Whitsundays
Airlie Beach Race Week
There are worse offices than the Whitsundays in July. Turquoise water, trade winds, 74 islands — and a fleet of keelboats rounding marks you’d normally only see on a postcard.
I sailed on Y Knot, a Hanse 430 skippered by Rob Rainsford, working the bow for the week. The courses are long island legs, which sounds relaxed until you’re stacking spinnakers in sequence — Code 0, asymmetric, a couple of symmetrics — and the next mark is coming up faster than you’d like. The Whitsundays don’t give you much room to think. The wind shifts between the islands, the fleet compresses on the reaches, and sail changes pile up quickly. You stay one step ahead or you don’t.
What made the week memorable wasn’t any single race but the rhythm of it — the early starts, the spray off the bow, the debrief over a cold beer as the sun dropped behind the Conway Range. Rob and the Y Knot crew were great to sail with: relaxed when it mattered, sharp when it didn’t.
If you ever get the chance to race up here, take it.
Performance Cruising Division 1 - Airlie Beach Race Week Result 2025
| Place | Sail No | Boat Name | Skipper | From | Sers Score | Race 6 | Race 5 | Race 4 | Race 3 | Race 2 | Race 1 |
| 1 | GBR2888L | ANTIPODES | Geoff Hill | RPAYC | 10.0 | 6.0 | [7.0] | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| 2 | 5013 | LA TROISIEME MITEMPS | Matt Doyle | RPAYC | 14.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 | [6.0] |
| 3 | NZL10750 | AWEN | David Hows | SYC | 15.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | [6.0] | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| 4 | S10 | SAMURAI | Stuart Tivey | TYC | 16.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | [5.0] | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| 5 | 6037 | EUREKA 11 | Mal Robertson | APYC | 19.0 | [7.0] | 5.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 2.0 |
| 6 | 1027 | VELOCE | Paul Whittley | NONE | 21.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | [5.0] |
| 7 | S349 | GREEN BEACON WHITE SWAN | Brian Pozzey | RQYS | 31.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 8.0C | [8.0C] | 7.0 | 7.0 |
Performance Cruising Division 2 - Airlie Beach Race Week Result 2025
| Place | Sail No | Boat Name | Skipper | From | Sers Score | Race 6 | Race 5 | Race 4 | Race 3 | Race 2 | Race 1 |
| 1 | 83 | CHARM OFFENSIVE | James Permezel | TYC | 19.0 | 7.0 | [11.0] | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 |
| 2 | F450 | RAMBLE ON | Alan Stein | FSC | 23.0 | 8.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | [11.0] |
| 3 | K1 | MAGELLAN | Richard Grant | BYC | 24.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | [11.0] | 1.0 | 7.0 | 10.0 |
| 4 | RP36 | TREASURE VIII | Robert Davis | WSC | 24.0 | [9.0] | 8.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| 5 | 6669 | BANTER | Mike Robertson | RPAYC | 27.0 | [10.0] | 9.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 |
| 6 | RQ19 | JOINT VENTURE | Stephen Green | RQYS | 28.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | [12.0] | 8.0 | 10.0 | 7.0 |
| 7 | R60 | GCCM ARCTIC BLONDE | Peter Cook | SYC | 28.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | [11.0] | 8.0 | 2.0 |
| 8 | MH442 | LUCY | Ben Austin | RPYC | 29.0 | [11.0] | 6.0 | 10.0 | 9.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 |
| 9 | SB430 | Y KNOT | Robert Rainsford | SBSC | 30.0 | 6.0 | [12.0] | 7.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 5.0 |
| 10 | 6073 | AVALON | Geoff Ford | BSC | 31.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 9.0 | [10.0] | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| 11 | B247 | AMAYA II | Matthew Kingsberry | QCYC | 31.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 12.0 | [13.0C] |
| 12 | B460 | GUSTO | Brian Pattinson | RBYC | 42.0 | 12.0 | 10.0 | 1.0 | [12.0] | 11.0 | 8.0 |
Rating Passage - Airlie Beach Race Week Result 2025
