Bay to Bay yacht race
The Bay to Bay trailable yacht race is an annual sailing event held on the first weekend in May each year, in the Great Sandy National Park. The race is sailed from Tin Can Bay, at the southern end of the Great Sandy Strait, and Hervey Bay, at the northern end, with an overnight stop at Garry's Anchorage, Fraser Island. The race is Queensland’s largest yacht race and the second largest in Australia, although it is limited to between 200 and 250 competitors for navigational safety. Because of the shallow depth of some sections of the course, the event is limited to trailer sailers of both mono and multihull types.
 View from Indian Head, ocean side Fraser Island | |
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Australia |
| Coordinates | 25°13′S 153°08′E / 25.217°S 153.133°ECoordinates: 25°13′S 153°08′E / 25.217°S 153.133°E |
| Area | 1,840 km2 (710 sq mi) |
| Administration | |
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Australia | |
| State | Queensland |
| LGA | Fraser Coast Regional Council |
History
The Bay to Bay race was originally conceived by members of the Hervey Bay Sailing Club on 18 April 1980. Originally suggested as a one-day trailer yacht race from Tin Can Bay to Hervey Bay, the course length of 87 kilometres (54 mi) saw it modified to a two-day event, with an overnight stop at Garry's Anchorage on Fraser Island. Although it was originally thought that no more than 30 people would participate in the race, over 114 vessels arrived to compete.
Following the success of the first event, word spread through the sailing community. Conditions have varied from year to year, with heavy winds (causing equipment failure), to light winds (resulting in a shortening of the course) to heavy flooding (preventing competitors from being able to access Tin Can Bay).[1]
Eligibility
Yacht eligibility includes; Type 1 Trailable Monohull Boats, Type 2 Sports Trailable Monohull Boats, Type 3 Open Class Trailable Monohull Boats, and Type 4 Trailable Multihull Boats.
All boats shall be:
- Strongly built, watertight, capable of withstanding solid water, properly rigged, fully seaworthy and meeting the standards of the Yachting Association Special Regulations and the requirements of Queensland Transport Marine Safety Queensland, Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol and Queensland Water Police
- Crewed by a minimum of two persons one of whom is aged at least 18 years and capable of accepting the responsibilities of the owner and all of whom are fit to face the conditions of the race
- Greater than 4.8m in length
- Transported on the road without special permit and on the same trailer used to launch and retrieve it without the assistance of external equipment or detachment from the towing vehicle
- All monohulls shall be ballasted boats designed and built to resist capsize
- Rigged and sailed according to the boats details declared on the entry form
All boats must comply with the requirements of all relevant government authorities including Queensland Transport Operations Marine Safety Regulations for smooth and partially smooth waters and Queensland Transport Marine Pollution Regulations for the Great Sandy Strait (discharge of raw sewage is not permitted in the Great Sandy Strait). Barbecues, toilets, and entertainment are provided at Garry's anchorage on the Saturday night, but competitors are expected to carry sufficient food, water and fuel to cater for extreme conditions.[2]
Racing
The race is conducted in a number of divisions with separate start times; generally the slowest start first. On the first day, the first competitors will start at 1100hrs from the Tin Can Bay yacht club, sail down the Tin Can Bay inlet, cross behind the Wide Bay Bar onto the inside of Fraser Island, then head along the island shore to Fig Tree Creek, just south of Garry's Anchorage; a destination they need to reach before 1630hrs. During the night, yachts are either beached or rafted together in the inlet. The second days race starts usually at 0730 hrs (but can commence up to an hour earlier depending on conditions), with competitors heading north up the Straits, past the sorus pile marking the channel to the Mary River, past White-cliffs and the sand banks, up the east side of Woody Island, out to the fairway mark before rounding and proceeding up the inside of Woody Island to the finish line at Datum Point before 1600hrs. Trophies are presented and yachts recovered at the Hervey Bay Boat Club, on Urangan Boat Harbour.[2]
Divisions and handicapping
Approximate Anticipated Division Groupings are;
- Division 1: Type 2 Monohull Boats and Type 3 Monohull Boats
- Division 2: Type 1 Monohull Boats
- Division 3: Type 1 Monohull Boats and Type 4-B Multihull Boats (typically Haines Hunter Tramps, Seawind 25s)
- Division 4: Type 1 Monohull Boats and Type 4-C Multihull Boats (typically Jarcats)
- Division 5: Type 4-A Multihull Boats
Within the fleet if a minimum number of any particular boat class are entered, then an additional class trophy is also raced for.
Handicapping, the committee applies two different handicaps to each yacht, the CBH and the PBH. The class based handicap is a measure of the boats class and design rules, where a boat does not have an established CBH the Race Committee with measurement information provided at entry, will establish an appropriate one. The PBH is measure of the capability of a particular boat and crew combination, these in theory give all competitors an equal chance of winning. PBH are often established at a boats home club, however the Race Committee has much experience of the course and the way certain boats perform on it, and issue their own Handicaps for the race.
References
- ↑ "Hervey Bay Sailing Club".
- 1 2 "sailing instructions" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-14.