Brisbane Race Week Returns in 2024.

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2023 saw the introduction of a new keelboat regatta for Moreton Bay aptly named “Brisbane Race Week”. The regatta features five days of racing across Queensland’s Labour Day weekend in May in the sailing arena of the upcoming Brisbane 2032 Summer Olympics. The starting gun for the first race will fire on Friday, 3 May 2024, with the final day of racing on Wednesday, 8 May 2024.

Brisbane Race Week, hosted by the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, brings together a variety of keelboat racing formats to ensure yachts with differing strengths all get their moment to shine. With three divisions, the regatta caters for thoroughbred racing yachts, cruising monohulls and multihulls. Moreton Bay’s favourable weather in May is a terrific opportunity to prepare and train crews ahead of the northern regattas in August. The inaugural event held in 2023 featured a competitive and enthusiastic fleet of yachts and crews, and the regatta will surely build and grow from this early success in 2024.

The diversity of race formats is the signature feature of Brisbane Race Week. Friday afternoon’s racing takes its lead from Formula 1 qualifying with “hot laps” around Green Island. Competing yachts will have a three-hour window to complete as many laps as they can and can choose to circumnavigate the island in any direction. The fastest lap on elapsed and corrected time will decide the race winners.

Saturday and Sunday will up the ante with short races east of Green Island. The handcrafted courses will put crews to the test, utilising the recently installed recreational racing marks. On Monday’s Labour Day public holiday, a long passage race will see yachts stretch their legs with Moreton Island and Brisbane City as idyllic backdrops. The lay day on Tuesday affords crews a day onshore to recover, catch up on work, or chill out at the yacht club and prepare their yachts for the grand finale on Wednesday.

The mother of all pursuit races takes place on the regatta’s final day, with start times derived from the results of the previous races. With handicaps and start times already decided, it’s a winner-take-all battle, with the first boat across the line winning the race.

In addition to the on-water action, a host of onshore events and activities are planned with a festival-like atmosphere to allow the crews to enjoy the hospitality of Queensland’s premiere yacht club with family and friends.

The Notice of Race and Entry form for Brisbane Race Week 2024 is now online at the RQYS website.

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