As we come within a month of Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2016, regatta organisers are speculating on whether this year’s fleet will top the record of 227 which coincided with Race Week’s 25th anniversary in 2008.
Currently there are 209 yachts nominated for this year’s series, up by 35% on the same time last year.
The 200th entry to be lodged this year came from well-known Etchells and keelboat sailor, Steve O’Rourke, from Botany Bay in Sydney.
“There’s no other regatta where you can have so much fun racing around islands in tropical tradewinds and so easily be part of the onshore party scene,” O’Rourke said.
Hamilton Island CEO and Olympic and world champion yachtsman Glenn Bourke is optimistic that this year’s fleet will be the largest in Race Week’s 33-year history.
“Equally impressive is the cross-section of yachts making up the fleet,” he said.
In other news, the hotly contested Prix d’Elegance will be hosted a day early in 2016 – on Thursday, August 25, from 9am to 10am on the waters of Dent Passage.
SOURCE: WHITSUNDAY TIMES
Australia’s 2025 budget expands Help to Buy, funds prefabricated housing, and introduces trade apprenticeship incentives. Measures discouraging foreign investment could hinder housing supply, with limited solutions to address housing challenges. Despite significant challenges with housing supply, the Australian government’s 2025 budget focused on some changes to the Help to Buy … Read more
Whitsunday Regional Council is inviting the community to help shape the Bowen Foreshore Masterplan, an ambitious vision designed to enhance public spaces, attract private investment, and revitalise the waterfront over the next 15 years. Mayor Collins said the Masterplan presents a unique opportunity to build on the momentum of the … Read more