Clipper owners get ready to rally

Gold Coast-based Clipper Motor Yachts is gearing up for the first of its 'cruise in company' adventure events in 2016 with a Moreton Bay regatta planned for April.

Managing Director Brett Thurley said the company organises a number of events each year designed to bring Clipper boat owners together and  improve their knowledge of their vessels, discuss how they perform, and explore the variety of cruising grounds available to them from their home ports.

"Our fully organised cruises are very popular not only because of the social aspect, but also because the owners are accompanied by experienced professional skippers and we can show them new and exciting anchorages in total safety," he said.

The first Clipper Motor Yachts cruise for the year is being held on April 15,16 and 17 on the Gold Coast, where Clipper owners will range into Moreton Bay in search of an ideal anchorage in the prevailing conditions.

Boaties will assemble on the Gold Coast on the Friday afternoon and then head to a local anchorage for Friday night. Saturday will see the flotilla move north into Moreton Bay and an anchorage to be determined by weather on Saturday night. Beach barbecues and sunset drinks will be the order of the day on both nights and then participants will cruise home on Sunday afternoon.

Clipper Motor Yachts main cruising event will again be the annual Fraser Island run on September 1 this year.  Last year, 15 vessels took part including a total of 40 guests.

Mr Thurley said the 10-day cruise would see the flotilla reach the northern tip of Fraser Island and then if the weather allowed those with a real sense of adventure would head to Lady Musgrave Island for the first time.

"For those who don't want to go the extra distance we will have a skipper stay with and accompany the Fraser Island group," he said.

"This trip is becoming a must-do for Clipper owners and its popularity increases each year. Last year, we got up close to whales, saw heaps of dolphins, caught fish and had a ball. It was an event that many of our group still talk about."

He said the number of new Clipper Motor Yacht owners had increased significantly since the last Fraser trip and many had expressed a desire to be part of the next trip.

"It is about education, building up peoples' seamanship skills, having a good time, meeting new people and all in a safe and controlled environment.

"A lot of boat owners don't have the confidence to use their vessels in the way they could so this opens up a whole new world for them."

Mr Thurley said Clipper Motor Yachts had a number of other manor initiatives planned for this year including boat shows, new product releases, social events and deliveries of a raft of new vessels to their owners from the company's Asian-based yard.

"We are growing each year and the Clipper family is expanding," he said.

"It is great to see the relationships that are forming and the confidence that is building with owners as they get to know their boats.

"It really is what boating in this part of the world is all about." More at the Clipper Motor Yachts website.