Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The 2014 Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race will mark the 66th time the race has been held. The Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race is considered by the yachting fraternity and the general public to be one of Australia's flagship races, second only to the Sydney to Hobart. The race is an icon of Queensland and the highest profile Easter weekend sporting event.

The yachts will set sail from Moreton Bay on Good-Friday. The race will start at 1100 hours on 18 April. From the start, yachts proceed via a buoy off Redcliffe Point to the North West Channel up to Caloundra and through to Gladstone, a distance of approximately 308 nautical miles.

Depending on weather, the first yachts should be entering Gladstone Harbour around 7.30 on Saturday morning with the bulk of the fleet finishing late Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday morning.

Entrants in the race are vying for the Courier-Mail Cup, one of the oldest perpetual trophies in Australia that has been competed for on a continual basis. The current record for the fastest time to complete the course is held by Skandia in a time of 20 hours, 24 minutes and five seconds, set in 2004. I would like to wish all the competing yachts in this year's race good weather, good luck and God speed.