Competitors came ashore exhilarated after the opening day’s conditions at 2016 Airlie Beach Race Week yesterday and were even happier to discover they will get more of the same today – 15 knot easterly trade winds under sunny skies.
The Whitsunday Sailing Club event was lauded by many last night as having the best courses of any regatta they attend, and Race Director, Denis Thompson and his crew can be thanked for that.
The Whitsunday Sailing Club’s 2016 Airlie Beach Race Week opened with a bang, as the record 131 boats hit the water in ideal conditions averaging 15 knots in the Whitsundays today, putting a smile on all competitors’ faces.
Back at the Club after racing, the catchphrase ‘beautiful one day, perfect the next’, was being bandied about, although it was an expensive day for one or two who were involved in collisions.
It’s a beautiful morning at Airlie Beach as the record 131 entries for the 2016 Airlie Beach Race Week gear up for their opening races starting from 11am this morning after registering at Whitsunday Sailing Club yesterday.
Officials are ready and raring to go too, along with the many volunteers who help make this event, which first started 27 years ago.
Race Director, Denis Thompson, commented this morning: “The first day looks like being perfect conditions in the Whitsundays, with a 15 knot easterly forecast.
Entry for Airlie Beach Race Week has closed and organisers from Whitsunday Sailing Club are thrilled to announce that a record 131 entries have been received, bettering the 126 boats that hit the water for the 25th anniversary in 2014.
2016 will be the biggest year on record for entries in Airlie Beach Race Week with 127 racing yachts signed on to date. The previous record of 126 entries was set in 2014 during the events 25th Anniversary celebrations. Entries close in three days and boat owners continue to pledge their support for the popular Whitsundays event. Event organisers from the Whitsunday Sailing Club are confident that the target of 130 entries will be reached and perhaps even surpassed.
Entries for Airlie Beach Race Week close in nine days, and boat owners continue to pledge their support for the popular Whitsundays event, with 113 entered as of today, including a boost in sports boat numbers that have helped surpass last year’s 104 starters.
A record 126 boats hit the water for the 25th anniversary in 2014, and organisers from the Whitsunday Sailing Club are confident they will receive close to that number for the Tropical Festival of Sailing, now in its 27th year.
Seventeen days before entries close for the 27th running of Airlie Beach Race Week, numbers are on the rise, with over 100 owners ready for a racing and a social program that is the envy of many.
Numbers are up by 25 on last year’s entries at this time. Race Director, Denis Thompson, says to expect up to 125 across the multiple classes and divisions, an increase on last year’s 104 starters.
“There are some very good boats attending this year, which will provoke strong competition,” Thompson said today.
Competitors are gearing up and looking forward to racing in the warm climes at Airlie Beach Race Week where the shore side entertainment is guaranteed to be as action packed as the racing.
Boosted numbers across the board will make for a stimulating program in 2016. The Cruising divisions are swelling in numbers for the 27th running of the increasingly popular Whitsunday Sailing Club hosted event. And why not - with so much to take in - on the water and onshore.
Unprecedented early entries, among them Karl Kwok’s Beau Geste from Hong Kong, and a new major sponsor in Carlton and United Breweries (CUB), have put Airlie Beach Race Week on course for a record breaking year.
Airlie Beach Race Week 2016 entries far exceed those of last year, according to Denis Thompson, Race Director for the Whitsunday Sailing Club hosted regatta to be held from 11-18 August.
Already 38 boat owners representing a broad cross-section of classes have entered, more than double those entered at this time last year. And it is only the tip of the iceberg, according to Thompson.
