Intense Weather Interrupts Sailing Program

The past week of intense rain and strong winds impacted a series of scheduled events at MHYC and other clubs:

• Thursday Twilight abandoned
• MC38 Australian Championships at MHYC postponed
• Saturday Inshore Race abandoned
• CYCA Short Ocean Pointscore Race abandoned
• RPAYC Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Race abandoned
• Deaf Sailing Come & Try Day postponed

With the sun out today and a moderate westerly breeze on the Harbour, it was a relief to be back sailing in the Pacific Rigging Wednesday Non-Spinnaker Series – the series that never ends!

As we approach the end of our summer program, it is a good time to consider what is coming up.

There are three races to go in the Saturday Inshore series and only two more Thursday Twilight Pursuits.  The finale of the Women’s Twilight is this week.  It was great to see the crew of Slac ‘n Off braving the conditions last Thursday and getting into the spirit of the St Patrick’s Day theme Twilight which was unfortunately abandoned.

After a short break in the latter part of April for Sail Port Stephens and the ANZAC Day Two-Up Cup, the MHYC Women’s Regatta will be held on Saturday May 8.  The following Saturday May 15 is the Annual Prizegiving and sees the commencement of the series of Winter Pursuits alternating with the Winter Sprints.

To get your entries in for the Winter program of sailing – click here

For more information contact the Sailing Office – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Read more: Intense Weather Interrupts Sailing Program

Get Ready for Winter Sailing

As the range of Summer Series draw to a close (the last PHS & IRC Inshore races are on April 17), it is now time to start planning for Winter sailing at MHYC.  While the Pacific Rigging Wednesday Non-Spinnaker Series continues every week, there are a number of Saturday Race Series, Regattas and Feature Events commencing in May……...

MHYC Women’s Keelboat Regatta – Saturday 8 May

Two short windward-leeward races will be followed by a harbour passage for this regatta.  The event is open to mixed keelboats with all-female crew or a female helm and mixed crew, and to identified one-design classes with a female helm.  For more information (NOR and online entry coming soon), click here. 

Feature Events

There are three Feature Events scheduled after the conclusion of Saturday Summer Program:

• ANZAC Day Two Up Cup on Sunday 25 April
• Welcome to Winter on Saturday 29 May
• Christmas in July on Saturday 17 July

To download the Event Sailing Instructions for these races, go to the Keelboat Racing Noticeboard.

Winter Pursuit and Leading Edge Series

Four Winter Pursuit races will be conducted during May, June and July ahead of the four races in the Leading Edge Series during August.  Winter Pursuit and Leading Edge are clubhouse start and finish and use common sailing instructions.  See page 78 of the Sailing Handbook or click here - note that the race on June 12 has been rescheduled to June 5. 

Winter Sprint Series

Four days of Winter Sprints are scheduled during May, June and July with two races held each day.  Sailing Instructions are on page 82 of the Sailing Handbook or click here. 

Corrections to the June Schedule

A Notice to Competitors correcting some errors in the June schedule published in the MHYC Sailing Handbook has been posted to the Notice Board – click here. 

Enter Now

To enter the Winter Pursuit, Winter Sprint or Leading Edge Series online – click here.

Here are some other important dates for your diary……………

Annual Prizegiving

Following the first race in the Winter Pursuit Series, the Annual Prizegiving will be held on the evening of Saturday May 15.  Come along and celebrate the achievement of MHYC’s keelboat sailors.  To book your ticket, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Get Checked

Book in for a free safety audit and be ready for next season.  Get Checked days are scheduled for Saturday 26 June and Sunday 22 August.  To book your audit time, email the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your preferred date and time, the name of the boat and the Safety Category.

We look forward to you joining in another active Winter of keelboat racing at MHYC.

Read more: Get Ready for Winter Sailing

Final Race in Combined Clubs Inshore Series

A freshening north-easterly and a fleet of 71 boats made for some good racing on the harbour this afternoon.  The final race of the Combined Clubs Inshore Series was conducted by Race Officer Steve Tucker and the Middle Harbour Race Management Team, but is also part of the ongoing Summer and Annual Pointscores for the MHYC IRC, PHS, J/24 and Adams 10 fleets.  

