Photo: SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week 2014. Townville's Mike Steel and his previous Dufour called Boudicea. He is back with a new version of the fast race boat. Credit Emma Kennedy.

The close of entries for this year’s SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week, which is being held from 28^th August to 2^nd September 2014, is just around the corner. 

Racing will be in IRC, Performance Racing, Cruising Spinnaker, Cruising Non Spinnaker, Multihull Racing and Multihull Cruising. The courses will be a mix of Cleveland Bay races, windward/leewards and around the stunning Magnetic Island.  Entries close on Friday 22^nd August.

The overall fleet number has topped 50 with several more boats expected to enter. The IRC and Performance Racing group is going to see some tough competition among the mostly big boats including the Volvo 60 Spirit of Mateship, the Cookson 50 Victoire and the Farr 40 Guilty Pleasures VI. 

Cruising Spinnaker leads the field in the biggest fleet numbers with entries from Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and southern Queensland joining the Townsville and northern Queensland competitors. 

Cruising Non Spinnaker also has its fair share of visitor entries with three New South Wales entries, two of them, Phil Bates’s Psycho and Peter Cox’s Valhalla, coming from Sydney’s Cronulla Sailing Club. 

The exciting Multihull Cruising and Multihull Racing division numbers are still building.  Ken Gibson’s Resolute II is travelling north from New South Wales to join the local Cruising fleet while the fiercely competitive Graeme Etherton with his 32 footer, The Boat, will be up against Rupert King’s Overdrive from Airlie Beach. 

There are several Race Week accommodation deals on offer. To find out more about the deals at Grand Mercure Apartments and at Peppers Blue on Blue Resort, go here. 

To enter online for SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week 2014, go here.