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Rolex Sydney Hobart entrants set to take on Bird Island Race

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  • 07 Nov, 2022 09:42:00 AM
Rolex Sydney Hobart entrants set to take on Bird Island Race

Rolex Sydney Hobart entrants set to take on Bird Island Race

Many entrants in the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will continue their preparations this weekend in the Bird Island Race, the fourth race of the 2022/23 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore.

49 boats entered in the Rolex Sydney Hobart are competing in the 83 nautical mile race, with a total fleet of 59 taking on the race from Sydney Harbour north to Bird Island (off Norah Head) and back. 

Peter Harburg's Reichel/Pugh 100 Black Jack, skippered by Mark Bradford, returns to the pointscore, having finished second over the line in the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race. 

The John Winning Jr-skippered Andoo Comanche is the other 100-footer in the Bird Island Race fleet and will look for a third Line Honours win in four races, following wins in the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast and Tollgate Islands Race.

Among the Rolex Sydney Hobart competitors entering the 2022/23 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore are Caro (Max Klink's Botin 52), Currawong (Kathy Veel's Currawong 30 sailed two-handed with Bridget Canham), Helsal3 (Paul Mara's Adams 20, skippered by Mike Rose), King Billy (Phil Bennett's Custom/John King), Llama II (Jon Linton's Dehler 46), Midnight Rambler (Ed Psaltis' Sydney 36), Stella Polaris (Sebastian Hultin's Hick 35), ToyBox2 (Ian Box's XP44) and Z7 (Laurie McAllister's Beneteau First 45). 

The three overall winners from this year's pointscore so far are in for the Bird Island Race. 

Sean Langman's Reichel/Pugh 69 Moneypenny won the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast and Anthony Johnston's Reichel/Pugh 72 URM Group (skippered by Marcus Ashley-Jones) won the Flinders Islet Race, while Andoo Comanche did the double in the Tollgate Islands Race. 

There are 12 two-handed crews racing around Bird Island: Avalanche (James Murchison and James Francis), Crux (Carlos Aydos and Peter Grayson), Currawong, Disko Trooper (Jules Hall and Matt Wenke), Jupiter (Ian Smith and Royce Brennan), Philosopher (David Henry and Stephen Prince), Rum Rebellion (Shane Connelly and Tony Sutton), Rumchaser (Andrew Butler and Lee Antill), Speedwell (Campbell Geeves and Wendy Tuck), Sun Fast Racing (Lee Condell and Lincoln Dews), Transcendence Crento (John Cross and Martin Cross) and Tumbleweed (Graham Biehl and Nigel Nattrass).

Moneypenny leads the overall Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore standings (IRC) thanks to three consecutive podium finishes. 

Four TP52s make up the top five - Gweilo (Matt Donald and Chris Townsend), Zen (Gordon Ketelbey), Quest (Craig Neil) and Celestial (Sam Haynes), all of which are racing this weekend. 

Daniel Edwards' M.A.T. 1245 White Noise leads on PHS, while Crux sits on top of the ORCi standings. 

The 2021 Bird Island Race was won by Matt Allen's Botin 52 Ichi Ban in an enthralling battle with Gweilo. URM Group set the new race record for the shortened 83nm course last year, but also comfortably beat the previous 85nm record. 

The race starts at 10am this Saturday 12 November. Follow the fleet on the live tracker and keep an eye on the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) for regular updates.  

View the full list of entrants on the Yachts page. 

2022 Bird Island Race fleet

  • ALEGRIA REPUBLIC
  • ANDOO COMANCHE
  • ARIEL
  • AVALANCHE
  • BLACK JACK
  • BLINK
  • CARO
  • CELESTIAL
  • CIAO BELLA
  • CRUX
  • CRYSTAL CUTTER III
  • CURRAWONG
  • DISKO TROOPER
  • ENIGMA
  • ENTERPRISE NEXT GEN
  • FLYING CLOUD
  • GUN RUNNER
  • GUNSHOT
  • GWEILO
  • HELSAL3
  • JOSS
  • JUPITER
  • KAIZEN
  • KHALEESI
  • KING BILLY
  • KOA
  • LLAMA II
  • LUNA BLUE
  • MIDNIGHT RAMBLER
  • MINERVA
  • MONDO
  • MONEYPENNY
  • NEVER A DULL MOMENT
  • NO LIMIT
  • PATRICE
  • PATRICE SIX
  • PHILOSOPHER
  • PRETTY WOMAN
  • QUEST
  • REVE
  • RUM REBELLION
  • RUMCHASER
  • SAIL EXCHANGE
  • SMUGGLER
  • SPEEDWELL
  • STELLA POLARIS
  • SUN FAST RACING
  • TOYBOX2
  • TRANSCENDENCE CRENTO
  • TUMBLEWEED
  • URM GROUP
  • WHISPER
  • WHITE NOISE
  • WILD OATS
  • WINDHOVER
  • WINGS
  • XS MOMENT BNMH
  • Z7
  • ZEN

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