Jeanneau and 74 Islands Airlie Beach Race Week - Day 2
by Di Pearson/ABRW media 8 Aug 13:04 BST
6-13 August 2026
Another nice breezy day at Jeanneau Yachts presented by Mooloolaba Yacht Brokers and 74 Islands Airlie Beach Race Week (ABRW) 2026 - a mix of overcast and sunny skies blended with upwards of 20 knot winds that put crews through their paces and produced a mix of new and repeat winners.
A nice south/south-easterly breeze sent the fleet on its way south, the wind bending left as the day wore on, just as it did yesterday.
Some shifty names in the Performance Racing division - and they were on the podium today. Smooth Criminal, Iyas Shaheen's RP36 Shockwave representing the host Club, had the goods, defeating Barracuda, Tim McCall's Thompson T30 (Qld). George Kompolthy's Mr Mojo (NSW) filled out the top three.
"It was a beautiful day, bit breezy for us upwind, so we had put a reef in, then pulled it out for the downwind. We were a bit disappointed with our downwind leg because the breeze dropped from 22 and gusting upwind, to 12-16 downwind. Good sailing though, challenging conditions, a great day out," Shaheen said.
Paul Mitchell's Ullman Sails, a local entry and long-timer supporter of ABRW through sponsorship, struck back in Multihull Division 0 today, but yesterday's winner, Joel Berg's Hooligan, only missed by 32 seconds. The two Extreme 40s are very evenly matched so far, finishing the day on equal points, so we'll see what tomorrow's lighter conditions bring.
In Multihull Division 1, Guy Chester's Crowther 40 trimaran, Oceans Tribute, came to the fore. Steven Humphris Stealth Mode was not far behind though. Race 1 winner, Cut Snake (Stuart Cox) took third place, keeping her at the top of the leaderboard. All three represent Queensland.
Although an Australian, Chester's name is not a particularly well-known one here, as he spends an inordinate amount of time sailing overseas. After a major refit in 2021, he circumnavigated the multihull solo, raced in New Zealand, New Caledonia and then enjoyed three Caribbean seasons.
"She did three Caribbean 600 races and many regattas, including winning Antigua Sailing Week and the St Maarten Heineken regattas," says Chester, who in June won line honours and set a new outright record in the Solo Trans-Tasman Race with Oceans Tribute.
"A good day out," Chester said of today's race. We like that sort of pressure,17 -22 knots, lots of reaching, a good course. We got through all the transitions in good shape. Good trimming in gusty conditions kept the boat moving.
"The trimaran is good upwind. We held on to Cat+Ion and they're much bigger than us (15 metres versus 18.5). On the reaches to White Rock and then to Pioneer Bay, we were in front of them."
Following yesterday's second place, the Grainger 075 G'Nome, much to the delight of her owner, Terry Archer, came home first today and is in first place overall, but on equal points with Peter Hackett's Intrigue (Qld), which won yesterday and placed second today. Let the cards fall where they may...
Archer, who doubles as Chairman of ABRW and had sustained various damages over the past two Race Weeks, revisited his day today: "We had a terrible start. Unfortunately, the race officer decided to put us on the start line with the big multis, so we were second last going to the first mark.
"We had a really good work up the side of the Molles though. We got in front of the competition just before Denman Island and then we had a fantastic reach to White Rock. Everything came together. Our only issue was we were limping, because the trampolines had broken, but we got there," Archer said.
Reigning champion Ray Roberts and his Botin 40, Team Hollywood (NSW), made it two from two in IRC Rating Division 1, beating Brian Petersen's second placed TP52, V1 (NZL), to the punch by a massive 15 minutes once the handicaps were applied. Another three minutes away was Grant Pocklington's Bakewell-White 40, Anarchy (NSW).
Roberts was lucky to make the race, having head butted the kitchen wall when he miss-judged the kitchen stool as he went to sit down.
"A bit like the race, I'm not well, but I fought back," said the Sydney yachtsman who arrived at his boat this morning - holding his head high - with a black eye, a cut over the eye and a stiff neck.
Before heading home for a quiet afternoon, Roberts said of the race, "Like most of the time at Airlie, it was perfect conditions. Not too bumpy on the water, 15 knots, clear water. They set good a course, so I was more than happy with it all. It was just a beautiful day's sailing up here in Paradise. I love it so much, I might retire here."
In other 'accident' news, well into the day's race, Hartbreaker, the Reichel/Pugh 46 owned by Hughie Lewis, hit the southern reef off Daydream Island while competing in the Performance Racing division and was forced to retire. Such a shame after third place yesterday.
"I didn't think the reef came out that far - we gybed and hit it," a bemused Lewis recalled. "I asked the media boat (Northside Marine) to help. I threw them a halyard, we motored forward and they pulled us off.
"I hope it's just a scrape and not serious damage. We don't want to miss racing the rest of the week. And we're booked for Magnetic Island later this month too," said the Tasmanian, who will pull the boat out of the water in the next night or so and keep his fingers crossed.
Adding insult to injury, Hartbreaker arrived back to the Port of Airlie at 2pm, only to discover it was a wait until 3.30pm for the tide to allow them back to their berth. Hartbroken would have been a better name on this day!
Principal Race Officer, Kevin Wilson, said this morning: "All division will be going south from the Pioneer Bay start to Hannah Point, Whitsunday Passage, Molle Passage and back to the finish on Pioneer Bay."
Wilson added that today's race would be more tactical than yesterday's.
IRC Rating, Performance Racing and the three Multihull Racing divisions were away first, in that order, on a course of approximately 33 nautical miles. Multihull Passage, along with Cruising Divisions 1, 2 and 3, were up next, on a 24nm race. The two Non-Spinnaker divisions followed on a 19nm race and last away were the Sports Boats & Trailable Yachts divisions on a 15nm race.
Today marked the start of VX One competition. The class, along with the Off-The-Beach Multihull class, contested three windward/leeward races, starting from 11am.
Yesterday and today were a case of 'make hay while the sun shines', as the forecast for the rest of the week is looking light on for breeze. Weather permitting, racing continues tomorrow starting on Pioneer Bay at 10am.
From early in the evening, competitors had the opportunity of attending the 74 Islands Tasting Bar and Frozen Cocktails and were entertained by Two Fires - Chisel Tribute Show, the ultimate Jimmy Barnes and Cold Chisel show.
For full results in all divisions, news, photos and more, head to: www.abrw.com.au