Video Title: Mick Phillips from the Whitsunday Sailing Club
Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week 2009 closed with another day or perfect sailing conditions in the beautiful Whitsundays. After 5 days of racing, all bar the few that were "robbed" by the handicappers had enjoyed some of the best weather in the events history.
Celebrating 20 years of the race, the event seemed "recession proof" according to Mick Phillips, representing the Whitsunday Sailing Club as entry numbers very nearly matched prior years.
Conditions through out the week were fairly consistent light South East or East winds, excepting Wednesday where a front moved quickly through, providing extra breeze for competitiors to return home easily in the "long race" which includes a clutch of Whitsunday islands including South Molle, Daydream, Cones, Armit and others.
20 Aug 2009: John Nayler speaks with Murray Sheer on Benetta. Contesting "Cruising with out spinnakers", Murray was pleased with the week, despite a pre-start collision in the final race of the series that caused major damage to the vessel's BBQ.
With the outdoor cooking facilities out of action, the crew ha [more...]
13 Aug 2009: John Nayler speaks with Denis Thompson, race director for Airlie Beach Race Week 2009. 97 boats are entered in race week 2009, which is set to start with Northerly conditions across the first 3 or 4 days of the event. Light Northerley conditions are not the norm, with recent years featuring the trad [more...]