Aussie celebrations

Peter Campbell reports on the 172nd Australia Day regatta

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 172nd Australia Day Regatta ocean race to Botany Bay and return Saturday, 26 January 2008 has attracted record 46 yachts specifically entered for the City of Sydney Sesquicentenary Trophy and the Geoff Lee Trophy.

The race, a traditional part of the 172nd Australia Day Regatta, gets under way from Sydney Harbour at 11am from a line north of Shark Island.

It is also the first Short Ocean Point Score and Ocean Point Score races for 2008, with total entries exceeding 80 boats, although not all are expected to race.

The Geoff Lee Trophy goes to the line honours winner among those yachts nominated as Australia Day Regatta entries in addition to the SOPS and OPS. Winner of the City of Sydney Sesquicentenary Trophy will be the yacht with the lowest PHS corrected time.

The Botany Bay race fleet includes many yachts that competed in the 63rd Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, including Andrew Short’s Toyota Aurion V6 (the former Brindabella), Ed Psaltis’ AFR Midnight Rambler, Geoff Hill’s Swan Song, James Connell and Alex Brandon’s Zephyr and Greg Zyner’s Morna, the two small boats that placed first and second in IRC Division E of the Rolex Sydney Hobart.

Other entries include the two major trophy winners in last year’s Australia Day Regatta – Dick Cawse’s Vanguard (line honours winner) and the Tribal Syndicate’s Spearhead (PHS winner).

Other wellknown offshore racing boats entered for the prestigious City of Sydney Sesquicentenary Trophy include About Time (Julian Farren-Price), Ginger (Leslie Green), Nips N Tux (Howard de Torres ), Occasional Coarse Language (Warwick Sherman), Brilliant (Howard & Susan Piggott), Morag Bheag (John Maclurcan) and Stormy Petrel (Kevin O’Shea).

The 172nd Australia Day Regatta on Sydney Harbour is the world’s oldest continuously held sailing regatta, first conducted in 1837 to mark the arrival of Captain Phillip’s First Fleet in Sydney Cove in 1788. Phillip and his ships first anchored in Botany Bay but later sailed north to the magnificent Sydney Harbour, today the site of Australia’s largest city.

More than 120 entries have been received for the 172nd Australia Day Regatta on the Harbour which starts at 1.15pm from a line to the east of the Regatta flagship, HMAS Kanimbla, moored near Rushcutters Bay.

Bringing a touch of nostalgia to the historic event will be fleets of Classic yachts, including gaff-riggers, Historical Skiffs and replicas of the spectacular gaff-rigged 18-footers of the early 1900s.

In addition to the Harbour events and the ocean race to Botany Bay, associated Australia Day regattas are being on the waters of Lake Macquarie, Botany Bay, Pittwater, Brisbane Waters, Port Hacking, Lake Macquarie and the Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers.

The Wangi Wangi Sailing Club on Lake Macquarie has received more than 70 entries of yachts, trailable boats, mulithulls, dinghies and skiffs for its Australia Day Regatta.

Other aquatic events on the Harbour on Australia Day start with the spectacular Ferrython at 11am. Adding to the spectacle will be flyovers by the Royal Australian Air Force Roulettes aerobatic squadron and parachute drops by the Australian Army.