Sydney-Noumea Yacht Race
p. 87 · Read in the full issue
The French and Australian navies are providing escort vessels to accompany the Sydney-Noumea yacht race craft leaving Sydney on May 7. La Dunkerquoise and HMAS Duchess are covering the course, just over 1,000 nautical miles, expected to take at least nine days. Organised by race director Peter Rysdyk and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, this year's race is enthusiastically supported by the French authorities and sponsored by UTA French Airlines.
By mid-March, 18 Australian yachts and several from Noumea were entered in the race, including stars of the Sydney-Hobart event and French yachtsman Alain Colas all competing for the "Cock of the Pacific".
In Noumea, the Cercle Natique Yacht Club on the Baie des Pecheurs has numerous official receptions organised for the visitors, some of whom are taking eight weeks for the event, including further cruising in the offshore Loyalty Islands to the Isle of Pines and the New Hebrides,