Back 2 Black and Wailea reign supreme in Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship

Sean Langman’s Back 2 Black won all three races of the 2025 Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship (SSORC) to claim Division 1 after a weekend of racing, while Neil Padden’s  Beneteau First 40.7 won Division 2, due to consistent results.

Back 2 Black’s clean sheet in the Middle Harbour Yacht Club hosted event, has been a morale booster, as Josh Alexander said after winning both offshore windward/leeward races.

“It was a good day again. The crew work was pretty good in the lead up and yes, it has given us a boost,” Alexander said.

“The boat has performed really well, but it’s still a learning curve for the crew. Sean bought the yacht in Europe and her first racing was at the Admirals Cup. This (the SSORC) is our first Australian regatta,” explained Alexander. “It’s a quick little boat and planes well downwind.”

Both races today consisted of two upwind and two downwind legs, Alexander saying, “It was lumpy outside the Heads, as it usually is. We sailed in a stable 14 to-16 knots though.”  Next up for Back 2 Black is the Cabbage Tree Island Race and then the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart.

Bob Cox may have relinquished the title he’s won for the past four years with Nine Dragons, his DK46, but second place in Division 1 is nothing to sneeze at and shows how consistently well Cox sails, no matter the competition, which ramped up a couple of notches this year, with the likes of Back 2 Black, Victoire and others.  

Cox scored a pair of second places on the windward/leewards to secure second from Darryl Hodgkinson’s Carkeek 40, Victoire, which finished just one point in arrears of Nine Dragons. Hodgkinson, who won the 2013 Sydney Hobart with a previous Victoire, sealed third place overall by finishing third in yesterday’s Lion Island Race.

“We had an exceptional crew on a miraculous 20-year-old IRC boat,” Cox said ashore this afternoon. “The DK is a vintage boat, but a fantastic boat.”

On the contrast in weather over the two days, Cox said, “It was windy and bumpy on first day and you can’t top those planing boats on a reaching course. We came good in the windward/leewards and had some great racing with the top notch boats. Sailing the angles got us ahead of the others.

“Yesterday I fell over on my back and couldn’t get up – so a couple of the crew came back and picked me up! I have a little problem with my stability in a seaway, but the crew were very good, I’m proud of them.”

At 80, with his health not the best it could be, Cox never gives up. He’s a great role model. “It’s a sport I love with good camaraderie. Better than sitting at home watching the world go by,” he  said.

Division 2 went the way of Neil Padden and his Beneteau First 40.7, Wailea, from Crazy Diamond, John Bacon’s Melges 32. Third place went to last year’s winner, Matt Wilkinson’s Farr 30, Foreign Affair.

Padden said this afternoon, referring to the mix of races, “I think the system here is right. We were conservative yesterday in difficult conditions and that paid off for us. Getting the boat around the course to the finish was key. Today we didn’t do as well, but sailing consistently did pay.

“Before the regatta, I said we normally prefer inshore racing as opposed to a passage race, but I have to say, I like the variety of the mix of the two styles of racing.

“We are very pleased and happy with our win. Both the boats behind us sailed very well,” Padden concluded.

Both Crazy Diamond and Foreign Affair were early retirees from yesterday’s race.

Crazy Diamond’s Darren ‘Twirler’ Jones explained, “It was too windy for the Melges. We don’t have reefing capabilities and even sailing with a No 4 headsail, it was too much with gusts up to 40 knots, so we decided rather than ruin sails we’d save them for the nice nor easter today.

“The Melges are very tricky boats to sail. I’m lucky, because I’ve sailed them a long time and when you get them going they’re hard to beat.”

On beating Foreign Affair, Jones remembered, “Matt bought the boat from Richard Perini, who won the Mumm 30 Worlds with it.” Jones should know, he was aboard as main trimmer for Perini. “It gets around the course well. Like the Melges, they’re a very good boat too.

“The SSORC was a good regatta for us. We did a Super 40 event before this and decided to do the SSORC to keep us in the game. It’s a good option series, because you get a passage race and sailing windward/leewards out the Heads. It’s something a little different and keeps our eye on the game. Moving forward, we’re sailing in the Super 40 class again soon, so it’s all good practice.”

Today’s racing brought the 48^th SSORC to a close.

For full results and all information, please visit: www.ssorc.mhyc.com.au 

Di Pearson/MHYC media

Read more: Back 2 Black and Wailea reign supreme in Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Short Ocean Racing...

