Two Australian yachts have been nominated for the Audi Hamilton Island Race week, to defend the South Pacific Cup team trophy against New Zealand challengers. TP 52 sailing yacht SHOGUN (Rob Hanna) will go up against New Zealand’s Georgia (Jim Farmer) in the IRC Grand Prix division, and the second tea yacht will be Bruce Absolon’s Hamilton Island based Nikon Spirit of the Maid racing agains Kiwi Rob Bassett’s 52 foot sailing yacht WIRED in the Performance Racing Class. At this stage there are more than 200 yachts scheduled to compete at the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, which is starting this Saturday.
Sailing Yacht Limit at 2009 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - Image credit to Andrea Francolini_Audi
In the IRC Grand Prix division they have chosen the highly competitive Melbourne-based TP 52 yacht Shogun (Rob Hanna), to go up against New Zealand’s Georgia sailing yacht (Jim Farmer). Shogun recently won the NSW IRC Offshore championship while the new Georgia is a development of the Audi Med Cup winning TP52, Emirates Team New Zealand. Australia’s second team yacht will be Bruce Absolon’s Hamilton Island-based yacht Nikon Spirit of the Maid. She will be racing Kiwi Rob Bassett’s consistent 52-foot yacht Wired, in the Performance Racing class.
Wild Oats X and Black Jack in 2009 at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - Image credit to Andrea Francolini Audi
The Australian team won the South Pacific Cup against the kiwis when it was first contested two years ago.
The broadest cross-section of keelboats – from tiny cruising yachts through to the ultimate Grand Prix level racers and superyachts – will be part of the 27th staging of Hamilton Island Race Week. The scene at the tropical destination – which is in the middle of the magnificent Whitsunday Islands and on the fringe of the Great Barrier Reef – is already nothing short of spectacular. While more yachts enter Hamilton Harbour each hour and begin preparations for the week of racing, the surface of Dent Passage, immediately adjacent to Hamilton Island Yacht Club, is dominated by two stunning superyachts – the 50-metre long ketch Perseus, and the incredible new 58-metre sloop, Kokomo. This all combines to promise an exceptional week of sailing and on-shore fun.
Hamilton Island Race Week’s naming rights sponsor, Audi, is Australia’s fastest growing German luxury carmaker, and the country’s largest supporter of yachting.