In the club series, Rock Solid (Mitchell Miller) claimed the Adams 10 One Design win from Another Dilemma and Sirius, with Another Dilemma (Jim Vaughan) top of the PHS results.

In the PHS competition, Division 1 went to Toy Box 2 (Ian Box) from Kukukerchu and Khaleesi.  MRX (Geoff Pearson) claimed the Division 2 win from Stormaway and Wailea, and Escape (Dean Dransfield) took first place from Dania and Waterborne Again. 

Innamincka (John Crawford) claimed the J/24 One Design win.

On IRC, Khaleesi (Rob Aldis & Sandy Farquharson) claimed the Division 1 win ahead of Toy Box 2 and Kukukerchu.  MRX won Division 2 from Wailea and Stormaway.

After a non-pointscore race to start the series due to Covid and one abandonment, the Combined Clubs Inshore Series came down to the results of five races.  Middle Harbour Yacht Club boats excelled.

Khaleesi (Rob Aldis & Sandy Farquharson) finished top of the Division 1 series standings, with Toy Box 2 (Ian Box) 4th and Kukukerchu (David Ross) 5^th.  Another Dilemma (Jim Vaughan) claimed the Division 2 series win from Sirius (Garth Riley) in 2^nd and MRX (Geoff Pearson) in 5^th. 

The Combined Clubs Inshore Series has been a great innovation for the 2020-2021 season, providing interclub competition and larger fleets.  As more boats register for ORC Club, it is anticipated this equipment based handicapping system will gain further importance for the interclub event.

Congratulations to all the MHYC boats!

• To view the IRC Results – click here
• To view the PHS Results – click here
• To view the Adams 10 Results – click here
• To view the Combined Clubs Inshore Series Results – click here

Marg Fraser-Martin was on the water to capture today’s action……

Read more: Final Race in Combined Clubs Inshore Series

Who is Who at the Club - Steve Tucker - MHYC Race Officer

Steve Tucker - MHYC Race Officer

Steve has been a member of MHYC for over 31 years. Most people nowadays best know Steve as one of our smiling Race Officers running the MHYC regular racing events for us. However, Steve has had had a long association with MHYC and over the years has been a volunteer in many roles within our club. Volunteers like Steve keep our club alive! We ask Steve:

Tell us a little about yourself and how you got into sailing and any boats you have owned/ sailed on.

As a kid in the UK, I did a fair amount of sea kayaking. On moving to Sydney I took up windsurfing.  Someone I worked with had a Hobie 16 which we’d trailer up to Brooklyn and sail on the Hawksbury. 

I had only ever known one person with a yacht and always assumed sailing was for the rich but out of interest I signed up for a learn to sail course with the Australian Sailing School.  At the time they operated out of the skiff club and that led me to join MHYC in 1990.  I bought my S80 Serious Yahoo II and over the next 10 years I entered practically every event I was eligible to. 

What sailing activities do you enjoy participating in at the club?

We used to have half a dozen S80s at the Club, however after the initial excitement I found harbour Pointscore racing faded on me pretty quickly.   I used to enjoy Twilights, and in those days, we used to do the 7-Islands race 2-handed and the S80 was good for that. SASC had a couple of S80s so I did a few of the Daydream Shield events which were boat on boat, very different and a lot of fun. 

I did several passage races to Queensland on a Davidson 34 and the NS38 Bear Trap and was lucky enough to skipper Bear Trap north also. 

I also used to enjoy the 3-Ports race from the Club to Bundeena and north to Patonga and did some really fun offshore racing on the water-ballasted Mount Gay 30, Shaya-Moya.  For a couple of years, I chartered the Masram 920 TwoCan for the CYCA winter series and I also did a couple of seasons on the CYCA SOPS on that.  As a general statement if it’s not harbour Pointscore racing I quite enjoy it!!

