Organisers at Ocean Dynamics and Mount Gay Airlie Beach Race Week 2024 look forward to seeing new talents emerge every year as they gravitate to one of Australia's favourite sailing playgrounds – and this year is no different, but the reasons they will make it to the Whitsundays are – some have funny stories attached, others have tales of frustration.
We spoke to some in the Performance Cruising class, their sheer numbers waiting to saturate Pioneer Bay and the surrounding beautiful islands, when Race Week takes place from 8-15 August. And don't let the word 'cruising' fool you – the crews in these large divisions fight tooth and nail, eager to make the podium.
Scott Robertson and Steve Jurd are the fairly new owners of the Beneteau 45, Banter. The pair will front Airlie Beach for the first time as boat owners.
"It's a funny story. I'd had Puff, a Beneteau 40.7, before. Steve and I went to a Beneteau regatta and probably had too much to drink and decided we needed a bigger boat. It all happened within a couple of weeks around 12 months ago – suddenly we owned a Beneteau 45," Robertson recalled, laughing. "My wife wasn't too happy at the time."
Robertson had done Airlie Beach a couple of times before, but sailed on other people's boats.
"Airlie is a beautiful part of the world to go sailing… I love the relaxed social atmosphere, good restaurants and everything is easy to get to," the NSW yachtsman said.
"We'll have our regular crew of seven from Sydney with us. We do race at Pittwater regularly and it's fairly competitive. We'll see how we go."
When Whitsunday Sailing Club's 36th Airlie Beach Race Week comes around, Banter's crew might take a leaf out of Peter Warren's book. Seachelle 2's Tasmanian owner raced his Jeanneau 44 DS at Race Week for the first time last year and came away with second place in Division 2, where Banter will join them in 2024.
"Seachelle 2 is well accustomed to cruising Tasmanian waters. Her first foray to Airlie Beach last year - her first and only race series - was enjoyed by all, so we decided to come up again," Warren said of his surprise second place.
Fellow Tasmanian, Dermot Crean, is a total newcomer to Airlie Beach. The owner of Deviljsh, a J/88, he hails from Ireland, but spent years living in the UK before finding his way to Tasmania 13 years ago. As such, Crean has competed on both continents and is a pro-active member of Derwent Sailing Squadron, which he proudly says, "Will host the Australian Yachting Championships in January.
"We can't wait (for Airlie Beach Race Week). We tried to go last year, when I got back into racing after 20 years, but the boat had to come from overseas and I couldn't believe what it took. We couldn't get it there in time but we will this year!"
Crean's yacht will arrive in the Whitsundays on a road trailer. "We had to tilt it on the trailer to make it work. She'll be heading off this week."
On Race Week, Crean shared, "We're Looking forward to enjoying ourselves. It's the kind of event I enjoyed when I was younger. We're looking forward to arriving a week early, so we can enjoy all Airlie offers before racing kicks off."
Onshore, AWL Grip and International have joined the growing list of support sponsors and are a perfect fit for the event, as both brands are familiar to yachties around the globe
Environmentally responsible and with over 40 years of experience, AWL Grip is highly rated as the world's best professional boat paint. The company industry-leading products provide a wide range of colors and effects, combined with high gloss and proven durability. Visit www.awlgrip.com for more information.
International is a marine coatings company that has made a niche for itself worldwide with vessel antifouling, universal primers, cosmetic finishes, foul release coatings and high performance deck coatings in its vast array of products. Visit https://www.international-marine.com for more information.
Ocean Dynamics and Mount Gay Airlie Beach Race Week 2024 enjoys continued support from Tourism and Events Queensland and is a feature on the It's Live! Queensland events calendar. The event enjoys support from Coral Sea Marina Resort and d'Albora Port of Airlie Marina too.
