Whitsunday Sailing Club

6–13 August 2026
Solaris 50 “Salt”

Drawing well over 130 boats from around the country and beyond each August. Genuinely competitive racing by day, and the legendary hospitality of Airlie Beach by night — live music, food stalls, and a waterfront atmosphere that’s hard to beat anywhere else in the country.

This year’s edition delivered close to perfect sailing conditions across the week, with only one notably light day breaking up an otherwise breezy series. Early races saw winds gusting past 20 knots, testing crews and producing a mix of winners across the fleet. The regatta’s traditional lay day gave everyone a welcome breather mid-week, before racing resumed with what many described as one of the best days of the whole series. Day 6 threw a curveball — the fleet sat waiting until early afternoon for the breeze to fill in, racing eventually getting underway around Pioneer Bay in light air, with whales and sharks spotted cruising through the bay as competitors waited. Fittingly, the regatta saved its best for last: the final day brought a stable 25-knot breeze and clear skies for a Bay Race that decided the overall standings across the fleet, whales once again putting in an appearance for the grand finale.

For the crew of Salt, this year’s Performance Cruising Division 1 fleet was as tight as they come. Across six races, we traded places at the front with Mal Robertson’s Eureka 11 — the two of us finishing the series locked on identical points. Heading into the final race, Salt held the overall lead. In the end, the tightest of tie-break rules — countback on race wins — went the way of Eureka 11, who’d picked up two outright race wins across the series to our best finishes of two seconds.

It wasn’t a two-boat story, either. Ben Davidson’s Sea Fever was a constant presence at the front of the fleet all week and finished a well-earned third overall, while Julian Bell’s 51st Project — winner of Day 3 in a very tidy piece of sailing — and Richard Fader and Stewart Hutcheon’s Crackerjack V kept the whole top half of the fleet honest right through to the final race. Division 1 this year had real depth, and racing against boats and crews of that calibre is a big part of what made the week so satisfying, result aside.

It’s the kind of result that’s heartbreaking in the moment and a genuine source of pride in hindsight. Racing that close, over six races and a full week, against a fleet of this quality, is exactly why we keep coming back to Airlie.

None of this happens without a boat capable of sailing it, and Salt is exactly that — a magnificent Solaris 50, and we’re genuinely lucky to have raced her this week. That’s down to the generosity of her owner, Ian Fankhanel, who makes it possible for this crew to campaign a yacht of this calibre at a regatta like Airlie Beach Race Week. It’s not lost on any of us what a privilege that is, and we’re grateful for it.

Behind the scenes, James Marshall keeps the whole operation running — as boat manager and organiser. And thanks to every one of you for making it such a memorable campaign — a great group to share a boat with, each bringing their own part to how Salt moved around the track: Aaron Cole calling tactics (and putting his sailmaker’s eye to good use, courtesy of North Sails), Ed and Robyn Ragauskas, Matt Turner, Lorraine “The Girl” Smith on trim, Mark Lewis on grind, Freya Vickery in the pit, and myself, Shaun McKenna, on the bow. Six races, a full week of racing in the Whitsundays, and a result we’re proud of — even with the sting of missing out by the narrowest of margins.

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