The Great Race - Are You Up to the Challenge?

4:41 AM Wed 20 Jan 2010 GMT

'Southport Yacht Club' Southport Yacht Club &copy

On Saturday 06th February 2010 Southport Yacht Club will be hosting the Great Race - for the sixth time since its inauguration in 2005. Year after year, the Great Race attracts competitors from all over Australia, looking to test their stamina and willpower in this 70km endurance race from the Gold Coast to Brisbane.

The Great Race is possibly the longest off-the-beach sailing event of its kind to be staged in Australia. Starting just outside the hosting Southport Yacht Club on the Gold Coast, competitors make their way up towards Brisbane. The narrow and twisted waterways between the mainland and the islands will test the competitors' tacking and boat handling skills before the open vastness of Moreton Bay will provide some challenging wind and waves. Finally, the race will finish just off Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron in Manly.

This is an intense race. The current race record stands at 2:57:18hrs elapsed time for multihulls and 3:44:48hrs elapsed time for monohulls, with the majority of the fleet taking between 4 and 6 hours to complete the course. Concentration and strength are called on for varying angles and sailing conditions that are encountered as you plot your way through the myriad of channels. Competition is fierce all the way, and with tactics changing constantly, you arrive at RQYS absolutely spent and hurting, but with a strange little smile of satisfaction on your face that only fellow competitors can relate to!

We've picked the weekend with the most favourable tide. Now it is just up to the breeze and to the competitors to set new race records. Entries are open to all off-the-beach dinghies with a yardstick rating less than or equal to 109, and all off-the-beach multihulls with yardstick no higher than 100.

If you're up for it, start getting fit now and contact sailing(at)southportyachtclub.com.au for further info and an entry form! Or phone the Southport Yacht Club - Hollywell Sailing Office on (07) 5537 7030

by Southport Yacht Club

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The Great Race - Are You Up to the Challenge?

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