Weekly Sailing Summary

KEEL BOATS

A fleet of 180 boats started the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race on Sydney Harbour in a 3-5 knot south-south-westerly breeze at 1.00pm on Saturday. Bob Oatley's Reichel/Pugh 66 Wild Oats X, skippered by Mark Richards claimed line honours at 2.00pm on Monday after a neck and neck battle up the coast with Stephen Ainsworth's Reichel/Pugh 63 Loki, which finished shortly after. More details.

Forty-eight yachts had finished the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race by Tuesday morning, leaving 22 still at sea. Ian Kiernan's Sanyo Maris, the last in the fleet, is expected to finish late Wednesday morning. More details.

Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron member John Goldie has been racing aboard his yacht Kerstin II almost every week for the past 25 years, winning countless races and season pointscores. At the age of 87, he notched up yet another victory when Kerstin II came from behind to win Division 2 of the RSYS Winter Series on Sydney Harbour by just one point. More details.

Sunshine Coast ‘Old Salt' Robbo Robertson will face yet another ocean sailing challenge when he skippers the Mooloolaba sloop Cracklin Rosie in the 348 nautical mile Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Race starting on August 1. More details.

Organisers of the Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Race will utilise Twitter to keep land based spectators up-to-date. More details.

-- INTERNATIONAL

The Six Senses Phuket Race Week 2009 ended with a day of nail-bitingly close racing, with a strong incoming current adding to a tension-filled finish to determine who would end the series victorious. Ray Roberts (Evolution Sailing) from Australia was able to overcome a strong challenge from local Neil Pryde and his Hi–Fi crew to claim the IRC crown. More details.

The British Classic Yacht Club Regatta Cowes 2009 finished with a bang, and definitely not a whimper, as competitors were treated to a rip-roaring final day of racing in classically tumultuous Solent conditions. More details.

OLYMPIC CLASSES

Four of Australia's up and coming female sailors are in Japan preparing to take on the world in the 2009 Laser Radial World Championship, with racing beginning on Tuesday, 28 July. More details.

Racing at the ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship gets underway in Lysekil, Sweden, on Tuesday. World number one Claire Leroy will take on the world number two Katie Spithill, among others who also have their eyes on selection for the first women's Olympic match racing event to be held in London in 2012. More details.

The Australian Sailing Development Squad's Women Match Racers are in the final stage of preparation for the 2009 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship in Lysekil, Sweden. More details.

Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships Event Director John Longley AM announces the skipper of Australia's historic 1983 America's Cup winning challenger Australia II, John Bertrand AM, as an Ambassador to the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships. More details.

OFF THE BEACH

Brett Burvill and Ryan Duffield, who won the Australian Tornado Championship in Darwin earlier this month, have returned to their hometown Perth to finalise their preparations for the 2009 Tornado World Championship to be held in Italy. More details.

Antoine Albeau, Finian Maynard and Kevin Pritchard were on the podium of the 2009 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam after five fantastic days of windsurfing. More details.

For the fourth time in a row the small village of Afiartis on the island of Karpathos is preparing to play host for the world‘s fastest men and women in the speed windsurfing scene, and from July 31 till August 5 all the big names of the sport will compete for points counting towards the 2009 Speed World Tour. More details.

The Atakoy Marina in Istanbul, Turkey, is the host venue for the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. More details.

NEWS BRIEFS

One person suffered smoke inhalation after two boats went up in flames at Newport Anchorage Marina on Pittwater. The blazing boats' mooring lines were cut, allowing the boats to drift away from the marina, in an attempt to stop the fire spreading to other boats. However, at least three other boats also caught fire. More details.

The Whitsundays, Australia's aquatic playground, is gearing up for its annual Sailing Season where sails and spinnakers dominate the horizon by day, and champagne corks and good times dominate by night. More details.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

July 30 - Aug 3 -- Sydney International Boat Show, Darling Harbour. This year there will be an incredible array of craft from kayaks to fishing boats, luxury yachts, historic vessels, speed boats, tinnies and runabouts. Details here.

August 12 - 16 -- Perth International Boat Show, Perth Convention Exhibition Centre. Perth Boat Show.

Aug 13 – 20 -- Airlie Beach Race Week, Meridien Marinas Abel Point Marina Airlie Beach race week.

Aug 16 - Want a new angle on Sydney? The National Maritime Museum invites you to climb to the top of its historic lighthouse for a different view of Darling Harbour and the city beyond. More details.

Aug 21 – 29 -- Audi Hamilton Island Race Week. Hamilton Island race week.

August 28 - 31 -- Brisbane International Boat Show, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. Brisbane Boat Show.

Aug 29 – Sep 4 --  Multihull Solutions Multihull Rendezvous APYC Yachting.

Sep 11-13 -- The Great Tropical Jazz Party on Magnetic Island follows on from Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week, with many crews lingering on to relax after a week of competitive sailing. More details.

Sep 12 - Great Whitsunday Fun Race. Whitsunday Sailing Club.

Photograph by Andrea Francolini/Audi: Wild Oats X at the finish of the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Race at Main Beach