Record fleet heads to AHIRW

A record number of entries will take part in this year’s Audi Hamilton Island Race Week (AHIRW) as the old record of 227 yachts (set in 2008) fell by the wayside this week. The 228th entry, a 42.5 Beneteau, Pretty Woman, (opening image) set the new record which has continued to be reset as more yachts register for the largest and most prestigious offshore regatta in the Southern Hemisphere.

Pretty Woman’s owner, Brain Watchorn, said that sailing the country’s east coast and competing at AHIRW were two things he had always wanted to do, and that it was a pleasant fluke to have been the yacht that broke the existing record. He laughed that he was hoping for more flukes during the competition which will see yachts across all classes converge on the picturesque island for a week of outstanding competition and a raft of onshore activities unlike anything else in the world.

Indeed entries at this year’s regatta range from trailer-sailers right through to supermaxis Wild Oats XI and Scallywag and everything in between. Multihulls have continued to increase in number, building on the burgeoning class from last year, and will provide plenty of spectacular racing again in 2016.

With the start of AHIRW still some weeks away and entries still open, it is conceivable that as many as 240 yachts could take part this year.

Hamilton Island CEO, champion sailor Glenn Burke said that the record number of entries were a testament to the hard work of all concerned to make AHIRW the very best  event of its type.