Australia Day Regatta 2026

The Australia Day Regatta will be held on Monday 26 January 2026 on the waters of Sydney Harbour. Owners of ocean-racing monohull yachts are also invited to participate in the City of Sydney Sesquicentenary Ocean Race to Botany Bay and return.

The Organising Authority for the Harbour race is the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (RSYS) and for the Ocean race, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, both on behalf of the Australia Day Regatta Management Committee.

To download the Notice of Race for the 190th Australia Day Regatta - click here

To download the Program for the 190th Australia Day Regatta - click here

Read more: Australia Day Regatta 2026

Wind gods in force at Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship

Every sailor loves a bit of breeze, but some bit off more than they could chew on Day 1 of the 2025 Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship (SSORC) and the Seven Islands Race, when winds of 44 knots registered causing officials to shorten the Seven Islands Race today.

A 40 knot north-nor/westerly hit Sydney Harbour just before the 10am start of the SSORC at Steele Point, Vaucluse, but eased to average 18-24 knots offshore moved to the north-west before backing to the west in the afternoon, with the SSORC fleet finishing their offshore race in Watsons Bay.

The two divisions in the Middle Harbour Yacht Club (MHYC) hosted two-day SSORC flew down the Harbour, sprung sheets, big gusts making their rides like bucking broncos, with a couple airborne. Conditions gave everyone, including those entered in the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart, a solid work out.

Sean Langman’s Back 2 Black, recently arrived in Sydney after being bought by Sean Langman in Europe and representing the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia at the Admiral’s Cup in the UK. The GP42 won Division 1 today, handling the conditions well to beat Justin Mulkearns’ RP52 Virago and Darryl Hodgkinson’s Carkeek 40, Victoire in the Lion Island Race. 

“It was a pretty fresh westerly (averaged 18-22 knots), but a pretty flat sea state,” Back 2 Black’s Josh Alexander said this afternoon. “It was very gusty at times - we saw up to 35 knots.

“This was our very first race since the Admirals Cup,” Alexander said. The boat’s only just got back to Australia. The mast only went back in the boat on Friday, so we’re very happy with how we went against our smaller boat competition, like Victoire. We’re also happy to go out and not have any breakages,” finished Alexander. Back 2 Black is one of a few yachts in this fleet headed to Hobart in the 80^th race on December 26. Nine of their 10 Sydney Hobart crew were on board today. 

Division 2 went to Steve Watson’s J/130, Ragtime from one of three double handed entries, the J/99 Disko Trooper, sailed by Jan ‘Clogs’ Scholten and Alex Knight. Third went to Neil Padden’s Beneteau 40.7, Wailea.

“We were going so fast I thought was lunchtime and it was only 11 o’clock! It was pretty crazy out there. However, we managed to get back without anything breaking today,” Watson said of the conditions.

“We had an OK start and a reasonably conservative sail plan. In the past we’ve carried more sail than we should have. We shook the reef out of the main when we got out the Heads, it got a bit soft off North Head. But we put the reef back in further up the course and kept chipping away at the other boats, including the Sydney 38s, which are our main competition.

“We delayed setting the kite until we were off Barrenjoey, as the bullets were too much before that. We carried the kite further than anyone else and when we got rid of it, we had a nice three -sail reach to the finish at Watsons Bay.”

An honest Watson conceded: “We’ve had a series of underwhelming results and a few breakages of late. The SSORC is an important part of our Sydney Hobart training. It’s been beneficial, because we’ve been getting it wrong, getting bad results and now we’re peaking at the right time.”

Back 2 Black was not the only yacht Hobart bound and making its Australian debut, Olympian Matt Hayes’ spanking new Italia 12.98, Veloce, also raced in Division 1. Edward and William Cox are also benefitting from the SSORC and headed to Hobart after recently selling their Minerva buying a Ker 40, also named Minerva.

Division 2’s competition includes three high profile double handed crews: Disko Trooper, Ian Smith/John Cross with Jupiter and Edward Curry Hyde/Lincoln Dews on Toucan, the latter two are also Sydney Hobart entrants.

Seven Islands Race

Huge gusts swept Sydney Harbour. Up to 44 knots equated to thrills and spills and a shortened course when officials took three peeks at the western side of the Harbour Bridge and much to their consternation, found a steady 42 knots, so it was more a ‘one island race’.  