With my race management hat on I enjoy the challenge in second guessing what the conditions are going to be in one, two and three hours’ time and setting a course that’s going to leave the competitors feeling they’ve had a good day.  A lot of that comes from many years of doing it and reading the clues all around you.  I particularly enjoy running SOPS racing where the RO is sitting off Neilson Park and you’re sending the fleet offshore to either the Manly or Bondi circle. 

What has been your proudest achievement on water at MHYC?

A couple of years ago, it was a very quiet day, calm and windless and at 12:30 pm we were sitting there wondering what on earth we were going to do.  I was expecting the breeze to come in from the north east, but nothing was happening.  It was a sprints day, so it takes a while to set up, two races to run and competitors were starting to motor around Hugh George expecting a race officer miracle.  Even the flag on St Pats was motionless, this wasn’t looking good. 

Then I noticed through the binoculars that the boats moored deep in Manly near the wharf had swung to the north east and to the surprise of the competitors (who likely couldn’t see that) I started to set the course up and by the time 12:55 came we were ready to start. 

What has been one of your most memorable/amusing moments being a member of our club?

I forget the year, probably 1998/9 or so.  I was on the General Committee and the Club was in a really dire financial position.  It was so bad that (and I’ll not mention their name) one of the Committee would write a cheque to the Club on a Wednesday to ensure that payroll could be made on a Thursday. 

I received a message at work (no mobiles in those days) from Tony Shaw the General Manager to say, “the Club’s going under, can you come down this evening”.  We’d had a Committee meeting a couple of days prior so this must be serious! So, I finished work, went home and grabbed a pile of papers and headed to the Club where I found waves on the beach and Tony standing the breezeway in ankle deep water.  “What’s that lot for …?” he said looking at my pile of papers.  It was a high tide and an east coast low and the Club was awash, boats breaking their mooring lines and the old wooden piles snapping under the loads.  A different sort of ‘going under’.  

As a long term member of MHYC, what roles have you undertaken at our club and what were some highlights?

I was first elected to the General Committee in 1996 and was a part of the transition to the current Board / Flag Officer structure, all up a 6 year stint including a year as Treasurer. I chaired the Club's Protest Committee for a number of years during a period where we pretty much sat every Wednesday evening during the sailing season and my logbook records 184 protests including two Rule 69 Misconduct hearings!  

During the Sydney Olympics I got a volunteer gig driving press photography boats and being the tragic that I am, each September I generally take the opportunity to wear my volunteer shirt on the water!  Around that time the Club bought a compact video camera and I’d often take a tender out and after sailing we’d run the videos on the big screen and sailors would miss their 10 seconds of glory and buy another round waiting for the replay. 

I finished my time on the Board in about 2003 and was re-elected a year later.  I guess my highlights of that whole contribution are introducing the membership smart card which was very controversial but has withstood the test of time.  Also the transition from the old structure of a General Committee to having a Board and a Flag Officers Committee and the package of work I did in rewriting Articles of Association and the subsequent adoption of a Constitution to replace them.  Finally, when we built the current marina, I produced a set of By-Laws around its use which, with a bit of tinkering around the edges, have largely withstood the test of time also.  In 2004 received my first R.B. Cooper Volunteer of the Year award.

I sold the S80 in 2000.  Boatless and looking for something else to do I took up race management under the mentoring of the late John Hurley and with him (and later Brendan and Andrew), I helped run the Twilights for about 10 years.  In 2005 he asked me to help him on the Sydney-Hobart start team, and promptly threw me in the deep end running the competitor checkins which has been my Boxing Day task since.  There's nothing quite like adrenaline of checking in 100+ boats in an hour with helicopters hovering overhead and spectator and media boats buzzing around. He also got me involved in the first Sydney Harbour Regatta and running MHYC's races of the CYCA's Short Ocean Pointscore, two roles I have continued with.  Clubs Need Mentors!

In 2019 I received my second Volunteer of the Year award but for the past three years I've been working in Canberra, so my weekday involvement has fallen by the wayside and I'm limited to running Saturday racing plus the occasional special event as time permits. 

