Wild Oats takes top spot

Peter Campbell reports on the 169th Australia Day Regatta

Wine industry guru Bob Oatley reaped a double harvest in today's 169th Australia Day Regatta ocean race from Sydney to Botany Bay and return, taking line honours and first place overall on IRC handicaps with his powerful 66-footer Wild Oats.

Wild Oats, arguably the fastest 66-footer in the world, sailed the course in just over three hours in a light east-north-easterly breeze, finishing 10 minutes ahead of George Snow's 79-footer Brindabella, with Dick Cawse's Vanguard, third to finish.

The 169th Australia Day Regatta, the world's oldest continuous sailing regatta, was again a focal point of Sydney Harbour as thousands of Australians celebrated our National Day afloat.

Sydney turned on a perfect hot summer day for Harbour activities that ranged from a 1000-surf ski Paddlethon to the colourful Ferrython, a huge Parade of Sail, the 169th Australia Day Regatta Regatta and the Tall Ships Race.

The Parade of Sail, led by a Harbour firetug spraying water and the Tall Ships, Young Endeavour and James Craig, attracted the largest number of participants ever, from 'tinnies' to luxury cruisers as they sailed past the Regatta flagship HMAS Parramatta.

In the ocean race, Wild Oats, a canting keel, Reichel/Pugh design, won the IRC division, part of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Short Ocean Pointscore, on corrected time from Vanguard, a Lyons/Cawse 60, third place going to AFR Midnight Rambler, skippered by Ed Psaltis.

Vanguard won the PHS Division from Brindabella and Occasional Coarse Language (Warwick Sherman). Vanguard also won both the IRC and PHS divisions of the Ocean Pointscore.

The traditional Australia Day ocean race to Botany Bay and return for the City of Sydney Trophy attracted a fleet of more that 50 offshore racing yachts, while on the harbour nearly 100 yachts contested the 169th Australia Day Regatta, sponsored by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Hundreds more yachts, dinghies, skiffs and catamarans contested special Australia Day Regattas on Pittwater, Brisbane Waters, Botany Bay, Lake Macquarie and Lake Illawarra.

A highlight of the Harbour event was the close racing in the Gaff Rig Division between beautifully restored timber boats some of them more than 70 years old with only 33 seconds between Yeromais V (John Diacopoulos), Reverie (John Barclay), Redpa (Tony Tyson) and Sylvia (Philip Kinsella) as they crossed the line.

Division one saw only 45 seconds separate RSYS entrant Braveheart (Bill Meiklejohn) and the CYCA's Akela (Akela Syndicate) on corrected time with only another 29 seconds to third placed Norske (Bruce Dickson and Catherine Hespe) also from the RSYS.

Two former Olympic sailors, Gordon Ingate and Bill Solomons, fought out the International 5.5 Metre class division, with Ingate at the helm of My Shout beating Solomons, steering Barranjoey, by just 42 seconds.

Solomons steered Barranjeoy at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, with Australia Day 2005 having added significance – his crew comprised his two sons with whom he last sailed together as a crew at the Etchells World Championships in San Diego in 1988.

Not all the action was on the water – above the Harbour the RAAF Roulettes performed a spectacular aerobatic display while the Army's Red Beret unit parachuted into Farm Cove and Navy divers performed search and rescue operations from helicopters.