Under iconic conditions at the 36th edition of Hamilton Island Race Week Phillip Turner’s Reichel/Pugh 66’ Canting Keel ALIVE won Division Zero, RP52 VIRAGO won PHS Division, and there was a lucky charm moment to end the Race Week when the patriarchs took the helm of both supermaxis.
Under iconic conditions at the 36th edition of Hamilton Island Race Week Phillip Turner’s Reichel/Pugh 66’ Canting Keel ALIVE won Division Zero, Reichel/Pugh 52' VIRAGO won PHS Division, and there was a lucky charm moment to end the race week when the patriarchs took the helm of both supermaxis. Reichel/Pugh 100’ WOXI, helmed by Sandy Oatley, clinched line honours in the last race of the Australian Yachting Championships, conducted as part of Hamilton Island Race Week, in a tight race against Andoo Comanche with owner John Winning Sr at the helm. Oatley, Chairman of the family company that owns Hamilton Island, does not normally race aboard the super maxi, let alone helm it. That duty usually lies with Mark Richards. “It was good fun,” Oatley said with a wide smile. “It was also very tense, swapping the lead a couple of times. It was a great competition; great sportsmanship and some luck fell our way at the end.”
Perfect trade wind sailing blessed the 224-strong fleet on the opening day of Hamilton Island Race Week in the glorious Whitsunday islands, and held until the closing day, Saturday August 27.
After tight racing all week, with the series lead changing daily, the Division Zero trophy rested on the final race. RP66 Alive helmed by Duncan Hine were just behind the super maxis at the start, along with David Gotze’s RP63, No Limit. ALIVE won the race, and therefore won the series by one point overall.
ALIVE famously won the George Adams Tattersall Cup for Overall Winner on IRC and the Charleston Trophy for Overall Winner on ORCi in the 2018 Sydney Hobart. Alive followed up in 2019 as the ORCi Overall winner of the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, winning IRC Division 0 & ORCi Division 1.
click to read on about ALIVE’s winning history
In the PHS Division Virago’s tactician Andrew Parkes commented that: “The boat likes quite stiff conditions and lots of reaching. We work to improve its light air performance, but we do love breeze so this second half of the week has been amazing.”
The Oatley Family's Reichel/Pugh 100 Hamilton Island Wild Oats returned to the Australian race track for the first time since 2019 at the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race (384-nm). She finished third over the line with skipper Mark Richards, just over an hour behind Black Jack. Hamilton Island Wild Oats holds the record for Line Honours wins in the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast (6) and is the nine-time Line Honours winner of the Rolex Sydney Hobart.
Hamilton Island Race Week Results:
IRC Division ZERO
PHS Division
Video - "All of the action from the second 24 hours of Hamilton Island Race Week"
images - Craig Greenhill for Salty Dingo, and Nic Douglass
sources - Australian Sailing, Hamilton Island Race Week Media