Biddy Hu II makes it a ton

It’s a century already for Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2014. Organisers say the list of entries has topped 100 and is continuing to grow at an impressive rate.

The yacht that took the fleet into triple figures was Biddy Hu II, a Beneteau 49 cruiser-racer out of Melbourne, owned by real estate agent, Paul Lindemann.

This will be his second Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, but he intends making this one quite different from the first: it will be an all-family affair.

"My wife and three young children will be aboard for the cruise all the way from Melbourne to the Whitsundays," Paul explained. "We’ve never done anything quite like this before, so we’re planning to take our time – about a month – to cover the distance and make sure we enjoy every part of it."

Four friends will be joining the Lindemann clan for the 1500 nautical mile passage north to the tropics. It will include two 'adventures' – meandering through more than 60 nautical miles of the Gold Coast Broadwater and across Brisbane’s Moreton Bay, and later, covering 30 nautical miles north from Gladstone through The Narrows, a channel between the mainland and Curtis Island which is only navigable at high tide.

"The fun of getting to Hamilton Island for Race Week will almost match the fun we’ll have when we get there," Paul declared. "We’re going to make the best of it because this is the first time in 19 years of being in business that I’ve taken two months off to really enjoy myself, and share it with the family."

Paul is also looking forward to a showdown at Race Week: he will be renewing a keen rivalry with John and Kim Clinton, and their famous Oceanis 50, Holy Cow.

"We are great friends and the keenest of competitors," said Paul. "Currently the score on the race result sheet is nine-seven in our favour, and we are determined to keep it that way. We’ve had the wood on 'The Cow' in recent times, so I hope we’ll be able to maintain our superiority at Hammo."

Paul added that he expected Audi Hamilton Island Race Week to become an increasing part of his sailing program in the years ahead: "We love the atmosphere – it’s the best. We’ve done a lot of ocean racing in recent years, but now it’s primarily the fun sailing that we are after … regattas where the parties are as much a part of the week as the venue, and the keenness of the competition."

Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2014 will be staged from August 16 to 23. The regatta is open to the full spectrum of keelboats, sport boats and multihulls.

The Notice of Race, entry form and regatta information are all available on the regatta website – www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au