Australia's best-known professional yacht regatta manager, Denis Thompson, has been appointed Race Director for the inaugural Coffs to Paradise and Sail Paradise events, which will be staged by the Gold Coast's Southport Yacht Club in January.
Thompson is well recognised as Race Director for Australia's premier keelboat regatta, Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, plus Audi Geelong Week and a host of other major regattas along Australia's east coast.
The Coffs to Paradise race and Sail Paradise will be the culmination of a new east coast offshore circuit that starts with the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club's Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Race on January 2. The Coffs to Paradise race will begin on January 7 while Sail Paradise is scheduled from January 10-14.
It is expected that many of the yachts contesting the 29th Pittwater to Coffs Race will continue north and complete the entire circuit.
While the Pittwater to Coffs and Coffs to Paradise races will cater for offshore monohulls, Sail Paradise will offer additional divisions for multihulls and sport boats.
Trophies will be awarded to placegetters in each individual event and there will be overall championship prizes for the top yachts doing the Pittwater – Coffs – Paradise – Sail Paradise circuit.
The timing of Sail Paradise also sees it as an ideal curtain raiser for the highly popular Surf to City race from Southport to Brisbane, which will be staged a week later, on January 16.
Already backed by support from Gold Coast City Council and Gold Coast Tourism, the organisers at the northern end of this circuit are planning a social agenda that will match the sailing. As well as there being considerable activity scheduled for the club's headquarters at Main Beach, a fun day for competitors, their families and friends is being set for Southport Yacht Club's three-acre facility on nearby South Stradbroke Island during Sail Paradise. Other holiday activities for families on the Gold Coast can include the many theme parks, golf courses and trips to the magnificent hills of the hinterland, in particular Mt Tamborine.
The Notice of Race and entry form for Coffs to Paradise and Sail Paradise can be found at www.southportyachtclub.com.au
