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The A'Peel of the NSGCYR

Home 2026 The A'Peel of the NSGCYR

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If the start of day one of the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race proved anything, it's that this fleet has an appetite for sail changes. Good thing too, since there's plenty more to come on the way north. Sydney Harbour turned into one long runway of sail changes as boats furled reaching sails and hoisted spinnakers almost as fast as the previous ones had gone up. Conditions could not have been kinder for it: sunny skies and eight to thirteen knots to send the fleet off. A bit more breeze would have been welcome, but it beats rain or a gale.

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peeling

[pee-ling]

verb.

A fast tactical manoeuvre used to swap one flying headsail or spinnaker for another without dropping the first one first. The new sail is hoisted right alongside the old one, filled with wind, and only then is the old sail taken down.

see also: sail change, douse, hoist

The gun

Smuggler, last year's overall winner, got the jump on everyone, tucking in close to Lady Bay on her way out, with V5, Koa, Caol Ila and Gusto in company.  Caol Ila's crew notched one of the cleanest starts of the fleet, keeping the heavy Maarten 67 moving through an ever so patchy Sydney Harbour. The biggest boat in the fleet, Antipodes, made her way out flanked by two 40 footers, Ambition and Back 2 Black, both punching a few divisions above their weight class.  With the whole pack gybing through the middle of the harbour and hugging close to North Head on the way to the open water, the race was officially underway.

Smuggler and Caol Ila fresh off the start – Credit: CYCA | Andrea Francolini

Two Up

First double-hander through the Heads was Disko Trooper, with Mistral tucked in on her side and Annie Stevenson not far behind in her Dehler 30 Od, Emplyment Hero Alliance.  That also made Disko Trooper the first 30-footer away out the Heads, if only by a tiny margin.

Disko Trooper & Mistral clearing the Heads Credit: CYCA | Andrea Francolini

Last competitor to leave Sydney Harbour was Marguerite with Aaron Zhou as Skipper.

The fleet is now away and pointed north, 384 nautical miles between them and Main Beach, Gold Coast.  With winds forecast to ease and go light and shifty over the coming days, it's anyone's guess yet whether that favours the big boats reaching for pressure or the small boats sneaking through the gaps.

Follow the fleet's progress as the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race unfolds