What is still on your Bucket list to do/achieve in the yachting world?

I’ve never done Hamilton Island Race Week. Partly because it’s not been possible and partly because I’ve seen some really dodgy owners out there and I’d hate to invest all that time and effort into something and end up frustrated and sticking pins into a plasticine effigy of them. 

Maybe I’ll end up chartering a boat, something water-ballasted would be fun, or failing that I’ll try and get a race management gig up there. 

Julie Hodder

Read more: Who is Who at the Club - Steve Tucker - MHYC Race Officer

Sydney Harbour Regatta reunion and final results

Adrian Walters’ nippy Shaw 11 Little Nico, sailing for the Sydney Harbour Regatta host club, added another victory to their impressive regatta tally on day two of the weekend regatta. Divisional winners in 2016 and second in 2019 and 2017, Little Nico’s domination of the short-course format is well and truly etched in the flagship series annals.

“Most of us have sailed together for a few years,” Walters said after racing. “This year we tried out some new sails and overall we are very happy with the result. Every year we seem to get better and better. The MC38s make us work hard though.” Walters has a busy program planned for Little Nico, including Sail Port Stephens in April and the northern regattas in the Queensland Whitsundays later in the year.

On the huge reunion that the 16^th annual Sydney Harbour Regatta afforded sailors from around the state, Walters adds, “It’s nice to see real people again after Covid. All the regattas going forward are going to have good participation; everyone’s keen to get out after a long break.”

Sydney Harbour Regatta is the state’s first major multi-club and multi-class regatta post-Covid restrictions, drawing 187 entries and 1,293 crew who completed 84 races across seven course areas thanks to MHYC and the eight supporting clubs and 87 wonderful volunteers. Amazingly, there were only two protests.

Day two video highlights thanks to Tilly Lock Media.

Results for all divisions are available here.

Open IRC division winner Khaleesi (MHYC) quashed the two Pittwater crews who usually duel for the top spot. Rob Aldis’ DK46 managed four corrected time firsts from six starts, out-sailing Gerry Hatton’s Mat 1245 Bushranger and Keiran Mulcahy’s King 40 Soozal, both from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. On ORC results, Bushranger beat Khaleesi by half a point.

“I’ve been associated with Middle Harbour Yacht Club for a long time, and I’m so pleased for the club to see all this camaraderie and confidence. This regatta has a sense of normalcy about it,” said Aldis dockside. “Owning the DK is a good learning experience for me, I came to the sport fairly late,” he added.

The Sydney 38 state trophy went to David Hudson and Peter Byford’s Pittwater-based Conspiracy from a hot fleet. Points from six windward/leeward races offshore, the first three in cool south-easterlies then warm north-easterlies off Manly beach to close out the pointscore, saw Conspiracy relegate the local favourite, Peter Sorensen’s Advanced Philosophy, to second overall.

International J/70 NSW championship winner Reg Lord and his Juno crew kept their challengers at bay with five wins from six starts. International Yngling NSW champion Hamish Jarrett went one better, achieving the picket fence of six bullets.

Performance spinnaker and non-spinnaker fleets wrapped up their four-race series with two passage races around harbour islands and other marks. A third for Russell Waddy’s Sydney 38 cruiser Allsail Another Challenge in the final division 1 race was enough to leapfrog Steve Hatch’s M, a Sydney 36 cruiser/racer out of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

Ray Parrott and his Drummoyne Sailing Club (DSC) X332 X-Ray successfully defended their 2020 Performance Spinnaker division 2 win while in Performance Non-Spinnaker, MHYC boat Pearl 2, owned by Michael Twomey, added another host club division victory.

DSC based Flying Tiger Ophir, skippered by Bruce Taverner, won the Super 30 division from Foreign Affair.

