Level playing-field a mixed regatta first Five days of keelboat regatta racing on the Labour Day 2023 long weekend highlighted Brisbane Race Week. The concept brings together a variety of racing formats to ensure boats of differing strengths all get their opportunity to shine, writes Anton Prange. Ten competitive and enthusiastic yachts and crews ‘ignited the spark’ and ‘ran the gauntlet’ to set the benchmarks by which the 2024 event will be measured. Racing began on the afternoon of Friday 3 May with the “Hairy Hot Lap” — a warm-up event with yachts given a simple course circumnavigating Green Island. Skippers and crews could start the laps at any time, in any direction, and this kept the navigators and tacticians on their toes! Most got around the course 2-3 times. Yachts were challenged to record their fastest lap, with adjustments for handicaps. Joint Venture recorded fastest at 46min 30sec and secured frst place on PHS handicap to set the standard for the regatta. Saturday and Sunday’s races saw the running of the Goodwill Cup as a subseries with 13 entries. The Cup features a set course regardless of conditions and made for some fascinating tactics from the fleet. The mighty Wedgetail took out line honours on Saturday and Sunday. Flashtac took out Race 1 on PHS handicap, and Gauntlet topped the table for Race 2. The Labour Day public holiday gave crews and yachts a much-needed rest with a lay day. On Tuesday, the fleet was back on the water for the Long Passage Race with a tricky course around Mud Island. A lucky start for Ignition saw her get away to an early lead to the St Helena South Cardinal, but the fleet quickly caught up. The shy kite run from St Helena to Mud proved tricky for some, and the work back to the finish line saw the fleet spread far and wide across the Bay. Gauntlet was first across the finish line with Ignition on top of the podium on PHS handicap by just 30 seconds. A special handicap committee was convened with RQ’s best measurers, statisticians and handicappers sharing notes to deliver some of the fairest handicaps witnessed in recent times. The “Race week Official Rating Team” (aka R.O.R.T.) exhaustively crunched the numbers and set the start times for the grand finale on Wednesday: the Pursuit Race. The crews relished the once-ayear opportunity to put a brightly coloured sail on Wednesday afternoon with a close finish and some exciting racing. Gauntlet once again brought home the bacon, winning the Pursuit as the first boat across the line. With all results punched into the computer after completing five enthralling races, Stephen Green and the crew on Joint Venture finished as they started and came out on top of the leaderboard in the PHS results, closely followed by Gauntlet and Ignition respectively. Congratulations to all skippers and crews involved, and thankyou all for supporting the regatta for the first time. A big shout-out to all the volunteers, sailing office team members, skippers and crew for making the inaugural Brisbane Race Week a success. A special thank-you to Paul and Nelly Bolton and the Race Committee for supporting the terrific five days of sailing. The Notice of Race for the 2024 Brisbane Race Week is already online at the RQYS website. Get your crew together and join in the fun of Brisbane’s newest and most exciting keelboat regatta!. n Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Yearbook Mainsheet 2023 35 Brisbane Race Week
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