Breakout Series Postponed

Due to the ongoing situation in NSW with Covid-19, and after consultation with the relevant authorities, the Organising Committee has today decided to postpone the Breakout Series to an appropriate future date to be advised.  This is very disappointing news but MHYC, RPAYC, NCYC and PSYC as joint organisers thank the 83 entered boats and their crews for their interest and support.  All entry fees are being refunded and a more detailed announcement will be circulated to entrants in the coming days.

www.breakoutseries.com.au

Read more: Breakout Series Postponed

Nice Breeze for the Leading Edge

Race 2 of the Leading Edge Pursuit Series and Race 6 of the Adams 10 Winter Fleet Series was sailed today in a moderate to fresh and gusty westerly.  While still very flukey arounmd the start / finish area, it was a nice change to have some winter sun and a lively breeze out on the harbour that enabled all divisions to finish the full course around The Sound and North Harbour.

Garth Riley’s Sirius claimed a convincing win on One Design and PHS in the reduced Adams 10 Fleet to now lead the PHS series score and is second in the One Design pointscore behind No Friends (Geoff Charters).

Division 2 boats were first home today, with Laurie McAllister’s Zeusus getting the gun.  OCS at the start, Zeusus was penalised 5 minutes and relinquished the race win to visiting RANSA boat Asterix (Roberto Comacho). Third was Innamincka (John Crawford).

Andrew Hurt’s Onya was the best of Division 1 today, finishing ahead of Wailea (Neil Padden).  There was a close three-way run to the line between three bigger boats – Samarkand, Khaleesi and Nine Dragons, with Sandy Farqharson’s Khaleesi finishing just ahead to take third place.

To view the latest results for the Leading Edge Series – click here

To view the latest results for the Adams 10 Winter Fleet Series – click here 

A big thankyou to Marg Fraser-Martin who was at the club to get some more photos today………..

Read more: Nice Breeze for the Leading Edge

Breakout Series 2021 Postponed

The Breakout Series, already postponed from August 2020, will not go ahead in January but will be rescheduled for August 2021.

A meeting of the joint clubs Organising Committee - Middle Harbour Yacht Club, Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Royal Motor Yacht Club Broken Bay and Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club - today decided that in considering the current Covid-19 situation and recommendations of NSW Health, it was not feasible to proceed with the event on 18-22 January.  

Starting in Sydney, the Breakout Series includes several offshore races taking in Pittwater and Newcastle. 

“It is disappointing to postpone the Breakout Series once again but rescheduling to the original August time-frame enables the event to conclude in Port Stephens,” said Committee Chairman, Commodore Peter Lewis from Middle Harbour Yacht Club.

“This will provide an appealing series for those boats which are not travelling North for the Queensland regattas’” he said.

For more information about the Breakout Series, go to www.breakoutseries.com.au

Read more: Breakout Series 2021 Postponed

Leading Edge Series Underway

The Leading Edge series of pursuit races got underway today and will continue each Saturday for the remainder of August.  Races are held in conjunction with the Adams 10 Winter Fleet Series. 

While the rain threatened but stayed away, the breeze was extremely light and variable in direction providing challenging conditions for crews and the race management team.  The Division 2 fleet managed to sail a complete course and finish at the clubhouse, whereas the Adams 10 and Division 1 fleets sailed a shortened course finishing at the East Channel mark. 

Andrew Hurt's Onya was the first Division 1 boat home, ahead of Stormaway (Jack Stening) and Tempo (MIchael Smith).  The Carr-Cook-Burke consortium sailed Rumba home first in Division 2, followed by Innamincka (John Crawford) and TenSixty (Ian Green).  Geoff Charters' No Friends was the best of the Adams 10s on One Design today, while Sirius (Garth Riley) took PHS honours. 

To view the Leading Edge Pursuit Results - click here

To view the Adams 10 Winter Fleet Results - click here 

Marg Fraser-Martin was on the dock and afloat today to get some more great photos..........

Read more: Leading Edge Series Underway

First MC38 regatta win for Swish

By Lisa Ratcliff

Close to two years of shooting for a MC38 one design class top result finally yielded Steve Proud’s Swish team the main prize, on dreary Pittwater in the shortened five-race Act 4 winter pointscore.

“We’ve had a couple of thirds before but this is our first regatta win; we’ve been chipping away for nearly two years and it’s finally starting to come together,” a grinning Proud said back at the conducting club, the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club.

Video by Tilly Lock.

“We’ve got a really good bunch of sailors. Sometimes you just have to settle down and play your own game, and not let the nerves and everything going on around you get to you. It never lets up in that fleet. Opportunities come to you and take advantage of them; that’s how we played it today,” Proud added.