Division 1 went to Peter Charteris’ Sydney 36, Kailani, from Brian Lees’ Adams 10, Contentious, while Division 2 was claimed by John de Meur’s Jeanneau SO 349, Elysium. Newcomer to racing, Shane Foley and his crew, acquitted themselves well by finishing second with the Dufour 36 Performance, Boudicca - a baptism of fire. 

It was a bit much for some. Four elected not to start and three retired, among them the perfectly named, considering today’s conditions, ‘Wirrajurnd’.

“We sailed conservatively, no spinnaker,” Charteris said this afternoon. “We saw gusts of 42 knots, but realised we could manage it, so kept going. Some were out of control”

“The work from Shark Island to Port Dennison brought the race to an end. It’s not that often you need to manage those types of conditions. You really need to keep your eye on things, because of the sheer wind from one gust to the next, you have to watch you’re not sailing by the lee,” he said.

Division 2 winner, De Meur confessed, “It was pretty hairy  out there, we put a reef in the main when we went around Shark Island. Then we put another one in to be on the safe side. A couple of times we were flattened, but came back up again!

“I’m glad the race was shortened where it was, as I didn’t fancy tacking up the Parramatta River in the huge gusts. We had a good race though, a good run back to the Club. I’ve done this race when it was a drifter; it was a huge contrast today,” de Meur ended.

The 48^th SSORC concludes tomorrow after two offshore windward/leeward races are sailed from 10am with the starts and finishes in the vicinity of The Sound.

For full results and all information, please visit: www.ssorc.mhyc.com.au 

Di Pearson/MHYC media

Photos by Andrea Francolini....

Read more: Wind gods in force at Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship

80th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

Congratulations to all the MHYC members that competed in the 80th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

Results for MHYC boats were:

• Carlos Aydos' S&S 34 Crux – 1st in PHS Corinthian Overall, 4th in IRC Corinthian Overall, IRC Corinthian and IRC Division 6, and 6th Overall on IRC
• Flying Fish’s McIntyre 55 Arctos – 3rd in PHS Division 1 and 9th on PHS Overall
• Matt Hayes' Italia 1298 Veloce - 4th in PHS Division 1 and 10th PHS Overall
• Elizabeth Tucker’s Class 40 First Light – the only all-female crew and 9th in IRC Division 2

Results for the yachts from other clubs berthed at MHYC were:

• Sydney 38 Mondo (Lisa Callaghan MYC) – 1st Sydney 38, 2nd in IRC Division 2, 11th IRC Corinthian Overall and 23rd IRC Overall
• X55 Pacific Road Xanthus (Matt Fifield RSYS) – 4th in IRC Division 3 and 36th IRC Overall
• Farr 277 Unicoin (Peter Bremner M16SSC) - Retired

For all the results, visit https://rolexsydneyhobart.com/race/2025/results

Thanks to Andrea Francolini and Rolex for the cracking photo of Elizabeth Tucker's First Light.

Read more: 80th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

2025 Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship taking shape

Entries are taking shape for the 2025 Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship (SSORC), inclusive of the Seven Islands Race, to take place over the last weekend of November and hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club (MHYC).

Both Division 1 and 2 reigning champions are returning to defend their titles.

Bob Cox has won Division 1 the past four years straight with his DK46, Nine Dragons. Can he be beaten? There are takers who are coming to try. Ray Hudson is one, bringing XS Moment down from Pittwater to challenge all Division 1 entrants and his crew had had better bring their A Game.

Hudson’s crew are good offshore on the XP44 design – and they are stayers, taking line honours in the 2024 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race to place third overall, a race in which few held out in the light and tricky conditions. However, they will need to mix it in the two short windward/leeward courses on Day 2 if they are to succeed.

Hudson says: “We like competing against the Harbour based boats every now and again. It gives us an opportunity to see how our current form is against the Harbour regulars.

“This year we’re not doing the Hobart and other long races, as we’ve typically done in past, but we want to stay in form. A lot of the crew like sailing on the Harbour for a change too.”

In 2024, Matt Wilkinson won Division 2 with Foreign Affair. The Farr 30 has podiumed at the last three SSORC’s.

Local Hero is a new contender and this is a first SSORC for her owner, David Davies. After buying the BH36, he raced her at the Club’s Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Harbour Regatta (SHR) in March and held his own in an extremely competitive division.

“There’s not much in the way of IRC events around these days - and that’s our main thing. We did the Sydney Harbour Regatta and it was a really good fleet on a level playing field. The short format windward/leeward stuff is what we’re into. We did the Pittwater Regatta too, which was also great. It’d be good to encourage more clubs to run these rating events,” Davies said.

