Six yachts have signed on to sail up Australia’s East Coast and across the Coral Sea to New Caledonia’s capital Noumea as part of the 2025 Ponant Sydney Noumea Yacht Race.
The competitors are Awen, Llama II, Pacman, Smuggler, Serene Summer, and Wild Thing 100.
CYCA Media caught up with a few of the competitors. In this piece we meet Llama II’s skipper – Jon Linton.
Third time’s the charm for Jon Linton’s Dehler 46 Llama II.
The cruiser/racer was set to compete in the Ponant Sydney Noumea Yacht Race in 2020 and 2024. Both were postponed – 2020 due to Covid-19 and 2024 because of the Australian Government’s travel advice in response to civil unrest in New Caledonia.
Linton and his crew of nine are raring to go.
“I’m now starting to think I’m the root cause of all these races getting cancelled,” he joked.
This race will be a continuation of what Linton described as his “sailing gap year”. Earlier this year, Linton along with two of the Llama II crew members, sailed a Beneteau 46 across the Atlantic Ocean. And in November last year, he also helped them sail the yacht from Greece to the Canary Islands. Linton first discovered his love of long-distance sailing when he sailed Llama II from Sydney to Hamilton Island and back multiple times.
On board Llama II.
“It became clear that we really enjoyed that [longer trips], and it was a lot of fun spending a bit more time going a little bit further,” Linton said.
Linton estimates that it will take Llama II around five to seven days to complete the race. If the wind replicates the Trade Winds which the 2018 fleet enjoyed, it will be closer to five days.
Llama II competed in the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart. When comparing the Sydney Hobart conditions to Sydney Noumea, Linton said: “[Sydney] Hobart I think is different because the conditions are generally more variable, and you’ve got to prepare for a wider range of potential outcomes.”
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.
