Weekly Sailing Summary

KEEL BOATS

Bill Wild’s Wedgetail won the 2010 Queensland IRC Championships, conducted by Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron over the ANZAC long weekend. Fifteen yachts sailed a 30 nautical mile passage race around Moreton Bay on Sunday and finished on Monday with two windward/return races. Check out the RQYS.com.au website for more details.

It was a wet start to the first pointscore race of the Audi Winter Series at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia on ANZAC Day, but despite the showery overcast day the crews said they had “lots of fun.” CYCA.com.au.

Already more than 30 yacht owners have registered for Audi Hamilton Island Race Week on 20-28 August. The smallest entry to date is the eight-metre Lorna Rose Too, owned by Tasmanian Mike Wearne, and at the other end of the spectrum is the 50-metre superyacht Perseus, which will be taking in Race Week as part of an 18-month cruise through the Pacific. Hamilton Island Race Week.com.au.

The Rolex Farr 40 Worlds in the Caribbean was won by Massimo Mezzaroma’s Nerone (ITA) for the second time (first in 2003), beating Guido Belgiorno-Nettis’ Transfusion (AUS) by two points. Ten boats competed in the event. The next Rolex Farr 40 World Championship will be held in Sydney in February 2011. Farr 40 worlds.com.

AROUND AUSTRALIA

Ian Thompson of SOS Ocean Racing is set to depart on 2 May from the front of the Whitsunday Sailing Club in an attempt to set a new world record for the fastest solo non-stop circumnavigation of Australia, whilst raising awareness of the damage caused by plastic bags to our environment. Sailing a custom designed and built Welbourn 12m, Ian Thompson's passage hopes to finish in under 50 days, hence smashing the current record of 68d:8h:30m held by the only person to have achieved this feat, David Beard from Brisbane. SOS Ocean Racing.com.

LOUISIADES RALLY

The Louisiades Rally for yachts and powerboats over 30 feet will be conducted from 5 September to 11 October departing and returning to Cairns. Participants will cruise in company across 520 nautical miles of the Coral Sea, to the Louisiades Archipelago in Papua New Guinea. The program of events includes sailing canoe racing, feasts, sing sings, skull cave visit, traditional dancing, a remote river trip, school and hospital visits and more. The program also allows plenty of time for independent exploration to the islands and their friendly communities. Entries close July 1. Louisiades Rally.com

AROUND THE WORLD

Jessica Watson was knocked down in huge seas on her way to rounding Tasmania in her attempt to be the youngest person to sail solo, unassisted and non-stop around the world. Customs officials on a routine flight dropped by to say hi and to remind her to check in with the appropriate authorities when she reaches Sydney. Jessica Watson.com.au.

Abby Sunderland, the 16 year old Californian sailing solo around the world is pulling into Cape Town, South Africa for repairs to her autopilot. Abby Sunderland.com.

Race 8 of the Clipper Round the World Race, 3,329 miles from San Francisco to Panama, is underway. Spirit of Australia won the race to the Scoring Gate just off the Mexican coast, claiming three points. Clipper Round the World.com.

Australian Olympian and Volvo Ocean Race veteran Chris Nicholson has been announced by Emirates Team New Zealand as skipper of Camper’s entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12. Nicholson will be joined by the current world match racing champion, New Zealander Adam Minoprio. Volvo Ocean Race.com.

OLYMPIC CLASSES

Australia has three teams competing at the Semaine Olympique Francais de Voile in Hyeres, France - two Women’s Match Racing teams led by Katie Spithill and Lucinda Whitty; and the Australian Men’s 470 team led by Mathew Belcher. The regatta forms round four of seven events in the ISAF Sailing World Cup and runs until 30 April. Yachting.org.au.

NEWS BRIEFS

The four crew of the Talisker Bounty Boat have started their epic voyage with a week long trip just to get to the starting point of the re-creation of Captain William Bligh’s 4,000 mile open boat ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ voyage. Talisker Bounty Boat.com.

A deep ocean current with a volume equivalent to 40 Amazon Rivers has been discovered by Japanese and Australian scientists near the Kerguelen plateau, in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean, 4,200 kilometres south-west of Perth. CSIRO.au

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

May 4 - Information night at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney on electrical maintenance with Rob Starkey. All welcome. Please book at CYCA reception on 8292-7800 or reception@cyca.com.au.

May 9 - Butlers Business and Law Round Lord Howe Island Yacht Race. ORCV.org.au.

May 11 - Long Distance Offshore Sailing Seminar - Communications with Neville Rose at Royal Brighton Yacht Club at 7pm. ORCV.org.au.

May 20 - 23 -- Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, Gold Coast. Sanctuary Cove Boat Show.com.au.

May 20 – 23 -- 1770 Festival, Town of Seventeen-Seventy, Queensland. Celebrating the "Birth Place of Queensland", this festival has been an annual event for 17 years and commemorates the visit of the Endeavour and landing of Lt. James Cook and his crew in May 1770. 1770 festival.com.au.

May 21 – 30 -- Port Douglas Carnivale, Tropical North Queensland. Carnivale.com.au.

May 27 – June 21 -- Vivid Sydney, a festival of light, music and ideas, featuring the spectacular illumination of the Sydney Opera House sails. Events NSW.com.au.

June 8 - Long Distance Offshore Sailing Seminar - Search and Rescue at Royal Brighton Yacht Club at 7pm. ORCV.org.au.

June 13 - 14 -- The Oceanic Whitsunday Boat & Leisure Show, Meridien Marinas Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach. Whitsunday Boat Show.com.

July 1 - 5 -- Melbourne Boat Show, Melbourne Exhibition Centre. Melbourne Boat Show.com.au.

Photograph: Wedgetail and Black Jack Too -© Suellen Hurling