The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) is delighted to announce a new partnership with Lendlease’s luxury harbourside residential development One Circular Quay as Naming Rights Sponsor of the 2024 One Circular Quay Australian Maxi Championship.
The championship, now in its fourth year, is one of the highlights of the Australian sailing calendar. As the final hit-out before the Rolex Sydney Hobart, it is a celebrated event and a showcase for some of the world’s greatest race yachts. It also serves as an important training opportunity for the elite teams and offers an opportunity for crews to test themselves against the best – and to claim bragging rights. The event is open to entrants ranging from 60- to 100-foot with a minimum IRC TCC of 1.450.
Results from a series of different races held over five days in early December will determine the winners of the 2024 One Circular Quay Australian Maxi Championship across both Maxi and Mini Maxi divisions:
Cabbage Tree Island Race (1900hrs Friday 6 December) – the fifth and penultimate race in the 2024/25 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore, a 172 nautical mile return trip from Sydney rounding an island off Port Stephens.
Passage Races off Sydney Heads (Sunday 8 and Monday 9 December)
SOLAS Big Boat Challenge (1200hrs Tuesday 10 December) – an exhilarating sprint race around Sydney Harbour. (Live streamed on CYCATV YouTube channel).
This year sees the two 100-footers that fought out the tightly contested Line Honours battle on the River Derwent in the 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart resume their rivalry – Master Lock Comanche, (this year under Matt Allen AM and James Mayo) and Christian Beck’s LawConnect. Grant Wharington’s Wild Thing 100 and Bill Barry-Cotter’s Maritimo 100 will challenge in the battle of the 100s.
For the smaller boats, it looks to be an equally close affair. Last year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Overall winner Philip Turner’s Reichel Pugh 66 Alive, will be back to take on the likes of Anthony and David Johston’s Maxi 72 URM Group, (2023/24 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Champion), David Gotze’s Reichel Pugh 63 No Limit, David Griffith’s Judel/Vrolijk 62 Whisper and Celestial (Jim Cooney’s VO70 Willow chartered this Summer by CYCA Commodore Sam Haynes). The Oats Family’s Reichel Pugh 66 Wild Oats X is not competing in the 79th Rolex Sydney Hobart but will be out to make a statement.
One Circular Quay’s relationship with the Club will also extend its support as a partner of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Sydney Race Village events program later in the month – a series of festive social gatherings, parties, lunches, dinners, and talks, open to competitors, members and the general public alike. These will run at the CYCA in its purpose-built Rolex Race Village throughout December.
Steven McGillivray, Project Director, Lendlease stated:
“One Circular Quay is privileged to partner with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia as it hosts the final two races of its offshore racing season.
“The season is a vibrant part of Sydney’s maritime heritage, and we look forward to partnering with the Club and showcasing One Circular Quay as another icon in the Sydney Harbour story – now with front-row seats upon the project’s completion in late 2026.”
CYCA Commodore Dr Sam Haynes said:
“The One Circular Quay residential development will be a major addition to Sydney Harbour’s CBD foreshore and we are excited to be working with the team at Lendlease to help promote the project and the Harbour-focused lifestyle it embodies.”
For more information on the One Circular Quay Australian Maxi Championship, go to www.cyca.com.au
