Bird Island a Hobart warm-up
Skippers using Bird Island race as the last chance to sharpen ocean crews before the race to HobartThe upcoming Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race has spawned a glut of entries for the Bird Island Race, among them Anthony Bell’s 100ft Perpetual Loyal, which along with the remaining 37 entries, will take advantage of a last opportunity to ease into some ocean miles and prepare crew in advance of the 628 nautical mile race south.
The 85 nautical mile Bird Island Race starts on Saturday (December 6) at 10.00am off Point Piper on Sydney Harbour.
Bird Island is off the NSW Central Coast near Lake Munmorah and Budgewoi. The record for the race is 6hrs 38mins and 56secs, set by the RP63, Loki (Stephen Ainsworth), in 2011. The current weather forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology lends itself to a possible new record, with north to north-westerly 15-20 knot winds tending south-east to south-westerly at 10-15 knots during the day, then north-east to south-easterly at 15 to 20 knots during the afternoon.
Should Perpetual Loyal be the one in the box seat, Bell would be delivering a nice gift to his first-time celebrity crew, including boxer Danny Green, surfer Sally Fitzgibbons and Chef, Guillaume Brahimi. In 2011, Bell made the dreams of his crew come true when he out-sailed Wild Oats XI in a thriller for Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours with his former super maxi Investec Loyal.
This weekend, competitors will be racing for the 58th Janzoon Trophy, while the name of the PHS category winner will be engraved on the 39th George Barton trophy.
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