Weekly Sailing Summary

KEEL BOATS

CYCA Member David Clark and his crew Andrew Smith and Sean Leonard on Fifteen won the 2010 Etchells New South Wales Championship, a three day series on Sydney Harbour and offshore where the 2012 Worlds will be raced. Check out CYCA.com.au for more details.

Geoff Boettcher’s Secret Men’s Business 3.5 from Adelaide headed off spirited

competition from the Melbourne yacht Scarlet Runner to win the IRC division of the Lexus Lincoln Week regatta. Both yachts, newly launched for this season, are of similar size and from the same San Diego-based design firm Reichel/Pugh. PLYC.com.au.

Within two hours of winning the Lincoln Week Regatta, the Reichel Pugh 51 Secret Men’s Business 3.5 left South Australia to sail to Sydney for the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta with the intent to hold its position as leader of the four-part Audi IRC Australian Championship. The regatta starts on Saturday 6 March. CYCA.com.au.

MONO & MULTIHULLS

The inaugural Butlers Business and Law Round Lord Howe Island Yacht Race is scheduled to start from Newcastle Harbour on Mother’s Day, 9 May. Both Mono and multihull yachts, fully crewed or short-handed, are welcome to compete in the 770 nautical mile race. The racing division will sail non-stop, rounding the island then head straight back to Newcastle Harbour. Entrants in the Performance Cruiser Division will enjoy a lay-over on the island awaiting suitable weather for the return leg. NCYC.net.au.

MATCH RACING

Australian Sailing Development Squad member Lucinda Whitty representing the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron won the Marinassess Women’s Match Racing Regatta with crew Nicky Souter on main sheet and Katie Pellew on the bow. CYCA.com.au.

New Zealander Matt Steven, who was recently crowned as Junior OK World Dinghy Champion, won the CentrePort International Youth Match Racing Regatta in the trans – Tasman final against Australian skipper Will Mackenzie. CYCA.com.au.

AROUND THE WORLD

Jessica Watson on Ella's Pink Lady has passed under Cape Agulhas, but being 400 nautical miles south of land she didn’t see it this time. A bright orange half moon and a spectacular sky of stars was enough of a celebration. The sixteen year old’s next milestone, Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia, is 4,200nm away. See JessicaWatson.com.au for more info.

18 FOOTERS

The 2009 Giltinan Championship winning crew of Euan McNicol, Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas mastered the extremely light winds which prevailed during Race 13 of the Australian 18 Footers League Club Championship on Sydney Harbour. Euan McNicol replaced Thurlow Fisher Lawyers’ usual skipper Michael Coxon for the race. With two more races to be sailed in the championship, Gotta Love It 7 holds a one point lead over Thurlow Fisher Lawyers. See the 18footers.com.au site for more details.

SKIING

The 35 metre catamaran Eagle pulled 110 skiers from 120 from a deep start on 30 January at Strahan in Tasmania. This was the most skiers ever behind one boat, but only 99 made the required nautical mile distance to set a world record. The existing record of 100 skiers for one nautical mile still stands but another attempt will be made on 27 March. Ski Record.com.

NEWS BRIEFS

Australian adventurer Don McIntyre is to reenact one of the most extraordinary stories of survival and determination – Captain William Bligh’s 4,000 mile open boat ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ voyage across the Pacific from Tonga to Timor. The reenactment will launch on the same day, 28 April, at the same time and in the same place 221 years after the original mutiny journey. TaliskerBountyBoat.com.

The Ex-HMAS Adelaide Artificial Reef Project is an initiative to create a new dive site on the NSW Central Coast. The decommissioned Australian Navy escort frigate will be towed from Sydney to a position off Avoca Beach, where it is scheduled to be scuttled on Saturday, 27 March. Patrol vessels will ensure that recreational vessels remain outside the 1000 metre exclusion zone prior to and at the time of scuttling, scheduled to take place during the morning. Maritime.NSW.gov.au.

NEW PRODUCTS

A self-activating miniature floatation device, Waterbuoy, lifts a weight of up to 1kg back to the surface… perfect for items such as car keys, mobile phones and cameras. A patented trigger mechanism is designed to activate seconds after submersion and a flashing light is visible from some distance.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Mar 2 – 21 -- True to the Sea is a nautical inspired photographic exhibition featuring Australia’s leading marine photographer, Andrea Francolini, at Henri Lloyd Chatswood Chase, Sydney.

Mar 6 - 7 -- The fourth Whyte, Just and Moore Lawyers Wooden Boat Festival of Geelong will be held at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club. RGYC.com.au.

Mar 6 – 7 -- Rosehill Trailerboat Show, Rosehill Racecourse, Sydney. BIA.org.au.

Mar 6 – 7 -- Audi Sydney Regatta, Middle Harbour Yacht Club MHYC.com.au.

Mar 9 - Long Distance Offshore Sailing Seminar - Getting into Cat1 presented by David James at Royal Brighton Yacht Club at 7pm. ORCV.org.au.

Mar 9 – 21 -- Louis Vuitton Trophy series - Ten countries are expected to compete in event-supplied 85-foot long AC Class yachts from the last two America’s Cups. These yachts require a crew of 17 top sailors. Louis Vuitton Trophy.com.

Mar 11 - 8th Phil Renouf Memorial Lecture at the National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney at 6.15pm -8.30pm. Young men mucking about in old boats will be presented by Warwick Turner, one of the founders of the Sydney Heritage Fleet (SHF) who was instrumental in saving and restoring the Lady Hopetoun back in the 1960s. Turner has had a life-long passion and interest in steam vessels and their restoration, in particular the inland paddle-steamers of previous centuries. More details.

Mar 11 - 14 -- Auckland International Boat Show is being held in conjunction with The Louis Vuitton Trophy series to push up attendance at both events.

Mar 28 – April 4 -- Gladstone Harbour Festival - free entertainment, live music, street parades, fireworks and the spectacle of the yachts arriving after completing the Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht race. GladstoneFestival.com.

April 2 – Good Friday

April 2 - 61st Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race starts. Queensland’s most famous blue water yachting event sets sail in the waters off Brisbane every year on Good Friday. BrisbaneToGladstone.com.au.

April 2 – Hydro Tasmania Three Peaks Race starts at Beauty Point on the Tamar River just north of Launceston and finishes in Hobart on the River Derwent. ThreePeaks.org.au.

April 4 – 11th Solo Tasman Challenge from New Plymouth, New Zealand to Mooloolaba, Australia. Solo-Tasman.co.nz.

April 6 - Information night at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney on diesel engine maintenance with Dave Giddings of Drive Marine Services. All welcome. Please book at CYCA reception on 8292-7800 or at reception@cyca.com.au.

April 12 - Long Distance Offshore Sailing Seminar - Sail Repairs at UK Halsey Loft, Beach Road Sandringham. ORCV.org.au.

April 12 – 18 -- Sail Port Stephens - Feeder races for the event will be RPAYC’s Pittwater to Newcastle on 10 April and NCYC’s Newcastle to Port Stephens race on 11 April. Sail Port Stephens.com.au.

April 27 - Long Distance Offshore Sailing Seminar - Medical and Dentistry with Rosie Colahan at Royal Brighton Yacht Club at 7pm. ORCV.org.au.

Photograph: Dave Clarke, Andrew Smith and Sean Leonard on Fifteen at the Etchells NSW States Championship 2010 courtesy of Kylie Wilson