Yachting News
Race Week 2025 on the Gold Coast has seen the finish of the 39th Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race, and start of our 2nd GCCM Gold Coast Mackay Yacht Race!
All eyes have turned north for Mackay, our 520-nautical-mile offshore challenge proudly organised by Southport Yacht Club and supported by fantastic sponsors. The 2025 edition saw a significant jump in participation, with 34 yachts entered, and 29 yachts hitting the start line, up from 18 in its inaugural year. This year, the start line commentary team did a fantastic job with live crosses between several drones, racing participants, a chase boat and commentary team on a member’s Riviera, as well as cameras in the sky thanks to Gold Coast Helitours hosting our photographer and videographer. A huge team effort to capture and cover this growing event. Race updates were posted to the event website and social pages every 4 hours (despite some challenging IT issues), and the Race Village at Mackay Marina really threw a party, with some 3000 locals waiting for the boats on Sunday, lvie entertainment daily, overnight BBQs for arriving crew, and a celebratory atmosphere that lasted well after the final trophy presentation on Monday night.
For all the photos and videos from this event, head to the Facebook page here or the website media gallery!
To revisit this year’s race and track the fleet’s journey, visit: goldcoastmackay.com/livetracker
And check out this photo of Antipodes securing 3rd place in Line Honours, just 1 minute and 1 second ahead of V5, at the Mackay finish line:
Southport Yacht Club’s entry in the 2025 Noakes Sydney to Gold Coast Yacht Race, the yacht Esprit crossed the finish line off Main Beach at 04:42:48 on Tuesday 19 July 2025, just behind Wild Rose with another SYC Member Kevin Lloyd-Thomas aboard.
The race started in a fresh NE wind which quickly increased to 25-30kn as the fleet passed North Head. The wind continued on the nose until Esprit was abeam Port Stephens, north of Newcastle. As the wind started to swing the crew were excited in anticipation of the Westerly wind which had been forecast at the CYCA weather briefing pre-race. Unfortunately, the Westerly never materialised, until that is we were trying to head WNW as we headed to the finish line off Main Beach from Coolangatta. – great! It was an exciting race from start to finish.
The race started on a rather short start line just off Rose Bay in Sydney with 61 yachts of various sizes and boat speeds from a small Currawong 30 through to the 100 foot Wild Thing whose rule for the start appeared to be ‘might is right’. We had him on starboard but do you think I was going to call him? Not a chance, we tacked away. From Port Stephens, we raised our Jib Top and did not pull it down until we had cleared Tweed Heads and needed to point towards the finish line when we replaced it with light No1. Esprit’s finish time was 2 days, 15 hours and 07 minutes. We were 46th over the line, 6th in Division and 11th out of 33 in Corinthian PHS, a Division reserved only for amateur sailors, no paid crew. All in all, Esprit’s result in this iconic race was pretty impressive especially considering that the crew had not been able to sail the yacht for over 7 months and the new mast only went in a week ahead of the race. We on Esprit would like to thank the Southport Yacht Club for all of your support and for being the ‘finishing Yacht club’. The arrival in Southport was brilliant and it was a thrill for the crew to see the General Manager, Mr Brett James at out berth to welcome us in at 05:30 in the morning! The Noakes Sydney to Gold Coast Yacht Race is a challenging but thoroughly enjoyable race up the coast of northern NSW and back into Queensland. During the race, the course passes some of the most spectacular coastline in Australia including Port Stephens. Forster, Pt Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Yamba, Balina, Byron Bay and my personal favourite; ‘Hat Head!’ I would personally recommend it to our SYC Offshore Fleet. It is a perfect ‘primer’ for racing further north in the Gold Coast to Mackay Yacht Race.
Also racing was Vice Commodore Wayne Kirby on Denali and David Howes, skipper of Awen. On official duties representing the club was Commodore Glenn Burrell and PR & Partnerships Adrian Bold.
UPCOMING SYC SPECIAL EVENTS
CORAL SEA BLUE WATER POINTSCORE SERIES
Southport Yacht Club has launched a blue water pointscore, combining four of our special events into an overall annual series! Earning a fantastic perpetual trophy, the Coral Sea Pointscore Series Winner will be determined by the lowest IRC points score result over the series, with scores accumulated over the four races with one race drop. The four races included in the 2025/2026 season are:
Flat Rock Yacht Race, 66nm, – May 24, 2025 GCCM Gold Coast Mackay Yacht Race, 520nm, Aug 1 2025 Cook Island yacht Race, 35nm, – Nov 2, 2025 Julian Rocks Yacht Race, 85nm, – Mar 14 2026
SYC ACADEMY
Sailing at Oxenford – by Ashlea Kernahan
We’ve wrapped up another fantastic School Holiday Sailing Program, with over 120 kids across the two weeks enjoying time on the water, learning new skills, and making friends. The second week brought warm sunny days with light to moderate breezes – perfect conditions to build confidence and keep the fun going. Thank you to our incredible team of instructors for creating such a welcoming and supportive environment, and to all the parents for getting their sailors involved these holidays. We loved seeing so many smiling faces each day.
This Sunday, our July Adult Learn to Sail course continued, with participants progressing well and starting to master the basics of sailing with confidence.
Sailor of the Week – Jerome Bae (Teens)
This week, we’re celebrating Jerome Bae from our Teens group! Jerome has shown excellent focus and determination on the water these holidays, tackling every challenge with a positive attitude. Well done, Jerome!
Upcoming Programs
Adult Learn to Sail – August Intake
Starts Sunday, August 3
Perfect for beginners — 3 Sundays, no experience needed.
Register here: https://www.oxenfordwatersportscentre.com.au/events/273241
Term 3 Kids & Teens Learn to Sail
Starting this weekend – limited spots remaining.
Book Now: https://southportyachtclub.com.au/sailing/sailing-academy/
RACING RESULTS 2025/2026
SYC Special Events:
Club Division Results:
- Offshore Division Results
- Thursday Twilight Offshore Series Results
- Thursday Twilight Results
- Inshore Division Results
- Off the Beach Catamarans Division
- Off the Beach Dinghies Results