Sailors ready to break world record
The event recorded a phenomenal 30 734 sailors participating in the 2014 event.
THE second epic Bart’s Bash will be held in the Durban harbour on Sunday, 20 September.
In January this year, the inaugural Bart’s Bash entered the Guinness World Record books for the largest sailing race in 24 hours around multiple venues.
Bart’s Bash 2, the second sail race, will mark the opening of the 2015/16 sailing season and coincide with the colourful formalities of Point Yacht Club’s annual opening cruise, where all yachts parade past the dignitaries’ boat, donning their caps and saluting all on-board. The boats will then head down to the starting line in preparation of attempting to break the Guinness World Record set in 2014.
The largest international sailing event invites sailing boats of all shapes and sizes to embrace the idea of getting on the water, racing, having fun and celebrating Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson, an Olympic sailor who won gold in the 2008 Olympics and died in a capsizing in 2013. Bart’s Bash was created both as a fundraiser for various sailing academies around the world and to remember the inspirational sailor. The event recorded a phenomenal 30 734 sailors participating in the 2014 event. Over 500 venues hosted the 2014 worldwide race, with a total of 87 228 403 metres being sailed, which equated to sailing twice around the world.
“Entries have already come in at over 320 yacht clubs with 45 countries participating and we are delighted to be one of those clubs. Last year we had 96 boats and over 200 sailors participating, the most we have had on the water in some time. It was a phenomenal start to our busy season and was heartening to see so many sailors dusting off their kit to join in this amazing event,” said commodore for the Point Yacht Club, Craig Millar.
Each race venue sets the course. The only specifications to be part of the Guinness World Record and set by the race organisers is for the course needing to be over 1km and sailed for more than 15 minutes.
