Brisbane-Hamo wrap

The 2023 Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Brisbane to Hamilton Island Yacht Race wrapped up on Monday when the Philip Bell skippered, She crossed the finish line at 5:40pm allowing the crew to make the presentation.

Photography by Spikey Mikey, RQYS Media

08 August 2023

The race started on Moreton Bay on Friday, 4 August with Rugby League icon Wally Lewis starting the race after a sail on the John Winning Jr skippered Andoo Comanche.

The predicted 20 knot plus weather from the South for the race suggested a fast race and that certainly played out. Pre-race Andoo Comanche and Rex the Dale Mitchell skippered ORMA 60 were suggesting elapsed times of 24 hours.

As expected Andoo Comanche and Rex led the 21 strong fleet out of Moreton Bay at record speeds.

Andoo Comanche led the fleet out of Moreton Bay and claimed line honours.

Alive crew arriving into Hamo.

Duncan Hine , Skipper of Alive which took handicap honours and the trifecta of IRC crewed, ORCi crewed, and IRC overall.

In the multihulls Rex cleaned up.

Andoo Comanche crossed the finish line at 15:10 in an elapsed time of 28 hours 10 minutes taking up to six hours off Wild Oats X 2019 record.

Unfortunately, the Jim O’Hare skippered Flyaway Paul a Sydney GTS43 was forced to retire 16 miles into the race with damage to their bowsprit. Jim and his crew are working on repairs to get to Hamilton Island for Race Week.

In the early hours of Saturday morning the David Gotze skippered No Limit hit a submerged object leading to underwater damage and a shattered Port wheel. David and crew nursed the boat to Mackay where it will be lifted today for inspection. I caught up with David last night on Hamilton Island and he was philosophical about their situation.

Close to dawn on Saturday the David Griffiths skippered Whisper also hit a submerged object. The boat is now in Mackay waiting lift out.

While all this was occurring Rex and Andoo Comanche steamed up the coast at 25 knot speeds. Close astern was the Duncan Hine skippered Alive who had a class crew on board and giving the leaders some hurry up which paid off in the overall results.

By Saturday morning it was clear that the mono and multihull records were in danger of being broken. Rex was taking advantage of the passing storms to keep up speed. The end result was Rex crossing the finish line at 12:31 in an elapsed time of 25 hours and 32 minutes shaving over 30 minutes off the larger MOD70 Beau Guest 2019 record time.

Andoo Comanche crossed the finish line at 15:10 in an elapsed time of 28 hours 10 minutes taking up to six hours off Wild Oats X 2019 record.

Taking handicap honours was Alive taking the trifecta of IRC crewed, ORCi crewed, and IRC overall.

In the multihulls Rex cleaned up.

Full results here.

The 2024 Brisbane to Tropical Yacht Race will start on Friday 2 August 2024.

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