Noakes Race open
Entries have now opened for the 37th Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race, hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA).
Photography by Andrea Francolini
06 June 2023
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Competitors will start the challenging 384 nautical mile offshore race on Sydney Harbour at 1pm (AEST) Saturday 29 July, before heading up the NSW coast to finish off Main Beach on the Gold Coast, Queensland.
Since it first launched in 1986, the Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race has continued to grow in prestige. It is a key race in Australia’s offshore calendar and has become an important test bed for boats and crews in the lead up to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
Early entrants to this year’s race include Geoffrey Hill’s Santa Cruz 72 Antipodes, Daniel Edwards’ M.A.T 1245 White Noise, Michael Smith’s Super40 Tempo and Richard Harris’ Cookson 50 Sticky. The first three TP52s entered have been Sebastian Bohm’s Smuggler, Andy Kearnan and Peter Wrigley’s KOA and Michael Spies’ Maritimo.
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Early entrants in the two-handed division include Rupert Henry and Greg O’Shea on the Lombard 34 Mistral, and two J/99s – Shane Connelly and Andrew Downing on Rum Rebellion and Peter Franki and Drew Jones on Salt Shaker. The 2022 race featured 13 two-handed entries and the fleet is expected to have strong representation again this year.
The Overall Winner of the 2022 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race was Sean Langman’s Reichel/Pugh 69 Moneypenny. This year, Langman, Managing Director of race sponsor Noakes Group, will not be competing due to being in the UK to race to race in the Rolex Fastnet Race with his son Peter on his 30-foot Maluka.
The 2022 Line Honours victor, Andoo Comanche, is expected to return to lead a strong fleet of maxi and mini maxis teams.
The list of all the 2023 entrants registered to date available here.
The Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race is the opening race of the 2023/24 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore, which features six races, culminating in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
The 384 nautical mile course takes the fleet from the start line in Sydney Harbour to the finish off Main Beach in Queensland.
The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia is the Race Organiser and Southport Yacht Club is the Race Finishing Partner, while Noakes Group is the Race Sponsor.
This year, the CYCA is moving to a single rating system (IRC) for its offshore races, with this change set to take effect from the 2023 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race and will apply to all races in the 2023/24 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore.
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