Photo credit: Rolex / Daniel Forster

The 2011 Around Australia Ocean Race & Rally has attracted interest from over 240 participants. Some of the notable entrants so far include Grant Wharington’s 98 footer Wild Thing, previously known as Skandia, Matt Allen’s modified Volvo 70 Ichi Ban and Alan Brierty has taken a slot reservation for his Reichel Pugh 63 Limit. There are already New Zealand and Korean racing yachts booked in and the event organisers are expecting to attract many racers from Europe, Asia, UK, the USA and elsewhere.

The course will be in a counter clockwise direction – Australia to Port.  Yachts in Fremantle will start first on the 25th of June 2011. As yachts reach a stop over port they will be joined by yachts starting from that port.  There will be a minimum stop over period for each port – some longer than others.

The ‘2011 Around Australia Ocean Race’ and ‘2011-2012 Around Australia Ocean Rally’ events are a circumnavigation of the Australian coastline by Race or Rally with stop-overs.

The events are unique as they allow participants to start and finish their chosen event from a number of home ports around the Australian coastline. This feature is proving to be very popular with a total of 113 event Slot Reservations lodged within the eight weeks since the Race and rally events were launched.

The event organisers are targeting 150 yachts in the Race event and 150 yachts in the Rally event which will make the combined Race and Rally events one of the largest long distance sailing events ever. www.sailaroundaustralia.com.au

Bob Williams

Ocean Events P/L from Western Australia is the events organiser. Ocean Events director Bob Williams is currently in Queensland attending race regattas that will be incorporated into the ‘2011 Around Australia Ocean Race – ‘I have been in the Whitsundays for four days at the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week regatta enjoying a front row seat observation of all the race action courtesy the excellent event media boat provided by the event organisers to cover the on-water action.

Tomorrow we move over to the beautiful Hamilton Island the venue for the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week regatta.

The Whitsundays Islands is a magnificent venue for these two very well attended regattas with perfect weather and wind and sea conditions conducive to close and fast racing. Yachts travel from as far a field as Western Australia and New Zealand to participate in these now famous events. We are delighted that entrants from the 2011 Around Australia Ocean Race program will be able to sail in both events in 2011.

This has also been an opportunity for me to see the master yacht race management craftsman Denis Thompson exercising his art in organising beautifully the extensive race program here at the Meridien Airlie Beach Race Week and in a few days at the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week regatta.

Denis will be engaged in race management of the 13 races within the ‘2011 Around Australia Ocean Race’ which includes iconic races – Melbourne to Sydney Race (being reinstated as part of the Around Australia Ocean Race event), the Sydney Gold Coast Race, the Brisbane To Keppel Tropical Yacht Race and 10 more new races that will link every capital city and a number of prominent ports on the Australian coastline.

It is a great pleasure for me to meet with a number of Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week and Audi Hamilton Island Race Week participants that have made a Slot Reservation in the ‘2011 Around Australia Ocean Race’ and a number that have reserved a slot in the ‘2011-2012 Around Australia Ocean Rally’ via our event web site www.sailaroundaustralia.com.au.

IRC Racing at Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week 2009 Sail-World.com /AUS ©

In particular Ray Roberts owner/skipper of Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week Division 1 yacht ‘Evolution Racing’ and one of Australia’s top ocean racing sailors and Russell McCart owner/skipper of Division 1 yacht Night Nurse and commodore of the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron who we will be working closely with for the races we are incorporating from Brisbane to Airlie Beach in 2011.

Ray Roberts is very enthusiastic about his participation in the ‘2011 Around Australia Ocean Race’ and will use his passion for competing in yacht races in Asia to encourage a number of racing boats based out of Hong Kong to participate in our Around Australia Ocean Race. Thank you Ray.

I’m looking forward to the next six days observing the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week regatta and meeting a lot more of our Slot Reservation holders an having the opportunity to meet with media people and discuss our event logistics and opportunities with local business people.

This Whitsunday Islands part of the Australian coastline is certainly very beautiful. I’m absolutely sure that the participants in the ‘2011 Around Australia Ocean Race’ and the 2011-12 Around Australia Ocean Rally’ are going to thoroughly enjoy the stop-over we have built into the Race event timeline to allow them to participate in the future Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week and Audi Hamilton Island Race Week regattas.

‘2011 Around Australia Ocean Race’ and ‘2011-2012 Around Australia Ocean Rally’ Slot Reservations continue to flow in with the total now at 113. www.sailaroundaustralia.com.au

From this region I will be travelling north for meetings with government and yacht club people in Townsville, Cairns, and Darwin making people aware of the magnitude of both the ‘2011 Around Australia Ocean Race’ and the ‘2011-12 Around Australia Ocean Rally’ and the beneficial impact and checking out facilities and general logistics with visits to South Australia, Tasmania, and New South Wales planned for October’.

For information please contact : info@sailaroundaustralia.com.au

by Rob Kothe