

Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race - The more hulls the merrier

by Peter Hackett on 28 Mar 2013
Secret screacher trials unplugged - watch this boat! - Allyacht Spars Brisbane to Gladstone Multihull Yacht Race Peter Hackett
The Allyacht Spars Brisbane to Gladstone Multihull Yacht Race for 2013 is heading off at 11.20 am from Shorncliffe this year. We are again sharing this end of the bay, and for the first time in years also sharing the startline with our monohull brothers who leave at 11.00 am. With any normal Easter weather pattern I would be looking forward to passing the guys on the first start, but this year the wind pattern is a bit tricky to plot such an attack.

With a light southwester at start time, we will all be bobbing around searching for good kite angles and waiting in trepidation for the fresh, but hopefully not too brief, 20 knot southerly storm change coming from the south. As with many Gladstones, the first night will dictate the order for the rest of the race, and the winning crew will be on the boat that can stay upright and in the breeze for as long as possible before it goes east and drops back to nothing on Saturday night. The next 24 hours of a slowly building northerly will then determine who gets the gold, but any boat that gets to Lady Elliot Island for a hard turn to port is going to have a very happy crew for the 75 mile (screacher please Hughie) reach from there to the entrance to Gladstone Harbour. I bag that watch on the tiller!

The fleet of nine multihulls reflects the drop in numbers in the monohull fleet to 26, these races are an exercise in logistics and the dollars needed are continuing to reduce the fleets. It is no secret that both organising clubs are looking seriously at how to bring back the big fleets that I remember from my first Gladstone in the 80's.

The fleet quality is there however, with more diversity than ever before. The stalwarts like Gary Saxby’s Boss Racing which has taken line honours in 2010 will be lined up to do it again in the absence of the ORMA 60 ‘ trimarans that have been attracting the crowds lately. A smaller but stealthy looking new SeaCart 30 aptly named Morticia will be trying to put a spell on the other boats. These all-carbon boats really fly.

The challenge overnight for the new owner Shaun Caroll will be to sail fast and upright after the only other sistership recently flipped in Bass Strait and at last report was still drifting around awaiting salvage.

The Raiders always push hard for OMR handicap honours, and Roger Overell will have his usual gun crew driving his Lightwave Raider hard on the wind line.









Cut Snake is another serious handicap challenger, a boat that looks more comfortable than fast, she has recently been optimised and owner Rob Dean is excited to be back on the start.

The new boat to our shores via New Caledonia that has caused some disruption to river traffic in front of Billy Wright’s Bulimba shipyard is the classic trimaran of Jason Gard. Spirit won the round Britain and Ireland race in 1998 so has great pedigree. Her long and thin hulls certainly look the part and a little mullet just told me that in a light wind screacher test in the bay today this boat passed the Seacart!


I am looking forward this year to an occasional stint at the blunt end of McMoggy, she is a kiwi built comfortable racer/cruiser with a lot of carbon and a glamour carbon rotating mast which by itself is worth more than all my old boats put together. Owner Alasdair Noble has been sneaking a bit higher up the score boards lately after grabbing a lot of the loot in Airlie Beach and Magnetic Island Race Weeks last year, so I am sure he will be flogging the whip (now that sounds like Morticia?).

In any case, boats of all types will be out there enjoying the ride north. I can’t write anything about sailing this year without sending a greeting to Stripey Grant recovering in hospital this year instead of pumping out the frenetic phrases that we all love to quote while hanging on to the bar. Stripey, we won’t be able to blister the paint off the decks as we blast along Fraser this year, but I promise to nip any tuck that crosses us on the start.

Get well old friend.

Yellow Brick Tracker at http://yb.tl/mbgyr2013 can be used to follow the fleet.

Rolly Tasker Sails 2023 FOOTERHenri-Lloyd - For the ObsessedSCIBS 2025 Exhibitors

Related Articles

Kojiro Shiraishi - the IMOCA fleet's Obi-Wan!
The Japanese sailor is set to start his third Vendée Globe on Sunday Kojiro Shiraishi is the skipper of the IMOCA DMG MORI in the Vendée Globe. At the age of 26 he became the youngest sailor to complete a non-stop single-handed circumnavigation, twice finished 2nd in the solo BOC Challenge.
Posted today at 6:15 pm
L'Occitane Sailing Team set for the Vendée Globe
Clarisse Crémer: "I want to be more confident this time" Four years after completing her first solo circumnavigation of the globe, Clarisse Crémer is preparing to repeat the experience, albeit in a completely new way.
Posted today at 5:09 pm
Savvy Navvy signs Australian and NZ distributor
As the company continues to make digital navigation solutions more accessible for boaters Marine technology company Savvy Navvy has signed Australia-based Paddy Wester as its exclusive Australian and New Zealand distributor, as the company continues to make digital navigation solutions more accessible for boaters.
Posted today at 9:50 am
Lexus of Tasmania Maria Island Race Preview
A quality fleet will set off on the 180-mile race on Friday The 77th Lexus of Tasmania Maria Island Race starts from Castray Esplanade at 19:00 on Friday evening, hosted by The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.
Posted today at 9:19 am
Magenta project: Pathways of three top sailors
The Magenta Project connects with Sam Davies, Pip Hare, and Mariana Lobato as they share their paths This weekend six women, a record, are starting in the Vendee Globe, which is one of the few sailing events offering open racing between men and women. Although the Vendee has not been won by a woman, the last two round the world races have.
Posted today at 7:57 am
SLAM ETNZ Deck Hoody - Now just €50
Price Drop: SLAM ETNZ Deck Hoody: Was €120 | Now €50 - Order yours today! Price Drop: SLAM ETNZ Deck Hoody: WAS €120 | NOW €50 - Order yours today! Ideal Xmas gift for America's Cup fans! Get your souvenir hoody on the America's Cup champion!
Posted today at 4:04 am
NZ Match Racing Nationals start next Wednesday
16 top competitors will contest the NZ Match Racing Na in what promises to be an electrifying event The New Zealand Match Racing Championship (NZMRC) will take place from November 14th to 17th at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, bringing together 16 top competitors in what promises to be an electrifying event.
Posted today at 2:11 am
36th SCIBS already set to be a showstopper
The much anticipated 36th edition of the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show The much anticipated 36th edition of the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show (SCIBS) is on track to showcase the most spectacular vessels and marine products available in Australia during one of the boating world's most popular weeks.
Posted today at 12:24 am
Nacra 17 Europeans at Sferracavallo Day 1
First two races completed in light winds The first day of the Nacra 17 European Championship has officially begun at the Circolo Velico Sferracavallo! In light winds of 9 knots, gradually decreasing to 7-8 knots, the fleet of 18 boats and 36 sailors completed two races.
Posted on 6 Nov
Conrad Colman: From the Rockies to the Vendée
Competing with a boat which is entirely fossil fuel free Conrad Colman grew up in New Zealand, went to High School and College in America, and then immediately went to Europe having fallen in love with the Vendée Globe.
Posted on 6 Nov