Alan Brierty's RP62 Limit, Winner of the Rolex Trophy Rating Series 2009. Image copyright ROLEX/Daniel Forster.
by Jennifer Crooks
The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, in conjunction with naming rights sponsor, Rolex SA, is pleased to announce that entries are now open for the Rolex Trophy Series with the Notice of Race being released today.
The Rolex Trophy is a significant lead-up event to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, and a prestigious regatta involving three key events - One Design Series, Rating Series and the Passage Series.
Formerly known as the British Trophy, the Rolex Trophy Series was originally introduced to provide a competitive series in the even years between the biennial international teams racing series for the Southern Cross Cup. The Rolex Trophy Series has been run in its current fleet racing format since 1996 with individual yachts racing in IRC, ORCi and one-design rating divisions.
The ORCi rating division was introduced in last year’s Rolex Trophy Series and the Rolex Sydney Hobart as a test of the rule. The ORCi rating proved popular with yacht owners due to its transparency and has since been introduced as a separate division into the CYCA’s Blue Water Pointscore, including this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart.
The Rolex Trophy - One Design Series for one design classes including Farr 40s and Sydney 38s begins on Friday 10 December for the Farr 40 class with the remaining one design classes beginning their two-day regatta on the Saturday. Races for all classes will conclude on Sunday 12 December.
After a three-day break in the Rolex Trophy, the IRC rated classes, (including many large and small entrants for the Rolex Sydney Hobart) will race over four days in the Rolex Trophy Rating Series, with four windward-leeward races scheduled off Sydney Heads and two ocean passage races.
The Rolex Trophy Passage series was introduced in 2008 and is designed for those boats not keen on the traditional format of the windward/leeward races. The Rolex Trophy - Passage Series was created as an alternative IRC and PHS handicap series to allow boats to still be a part of this exciting lead-up event. These passage races are ideal crew training races for the upcoming Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. The Passage Series will run over two days, Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 December, and will consist of two offshore passage races – one race per day.
Enter online here
CLOSING DATES for entry forms:
One Design Series - 1700 hours 8 December 2010
Rating Series – 1700 hours 13 December 2010
Passage Series – 1700 hours 16 December 2010
CYCA
