This Saturday 31 May marks the start of the long-anticipated Ponant Sydney Noumea Yacht Race.

Three yachts are participating in the 1064 nautical mile race to the capital of New Caledonia.

The yachts

• Llama II – Third time’s the charm for Jon Linton’s Dehler 46 Llama II. The cruiser/racer was set to compete in 2020 and 2024. Linton and his crew of nine are raring to go. After the race, Linton plans to explore Vanuatu and Fiji before heading back to Australia in time for Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island race weeks in August.

• Pacman – Sailing 1064-nautical-miles double-handed is a difficult task. But it helps when the co-skippers have known each other for 30 years. That’s the case for Peter Elkington and Scott Cavanough, co-skippers of the Young 11 Pacman – the only Double Handed entry in the race.

• Wild Thing 100 – The biggest yacht in the fleet by far. Will Grant Wharington and Adrian Seiffert’s maxi break the race record? Michael Martin’s Franticcurrently holds the race record. In 2018, the TP52 completed the race in four days, two hours and 23 minutes.

History

The inaugural Sydney Noumea Yacht Race took place in 1953, and in the 1970s it became a biennial event through to the 1990s.

After a 25-year hiatus, the race was resurrected in 2018. But then Covid-19 and travel restrictions led to its hiatus. This week the race, organised by the CYCA, marks the return of the Ponant Sydney Noumea Yacht Race to offshore sailing calendars for its 12th edition.

The start

Have a leisure day out on the harbour this Saturday and watch the yachts race out of the harbour at 1300hrs before they turn left out of the heads.

OR with the many headlands and bays of Sydney Harbour, there will be many vantage points for which viewers are able to come and spectate for the start of this amazing race. 

Weather

So far so good for the race start. The forecast is for the sun to be on display with around 10-knots of breeze.

How to follow the race

Feature image credit – Andrea Francolini