brisbane to gladstone multihull yacht race 2023

Event information

The Multihull Yacht Club of Queensland (MYCQ) invites all Off-Shore Multihulls to compete in the Brisbane to Gladstone Multihull Yacht Race which has become the most prestigious multihull event in the country, sailing in the beautiful waters of Moreton Bay, past Maroochydore and Noosa with the backdrop of the Glasshouse Mountains, along the shore of Fraser Island, to the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef, past Lady Musgrave Island to be welcomed at the finish line in Gladstone by the Multihull Yacht Club Queensland (MYCQ), Port Curtis Sailing Club and the City of Gladstone. The race will start at 1115 hours on Friday 7th April 2023 and the presentation in Gladstone will be on Sunday 9th April 2023.

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Early bird discounted  Entry Form and payment of fees by  Friday 3rd March 2023.    Early bird entry fee  will be $400 or $300 for MYCQ members. 

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Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race to set sail in 75th year despite wild weather forecast

The Queensland Cruising Yacht Club will celebrate a major milestone this Good Friday as the Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race marks its 75th year.

Key points:

• The Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race marks its 75th year in 2023 with almost 400 sailors participating
• Storm activity is forecast for parts of Queensland's east on Good Friday but organisers say competitors are well-prepared
• This year's race is expected to be slower than previous years due to wind and weather conditions

Forty-seven vessels will set off from Moreton Bay on Friday for the annual event, gunning for Gladstone where the fastest of the competitors are expected to arrive Saturday evening or Sunday morning.

It's the first time in several years an upwind start is predicted for the beginning of the race.

Queensland Cruising Yacht Club Vice-Commodore Harley Cowlishaw said forecasted northerly winds signalled that this year's race would likely be slower than in years past.

"All the yachts are ready and they're looking forward to it," he said.

"I look forward to catching up with them in Gladstone, the hospitality the Gladstone people put on at the end of the race is next to none."

He said yacht owners had been briefed about the possibility of severe storms forecast for parts of eastern Queensland on Friday, and that everyone was well-prepared.

'It's anyone's race'

Mr Cowlishaw has sailed in the Brisbane to Gladstone 37 times and has been involved with the race for 42 years.

"It's very challenging getting out of Moreton Bay because the wind and the tide comes into effect," he said.

"Once you clear Moreton Bay, going up the Sunshine Coast and up along Fraser Island, it depends on the weather conditions how difficult it is.

"The other difficult part is sailing up Gladstone Harbour. If you hit the tide going out, you've got to be very aware and keep out of the tide.

"The race can be won or lost in Gladstone Harbour."

He said it's anyone's race in 2023, with no one clear favourite emerging so far.

"There are quite a few boats that could take line honours," he said.

"There's a little 34-footer called Azzurro … it has always done extremely well in the Sydney to Hobart race.

"With the weather forecast the way it is for this weekend, my personal prediction would be Azzurro." 

The race draws competitors from around Australia and beyond, and features crews ranging from former world champions to young up-and-comers racing in their first Brisbane to Gladstone.

Addison Newlan will be part of the crew on award-winning Maritimo for the Brisbane to Gladstone, and despite being just 14 years old, she's already got more than a decade of experience on the water.

Because of her age, she had to be granted an exemption to participate in the race and is the youngest competitor hitting the water in 2023.

The young Queenslander said she was a bit nervous but "really excited".

"It's something that I love and it makes up the majority of my life," she said.

"I honestly can't wait to see what the race brings for me."

Post-Brisbane to Gladstone, Addy said her sights were set on the 2032 Olympics along with "a few Sydney to Hobarts and Volvo Ocean Races" in between.

"I have a really strong support group coming out of Matarimo and lots of people that want to see me go all the way," she said.

"I think it'd be an amazing chance if I get to represent Brisbane in Brisbane."

Mr Cowlishaw said Redcliffe was one of the best vantage points for Brisbane yachting fans who want to catch a glimpse of the race.

