The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club has announced what promises to become one of Australia’s most compelling offshore events, a new Category 1 race that will send competitors 890 nautical miles across the Tasman Sea, around the base of the world’s tallest sea stack, and back home to Pittwater.
The inaugural Lord Howe Ocean Race will start on Friday 2 October 2026, the October long weekend, with entries now open.
Lord Howe Ocean Race
Offshore Racing’s New Tasman Challenge
The inaugural Lord Howe Ocean Race starts in October 2026, taking competitors from
Pittwater to Lord Howe Island, around the spectacular Balls Pyramid, and back to
Pittwater in a demanding offshore loop of approximately 890 nautical miles. Organised
by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, the Category 1 event is set to become one of
Australia’s premier blue-water races.
Entry information, Notice of Race, course details and event updates are available via
the official race website.
Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
A course to remember
Departing from Broken Bay at Pittwater, the fleet will track east across the Tasman Sea to Lord Howe Island, round Ball’s Pyramid, and return to the finish at Pittwater in one continuous offshore passage of approximately 890 nautical miles.
Ball’s Pyramid is the world’s tallest sea stack, a steep basalt outcrop rising 562 metres from the Tasman Sea some 11 nautical miles south-east of Lord Howe Island. Formed 6.4 million years ago, it is an uninhabited and dramatic navigational landmark, introducing genuine exposure to Tasman Sea spring weather systems. For the crews who round it, the moment is likely to be one of the most striking of their offshore careers.
Lord Howe Island itself is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed volcanic remnant, about 600 kilometres east of the Australian mainland and forming part of Australia’s Lord Howe Island Marine Park. It is one of the Pacific’s most pristine and protected environments.
Following a proud tradition
The race follows in the wake of the Gosford to Lord Howe Island Yacht Race, a 414-nautical-mile Category 1 event that ran from 1974 until its discontinuation in 2014. The new race honours that legacy while introducing a return-leg format, eliminating the need for post-race delivery and the logistical complexity that came with it.
Competitors start and finish at Pittwater, making it a straightforward proposition for owners and crews regardless of their home port. RPAYC Commodore Rob McClelland said the race completes a clear offshore cycle for the club.
“This race completes a clear offshore cycle for the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. In alternating years, competitors will have two serious Category 1 challenges from Pittwater, either the trans-Tasman race to Auckland or the Lord Howe Island and Ball’s Pyramid loop. The race is logistically straightforward yet strategically and physically demanding. It will require disciplined preparation, offshore watch systems, weather routing and seamanship. Rounding Ball’s Pyramid will be one of the most dramatic navigational moments in Australian offshore racing.”
The Lord Howe Ocean Race will be sailed in even years, alternating with the Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race, which runs in odd years. The biennial schedule was designed so the two events do not clash with any other major Australian sailing fixture.
What’s at stake
A special perpetual trophy is being created for the inaugural race, making the first name engraved on it a permanent part of Australian offshore racing history. The first course record is there to be set.
The race is open to fully crewed monohulls, double-handed monohulls, and fully crewed multihulls subject to compliance. Handicap divisions are expected to include IRC, ORC, and PHS, with the final structure to be confirmed in the Notice of Race.
A post-race celebration is planned at RPAYC once all finishers are in.
Entries and the Notice of Race are available at rpayc.com.au/lord-howe-ocean-race/
