Manly Harbour delivers glamour conditions on penultimate day of Sail Brisbane

Glamour conditions saw all classes take to the water on the second-to-last day of Sail Brisbane 2024, with sailors as young as seven launching alongside Paris Olympians, all determined to make the most of the full schedule.

Met with easterly winds of between 8-12 knots, sailors gave it their all across the three courses, with many completing their first races of the regatta due to extreme conditions earlier in the week impacting racing.

In the Hobie 16 class, husband and wife duo Peter and Juliet Bates (Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron) had a stellar day on the bay, finishing first in each of their four races.

“We had a good day out there; we finished with four from four wins, which of course we’re happy with,” said Peter.

“It was really good racing too; there were heaps of lead changes and lots of lifts and knocks,” he said.

Juliet agreed, adding, "Even though our fleet is small, we’ve had some really good, tight racing, which has been great; you really can’t ask for more than that.

“We’ve been sailing a Hobie Cat together for 35 years, and we just love it. The class is a real family, and we’re so grateful to have met so many people that mean so much to us now,” she said.

Australian Sailing Team athlete Zac Littlewood (Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club) is leading the ILCA 7 fleet after six total races, noting it was a great day on the water.

“We had a good day out there today; we did four races in our nearly five hours on the water,” said Littlewood.

“We finally had a day without rain and a bit of a breeze, so it was good to be out there racing against the fleet.

“Any fleet is competitive in those conditions, so today was all about sailing my own race and managing what I could,” he said.

The penultimate day of the regatta also saw the Optimist classes make their racing debut.

Racing in the Open class, Harriet Behrens (Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron) took to Manly Harbour on Born To Battle, delivering a strong performance against the 28-boat fleet.

“I had good starts and heaps of fun today; there was a bit of chop, and I really enjoyed surfing downwind,” said Behrens.

“There’s a bunch of sailors in our fleet from New South Wales and Tasmania, so I really enjoyed racing against people I don’t normally. It was fun to mix up the fleet a bit.”

Sail Brisbane will run from 17-21 December at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron.

To find out more or view results, click here.