Shane Foley is another owner/skipper about to take advantage of a new experience. He has entered the Seven Islands Race, which is held alongside the SSORC. Foley is the new owner of  Boudicca, the Dufour 36 Performance he bought out of Townsville and he is looking forward to the race around Sydney Harbour’s landmark islands.

“I’m a newbie at Seven Islands, but some of my crew have done it. I’m absolutely looking forward to it and I’m going in the spinnaker division. It’s a lot of fun going with a spinnaker. Go hard or go home,” he said, laughing. “We did our first spinnaker race the other day, in the MHYC Harbour Trek and we enjoyed it,” Foley said.

“For about the last five years since I retired, I’ve being sailing on Wailea (Neil Padden’s Beneteau 40.7), then I bought Boudicca and started cruising it while I raced on other boats,” explained Foley, who is making the best of retirement, gaining a Coxswains certificate and undertaking a Sailing Instructors course, which he has put to good use at MHYC.

“I’m doing it all to improve my own skills. I’ve just started racing Twilights with Middle Harbour Yacht Club too and I’ve now made a commitment to do their corporate, charity and feature events. I have a good data base of people wanting to crew and they seem to enjoy sailing with me,” he concluded.

Apart from the fun of racing around the islands, the other interesting aspect of the Seven Islands Race is the diversity of entries from their size to their design, which makes the pursuit style start all-important, as Foley will discover for himself on the Saturday.

The 48^th edition of the SSORC is to be held over the weekend of 29 and 30 November and MHYC CEO, Andrew Forbes, spoke of the significance of the relationship between the Club and its principal partner: “Our partnership with Nautilus Marine Insurance continues to be a cornerstone of Middle Harbour Yacht Club and the regattas we proudly host,” he says of the SSORC and SHR.

“It’s more than support – it’s a relationship grounded in a shared passion for sailing and the community that surrounds it,” Forbes ended.

Don’t miss a weekend SSORC passage and windward/leeward racing or the Seven Islands Race – take your pick!

Standard SSORC entries close on Friday 21 November - so sign up now. Late entries will be accepted up until 5pm on Wednesday 26 November.

For entry and Notice of Race, please visit: www.ssorc.mhyc.com.au 

Di Pearson/MHYC media

Read more: 2025 Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship taking shape

Good luck to the Yachts and Sailors off to Hobart

It is not long now to the start of the 80th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and we wish all the Middle Harbour Yacht Club boats and sailors a safe passage and good racing.

MHYC boats entered include First Light, Elizabeth Tucker’s Class 40, which is the sole yacht entered with an all-female crew, Matt Hayes' Italia 1298 Veloce, Carlos Aydos' S&S 34 Crux competing in the two-handed, and Flying Fish’s McIntyre 55 Arctos skippered by Drew Hultin-Smith. Best wishes also to the yachts from other clubs berthed at MHYC – Sydney 38 Mondo (Lisa Callaghan MYC), Farr 277 Unicoin (Peter Bremner M16SSC), X55 Pacific Road Xanthus (Matt Fifield RSYS), Cookson 12 Trouble & Strife (Matt Williams QLD) and the Class 40 Vixen Racing (NZL).

A number of MHYC members will be joining the crews of various boats for the trip south. Good luck all!

Website & Yacht Tracker - www.rolexsydneyhobart.com

Photo of First Light by Bow Caddy Media

Read more: Good luck to the Yachts and Sailors off to Hobart

Spit Bridge Maintenance Works

Transport for NSW is carrying out essential maintenance work on the Spit Bridge between Monday 3 November and Friday 19 December.

Work will take place in two stages:

• Night work on the bridge - Monday 3 November to Thursday 6 November for four nights between 8pm-5am - A traffic lane in the southbound direction will be closed during inspections

• Day work on the water - Monday 10 November to Friday 19 December for 20 days between 7am-5pm - A restricted area will be established at water level around the work zone, including the overnight barge mooring area between the bridge piers. Further details provided in the attached notification.

Spit Bridge Opening and Closing 

The scheduled opening times of the Spit Bridge remain unchanged. Our work activities will be away from the opening span of the bridge and will be coordinated with bridge operations to minimise disruption for road users and maritime vessels. 

More details – click here

Read more: Spit Bridge Maintenance Works

Safe Disposal of Marine Flares

Marine flares contain explosive materials and must be disposed of safely and legally after use or by their use-by date.  They must NOT be disposed of in regular rubbish at MHYC or anywhere else.

