Event History

This year marks the 18th running of the Annual Meridien Airlie Beach Race Week in the Whitsundays.

An event that has grown each year from humble beginnings. An idea of the founder of the Hog's Breath Cafe to help promote the opening of the first Hog's Breath Cafe in Australia. Founder of the Cafe chain Don Algie, had arrived in the Whitsundays aboard his classic 55' sloop Storm in 1987 looking for a site to start his brainchild Hog's Breath Cafe after spending 4 years in Florida. His first taste of big boat regattas was the Hamilton Island Race Week in Easter of 1988 where Storm performed well enough in Cruising division for Don to look at staging a regatta on the mainland at Airlie Beach.

A year later, after discussions with the Whitsunday Sailing Club and the upcoming opening of the first Hog's Breath Cafe in Australia, plans were put in place to sponsor a major regatta on the mainland. The regatta was to include a mixture of bay racing around the buoys and long distance races around the adjacent islands of the area over a period of a week and to tie the regatta into the famous Fun Race.

So the event did not clash with Hamilton Island Race Week and to also stage the event at the peak sailing period of the year, the Whitsunday Sailing Club and Don decided to hold the first regatta in the lead up to the famous Fun Race in September in 1990. This event was to be called the Hog's Breath Cruising Classic to cater for the influx of coastal cruising yachts which visit the Whitsundays at that time of the year.

The success and growth of the regatta in the early years saw a few changes in the regatta scene. The event moved from a Cruising Classic to a full on Race Week. Hamilton Island then moved their regatta from Easter to the same time as Hog's Breath Race Week. This necessitated a move by the Sailing Club and Hog's Breath to hold the regatta prior to the new Hamilton Island dates.

Later this was to change so the Fun Race and Hog's Breath Race Week were held in conjunction with each other. Fun Race was then moved back to coincide with school holidays and Hog's Breath Race Week became a stand-alone regatta prior to Hamilton Island.

Then, out of the blue, Hayman Island started a race week organised by Rob Mundle that directly clashed with Hog's Breath Race Week. Once again the Hog's Breath regatta was changed and held after Hamilton Island and now there were 3 major regattas in the Whitsundays. The timing of the Hog's regatta after the other two turned out to be a disaster for the Hog's Breath supporters.

Fortunately for the Hog's Breath supporters the Hayman Big Boat Regatta folded and Hog's Breath Race Week was again held prior to the major event, Hamilton Island Race Week.

At that time Sydney Yachts had released the Sydney 38, a new one-design sailing boat that was to become an instant success. Don Algie and Miles Wood (marketing manager for Hog's Breath Cafe), struck up a deal to promote and stage the Australian Sydney 38 championships for the next 3 years. That event introduced a lot of owners to the benefits of sailing in the protected waters of Pioneer Bay off Airlie Beach.

In the year 2000 the regatta attracted over 70 entries, in 2001 and 2002 there were in excess of 100 entries. The 14th staging of the event in 2003 saw Multihulls not sailing for the first time in many years. It was decided to concentrate the efforts of the event solely towards monohull yachts. Despite this the number of entries still topped 80.

2003 also saw a shift towards professional event management and with help of the huge band of Volunteers from Whitsunday Sailing Club, 2003 was one of the best HBRWâ€™s ever (despite the lighter winds experienced).

The fleet has been accommodated at the Abel Point Marina for many years. 2003 saw the completion of Stage 1 of the new marina complex. This is a huge and modern facility that ABRW is proud to offer to competitors. In previous years, there were problems for the larger yachts during low tides. This is no longer an issue with the world-class facilities at Meridien Marinas Abel Point. With further extensions underway for this year with a completely new dedicated arm for ABRW competitors.

The social aspect of ABRW has always been an attraction. 2003 saw the introduction of a Competitors Marquee at Meridien Marinas Abel Point, allowing the yachties an hour or two of lie telling over a cool refreshment, prior to hitting the township for dinner.

One of the main reasons for the success of the Race Week at Airlie Beach is the low cost for teams to race for a week compared to the costs for owners at Hayman Island and Hamilton Island. There is also a more diverse social life attached to racing on the mainland and that pleases the crews to no end. They are the ones who pass the word around about the fun of racing in Airlie Beach.

Race Week has been a part of Airlie Beach now for 17 years and the best is yet to come. Plans are in place for the 2007 Race Week with new ideas for keeping the owners, skippers and their crews happy and entertained.