Waddy, Parrott and all the other divisional placegetters are invited to gather at MHYC on Monday evening, March 8, to be recognised at the official trophy presentation and go in the running for the Grand Prize Draw of:

• First place draw - Sail Racing merchandise voucher (value $2,000)
• Second place draw - Manly Spirits Co. Distillery experience for yacht crew (up to 12 persons)
• Third place draw – Mercedes-Benz North Shore and Mercure Resort Hunter Valley Gardens have made available a Mercedes weekend drive experience plus two nights’ accommodation at the Mercure Resort Hunter Valley Gardens for two people.

MHYC acknowledges the support of key Sydney Harbour Regatta sponsors Club Marine, Sail Racing, Robert Oatley Wines, Short Marine, Mercedes-Benz North Shore and Mercure Resort Hunter Valley Gardens and supporting sponsors Ensign Yachts, Fever-Tree, Manly Spirits Co. Distillery and DeckHardware.

MHYC also thanks all race management volunteers plus partner clubs Manly Yacht Club, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club, Royal Australian Navy Sailing Association, Sydney Flying Squadron, Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and Sydney Amateur Sailing Club.

By Lisa Ratcliff

Photos by Andrea Francolini........

How to follow the Sydney Harbour Regatta:

Website: https://shr.mhyc.com.au/

Facebook: @SydneyHarbourRegatta

Instagram: sydneyharbourregatta

Read more: Sydney Harbour Regatta reunion and final results

Free Get Checked Days Sat 26th June and Sun 22nd August 2021.

MHYC holds two annual Get Checked Days for Equipment Audits, which allows Club Members the perfect opportunity to have their boats audited prior to the new sailing season commencing free of charge. For PFD checks contact Matt Pyne at the Marina Office or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  The dates for the 2021-2022 season are Saturday 26th June and Sunday 22nd August 2021.

Bookings for an equipment audit are to be arranged directly through the MHYC Sailing Office or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Presentation of a Boat for Inspection process

• Boat owners are to complete an Equipment Compliance form prior to the inspection. Audit form can be downloaded here
• The owner or his representative should carry out an initial inspection and tick/sign the appropriate box - making sure to check expiry dates and quality of equipment, as well as identifying the location of equipment that may be asked to be presented during the inspection.
• Necessary equipment should be laid out ready for inspection, including copies of service certificates and any additional safety documentation; ie stowage plans, Epirb registration, Life Raft Service Certificates, PFD Service Certificates. (Cat 1 and 2 inspections - owners should have a copy of these certificates on hand to submit to the auditor as a part of the inspection paperwork.)
• The skipper and knowledgeable crew member should be on board during the inspection.
• The owner's Australian Sailing number and vessel registration details and insurance document shall be made available to the Auditor or the Equipment Compliance form cannot be completed.

Equipment Layout for Inspection

All items required for safety inspection should be laid out prior to the Auditor coming on board. Prior preparation will significantly reduce the time taken to complete the inspection.

• Storm boards ready to be put in place.
• Sea cocks and plugs exposed, not hidden by equipment.
• Know the water and fuel capacity of your tanks
• Fire extinguishers taken from brackets so date tags can be sighted.
• First Aid kits open and items with use by dates on the top so that expiry date can be checked.
• Publications and charts on chart table.
• Emergency navigation lights with batteries fitted.
• PFD's, harnesses, tethers and flares laid out.
• Radio installation inspection certificate.
• Life Raft Certificate
• Jackstays rigged.
• Lifelines tightened.

Read more: Free Get Checked Days Sat 26th June and Sun 22nd August 2021.

Conspiracy rises to day one Sydney Harbour Regatta challenges

Conditions offshore on day one of Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s annual Sydney Harbour Regatta had tummies churning and skittled one Sydney 38 bowman who was saved from a Man Overboard incident by the lifelines, which was ideal for both he and his crew given they were the lead boat at the time.

As Peter Byford and David Hudson’s Sydney 38 Conspiracy approached the first top mark rounding of the class’ NSW Championship series in heavy seas, bowman Antony Hawke suddenly hit the deck during the kite hoist. The slightly embarrassed crewman said after racing that he definitely thought he was going for a swim and was happy to shift the blame to the people pulling the ropes at the back.

