On Friday 6 December at 1900hrs, an impressive fleet of 65 yachts will set off from Sydney Harbour in the Cabbage Tree Island Race.

The 172 nautical mile event is the penultimate offshore race in the Audi Centre Sydney Bluewater Pointscore (ACSBWPS), prior to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race (RSHYR) on 26 December.

The ACSBWPS is comprised of six races – the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race (July), Flinders Islet Race (September), Tollgate Islands Race (October) and Bird Island Race (November). The jewel in the crown, the Rolex Sydney Hobart, is the final race for competitors to improve their standing.

The racecourse takes the yachts to Cabbage Tree Island, just north of Port Stephens on the Mid-North Coast of NSW, and back. In last year’s race, Andoo Comanche won on Line Honours in a time of 20 hours, 24 minutes and 17 seconds in light southerly winds. Peter Wrigley and Andrew Kearnan’s KOA won overall, beating Sticky and Highly Sprung on corrected time.

In addition to serving as the penultimate race in the ACSBWPS, the Cabbage Tree Island Race also marks the first event of the 2024 One Circular Quay Australian Maxi Championship. The Championship is for yachts that range from 60-100-foot with a minimum International Rating Certificate (IRC) TCC (time corrector) of 1.450.

Matt Allen AM, James Mayo and the Master Lock Comanche crew will exercise their offshore legs in the Cabbage Tree Island Race after the yacht’s early retirement from the Bird Island Race (83nm) due to mainsail damage.

Joining Master Lock Comanche for its first offshore race of the year following its 2023 RSHYR Line Honours win is Christian Beck’s LawConnect. This is the first time the two front-runners for Line Honours in the Sydney Hobart will go head-to-head since Allen and Mayo took charge of the world-renowned yacht earlier this year.

Fresh from its Queensland delivery, Grant Wharington and Adrian Seiffert’s Wild Thing 100 will be the third maxi in the mix this weekend.

This will also be the maiden offshore race in Australia for Bill Barry-Cotter, on board the luxury super yacht Maritimo 100, following its recent delivery from Newport, Rhode Island.

Also racing are Phillip Turner’s Alive, Sam Haynes’ Celestial V70 (formerly Willow), Robert Appleyard’s Moneypenny, David Gotze’s No Limit, Anthony Johnston’s URM Group, David Griffith’s Whisper and the Oatley family’s Wild Oats X.

Whisper currently sits second in the ACSBWPS overall leader board on IRC after its consistent results in the top end of the fleet across the Pointscore. Just two points behind Whisper is 2023/24 ACSBWPS winner URM Group. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) Commodore, Sam Haynes will compete in the race, his first ACSBWPS race as skipper of the Volvo Open 70 Celestial V70.

Currently holding on to first place on the ACSBWPS is Sebastian Bohm’s JV TP52 Smuggler.

At the RSHYR Media Launch in November, Bohm said it would be a “dream come true” to win the pointscore. The Smuggler crew will be gunning to outperform the fleet to solidify its overall lead. Andrew Kearnan and Peter Wrigley’s TP52 KOA will defend their 2023 Cabbage Tree Island Race win.

There will be plenty of mid-fleet yachts vying for the top spot on IRC overall this weekend.

Other yachts to watch that have recently produced solid results are Steve Watson’s J/130 Ragtime and Richard Williams’ Cookson 12, Calibre 12. Williams is currently ranked fifth on IRC in the overall ACSBWPS standings.

Simon Kurts’ three-time George Adams Tattersall Cup winner, the Sparkman & Stephens Love & War is kicking off its 2024/25 ACSBWPS campaign with the Cabbage Tree Island Race, with his son Phillip at the helm.

Will Vicars’ Hoek TC78, Oroton Drumfire, skippered by Phillip Neil, will perform best in strong upwind conditions which the yacht thrived in for the first leg of the Bird Island Race. The yacht has a strong female cohort comprised of Stacey Jackson, Carolijn Brouwer, Jessica Watson, Jane Vicars and Katy MacDonald.

Fourteen Double Handed entries will assemble on the start line. One of those is Chris O’Neill’s J/99 Blue Planet. Co-skippers O’Neill and Michael ‘Tom’ Johnston have maintained a solid pace with the fully-crewed yachts results-wise. They are fifth on the ACSBWPS PHS overall standings.

Co-skippers Andy Offord and Stephen Prince on board the Sun Fast 3300 Borderline impressed their fellow Double Handed competitors in the Bird Island Race with their double-digit downwind speeds, which helped them land first on IRC and PHS in the Double Handed Division. Ian Smith and Lincoln Dews are back for more after they placed third on Double Handed PHS in the Bird Island Race aboard the J/99 Jupiter.

Of the 14 interstate competitors, two are from Victoria including Grant Chipperfield and Peter Dowdney are on board the J/133 Joker X2 bought earlier this year because of its ability to perform well in a range of wind conditions.

One of the eight yachts competing from Queensland is the Nautor Swan 38 Celeste. The race will be a good test for the all-female crew of Saskia Groen-in’t-Woud and Maud Demazure before the Sydney Hobart.

Spectators at the Cabbage Tree Island Race start, the prelude to the RSHYR, are in for a treat.

Cabbage Tree Island Race Weather Forecast

Friday, 6 December: Sydney and Central Coast

The forecast predicts northeasterly winds around 10 knots in the morning before the race. Strengthening to 15 to 20 knots by midday. Seas will remain below 1 metre initially, rising to 1 to 1.5 metres during the afternoon, with an easterly swell of around 1 metre. The day will be partly cloudy.

Saturday, 7 December: Sydney and Central Coast

Northerly winds are expected to reach 15 to 25 knots, with seas between 1 to 1.5 metres, increasing to 1 to 2 metres offshore north of Norah Head. The swell will remain east to northeasterly at about 1 metre. The morning will be mostly sunny, but there is a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening.

Sunday, 16 November: Sydney and Central Coast

The forecast for Sunday indicates that winds will lighten and shift through the land in the early hours of the morning before a southerly breeze develops, bringing winds of around 10 to 15 knots from the south/southeast.

by Greta Quealy