Weekly Sailing Summary

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Youth Sailing Academy graduate Evan Walker won the Hardys Australian Match Racing Championship sailed on Hobart’s River Derwent in blustery westerly winds with chilly mountain gusts of up to 33 knots. Walker and his crew of Olivia Price, Jack Hubbard and Amanda Scrivenor defeated veteran Tasmanian yachtsman Nick Rogers in the final. www.yachting.org.au

The New Zealand Sailing Team crew skippered by Stephanie Hazard won the Australian women’s match racing championship on Hobart’s River Derwent. Hazard, sailing with Susannah Pyatt, Nichola Trudgen and Jenna Hansen, defeated Olivia Price and her crew from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in the final. www.ryct.org.au

The Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai is a 14-day regatta sailed close to the shore in waters between the fan-shaped man-made islands of the Palm Jumeirah and the southern entrance to Dubai Creek. Only the top four teams will go through to the semi-finals which start on Friday 26 November. www.louisvuittontrophy.com

Robert Hanna's Shogun was the toast of the big boats after giving Living Doll a real fright in the battle for line honours in the Lipton Cup Regatta, hosted by the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria. Shogun led the fleet during the mid stages of the race but was finally worn down by Living Doll by a margin of just two minutes. www.rycv.yachting.org.au

Gusto pursued the other ten boats in the fleet of the Melbourne Latitude Series from Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron to Royal Brighton Yacht Club. Deliverance’s half-hour head start on the next boat, Déjà vu, and nearly three hours on the last boat, Gusto, was not enough to stop all the boats from passing them. Chikara Outlaw won the event. www.orcv.org.au

Entries closed on 22 November for the SSORC to be hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club on 27-28 November. The event is the first in the series of lead-up regattas for those yachts bound for the Rolex Sydney-Hobart or Pittwater to Coffs Series. www.ssorc.mhyc.com.au/

A cash prize pool totalling $10,000 will be on offer at Sail Paradise, Southport Yacht Club’s offshore regatta scheduled for January 10-15. All competing sailboats will be in the running to win a $1000 daily cash draw, and at the trophy presentation on the evening of 15 January three major prizes of $3000, $2000 and $1000 will be drawn. www.sailparadise.com.au

NSW Maritime and the Boating Industry Association presented 200 lifejackets to the Marine Teachers Association of NSW and another 200 to Yachting NSW boating instructors. www.maritime.nsw.gov.au

UltimateBerths.com has launched as the world’s ultimate portal for connecting people who'd like to rent, buy or sell a marina berth or mooring.

Dec 12-18 -- Asia Pacific Regatta, part of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, is a grade one Olympic Class regatta. www.sailmelbourne.com.au/

Dec 14 -- CYCA's SOLAS Big Boat Challenge - the biggest yachts in Australia race on Sydney Harbour in a countdown to the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. eBay auctions a number of places aboard competing boats with the proceeds raised going to the SOLAS Trusts. The opportunity to fire the 19th century replica cannon to start the race will also be auctioned on eBay at the end of November. www.cyca.com.au

Dec 26 -- Rolex Sydney Hobart starts on Sydney Harbour at 1.00pm on Boxing Day. Charter boats of all shapes and sizes and a variety of costs are available to watch the start of this iconic event. http://rolexsydneyhobart.com

Dec 31 -- New Year’s Eve - Spectacular fireworks are fired off the Sydney Harbour Bridge, barges, and city skyscrapers at 9.00pm and midnight. Charter vessels participate in a themed parade following the 9.00pm fireworks. A special area is set aside for charter vessels in the Harbour. www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nye/