"You can watch the boats sailing up to you, and then they come very close to the shoreline before they sail over to Tangalooma," he said.

The 2023 Brisbane to Gladstone will be live-streamed and the location of each yacht can be tracked online .

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The Celestial crew celebrates their Line Honours triumph.

Celestial wins Line Honours in 2023 Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race

CYCA Vice Commodore Sam Haynes’ TP52 Celestial won Line Honours in the 2023 Gladstone Ports Corporation Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race.

The 75th edition of the Queensland Cruising Yacht Club’s race was described as “brutal”, with a storm on the first night leading to the retirement of nine boats.

Difficult upwind sailing made it a much longer race than anticipated for the frontrunners, with Celestial first across the line in the early hours of Easter Sunday, after 1 day, 19 hours, 30 minutes and 49 seconds at sea.

The Celestial crew included CYCA Members Callum Cecil, George Richardson (YSA), Lindsay Stead and Rob Greenhalgh.

In an interview with the Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race channel, Sam reflected: “It wasn’t what we signed on for! It was a very different race, very hard.

“We were just ahead of most of the storm, so we didn’t have lightning around our boat, but a lot of squalls and heavy rain.

“I’ve never seen a sea state like that. It was like a washing machine, waves going everywhere, very difficult to sail through.

“We probably had 80 tacks in the whole race, we had to keep changing direction.

“I haven’t had a Line Honours title in a significant race like this; it’s fantastic for us.”

CYCA Members featured prominently throughout the fleet.

Member Jack Kliner steered his S&S 34 Azzurro (which he purchased from Shane Kearns after the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart) to third place overall on IRC and victory on ORCi.

Member Michael Spies steered his Schumacher 54 Maritimo to first place in IRC Division 1, for fifth place overall. Member Kendal Barry-Cotter was also on board.

Member James Irvine’s Rogers 46 Mayfair was fourth in IRC Division 1 and 13th overall.

Meanwhile, Russell McCart’s Farr 40 Night Nurse was forced to retire with a torn mainsail.

CYCA Rear Commodore Tom Barker, and Members Wendy Tuck and Shane Guanaria were on board Ian and Annika Thomson’s TP52 Ocean Crusaders J-Bird III, which was second over the line.

The crew on Mark Griffith’s DK46 LCE Old School Racing, which was second in IRC Division 2 and 12th overall, included Members Angelique Kear, John Crawford and Sarah Crawford.

Click the button below to view the full results from the race.

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Rex smashes the race record for Brisbane to Gladstone Multihull Yacht Race

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Brisbane to Gladstone Multihull Yacht Race

Brisbane to Gladstone Multihull Yacht Race at Multihull Yacht Club Queensland

The Multihull Yacht Club Queensland (MYCQ) invites all Off-shore Multihulls to compete in the Brisbane to Gladstone Multihull Yacht Race which has become the most prestigious multihull event in the country, sailing in the beautiful waters of Moreton Bay, past Maroochydore and Noosa with the back drop of the Glasshouse Mountains, along the shore of Fraser Island, to the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef, past Lady Musgrave Island to be welcomed at the finish line in Gladstone by the Multihull Yacht Club Queensland (MYCQ), Port Curtis Sailing Club and the City of Gladstone.

The race will start at 1200 hours on Friday 10 April 2020 and the presentation in Gladstone will be on Sunday 12 April 2020. The race currently has no major sponsor so if you are interested then please contact the commodore at  [email protected]

One of the legends of the Brisbane to Gladstone Race is Rogntudjuuu, and she is back in 2020. She is a previous Race Record holder and is recently gone through a big upgrade and has been doing some impressive speeds.

The name says it all. A French expression of fear and disgust used by cartoon character Gaston La Gaffe whose surname also says it all- translates as “the blunder”.

Launched in 2000 by Hart Marine in Victoria for New Caledonian Dr. Plillip Coste as a sister ship for “Raw Nerve” she made a splash winning ocean races in new Zealand and Noumea as well a setting a record for the Brisbane – Gladstone in 2001 of 20 hrs 35min. 1 sec.

