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Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore fleet prepares for inaugural Tollgate Islands Race

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  • 10 Oct, 2022 02:41:00 PM
Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore fleet prepares for inaugural Tollgate Islands Race
2022 Flinders Islet Race - RP69 Moneypenny

Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore fleet prepares for inaugural Tollgate Islands Race

The 2022/23 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore continues this weekend with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s inaugural Tollgate Islands Race.

The 260 nautical mile race will take the fleet of 37 boats down the NSW coast to round Tollgate Islands, which sit off Batemans Bay, before returning to finish in Sydney Harbour.

Andoo Comanche, skippered by John Winning Jr, is the only maxi in the line-up, returning to the pointscore after winning Line Honours in the 2022 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race.

Noakes Sydney Gold Coast winner Moneypenny (Sean Langman’s Reichel/Pugh 69) and Flinders Islet Race winner URM Group (Anthony Johnston’s Reichel/Pugh 72, skippered by Marcus Ashley-Jones) will go head-to-head once again after a close tussle last month. 

Gweilo (Matt Donald and Chris Townsend) and Zen (Gordon Ketelbey) have been the pick of the TP52s in the 2022/23 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast, and 3rd and 4th respectively in the Flinders Islet Race.

There are four TP52s entered, Quest (Craig Neil) and Smuggler (Seb Bohm) also set to race.

The two-handed boats will enjoy some good competition in the Club’s longest race between now and the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. There are eight in total: Crux (Carlos Aydos and Peter Grayson), Imalizard (Bruce Watson and Frederic Chanut), Philosopher (David Henry and Stephen Prince), Rum Rebellion (Shane Connelly and Tony Sutton), Rumchaser (Andrew Butler and Anssi Paatero), Sun Fast Racing (Lee Condell and Lincoln Dews), Transcendence Crento (Martin Cross and John Cross), and Tumbleweed (Graham Biehl and Nigel Nattrass).

Enterprise Next Generation (Anthony Kirke and Andrew Nuttman’s Botin Carkeek GP42) and Alegria Republic (Rodney Jones’ Ker Sydney Gts43) were among the strong performers in the Flinders Islet Race, both finishing inside the top 10 overall.

Carl Crafoord’s Cookson 12 Sail Exchange took out IRC Division 2 honours that race.

The Tollgate Islands Race is the third of six races in the 2022/23 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore.

This is the third longest race in the pointscore, behind the Rolex Sydney Hobart (628nm) and Noakes Sydney Gold Coast (384nm).

2022/23 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore standings

Moneypenny leads the 2022/23 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore with first and second place finishes from the opening two races.

Gweilo – the 2020/21 champion – is just two points behind thanks to consecutive podium finishes, while Zen sits in third.

Daniel Edwards’ M.A.T 1245 White Noise moved to the top of the Division 2 standings after claiming a divisional podium in the Flinders Islet Race, with Ariel (Ron Forster’s Beneteau First 40) and Philosopher tied for second.

Rum Rebellion, Philosopher and Crux share the two-handed pointscore lead on four points, while KOA is the leading Corinthian boat.

KOA sits atop the Wild Rose Pointscore standings as the highest-ranked IRC boat with a crew featuring at least 10% females.

View the overall pointscore standings.

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