A spectacular fleet of 50 yachts will start in the first ocean race of the new decade starting tomorrow, the 2010 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Offshore race at 1pm, off Broken Bay.

Favourable 10/15 knots winds from the North are forecast for the start according to predictwind.com, freshening in the afternoon to 15-20 knots and maintaining pressure throughout the evening ahead of a strong Southerly change 20/30 knots late in the evening or early hours of Sunday morning. The change looks like hitting the majority of the fleet sometime Sunday morning as they near Seal Rocks.

From there it appears the Southerly will stay with the fleet all the way to Coffs Harbour ensuring a quick race and providing an advantage for the smaller boats as they scoot up the coast in a downwind battle.

Line honours favourites are the two super maxis, the 2007 winner the 100ft ‘Wild Oats XI’ skippered by Mark Richards and Grant Wharrington’s 98ft ‘Etihad Stadium’ who are sure to burst out of Broken Bay and head offshore to take advantage of a freshening 15-20 knot Nor’ Easter in the afternoon, staying in front of the Southerly as they push North to Coffs Harbour. If they can average 13 knots all the way the race record will be one of theirs. There is no doubt they are going to seriously threaten the record in 2010.

The race record currently stands at 18 hrs 29 mins 30 secs set by Bob Oatley’s 60ft Reichel Pugh ‘Wild Oats IX’ back in 2003. To break the record the boats will need to finish in Coffs Harbour by 7:29am on Sunday morning.

Others to look out for up front of the fleet will be the two Queensland yachts, the 66ft Reichel Pugh ‘Black Jack’ skippered by RQYS’s Peter Harburg and Bruce Absolon’s Volvo 60 ‘Spirit of the Maid’ who has made the journey down from Hamilton Island Yacht Club specifically for the race. “We’ll give it our best shot and really looking forward to the race,” said Absolon.

In the middle of the fleet there will be plenty of excitement and some close racing amongst the two Marten 49’s, the 2009 line honours winner Bruce Hogan’s ‘Perpetual Mocean’ and the newer ‘Ocean Affinity’ owned and skippered by RQYS’s Stewart Lewis who achieved line honours victory in the 2009 Lord Howe Island race. Right on their toes will be ‘Pretty Woman’, the Farr 45 skippered by Richard Hudson and owned by Hudson, Michael Lockley and RPAYC Commodore Russell Murphy who finished second in 2009, ‘Secret Men’s Business #1’, a Murray 42 with half the crew father/sibling combinations and Bill Ebsary’s ‘Le Billet’ who offered, “it’s a high calibre fleet with such a diversity of boats and on handicap it really depends on who takes best advantage of the conditions and the tactical challenges that this race offers. We’re looking forward to a great battle with Julian and ‘About Time’ once again. We wished him well before Race one of the series and fortunately we got the better of him in that race, so it’s game on for the rest of the four race series.”

2009 line honours winner Bruce Hogan ‘Perpetual Mocean’ has no expectations this year but “will be doing our best. We’ve got a good team once again and as we showed in Race One even with our handicap we can still be competitive. Most importantly we’re looking forward to having some fun.”

In terms of handicap honours, the conditions look like suiting boats in the 40ft range including 2009 IRC winner Julian Farren-Price’s Cookson 12 ‘About Time’ as well a number of the IRC Division 2 boats with all eyes on the two Beneteau First 40s Howard Piggot’s ‘Flying Cloud’ from the CYC and Barry Jackson’s ‘Alibi’ representing the RPAYC. John Bacon’s ‘Hussy’, a 39CR, Bruce Staples Murray Custom 37 ‘Dark & Stormy Witch’ and Max Prentice’s “Ticket of Leave’, a Beneteau 40.7 will all relish the downwind conditions and be in contention for handicap honours.

For the smaller boats in the fleet, the early work on the nose followed by hard downwind conditions will also suit and depending on the pressure that the Southerly offers, this year’s race could very well be a small boat race. One’s to watch at this end of the fleet are the J35 ‘Jayhawk’ and the Cavalier 350 ‘Infinity’ with owner/skipper of ‘Jayhawk’ Robert Alder hoping that it “blows like hell from behind, that will suit us just fine.”

Celebrations without champagne will also be on the cards for John Taylor owner/skipper of the Cavalier 395 ‘Allegro’ and wife Jackie who will be celebrating their 20th Wedding Anniversary together on 2nd January as they race towards Coffs Harbour.

RPAYC Commodore Russell Murphy commented, ‘it’s great to see so many different boats representing a dozen yacht clubs and we welcome them all to this fabulous event. We’re pleased to have some big and fast yachts in Wild Oats XI and Etihad Stadium that will provide the excitement up front but the yachting community’s and competitors focus will be on the handicap.

Race Director Ted Anderson said, “the weather is very favourable for a quick race to Coffs with wind from both directions. We’re looking forward to a fabulous few days in Coffs.

The majority of the fleet is expected to arrive in Coffs Harbour sometime on Sunday 3rd January. The event, hosted by The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, is in its 29th year and will next year celebrate its 30th Emerald Anniversary.

Damian Devine

See Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Offshore Race images :

Last Updated ( Friday, 01 January 2010 )