Conspiracy went on to win that opening race and finished second in the next two windward/leewards, giving them the boat of the day title. Byford steers their Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club Sydney 38 for the starts and upwind and Hudson takes the helm downwind. “It was challenging to steer and too choppy to get a roll on, in order to surf the waves,” Byford said. “The crew is consistent for these big regattas, and two of them are my sons Tim and Ben.”

Results for all divisions are available here.

Hazardous surf and swell along the New South Wales coast made the sea state uncomfortably lumpy for the offshore divisions – TP52/Super 50, Open Class and Sydney 38s – but also provided opportunities for the planing hulls, particularly when the sou’east breeze gusted to 19 knots. Leading the Open division after two races is Keiran Mulcahy’s consistent King 40 Soozal out of Pittwater.

Inside North Head, the Super 20s, 30s and 40s enjoyed wave action at the heads with less swell. Top of the Super 40s on IRC handicap is Darryl Hodgkinson’s Carkeek 40 Victoire and on EHC handicap they are second to Adrian Walters’ Little Nico, sailing for the host club. Steven Proud’s Swish is the first MC38 as that class uses the series to prepare for their upcoming national title, March 19-21.

The inshore courses stretched from Manly almost to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and those divisions had a much easier time in 12-14 knots and flat water. The largest Performance Spinnaker and Non-Spinnaker divisions completed two passage races.

Four state titles fall under this year’s Sydney Harbour Regatta umbrella. As predicted, Reg Lord’s Juno is at the head of the J/70 pointscore thanks to three bullets and matching Juno’s unbeaten run in the Yngling state title is Hamish Jarrett’s Miss Pibb. Craig Mitchell’s Centaurus claimed the Cavalier 28 NSW Championship based on today’s one design results.

The two-day series, hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club and made possible thanks to on-water support from eight other Sydney clubs, has drawn 187 entries for the 16^th edition. Principal Race Officer Denis Thompson was delighted the sun came out and winds moderated from the forecast fresh southerlies. “It was great sailing; everyone had a lot of fun. There wasn’t as much congestion in the harbour this time; we had fleets going to different marks and we made sure they didn’t overlap too much.”

This evening is a chance for crews to unwind and swap tall tales at the MHYC beach party. Racing resumes on Sunday March 7 with decent autumn breeze expected from lunchtime onwards.

MHYC acknowledges the support of key Sydney Harbour Regatta sponsors Club Marine, Sail Racing, Robert Oatley Wines, Short Marine, Mercedes-Benz North Shore and Mercure Resort Hunter Valley Gardens and supporting sponsors Ensign Yachts, Fever-Tree, Manly Spirits, DeckHardware.

Day one photos by Andrea Francolini

How to follow the Sydney Harbour Regatta:

Website: https://shr.mhyc.com.au/

Facebook: @SydneyHarbourRegatta

Instagram: sydneyharbourregatta

Read more: Conspiracy rises to day one Sydney Harbour Regatta challenges

No Friends wins at the MYC Women's Challenge 2021

The deciding race of the inaugural Sydney Harbour Women’s Keelboat Series (SHWKS) was held over the weekend by Manly Yacht Club. Now in its 26^th year the MYC Helly Hansen Women’s Challenge is a favourite on the women’s sailing calendar.

After a disappointing year last year with the event postponed due to COVID and then abandoned with winds gusting over 30 knots and poor visibility, the record fleet of 37 boats were delighted with the sunshine and moderate breeze on Sunday.

Middle Harbour boats featured well on the day with Tracy Richardson and her team, skippered by Eve Saucier, winning the All Female crew on No Friends as well as third place in the overall PHS result for Division 1. Liz Charles took out third place in the Female Helm category for Division 1 on Kayimai.  The TP52 Smuggler, skippered by Justine Anson, took out line honours in Division 1 and It Happens skippered by Bridget Canham won line honours Division 2. Winner of the Female Helm Divison 1 was Whistleing Kite with Nicola Wakefield Evans at the helm and Division 2 Pinta II skippered by Johanna Adriannse.

