The Alfred's News Alfreds News November-December 2017 | Page 15

Club Marine Pittwater to Paradise Regatta
Blink and you might miss the cut off
Entries close on December 1 for the Club Marine Pittwater to Paradise Regatta and so far a healthy international fleet of 25
yachts ranging in size and concentrated in the 40-50ft zone are starters for the race North and chance to compete in
subsequent Queensland State Championships as part of the annual Bartercard Sail Paradise Series.
There is still time to enter the Club Marine Pittwater to Paradise Regatta here .
The 370 nautical mile coastal race, between Broken Bay
and Southport on the Queensland Gold Coast starting at
1pm on January 2, 2018, is both an endurance and
tactical test. Crews will dedicate every hour to covering
the distance in the quickest time for the chance to be
named the overall winner and highly contested IRC
category winner, who will take home a striking new
custom-made perpetual trophy.
Host club, The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, is
delighted to announce that the Club Marine Pittwater to
Paradise Race has been officially recognised by the
World Sailing Speed Record Council and the 2018 line
honours result will be recorded, and then be open to
subsequent challenges.
Sailing Manager Brendan Rourke says, “We encourage
the likes of the TP52s and others of that size range not
doing the Rolex Sydney Hobart to seriously consider such
a rare opportunity in Australian waters, to be included in
the WSSRC’s record books.”
Mick Martin’s TP52 Frantic and Bob Cox’s DK46 Nine
Dragons out of Middle Harbour are both likely starters
and in that case would be the leading contenders for a
WSSRC listing, unless a bigger boat comes in over the
top.
Among entries for the Club Marine sponsored long race
setting off in the New Year are a number of first timers
to the event and brand new boats including Mark
Gorbatov and Mark Siebert’s fresh-out-of-the-box
Beneteau First 40 called Blink.
Gorbatov is a Sydney based eye surgeon who came to
the sport seven years ago crewing for another owner before jumping in with both feet and buying his first boat, which he
called Out of Sight. Though Blink seems to run off the back of his profession it was actually Gorbatov’s ten year-old daughter
who came up with the boat’s moniker, based on a Dr Who episode called ‘Don’t Blink’.
Now the Blink team is on steep climb to learn the boat prior to the RPAYC’s signature offshore race, part of The RPAYC’s Club
Marine East Coast Bluewater Pointscore.