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	History of Meridien Airlie Beach Race Week
	This year marks the 18th running of the Annual Meridien Airlie Beach Race Week in the Whitsundays. An event that has grown each year from humble beginnings. An idea of the founder of the Hog's Breath Cafe to help promote the opening of the first Hog's Breath Cafe in Australia. Founder of the Cafe chain Don Algie, had arrived in the Whitsundays aboard his classic 55' sloop Storm in 1987 looking for a site to start his brainchild Hog's Breath Cafe after spending 4 years in Florida. His first taste of big boat regattas was the Hamilton Island Race Week in Easter of 1988 where Storm performed well enough in Cruising division for Don to look at staging a regatta on the mainland at Airlie Beach. A year later, after discussions with the Whitsunday Sailing Club and the upcoming opening of the first Hog's Breath Cafe in Australia, plans were put in place to sponsor a major regatta on the mainland. The regatta was to include a mixture of bay racing around the buoys and long distance races around the adjacent islands of the area over a period of a week and to tie the regatta into the famous Fun Race. So the event did not clash with Hamilton Island Race Week and to also stage the event at the peak sailing period of the year, the Whitsunday Sailing Club and Don decided to hold the first regatta in the lead up to the famous Fun Race in September in 1990. This event was to be called the Hog's Breath Cruising Classic to cater for the influx of coastal cruising yachts which visit the Whitsundays at that time of the year. The success and growth of the regatta in the early years saw a few changes in the regatta scene. The event moved from a Cruising Classic to a full on Race Week. Hamilton Island then moved their regatta from Easter to the same time as Hog's Breath Race Week. This necessitated a move by the Sailing Club and Hog's Breath to hold the regatta prior to the new Hamilton Island dates. Later this was to change so the Fun Race and Hog's Breath Race Week were held in conjunction with each other. Fun Race was then moved back to coincide with school holidays and Hog's Breath Race Week became a stand-alone regatta prior to Hamilton Island. Then, out of the blue, Hayman Island started a race week organised by Rob Mundle that directly clashed with Hog's Breath Race Week. Once again the Hog's Breath regatta was changed and held after Hamilton Island and now there were 3 major regattas in the Whitsundays. The timing of the Hog's regatta after the other two turned out to be a disaster for the Hog's Breath supporters. Fortunately for the Hog's Breath supporters the Hayman Big Boat Regatta folded and Hog's Breath Race Week was again held prior to the major event, Hamilton Island Race Week. At that time Sydney Yachts had released the Sydney 38, a new one-design sailing boat that was to become an instant success. Don Algie and Miles Wood (marketing manager for Hog's Breath Cafe), struck up a deal to promote and stage the Australian Sydney 38 championships for the next 3 years. That event introduced a lot of owners to the benefits of sailing in the protected waters of Pioneer Bay off Airlie Beach. In the year 2000 the regatta attracted over 70 entries, in 2001 and 2002 there were in excess of 100 entries. The 14th staging of the event in 2003 saw Multihulls not sailing for the first time in many years. It was decided to concentrate the efforts of the event solely towards monohull yachts. Despite this the number of entries still topped 80. 2003 also saw a shift towards professional event management and with help of the huge band of Volunteers from Whitsunday Sailing Club, 2003 was one of the best HBRWâ€™s ever (despite the lighter winds experienced). The fleet has been accommodated at the Abel Point Marina for many years. 2003 saw the completion of Stage 1 of the new marina complex. This is a huge and modern facility that ABRW is proud to offer to competitors. In previous years, there were problems for the larger yachts during low tides. This is no longer an issue with the world-class facilities at Meridien Marinas Abel Point. With further extensions underway for this year with a completely new dedicated arm for ABRW competitors. The social aspect of ABRW has always been an attraction. 2003 saw the introduction of a Competitors Marquee at Meridien Marinas Abel Point, allowing the yachties an hour or two of lie telling over a cool refreshment, prior to hitting the township for dinner. One of the main reasons for the success of the Race Week at Airlie Beach is the low cost for teams to race for a week compared to the costs for owners at Hayman Island and Hamilton Island. There is also a more diverse social life attached to racing on the mainland and that pleases the crews to no end. They are the ones who pass the word around about the fun of racing in Airlie Beach. Race Week has been a part of Airlie Beach now for 17 years and the best is yet to come. Plans are in place for the 2007 Race Week with new ideas for keeping the owners, skippers and their crews happy and entertained.

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