The presentation for the SHWK Series was held last night at CYCA to an appreciative audience. Tracy Richarsdon won second prize on No Friends and Liz Charles third prize on Kayimai in the Overall Result in Division 1.The series consisted of four races and was a collaboration between MHYC, MYC and CYCA.  Thanks were given to the many volunteers involved in the series, which could not have neen possible without their generous support. A special thanks was also given to Marg Fraser-Martin for her dedication to taking spectacular photos for all of the clubs for this series. Next year the event will be expanded to 5 races including RSYS and RPEYC.

Photos Courtesy of Bow Caddy Media

To view the Bow Caddy Media video from the MYC HH Women's Challenge click here

For full results for the MYC Womens Challenge event page with full results click here

For full results of the Sydney Harbour Womens' Keelboat Series click here

Read more: No Friends wins at the MYC Women's Challenge 2021

Ready to Rumba at Sydney Harbour Regatta

Entries for Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s flagship Sydney Harbour Regatta on this weekend, March 6-7, have climbed past the 180 mark, among them a local yacht jointly owned for close to 20 years that has competed in every Sydney Harbour Regatta since the inaugural series in 2006.

For owners Rob Carr, Stephanie Cook and Kerry Burke and their Northshore 370 Rumba that sails from the host club, netting a few trophies is only one reason to front up year after year. “In our Performance Spinnaker division we sail against a whole heap of 28 to 34 footers of similar speed; that’s the fun bit. The party on the MHYC beach on the Saturday night is fun too, though we’ve been known to give away our day one advantage by partying too late.”

Rumba has recorded mixed results over 15 years. “As a general rule we’ve been in the top three in the last five to six years. Before that we were a bit ad-hoc,” Carr laughs. He’s hoping for 12-15 knots of wind and flat water on Sydney Harbour.

Sydney’s long-range forecast points towards steady 15 knot southerlies on Saturday and a fickle Sunday morning before a single-digit east nor’easter develops across the afternoon.

Standard entries have closed though MHYC may accept late entries up until midnight on Thursday March 4. View the starting list and enter here.

The sailing instructions will be published today here.

Performance Spinnaker is the most popular entry category and for the first time these divisions will also be scored on ORC, including both ORCi and ORC Club ratings. ORC Club is growing rapidly around the world and several Sydney clubs (MHYC, RSYS and RPAYC at this stage) have adopted this as a low cost, simple rating system to run alongside the usual Performance Handicapping System. 

The International J/70 state title plus the Super 20, 30 and 40 divisions promise hot competition at The Sound, the area of deep water inside North and South Heads, just one of seven course areas that will operate across the harbour and offshore thanks to race officials, volunteers and support vessels from multiple partner clubs.

MHYC thanks Manly Yacht Club, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club, Royal Australian Navy Sailing Association, Sydney Flying Squadron, Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and Sydney Amateur Sailing Club.

Grand Prize draw

In addition to regatta trophies and prizes, to be eligible for the Grand Prize draw the skipper or skipper’s representative from the top three placegetters in each division must register and be present at the official trophy presentation function at MHYC on Monday March 8.

• First place draw – Sail Racing merchandise voucher (value $2,000)
• Second place draw – Manly Spirits ‘Distillery Experience’ for yacht crew (up to 12 persons)
• Third place draw – Mercedes-Benz North Shore and Mercure Resort Hunter Valley Gardens have made available a Mercedes weekend drive experience plus two nights’ accommodation at the Mercure Resort Hunter Valley Gardens for two people.

MHYC acknowledges the support of key Sydney Harbour Regatta sponsors Club Marine, Robert Oatley Wines, Short Marine, Sail Racing, Mercedes-Benz North Shore and Mercure Resort Hunter Valley Gardens and supporting sponsors Ensign Yachts, Fever-Tree, Manly Spirits, DeckHardware.

How to follow the Sydney Harbour Regatta:

Website: https://shr.mhyc.com.au/

Facebook: @SydneyHarbourRegatta

Instagram: sydneyharbourregatta

Read more: Ready to Rumba at Sydney Harbour Regatta