Written by Jack O'Rourke
Photography by Andrea Francolini
24 August 2020
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The 2020 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s annual 384-nautical-mile race was called off due to the pandemic.
Planned to commence on Saturday 3 October, the club resolved it would not be possible to conduct the race following tighter border restrictions in Queensland and the latest guidelines restricting community sport in NSW.
“We’d love to run the 2020 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race but the restrictions and risks associated with COVID-19 pandemic are simply too great,” CYCA Commodore Paul Billingham said in a statement from the club.
“The health and safety of the participants, staff, other stakeholders and the community in general is the CYCA’s number-one priority.
“Our thoughts go out to all those who have been affected by the pandemic – it’s been an incredibly tough year for many.”
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There was obvious disappointment from skippers and their crew when the news broke. Black Jack‘s Sailing Master Mark Bradford said that the maxi was back in Australia and ready for the sailing season, and had the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Race down as a major hit out.
“It’s a difficult situation. Black Jack has just come back from Europe, as most of the racing there was cancelled. The Maxi Worlds are still on, but with international travel the way it is now, it would be too hard from a logistical standpoint.
“We planned to bring the boat back to Australia, and two months ago, we thought we would be fine. Our crew is made up of people from Sydney, Queensland and some Kiwis; it’s the complexity of the quarantine.”
“We want to have a crew that all get along with each other, and try to achieve something together. If that gets diluted, there’s no real point to racing.”
David Griffiths, skipper of JV 62 Chinese Whisper, saw this race as a golden opportunity to prepare for the summer ahead.
“The beauty of the Sydney Gold Coast Race is that it is a good, long race and you get to use as much of your gear as possible. You just don’t get the variety of conditions doing a one-day race.
“You need time on the water with the crew. My boat doesn’t sail every weekend; it’s not like an etchell where you can go training three days a week. We have a lot of crew that all need to pull together. We are lucky that our crew have all sailed together a lot.”
Griffiths was full of praise for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia on how they have handled the situation as they keep members abreast of rapidly developing public health advice.
“The club has done a great job of keeping us in the loop. So much is out of the club’s control.
Griffiths said, “Who knows where the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race stands now. That will be a very difficult decision for the club considering the logistics involved in holding the race.”
He continued to say that if the race were to go ahead, he and his crew on Chinese Whisper were raring to go. “We’re all geared up for the race.
“We are having a new keel made that will be finished shortly, and we have been making lots of improvements to the boat. We’re looking forward to it.
“We also have some new sails coming that will be pretty fresh when we start the Hobart. It seems they won’t be used in anger until then.”
Dennis Cooper, owner of Amante, said there was an air of inevitability to the cancellation of the race. “We are all disappointed as we were looking forward to a decent sail.
“However, I think most crews have been resigned to it not going ahead. I have crew from Melbourne, and there was no way I would be able to get crew up to do the race.”
With current restrictions in place, it seemed that only boats from Queensland and New South Wales would be able to participate regardless. And even that could prove difficult moving forward with the NSW Government issuing new guidelines relating to COVID- 19 for community sport, which means some skippers may be forced to use crews from designated regions even within Sydney.
The state government believes there is currently a heightened risk of community transmission, and as a result, they have asked all sports to restrict their activities to avoid intermingling of people across regions.
Principal sponsor Sean Langman, Managing Director of Noakes Group, supported the club’s decision: “We absolutely understand why the decision to cancel the 2020 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race was made – and we back it 100 percent,” commented Langman.
“We are long-term partners of the club and are eagerly awaiting the 2021 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race next year and a return to normality.”
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