| Place | Sail No | Boat Name | Skipper | From | Sers Score | Race 7 | Race 6 | Race 5 | Race 4 | Race 3 | Race 2 | Race 1 |
| 1 | AUS8888 | TEAM HOLLYWOOD | Raymond Roberts | CYCA | 6.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | [1.0] |
| 2 | 6838 | PONYO | David Currie | HIYC | 15.0 | 2.0 | [5.0] | 3.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
| 3 | OC52 | OCEAN CRUSADERS J-BIRD | Annika Thomson | WSC | 19.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | [5.0] | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| 4 | SM40 | VELOCE 4 | Phil Simpfendorfer | SYC | 20.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | [5.0] |
| 5 | NZL55555 | V5 | Brian Petersen | RAYC | 24.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | [5.0] | 3.0 |
Performance Racing - Airlie Beach Race Week Result 2025
| Place | Sail No | Boat Name | Skipper | From | Sers Score | Race 7 | Race 6 | Race 5 | Race 4 | Race 3 | Race 2 | Race 1 |
| 1 | AUS35 | CARBONTEST.AU | Neil Young | RSAYS | 35.0 | 7.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 13.0 | [14.0] | 9.0 |
| 2 | AUS7771 | COOL C4TS | Scott Mutton | RSAYS | 35.0 | [14.0] | 10.0 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 2.0 |
| 3 | 35048 | ORGANISED CHAOS | Garry Gudmunson | RMYC | 35.0 | [13.0] | 12.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| 4 | B2 | BKT JAMHU | Ken Skovchristensen | RBYC | 36.0 | 6.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | [9.0] | 4.0G | 7.0 | 1.0 |
| 5 | N40 | MAKO | Tim Dodds | NCYC | 37.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 1.0 | [15.0] | 8.0 | 6.0 | 10.0 |
| 6 | 202 | REIGNITION | Charles Wallis | WSC | 37.0 | 3.0 | 11.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | [12.5] | 11.0 |
| 7 | 6333 | GEORGIA EXPRESS | Sebastian Hultin | MHYC | 38.0 | 9.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | [16.0] |
| 8 | 9999 | BLACKJACK 38 | Paul Heyes | WSC | 41.0 | 12.0 | 8.0 | 12.0 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | [14.0] |
| 9 | B330 | HARTBREAKER | Hughie Lewis | BYC | 43.0 | 11.0 | 3.0 | 14.0 | [14.0] | 6.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| 10 | 095 | ANARCHY | Grant Pocklington | RMYC | 44.0 | 10.0 | 1.0 | [15.0] | 13.0 | 12.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 |
| 11 | 7027 | THE GOAT | Jenny Danks | CYCA | 46.0 | 2.0 | 13.0 | 7.0 | 12.0 | 5.0 | [17.0R] | 7.0 |
| 12 | 10447 | BOWLINE | Ian Roberts | RSAYS | 50.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | [17.0Q] | 15.0 | 13.0 |
| 13 | 1100 | SMOOTH CRIMINAL | Iyas Shaheen | WSC | 50.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 8.0 | [12.0] |
| 14 | AUS221 | TOW TRUCK | Jason Jordan | RMYCT | 56.0 | 17.0C | [17.0R] | 11.0 | 7.0 | 10.0 | 3.0 | 8.0 |
| 15 | PH36 | JAZZ BAR | Jared Macquart | CSC | 57.0 | 8.0 | [17.0Q] | 13.0 | 10.0 | 1.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 |
| 16 | C108 | BARRACUDA | Tim McCall | CCYC | 83.5 | 17.0C | 17.0C | 17.0C | 17.0C | [17.0R] | 12.5 | 3.0 |
Blogs
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Sam Backwell’s first ocean race. Six yachts crossing ahead of an inbound cargo ship. Ginan sweeping all three handicap divisions. The third ORCV Coastal Sprint packed a full season’s worth of sailing into 27 nautical miles off the Mornington Peninsula — and Shimmer was right in the thick of it.
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Salt
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Shimmer, beautifully maintained by Steve Twentyman, is sailed regularly from Safety Beach Sailing Club. With a versatile sail inventory including J0, Code 0, and asymmetric spinnakers, I’ve gained experience across bow, trimming, and helming roles. Calm leadership and preparation make her a reliable platform for club racing, ORCV coastal events, and Category 2 offshore races.
S2H 2025
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