AUSTRALIAN YACHTING AWARDS
The winners of the 2010 Australian Yachting Awards have been announced. James Spithill was named Male Sailor of the Year after becoming the first Australian since John Bertrand in 1983 to helm an America’s Cup winning boat.
Australian Women’s Match Racing Team skipper Nicky Souter and her crew Rayshele Martin, Nina Curtis, Lucinda Whitty, Kat Stroinovsky and Amanda Scrivenor were named Female Sailor of the Year following their victory at the 2009 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship in Sweden.
The President’s Award went to Glenn Ashby for his continual success and tireless work both on and off the water which has seen him win an Olympic medal, multiple World Championships and in 2010 he coached the BMW Oracle crew to victory in the 33rd America’s Cup.
The OAMPS Insurance Brokers Youth Sailor of the Year award was presented to solo sailor Jessica Watson following her successful circumnavigation of the world on her yacht Ella’s Pink Lady. www.yachting.org.au
18 FOOTERS
Simon Nearn, Peter Nicholson and Pedro Vezone, sailing together for the first time, brought De’Longhi home an easy winner of the Life Members Trophy 18ft Skiffs race on Sydney Harbour. <a href="http://www.18footers.com.au/"><font color="#800080">www.18footers.com.au</font></a>
KEEL BOATS
Lisa and Martin Hill’s Estate Master won the 2010 Peppers Anchorage Farr 40 regatta at Port Stephens. Six teams competed with the Newcastle team from Phil Arnall’s Anger Management making their class-racing debut. www.farr40.asn.au
Racing on Sydney Harbour was abandoned on Saturday 16 October due to the peak wind gusts averaging between 35-45 knots and not being expected to abate until late in the afternoon.
Lisa Beecham, a GP from the Southport Yacht, Club and Dave Pullin, a shipwright, are one of seven crews who have expressed interest in entering the Melbourne to Osaka Race in 2013. Beecham and Pullin are both experienced ocean racers but have not had shorthanded experience yet. They both crewed in the Lake Eyre Yacht Club race in 2010 and were in the first-ever yacht race and on the first monohull to ever fly a kite on the Birsdsville Track. They sailed a $300 470 which was trailered over a 4,600km round trip. www.orcv.org.au
MATCH RACING
The ISAF Match Racing World Championship, which is in its 22nd year and is now known as the World Match Racing Tour, has committed its future to monohull match racing and unveiled its future strategy which has been designed to ensure the growth and sustainability of the discipline. With the America’s Cup holders moving to catamaran racing, a void has been left in the historic framework of match racing. In order to address the void and create an effective strategy World Match Racing Tour has undergone a thorough review process. www.wmrt.com
AROUND THE WORLD
Five solo sailors on 60ft Eco 60 yachts started the Velux 5 Oceans race around the world on 17 October from La Rochelle, France. Australian yachtsman Garry Golding will not compete in the 2010/11 edition of the race. Golding had not arrived in La Rochelle in time and had not sailed a qualification passage. www.velux5oceans.com
MULTIHULLS
British skipper Paul Campbell-James and his crew on board The Wave, Muscat have won the final event of the Extreme Sailing Series 2010 in Almeria, securing overall victory, beating pre-season favourites Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Yann Guichard). Paul Campbell paid tribute to his crew that included Nick Hutton, Alastair Richardson and Khamis Alanbouri, who becomes the first Omani sailor in the country’s history to stand on the podium of a top international sailing event. www.extremesailingseries.com
SAFETY
The following need to wear lifejackets on a boat in NSW from 1 November:
1. Children less than 12 years of age when in a vessel less than 4.8m in length or
when in an open area of a vessel less than eight metres in length that is underway.
2. Occupants of a vessel less than 4.8m in length when the vessel is being operated at night, on open (ocean) waters, on alpine lakes, when boating alone or as a tender more than 400m from shore.
3. When the skipper judges that the situation is one of heightened risk at any time, and in any type or length of vessel.
4. By all persons being towed (including waterskiing, wakeboarding, parasailing and all towable devices)
Currently, it is compulsory to wear a lifejacket when crossing a coastal bar. For details on all the new regulations see www.maritime.nsw.gov.au
NEWS BRIEFS
Pontoon installation for the first stage of Port of Airlie’s Marina has begun. A range of 15-25m berths will be installed over the next few weeks, shaping the marina which is due to become operational by the end of the year. The pontoons, made of concrete with a 500mm freeboard, are manufactured by Pacific Pontoon and Pier and feature a newly-designed rounded pile bracket end with continuous fendering and high-density multi-roller pile rings. The new design also has soft edges for ease of berthing for skippers.
Major earthworks are well underway on the $110 million Townsville Marine Precinct, which will provide a safer and cleaner home for Townsville's commercial fishing fleet, marine fabrication and repair industries, marine research facilities and other marine operators. With 4000 tonnes of fill arriving every day, the precinct is on track to be completed by late 2011. www.marineqld.com.au
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Nov 7 -- Try Sailing Day NSW - Sailing and yacht clubs around NSW devote their club, boats and instructors to give people of all ages, with little or no experience a chance to experience the joys of sailing for free. www.bia.org.au
Nov 13-14 -- The Copper Cove Marina Festival in South Australia will combine the best products and produce from local boating, seafood and wine suppliers. www.coppercove.com.au/marina_festival
Dec 12-18 -- Asia Pacific Regatta, part of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, is a grade one Olympic Class regatta. www.sailmelbourne.com.au/
Photograph: James Spithill on the left at prize giving of the America’s Cup
