Some of Australia’s most competitive racing yachts are gearing up for the highly anticipated Teakle Classic Adelaide to Port Lincoln Yacht Race, South Australia’s premier offshore event, which kicks off in Adelaide at 3pm this Friday 17 February.

This year’s event promises to be one of the most competitive in recent memory, with the 156 nautical mile voyage also acting as the first division one race of the 2023 Australian Yachting Championships.

This division will be made up of the five 52-footers including local boats Secret Men’s Business and Another Hooligan, as well as Quest, Smuggler and Zen all coming over from New South Wales.

The remaining divisions have the option to compete in the offshore race, however will have the entirety of their Australian Yachting Championships racing as part of the four-day Teakle Classic Lincoln Week Regatta in Port Lincoln next week.

Early forecasts suggest the race will be sailed in traditional sea breeze conditions with breeze building throughout the evening.

Secret Men’s Business navigator and regatta chairman Steve Kemp said there was a chance of a Saturday morning breeze shut down in the last stage of the race, but was hopeful there’d be enough wind to carry the fleet home.

“There’s a weak change going through just at the start of the race, so we look like starting in 12-14 knots of breeze which may build slightly in the early evening,” he said.

“It’s then shifting into the south and holding into the Saturday morning, which will hopefully get the whole fleet home.

“Two of the models are showing breeze all the way, but one is still showing a shut down on Saturday morning, so we’re hoping the two outweigh the one, but the models that are going out over the race now by Roger Badham, the guru meteorologist, has got us having wind throughout Saturday.”

Another Hooligan boat captain Curtis Mitchell said it was going to be a tough fleet with the three Sydney-based 52s coming into the race with plenty of preparation.

“The Sydney-based boats certainly are race-hardened, there’s no denying the preparation for this race that you gain out of doing the Hobart, so these teams are going to be able to drive hard through the night and stay on the gas, which will be a big challenge for us,” he said.

“We’re hoping that being one of the lighter TP52s that we’ll be able to keep our pace up in the softer breezes and make the most of the shifts through the night to keep up with the others.”

The race over the gulfs sets up a fantastic week of racing in Port Lincoln, known colloquially to the local sailing community as the ‘centre of the universe’.

The four-day regatta consists of two ’round-the-cans’ races on both Monday and Thursday that bookend the event, a long race on the Tuesday showcasing the rugged Eyre Peninsula coastline, as well as a bay race on Wednesday morning that finishes in the heart of the Lincoln National Park, where sailors get to let their hair down and experience the iconic Megga’s Beach BBQ.

For more information about the Teakle Classic head to lincolnweek.com.au or follow the event on social media.

by Harry Fisher