2016 Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race hotting up
Volvo V70 offshore racers among high profile race fleet including Oyster Bay wine makerWell-heeled and keeled Kiwi winemaker Jim Delegat has crossed The Ditch for the impending 2016 Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race. This will be the first of many Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) races on the agenda for his V70, Giacomo, and he is ready to face the classy contenders already entered, among them the V70 Black Jack, which Delegat is keen to have a re-match with.
"We’re heading back to Sydney soon. The plan is to take part in most of the CYCA offshore series (the Blue Water Pointscore), including the forthcoming Sydney Hobart Race. We’re pretty excited to be coming. We’re looking forward to racing Black Jack (Peter Harburg) again and to racing the great array of fast yachts you have," said Delegat.
Delegat, the producer and marketer of the globally successful Oyster Bay wines, says his Giacomo, designed by Argentinean, Juan Kouyoumdjian, is in great shape. Organisers say that is the case with the Gold Coast Yacht Race, too...
Entries received to-date include the 2015 Sydney Hobart winner Balance (Paul Clitheroe), Secret Mens Business from South Australia (Geoff Boettcher) and Celestial (Sam Haynes). The trio ofTP52’s are in good form and will be joined by at least two others.
Victoria’s Veloce (Phil Simpfendorfer) and Chutzpah (Bruce Taylor), Jason Ward’s seven month-old Concubine from South Australia, Bob Steel’s M.A.T 1180 Quest, Darryl Hodgkinson’s Victoire and last year’s Sydney Gold Coast overall winner, Komatsu Azzurro (Shane Kearns) are among those which are guaranteed to push the rest of the fleet.
As the open record holder, the Oatley family’s Wild Oats XI will be the benchmark for line honours, but should the weather be conducive to the V70’s, anything could happen.
Already 42 entries have been received for the race, including boats representing NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria.
The Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race starts at 1300 hours on July 30 off Nielsen Park, Vaucluse. It is the first race of the CYCA’s Blue Water Pointscore and heralds the start of the northern circuit of races and regattas. Details for spectators and details on entries, which close at 1700 hours on July 8, 2016 at goldcoast.cyca.com.au.
Photos by Andrea Francolini.
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