Parmelia Race

The Parmelia Race, Plymouth to Perth, 1979 was a feature event of the Western Australian 150th Anniversary Celebrations, 1979. Competitors were invited to recreate the 1829 voyage of the merchant barque Parmelia bringing the first British settlers to the Swan River Colony. The race was organised by the Royal Perth Yacht Club of Western Australia and sponsored by The Parmelia Hilton International, Perth

The course was Plymouth, England - Cape Town, South Africa - Fremantle, Western Australia, a distance of 10,548 nautical miles by the shortest route; the Great-circle distance. In the North Atlantic the conditions were variable. Yachts expect fresh and mainly adverse winds on leaving the English Channel before skirting around the calms of the "North Atlantic High". The North-East Trade Winds follow, fresh and favourable winds right down to the "Doldrums", where there are more calms indispersed with tropical storms. Into the South Atlantic the fleet faced the challenge of the adverse South-East Trades before having to negotiate the "South Atlantic High" and then finding fresh Westerlies which pushed the fleet towards Cape Town. Leg 2 was to present tricky conditions on departure from Cape Town prior to entering fresh and favorable Westerlies. Yachts following the "Great Circle" had to venture down to 45° South latitude, into the very vigorous "Roaring Forties". And the final approaches to Fremantle could also be tricky.

In an endeavour to shorten the arrival period in Fremantle two new formats were introduced to the world of long-distance ocean racing. The formats proved to be popular and more than 50 entries were received. However, only 27 started in Plymouth and another joined the fleet in Cape Town for Leg 2. At the time it was claimed to be the biggest fleet to contest an "inter-ocean" yacht race; i.e. a race which traverses more than one ocean.

Ocean racing yachts rating between 20 and 70 feet when measured under the International Offshore Rule were invited to enter, and each leg of the race was run as a "pursuit" race. This necessitated "Fixed Handicaps" using the Time-on-Distance handicapping system. A "Handicap Distance" was allotted to each leg which, taking into consideration the wind systems to be encountered, reflected the most likely distance to be sailed by the "average" yacht. The handicaps for each leg then decided each yacht's starting date. Then, after minor changes to the finishing times, the "Corrected Finishing Times" decided the order of placings in each leg. The Overall placings were decided by the combined "Corrected Times" of both legs.

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