Course Information

The direct course from Leighton Beach to Rottnest Island is 19.7km. Buoys alternating orange and yellow in colour mark the most direct course line at 4km, 7km, and then every kilometre from 10km to 19km.

Red buoys at 10km, 14km, 17km, and 18km mark the North Boundary (also called the Rescue Corridor) to the north of the swim channel. For safety reasons, swimmers must remain south of the red buoys to keep the Rescue Corridor clear. Going north of the red buoys is prohibited.

The 25km ultramarathon course completes an additional 5km loop before joining the 19.7km direct course to Rottnest. From the start line, swimmers proceed to the red-coloured ‘turn buoy 1 & 3’ and make a 90-degree clockwise turn.

Swimmers then head north for 2.62km, staying on the western side of the course and passing two orange buoys on the right. At the pink-coloured ‘turn buoy 2’ swimmers make a 180-degree clockwise turn and return to the south for 2.62km. Upon reaching ‘turn buoy 1 & 3’ a second time, competitors make a 90-degree clockwise turn and join the direct course to Rottnest Island.

Note that ultramarathon swimmers must have a paddler accompany them on the initial 5km loop (even if they are wearing a swimmer tow float) as support boats are not allowed on the 5km loop.

Buoys mark the most direct course line at 9km, 12km, and then every kilometre from 15km to 24km.

Red buoys mark the North Boundary (also called the Rescue Corridor) to the north of the swim channel. For safety reasons, swimmers must remain south of the red buoys to keep the Rescue Corridor clear. Going north of the red buoys is prohibited.

Participants should remain as close to the designated course rhumb line (most direct course) marked by buoys. Vessels straying too far from the course will be advised by race officials to return. Going north of the North Boundary is prohibited.

Port to Pub buoy coordinates available to download in Excel and GPX are at the bottom of this page.

Cut-off times have been set along the course for the safety of event participants. These cut-offs are subject to weather and ocean conditions and MAY CHANGE over the course of the day if conditions deteriorate.

If swimmers miss a cut-off time and are instructed by race officials to exit the water, they must return to their support boats and follow further instructions. In these cases, swimmers are officially disqualified from the event. Swimmers can choose to return to the mainland or continue to Rottnest Island by support boat.

Holding areas

Support boats are required to wait in a holding area prior to their swimmer’s wave start. Boats can choose to wait in the ‘North’ or ‘South’ holding areas:

• ‘North’ is 600m north of the start channel and adjacent the railway pedestrian bridge
• ‘South’ is 600m south of the start channel and adjacent the Coast Port Beach restaurant

Paddlers are to assemble at the buoys 500 metres offshore five minutes prior to wave start at the agreed north or south holding area (for 25km paddlers the north holding area is recommended).

Misplaced (unaccompanied) swimmers

The Official ICON VESSEL will be anchored at the 1500 metre mark. Unaccompanied swimmers must swim to this vessel to tread water and must not proceed any further without their support boat.

If the swimmer has not been joined by their support boat after 20 minutes, the swimmer will be returned to Leighton Beach. The same treatment applies to swimmers that have located their paddler (when applicable) but not their support boat.

Once the support boat has been located, the swimmer may proceed beyond the 1500m marker.

Support boat starts

The support boat should act in accordance with its swimmer’s wave start time and the boat coordinator’s instructions:

• 30 min to start: Support boat to be waiting in one of the two holding areas
• 15 min to start: Boat to proceed to the front of the holding area
• Via VHF Channel 71: The boat coordinator will advise when to move the support boat from the holding area to the start channel; be sure to avoid mixing with previous start wave support boats leaving the start channel
• Meeting your swimmer: Support boats must meet their swimmer after the swimmer passes the 1000m green-coloured buoys; boats must not approach their swimmer within 1000 metres of shore

Race officials patrol the holding areas and start channel to ensure that support boats maintain proper positioning.

No changeovers at the start

No duo or team swimmer changeovers may take place in the first 1000m of the event for safety reasons. If a swimmer is in distress and requires assistance before the 1000m buoys Fremantle Surf Life Saving will assist and the swimmer’s support boat will be informed via radio.

FINISH CHANNEL BUOYS

18km [23km] gate at Philip Rock

A large, red-coloured buoy 300 metres north of Philip Rock marks the North Boundary; it is critical that swimmers pass through the gate formed by this red buoy and Philip Rock in order to stay away from the ferry channel. The orange-coloured buoy located within the gate marks the rhumb line at 18km. The cut-off time for this location is 4:10pm.

18.2km, 18.4km, 18.6km, 18.8km buoys

After passing the 18km buoy, pink-coloured buoys mark the course every 200 metres until reaching the 19km gate.

19km [24km] gate

Two yellow-coloured buoys marked ‘19km/24km [No Boats]’ form a gate for swimmers to pass

through. At this point, all swimmers of duos and teams are invited to enter the water and proceed together to the finish line. Upon reaching this gate, support boats MUST leave their swimmer/s and peel off to either the north or south of the finish channel. Paddlers (if applicable) should continue with their swimmer/s. The cut-off time for this location is 4:35pm.

19.1km and 19.2km buoys

Swimmers continue through two sets of pink-coloured buoys forming gates at 19.1km and 19.2km.

Final 400m swim channel

Swimmers pass through blue-coloured buoys marked ‘Gage Roads’ that form a gate marking 400 metres to the finish line. A chequered buoy in the middle of the finish channel can be used as a target to guide swimmers. Paddlers for duos and teams must exit the course at this gate; paddlers accompanying ultramarathon and solo swimmers should continue with their swimmers to shore.

Swimmers proceed between the marked float lines for the final 400 metres to shore, taking care through the mooring area and Thomson Bay. Once swimmers reach the shore, they exit the water and cross under the finish line arch on the beach.

Paddlers at the finish

After their swimmer/s have finished, paddlers should immediately return their craft to their support boat or drag their craft to a safe spot far up the beach for collection at a later time.

Support crew at the finish

Support crew wishing to land on Rottnest should be dropped off by their support boat at the fuel jetty.

Support boats at the finish

The swim course can become heavily congested between 18km and 19km. For this reason, support boats may be asked by event officials to leave their swimmer/s at the 18km buoy. Support boats that proceed past 18km are encouraged to navigate to the boundaries of the swim course until 19km at which time they must exit the course.

Once their swimmer/s has completed the event, the support boat can choose to moor or return to the mainland.

[EXCEL] DOWNLOAD Port to Pub buoy coordinates

[GPX] RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD Port to Pub buoy coordinates
Instructions: Right click the above link, select “Save link as” and save to computer
Note: To open a GPX file, you can use dedicated mapping software like Google Earth, Garmin Basecamp, Gaia GPS, or online platforms like GPS Visualizer, where you can import the GPX file to view and analyse GPS data stored within it; most navigation apps on smartphones can also open GPX files directly.