It was windy, wild and wonderful in the Whitsundays for Hamilton Island Race Week 2026 — and a particularly successful week for the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club.

Strong south-east trade winds dominated much of the regatta, with 20-plus knots, stronger gusts and bumpy seas providing fast, physical and demanding racing. Boats, equipment and crews were tested throughout the week before somewhat lighter conditions arrived for the final day.

RPAYC had a substantial presence, with 17 Club yachts competing across the Rating, Super40, Hamilton Island, Multihull and Non-Spinnaker fleets.

And they produced some outstanding results.

Leading the way were WILD OATS X and BLACK SPARROW, which between them secured three overall series victories. SEEKING ALPHA added a second overall and ROAMANCE a third, giving RPAYC five overall podium results across the various divisions and rating systems.

WILD OATS X wins Rating Division 1

Sandy Oatley’s WILD OATS X emerged victorious from a remarkably close Rating Division 1 IRC contest.

After seven races, WILD OATS X finished on 12 points, just one ahead of FIRST LIGHT and three ahead of HIGHLY SPRUNG.

Her series included five race podiums — wins in Races 3, 4 and 7, a 2nd in Race 5 and 3rd in Race 6. With her Race 2 retirement discarded, three victories from six counting races were enough to secure the Rating Division 1 title.

BLACK SPARROW does the double

Peter Higgins’ BLACK SPARROW produced another of the standout performances of Race Week, winning the competitive Super40 fleet under both SFR and ORC AP.

Under SFR, BLACK SPARROW won the series on 12 points with an extraordinary seven podium finishes from eight races — three wins, three seconds and a third.

She was even more consistent under ORC AP, winning on 11 points. Her seven counting races comprised three firsts and four seconds, meaning she did not count a result worse than second throughout the series.

BLACK SPARROW also finished 5th overall under IRC, including a 2nd in Race 3.

Winning two Super40 series under different rating systems was an exceptional result for Higgins and his crew.

SEEKING ALPHA takes second

David Hamilton’s SEEKING ALPHA (MHYC/RPAYC) finished an excellent 2nd overall in Rating Division 2 IRC.

Few boats demonstrated greater consistency. SEEKING ALPHA finished on the podium in six of seven races, recording three seconds and three thirds.

Her only result outside the top three was a 7th in the final race, which became her discard. Remarkably, every race counting towards her final series score was therefore either a second or a third.

ROAMANCE on the Multihull podium

Gordon Beath’s ROAMANCE completed RPAYC’s overall podium results with 3rd in Multihull Racing EHC.

It was exceptionally close at the top. ROAMANCE finished on 22 points, just one point behind CUT SNAKE and MINT.

Her EHC series included a win in Race 3 and 3rd places in Races 2 and 7.

ROAMANCE also raced under OMR, finishing 6th overall and recording two further 3rd places. Across the two handicap systems, Gordon and his team finished the week with an overall podium, a race victory and five individual race podium results.