The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club is putting its name behind one of Australia's most ambitious new offshore races, a Category 1 bluewater challenge of approximately 890 nautical miles that sends competitors out of Pittwater, across the Tasman Sea, around the world's tallest sea stack, and back to where they started.
Entries are open for the inaugural Lord Howe Ocean Race, which gets under way on Friday 2 October 2026, over the October long weekend.
The centrepiece of the course is Ball's Pyramid, a sheer basalt spire rising 562 metres out of the Tasman Sea roughly 11 nautical miles south-east of Lord Howe Island. Formed 6.4 million years ago and entirely uninhabited, it holds the distinction of being the tallest sea stack on earth. Rounding it, with genuine Tasman Sea spring weather in the mix, is likely to be one of the more arresting moments many competitors will experience in their offshore sailing lives.
The course departs Broken Bay at Pittwater, tracks east across the Tasman to Lord Howe Island, sweeps around Ball's Pyramid, then turns the fleet back towards the finish at Pittwater. Returning to the start rather than finishing offshore is a considered structural choice. Under the old Gosford to Lord Howe Island model, crews faced the practical headache of organising a delivery passage home once racing was done. The return-leg format removes that problem entirely, making the event a straightforward commitment for sailors from any home port.
Lord Howe Island itself carries considerable weight as a rounding mark. A volcanic remnant sitting approximately 600 kilometres off the Australian mainland, it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and falls within the Lord Howe Island Marine Park, placing it among the most ecologically significant and visually dramatic waypoints in the Pacific.
The new race traces its ancestry to the Gosford to Lord Howe Island Yacht Race, a 414-nautical-mile Category 1 event that ran from 1974 until it was discontinued in 2014. The Lord Howe Ocean Race acknowledges that history while correcting the one practical shortcoming of its predecessor, the need to move boats home after the finish.
RPAYC Commodore Rob McClelland has described the race as the logical completion of the club's offshore programme.
"This race completes a clear offshore cycle for the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. In alternating years, competitors will have two serious Category 1 challenges from Pittwater, either the trans-Tasman race to Auckland or the Lord Howe Island and Ball's Pyramid loop. The race is logistically straightforward yet strategically and physically demanding. It will require disciplined preparation, offshore watch systems, weather routing and seamanship. Rounding Ball's Pyramid will be one of the most dramatic navigational moments in Australian offshore racing."
The Lord Howe Ocean Race will be held in even-numbered years, forming one half of a biennial pairing with the Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race, which takes place in odd years. The scheduling has been arranged so neither race cuts across any other significant fixture on the Australian sailing calendar.
Because this is a brand-new event, no course record yet exists. The first finisher to set one will have their name permanently inscribed on a specially created perpetual trophy, a rare opportunity to establish a benchmark that every future fleet will be measured against.
The race is open to fully crewed monohulls, double-handed monohulls, and fully crewed multihulls, with compliance requirements applying across all entries. Handicap divisions are expected to include IRC, ORC, and PHS, though the final divisional structure will be confirmed in the Notice of Race. Once all finishers are home, a post-race celebration is planned at RPAYC.
Entry information, the Notice of Race, course details, and event updates are available at rpayc.com.au/lord-howe-ocean-race/
