Skip to main content
Time to race start
00 days
:
00 hours
:
00 mins
:
00 secs

ACSBWPS Bird Island Race | Rolling Race Updates

Home 2026 ACSBWPS Bird Island Race | Rolling Race Updates

Article Image

Bird Island Race | Rolling Race Updates Follow all the action from the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Bird Island Race with live updates, leaderboard changes, and insights from the fleet as they navigate the course.

news
—

 

 

Race Update | Saturday 14 November, 2020 (9hrs 30min after start) 

Rob Appleyard’s Moneypenny is the current Bird Island Race Overall leader in the CYCA clubhouse, nine and a half hours after racing began in a light north easterly on Sydney Harbour. 

Sitting in second is Anthony & David Johnston’s URM Group, skippered by Marcus Ashley-Jones, with Joe de Kock’s KD5 third and Anthony Bell’s Tribeca LOYAL fourth. 

Given the bulk of the remaining 34 yachts at sea are expected to face a southerly within the next few hours, Karl Kwok’s Fast 40 Beau Ideal looked like the best potential challenger to the current provisional top four but even now that looks like it might be too big a task.  

In IRC Division 2, Matt Hayes and Veloce are the current leaders from Ragtime (Steve Watson) and Ian Creak’s GWM Pennant Hills. 

Earlier, the former Comanche made her season debut as Tribeca LOYAL and scored a powerful Line Honours victory, crossing the finish line in 6hrs 22mins 42 seconds at 17:12.42. Read what Anthony Bell had to say about the performance further down this page. 

Second across the line after a stunning battle throughout the 83nm was URM Group, finishing in 7:54.28 at 18:44.28, with Moneypenny just behind in third (8:03.55 at 18:53.55). The only other yacht to have finished now is KD5 (8:59.56 at 19:49.56).  

In the IRC Double-Handed division, First Light (Elizabeth Tucker/Angus Clarke) is leading the standings currently from Employment Hero Alliance (Annie Stevenson/Peter Winter), with Magic (Rohan Kerr/ Stephen Prince) a hair ahead of Disko Trooper (Jules Hall/Alex Knight), the Overall Blue Water Pointscore leader coming into the race. 

Speaking within the last half hour, Tucker said she was expecting the divisional battle to go down to the wire. 

“Conditions have been varied going from almost nothing about 10 miles from Bird Island to a fruity rounding with gusts around 28kts,” Tucker said. 

“We've got some lighting ahead and a likely unpleasant southerly finish but we're hoping we might keep those J/99s at bay this time.” 

The current top three in the IRC Corinthian division are GWM Pennant Hills, Ragtime, and Ariel (Ron Forster / Phil Damp). 

Ragtime is provisionally ahead for the Wild Rose IRC class, for yachts with 30 percent or more female sailors on board, followed by Michael Rowe & Ben Martin’s Kanreki and Pretty Woman (Richard Hudson). 

PHS is currently led by KD5 from Tribeca LOYAL and Caol Ila (Walter Carpenter). 

Crowded Haus, due to a minor leg injury to one of the crew, and Ataraxia (gear failure) are the race’s fourth and fifth retirees.  

Race Update | Saturday 14 November, 1750hrs (7hrs after start) – LINE HONOURS 

The former Comanche made her season debut as Tribeca LOYAL under Anthony Bell, and scored a powerful Line Honours victory, crossing the finish line in 6hrs 22mins 42 seconds at 17:12.42. 

Shortly after crossing the line Bell said he was delighted with the performance of boat and crew in their first race day hit out. 

“Yeah, it was a great performance,” the two-time Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Line Honours winner said. 

“It was the end of our first block. So, coming off eight days of training and that was our sort of finish to stretch the legs properly.  

“We couldn't be more delighted. Boat was sharp. The teamwork was unbelievable.  

“Obviously a slow start to the race, but once the breeze started kicking, we woke up a fair bit up there.  

“(Our) top boat speed we recorded about 25 and a half knots, which was pretty good. Our wind speeds probably topped out at about 18 knots, but yeah, the highest highest was 25 and a half.  

“It was really cool. So now we go back, do some more configuration work to the boat from what we learned today and then we go to rest for about 10 days in terms of crew training, then we come back together again.  

“The next block is late November, all the way through the SOLAS Big Boat race (8 December). 

Race Update | Saturday 14 November, 1610hrs (5hrs 20min after start) 

Tribeca LOYAL is on track to score a dominant, yet expected Line Honours victory in the Bird Island Race with a predicted finish time of just after 1700 AEDT.  

