One of the most formidable fleets on record is to line up in the race for line and overall honors at the Pittwater Marine Club Yacht Race at Coffs Harbor 2022, Peter Harburg’s super maxi Black Jack at the head of the crème de la crème of yachting for the Royal Prince Alfred. The Yacht Club’s 226 nautical mile race (RPAYC) will begin on Friday 8th April.
Black Jack, representing the Yacht Club de Monaco, took the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart honors and will take on Christian Beck’s super maxi LawConnect, who crossed the line in second place. When the tee shot is fired off Barrenjoey Headland at 1pm, the pair will push hard to the finish and a new record could be set if the weather is favorable.
“This race was a great opportunity as we were already heading north for the Brisbane Gladstone and it fits perfectly into our schedule,” said Black Jack skipper Mark Bradford.
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As for LawConnect, Bradford said: “It will be a bit of a Sydney Hobart rematch, but on a shorter course. The big difference is that this time it’s an inshore race, so it will be interesting to see if one of us can get away from the other.
David Griffith’s JV62 Whisper is in contention for overall honors at the 36th annual race. Whisper broke the Montague Island race record last weekend and Griffith is eager to get out there and have a shot at having a crack like reigning Sydney Hobart champion Ichi Ban (Matt Allen), LCE Old School Racing (Mark Griffith), Sail Exchange (Carl Crafoord) and Highly Sprung (Mark Spring).
Spring is also keen to take on the opposition. “We had a successful Hobart campaign winning our division in IRC and ORCi, but one of us tested positive for Covid on arrival in Tasmania so we couldn’t celebrate. So the crew is ready for the Coffs Harbor race. There’s a real buzz because we haven’t been on the boat since,” he explains.
“We’re looking forward to hopefully tackling the weather against the wind, that’s what we’re good at, that’s what makes us happy,” he concluded.
However, other competitors have a racing history and know the course inside out. Wings (Ian Edwards), Pretty Woman (Richard Hudson), XS Moment BNMH (Ray Hudson) and Insomnia (Marcus Grimes) are ready to take on some of Australia’s best known Grand Prix racing yachts.
