The Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race got underway today in sunny skies and eight to thirteen knots, sending the fleet out through Sydney Heads in a runway of sail changes as boats swapped reaching sails for spinnakers almost as fast as they could be hoisted.
Smuggler, last year's Overall winner, got the jump on the fleet, tucking close to Lady Bay on the way out in company with V5, Koa, Caol Ila and Gusto. The heavy Maarten 67 Caol Ila posted one of the cleanest starts in the fleet, while the biggest boat racing, the Santa Cruz 72 Antipodes, made her way out flanked by two 40-footers punching well above their size, Ambition and Back 2 Black. The whole pack gybed through the middle of the harbour before settling on course past North Head.
Among the Double Handed fleet, Disko Trooper was first through the Heads, with Mistral tucked alongside and Annie Stevenson's Dehler 30 Employment Hero Alliance close behind, making Disko Trooper the first 30-footer away by the narrowest of margins. Last to clear the harbour was Marguerite, skippered by Aaron Zhou.
Eight hours into the race, conditions were tracking the forecast: a mild to moderate westerly to southwesterly trending further south through the evening. Koa and Gusto led the TP52 pack at 13 to 15 knots, with V5, Smuggler and Frantic close behind and Antipodes sailing right among them. Smuggler had already lost her early lead after a tactical call to head inshore out of the harbour cost her time against the offshore TP52s, a decision the crew would spend the rest of the night clawing back. In the 40-foot division, Minerva led, followed by Back 2 Black and Ambition. Furthest progressed among the double handers was Elizabeth Tucker's Class 40 First Light, with Mistral about a mile to her southwest.
One retirement marked the opening hours: Bushranger, a MAT 1220 skippered by Michael Fountain, withdrew with electrical issues, her crew safely back at their home berth.
With 384 nautical miles between the fleet and Main Beach, and the breeze forecast to ease and go light and shifty over the coming days, the early tactical calls, inshore or offshore, big boat or small, were already shaping up to decide the race.