Anothony Bell’s 100ft maxi is currently flying down the coast off the Northern Beaches 15nm from home and leads the Line Honours race by 14.2nm from URM Group and 16.1nm over Moneypenny. 

The leader rounded the turning island inside four hours and has since been making the most of the prevailing north easterly breeze, averaging over 20knts and extending their advantage over the fleet by the minute. 

In what is shaping up as an enthralling IRC battle, Tribeca LOYAL is also in a strong position provisionally to take out the Line Honours-Overall double, with the big boats dominating the division.  

At this stage of the race, URM Group are leading marginally on IRC, from Tribeca LOYAL, with Moneypenny third, followed by KD5, Beau Ideal, Hugh Ellis’ Burning Palms, Walter Carpenter’s Caol Ila and Matthew Fifield’s PRCM Employment Hero next. Beau Ideal is the first of the 40ft yachts, but Chris & Lachlan Dare’s Ambition are certainly not out of the equation. 

In fact, Tribeca LOYAL is also leading the PHS division and could even take the treble. Second on the current PHS standings is Caol Ila. 

First Light are on track for an IRC win in the double-handed division although, with that fleet still punching into the wind, plenty is still yet to unfold. 

Borderline with Andy Offord and Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race winner Jiang Lin on board, was the race’s third retirement, heading back to Sydney due to time constraints. 

 

Race Update | Saturday 14 November, 1350hrs (3 hours after start) 

It took about an hour and 50 minutes before Tribeca LOYAL were able to haul in Moneypenny and then URM Group between Mona Vale and Newport, to take the lead in the race for Line Honours. 

As they passed just north of Copacabana Tribeca LOYAL held a 3.3 nautical mile advantage over URM Group, with Marcus Ashley-Jones at the helm. Moneypenny was 0.8 nm further back. 

In the first (and very early) Overall standings update, URM Group held the provisional lead over Moneypenny, with Beau Ideal next followed by Joe de Kock’s KD5 and Richard Harris’ Sticky.  

Of the double-handers, Crowded Haus (Jason Neuhaus/Graeme Dunlop) are the current IRC leaders from Verite (Paul Beath/Richard Hooper) and Employment Hero Alliance (Annie Stevenson/Peter Winter). Overall Blue Water Pointscore leader was sixth of the two handed fleet but it’s worth noting that at this early stage, seven of the double handers are predicted to finish within five or six minutes of each other on corrected time.  

Back 2 Black (Sean Langman) joined Porco Rosso on the list of retirees, returning to Sydney with a broken forestay.  

Saturday 14 November 2026 – The Start 

Race 4 of the 2026/27 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore (ACSBWPS) - the 83nm Bird Island Race to Norah Head and return - began at 1050 hours today after a 50-minute AP (postponement) waiting for some semblance of breeze to filter down the harbour. 

When racing did get underway in an 8 knot nor’easter, Karl Kwok’s Fast 40 Beau Ideal got the best of the start, heading directly towards Bradley's Head with Rob Appleyard’s Moneypenny, while on the other side of the harbour Anthony & David Johnston’s URM Group led the half of fleet aiming at Point Piper. 

Sean Langman’s Back 2 Black joined the yachts headed to the northern shore, quickly joining Beau Ideal up front and after the first 10 minutes, the pair of Sporty Forties were locked in a duel with Moneypenny and URM Group for the lead. 

Meanwhile, Anthony Bell’s Tribeca LOYAL (formerly Comanche), the sole 100 footer in the race, took some time to find wind in her sails.

Halfway up the harbour URM Group imposed herself on the rest of the field and after a tough slog, the Reichel Pugh 72-footer was first out of the Heads in 23 minutes 50 seconds, about 25 seconds clear of Moneypenny. 

Next out into open ocean was Tribeca LOYAL, with Beau Ideal hot on her tail. 

Once they cleared North Head, the four leaders headed due east in search of wind before URM Group was the first to make the left turn north. 

The might of Tribeca LOYAL was stymied by the lack of breeze, allowing a host of Overall contenders to sail underneath her further inshore including Beau Ideal, Back 2 Black, Smuggler and KD5. 

The double-handed fleet exited the heads pretty closely arranged, with Crowded Haus (Jason Neuhaus/Graeme Dunlop) slightly ahead of First Light (Elizabeth Tucker/Angus Clarke) and Ben Tucker’s Employment Hero Alliance (Annie Stevenson/Peter Winter). 

Sebastian Hultin’s Cookson 50 Porco Rosso was the first to retire, just over an hour in, with hydraulics issues.  

Photos: CYCA | Ashley Dart