Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race 2024

News
2012
Mr Kite's fast ride to Sydney for the 27th Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race

Mr Kite's fast ride to Sydney for the 27th Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race

NEWS
23 Jul, 2012 04:25:00 PM

Mr Kite's fast ride to Sydney for the 27th Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race

Mr Kite, Andrew Hunn’s canting keel, Cape/Barrett 40, is one of two of Tasmania’s fastest ocean racing yachts entered for the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race, that starts from Sydney Harbour next Saturday, 28 July.

Mr Kite, Andrew Hunn’s canting keel, Cape/Barrett 40, is one of two of Tasmania’s fastest ocean racing yachts entered for the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race, that starts from Sydney Harbour next Saturday, 28 July.

The other RYCT entrant is Tony Lyall’s TP52 Cougar II, one of several TP52 in the 63-boat fleet.

Cougar II's race crew will comprise owner/skipper Tony Lyalll, Chris Boon, David Ransley, Richard Gilbert, Tony Grafton, Phil Brasington, Drew Meincke, Tim Roberts, Bruce Gadd, Rod Cowan and C Cecil.

This will be only the second major long ocean race for Lyall and his crew with Cougar II since he bought the powerful boat just before last year's Rolex Sydney Hobart Yact Race. Cougar II finished 13th in fleet, 11th overall and sixth in IRC Division 1.

Lyall has subsequently raced the yacht in local events in southern Tasmania, including taking line honours and first place under IRC handicaps in the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania’s iconic 89 nautical mile Bruny Island Race.

Since a major optimisation, the radically-designed Mr Kite has notched up a string of line honours successes in Tasmanian waters, including two line honours wins in the Launceston to Hobart Race.

This is the first voyage north in several seasons for Andrew Hunn with Mr Kite, although he raced in the Farr 40 world championships in Sydney last year with his other racing yacht, Voodoo Chile.

Mr Kite's race crew will include owner/skipper Andrew Hunn, Stephen ('Rowdy') McCullum as navigator, along with Rod Chamberlain, Richard Goodfellow, Daniel Wood, John Wearne, Phil Armstrong and Josh Clark.

Heading the fleet in the 384 nautical mile race up the New South Wales North Coast to Southport on the Queensland Gold Coast are Rolex Sydney Hobart race record holder Wild Oats XI, Bob Oatley’s 30m super maxi, and last year’s overall winner of the Rolex Sydney Hobart, Stephen Ainsworth’s Reichel/Pugh 63, Loki.

Also making a return to ocean racing for the first time since winning the 2010 Rolex Sydney Hobart is South Australian yachtsman Geoff Boettcher with Secret Mens Business 3.5, a Reichel/Pugh 51.

“With several other TP52s in the fleet, along with a number of other well proven boats in the 50-footer range, there will be plenty of competition for us,” Cougar II’s owner/skipper said this week. “The race itself is always a very tactical event as you race close inshore up the coast.”

Lyall said Cougar II would then be delivered north to Airlie Beach for Race Week which runs from August 6-10. “I can’t do Audi Hamilton Island Race Week because of other commitments and the boat will then come back to Hobart to contest local races and prepare for the Rolex Sydney Hobart,” he added.

By Peter Campbell, RYCT Media