The NSW Government runs a mobile flares collection program during peak boating season. Upcoming flare disposal points include...

Sunday, 18 January 2026 from 10:30am to 12:30am

Maritime Office, 33 James Craig Drive, Rozelle

Saturday, 24 January 2026 from 7:30am to 9:00am

Tunks Park Boat Ramp, Brothers Avenue, Cammeray

Saturday, 24 January 2026 from12:30pm to 2;00pm

Maritime Office, 33 James Craig Road, Rozelle

Sunday, 25 January 2026 from 12:00 noon – 5:00pm

Bayview Boat Ramp (Rowland Reserve), Pittwater Road, Bayview

For further information from NSW Maritime - click here

Read more: Safe Disposal of Marine Flares

Entries open for Nautilus Marine Insurance SSORC

Entries have opened and regulars and first timers alike are expected to take part in the 2025 Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship (SSORC) when a mix of passage and windward/leeward courses will put every crew through their paces to decide the best across both styles of racing.

The 48^th edition of Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s (MHYC) Championship is to be held over the weekend of 29 and 30 November. Entry and the Notice of Race (NoR) are now online.

Apart from the usual Division 1 and 2 boats, organisers are also expecting a small fleet of TP52 to take part.

Planned for the weekend is an ocean passage race as the opener with short offshore windward/leeward races on the Sunday, set to test everyone’s mettle. Nobody wants to be caught short on the fast and furious windward/leewards where good team work means all. All races will start and finish in Watsons Bay. 

Races in this Championship additionally form part of the MHYC Ocean Pointscore Series, while the Saturday race forms part of the CYCA Summer Short Offshore Series.

Entry into the SSORC is free for entrants in these series, although they must enter online and comply with the requirements of the NoR.

You can’t keep a good man down and Bob Cox, winner of Division 1 for the past four years, is sure to be there with his DK46, Nine Dragons.

The same can be said for Neil Padden, who has skippered his Beneteau 40.7 Wailea to Division 2 third overall in 2023 and 2024.

Padden keeps returning, he says, “Because the crew and I enjoy regattas. We always do the SSORC, Pittwater Regatta, Sydney Harbour Regatta and Sail Port Stephens.

“The SSORC is a great mix of racing; one day of a Passage Race and then windward/leewards the next day. We don’t do much offshore racing, so the windward/leewards are our stronger point,” he explained.

“It’s always a well-organised regatta, so that’s part of what we enjoy. The visiting boats seem to enjoy the regatta too, so it’s also a chance to race against other clubs’ boats.

Padden concluded, “We’ve had some success at the SSORC, which is encouraging – we’ve also had some disasters!”

Daguet 2, the Mylius 50 owned by MHYC Commodore Rob Aldis and Peter Byford are committed to entering, as is MHYC Special Events Chairman Ian Box with his XP44, Toy Box 2. Both yachts sail in Division 1.

“It’s an event that’s steeped in history and has longevity,” Box commented.

“It’s important to keep the tradition and continuity of the event moving forward, to hang onto the historical value of having an offshore Championship,” said Box, a past Commodore of the Club.

“The long held ambition is for the boats from the CYCA that take part on the Saturday in the Summer Short Offshore Series pointscore, to stay and race on Sunday as well, as many have in the past,” he said.

Like Bob Cox, Box is a staple at the annual event with his competitive Toybox 2 that has enjoyed its share of wins. At the SSORC, Box faces regular competitors along with new campaigners and says of the competition: “The high level of competition is good to sail against!”

The racing, Box says, “Is a mix of a passage race and shorter windward/leewards, where you have to be disciplined and can make gains at the corners. The best at both decides the overall winners.”

A two-day Championship, it has traditionally been a shakedown for those yachts taking part in the Rolex Sydney Hobart and is sailed on courses off Sydney’s Heads and has the added challenge of Harbour exits and entry to the finish lines.

The SSORC is run in conjunction with the Seven Islands Race, for those who prefer a challenge against a variety of designs and a romp around Sydney Harbour’s famous islands. It offers a pursuit style start from the Club where the event also finishes.

Standard entries for the SSORC close on Friday 21 November, so sign up now. Late entries will be accepted up until 5pm on Wednesday 26 November.

For entry and the Notice of Race, please visit: www.ssorc.mhyc.com.au 

Di Pearson/MHYC media

Read more: Entries open for Nautilus Marine Insurance SSORC