6th Annual Seawind Whitsunday Rally a cruising celebration

13 Seawind Catamarans and 54 participants took part in the 6^th annual Seawind Whitsunday Rally from June 16 to 23. Trade winds of up to 25 knots and warm sunny days allowed for some fantastic sailing and great onshore activities.

Starting off the week with a ‘Meet the Fleet BBQ’ at the Whitsunday Rent a Yacht base in Shute Harbour, the rally continued to Long Island for ‘Hawaiian Night’ which involved some much anticipated Karaoke. From there the fleet ventured onto Whitehaven Beach for the famous ‘Blind Man’s Dinghy Race’, then on to Butterfly Bay, South Molle Island and Cid Harbour finishing the week up on Friday night at Hamilton Island for the presentation dinner. 

Tony Wainwright’s Seawind 1160 ‘Manyana’ traveled from Sydney to the Whitsundays in just 7 days for the event and took line honors in 5 out of 6 races, however it was Seawind 1250 Syndicate boat ‘Reflection’ skippered by Keith and Barbara White that proved to be the overall winner after their big efforts in all aspects of the rally, including a brilliant sand sculpture and many karaoke performances. Second place overall went to Manyana who also performed well in Karaoke and in third place was Seawind 1250 ‘Seawindow’, a charter boat skippered by Alan Hunter and crewed by Derrick Baan, both of which happen to be Seawind owners from the Brisbane area.

The Seawind Committee boat, a Seawind 1160 ‘LadyL II’, was provided by Whitsunday Escape as part of the Ultimate Test Sail competition. North Queensland & Whitsunday Seawind representative Graeme Nolan was the skipper onboard with the competition winners, Christopher Chee, Andrew Farquarson and Graeme & Heidi Scott.

Seawind would like to thank the sponsors; Whitsunday Escape, Whitsunday Rent-a-Yacht, Cumberland Charter Yachts, Australian Boating Supplies, Tempo Spars & Nautilus Marine Insurance for their ongoing support.

The 2013 Seawind Whitsunday Rally will be held from the 15 – 22 June and we invite everyone to get involved either as Seawind boat owners, crew or to charter one the 30+ Seawinds located in area for the week.