Both Southern Ocean 50s were extended to 56′ with modified bows after displaying some aberrant behaviour in certain sea conditions. Rogntudjuuu! made an even bigger splash in 2007 when she pitch poled in the Gladstone race chasing the eventual winner Raw Nerve. After a Cook’s tour of the reef islands she took up residence on the pristine scientific research station “One Tree Island”.

The resident scientists were not pleased with her somewhat incongruous presence and insisted on every tiny scrap of carbon, Nomex and paint being assiduously removed.

The recovery, righting and return to Brisbane under her own outboard power is another unlikely and eventful story….

Back in Brisbane looking a little the worse for wear with no coach house, many minor war wounds, and as empty as a politicians promise she was purchased by an ambitious sailor with a dream of circumnavigating Australia- single handed- in record time! A likely team was assembled, moulds were built, modifications for easy operation were made, a longer mast section materialized, dollars were spent, more dollars were spent and the GFC struck.

Rogntudjuuu! languished on the Gold Coast backwaters for an interminable time waiting for a financial miracle; to no avail.

And then, at last, another visionary with delusions of grandeur: Ken Trevillien was taken with her saucy demeanour and racy attitude. Another epoch began of dollars spent, moves to various and sundry boatyards, earnest and fickle artisans, more dollars spent, groundings, a few collisions, overflying by crane and eventually, inconceivably, after nine years, more dollars spent, just in time for the Gladstone race, another splash. Could this really be the final countdown? Ha! “The best laid plans of mice and men gang oft aglae”. Robbie Burns.

A myriad of seemingly minor setbacks from rigging woes, to engine faults descended like a pestilent plague of locusts to devour our limited time frame and destroy our race plans. We were out of options and Gladstone was out of reach. Rogntudjuuu! mourned on her mooring while we blathered and dithered while concocting our future race plans,

Of course even then we found ourselves with more dilemmas yet to be solved but that’s another story…

Our disappointment in missing the Gladstone race was tempered with the exciting prospect of Airlie Race week and Hamo. With time on our side we confidently stripped for action. Crew were pressed into service, accommodation was sorted, lists were made, and more lists ad infinitum.

Anyone who has a penchant for lists (an absolute necessity with creeping age) will understand how the completions at the top of the list inversely affect the additions at the bottom of the list until a kind of mania takes hold that can only be cured with copious drafts of rum and eventually blind indifference.

Three of us set off ‘sans souci’ with a week in hand to find our tropical paradise and contemplate future celebrations of glorious success. A perfect day reaching across the benevolent Moreton Bay at 18 knots seemed a positive omen but a mischievous crab pot near Bribie brought us up short. A mere inconvenience we thought, but it proved problematical and fearing entanglement with our motor leg we decided on a speedy diversion to Scarborough to sort it out before continuing our triumphal voyage.

Anchored up and rum calmed, we suddenly noticed a severe stern down attitude to starboard quickly followed by the port side. Our carefully designed pumping system had failed and although we couldn’t sink we soon found our engine rooms flooded and engines inoperable. An embarrassed call to VMR ensued and a decision was made to be towed into shallow water where we could assess the situation aground at the fall of the tide unfortunately in plain view of every sailor in Australia on the internet. A hired high volume pump had us floating again and retracing our track home next day. Our week of racing became a week at Redlands Marina reviving drowned motors, replacing batteries and burnt out pumps caused by clogging with boat gunk.

Somewhat abashed we kept a low profile apart from a few practice forays in the bay until the St Helena Cup races which became our very first competitive event in 12 years. We played a conservative game to avoid any chance of another ignominious display and were happy enough with our two line honours results which were by no means crushing but for our bruised egos they were decisive. Bring on 2020!

For more Race details including the Notice of Race  click here  or visit  www.mycq.org.au . Also see  Facebook  and  Twitter .

by Geoff Cruse

YachtBoatNews

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