The Middle Harbour Yacht Club skipper named his team one by one, a special mention going to longtime tactician Billy Sykes. “Billy has been with me from the start, he’s put a great team together. We’ve got some excellent sailors. Nobody’s putting tickets on themselves; we just get out there and do the job.”

A second by two points for John Bacon’s Dark Star - looking resplendent following a recent makeover in Newcastle - is a great result for the local team. “We’re really happy and I’m really pleased for Steven, Billy and the Swish team - they have worked so hard,” Bacon acknowledged.

Most Valuable Player of the series goes to Dark Star’s mainsheet Darren ‘Twirler’ Jones, who heads home to South Australia for his second quarantine stint in as many months, following a MC38 weekend regatta. “He’s done 28 days in quarantine for the Dark Stars,” Bacon pointed out.

“Things were supposed to be open this time,” rued Jones. “It’s no problem, I just get the dirt bike out and ride around the property. I went back home after the last series for three weeks, had one week out of quarantine then back up to Sydney. Now I’m back home for two more in isolation. I’m feeling a little institutionalised!”

Third in Act 4 went to Lazy Dog, Shaun Lane and Quentin Stewart’s MHYC team who opened day two with a bullet off Mackerel Beach on Pittwater’s western shoreline, then slid back in the rankings when the track was shifted to an area known as ‘big pond’, the expanse north of Scotland Island.

A south-moving and deepening low pressure system brought heavy rain and changeable breeze to the fleet on Sunday July 26, mostly south swinging to an easterly flow, 8-10 knots. On the verge of a fourth and final race, an attempt to make up part of Saturday’s two race shortfall, the heavens opened. The downpour reduced visibility and played havoc with the wind, RPAYC race officer Steve Merrington deciding another start was optimistic, and the cold and saturated had probably had enough.

Pointscore results

Next on the calendar is Act 5 over the weekend of September 26-27 hosted by the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron on Sydney Harbour.

Photos by Tilly Lock Media.

Read more: First MC38 regatta win for Swish

MHYC’s 2020-2021 Sailing Program Released

MHYC’s 2020-2021 Sailing Program has been released to provide advance notice to members prior to publication of the MHYC Sailing Handbook 2020-2021 which should be available in early September.  

The Overall Season Schedule can be downloaded as a simple PDF list of events in month order (10 pages) or as an Excel spreadsheet that can be filtered to display selected events or series. Schedules and Sailing Instructions for each of the MHYC Series can also be downloaded as PDFs.

The most significant change from the 2019-2020 program is that eight races of the Inshore Pointscore and seven of the Adams 10 Pointscore will be conducted in conjunction with the Combine Clubs Inshore Series.  This new series, organised jointly by Manly Yacht Club (MYC), Middle Harbour Yacht Club (MHYC), Royal Australian Naval Sailing Association (RANSA), Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club (RPEYC) and Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (RSYS), provides an interclub competition over six race days between September and March. Two of the race days will feature two short passage races, while the remaining 4days will have a single, longer passage race.  The starting and finishing area is between Sow & Pigs Reef and Taylors Bay.

To view and download the MHYC 2020-2021 Sailing Program – click here

The Women's Sailing Program has also been enhanced with the creation of the Sydney Harbour Women’s Keelboat Series, to be jointly conducted by Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), Manly Yacht Club (MYC), Middle Harbour Yacht Club (MHYC), Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club (RPEYC) and Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (RSYS).  For more information about the MHYC Women's Sailing Program, including the new series - click here

Here is a summary of the number of races in each MHYC Series……….

Read more: MHYC’s 2020-2021 Sailing Program Released

Not Quite a Race

It was a disappointing end to the Winter Pursuit and Adams 10 Fleet Race today with the time limit expiring before any boats had finished. 

With little breeze at the clubhouse just before 12:30, the start was moved to on-water with Hugh George setting a line near the Bombora.  A 5-8 knot easterly initially pushed the fleet comfortably around the course, but as the afternoon wore on the breeze declined and the race had to be abandoned.

Nicole Balestro was on the water to take some photos today.

Read more: Not Quite a Race

Race Management Training at MHYC

Interested in Race Management and developing your skills?

MHYC will be running the following courses free to members:

• Flags and Signals - Thursday 10th September from 6.30 to 8.30pm in the Harbourview Room.                   

          Ideal for Race Management Volunteers and crew new to sailing

• Mark Laying Course - Saturday 10th October     10.00-12.00 noon Theory Session    

                                                                                         1.00-3.00pm On Water Session with 2 tenders and Hugh George

• Club Race Officer Training - online webinars available each month from Australian Sailing. For information click here

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

Read more: Race Management Training at MHYC

Light winds for Winter Pursuit Race

The wind was looking dire as we cast out eye down the glassy waters of Middle Harbour shortly before race 3 of the Winter pursuit series. The Adams 10 class came to a unanimous decision to abandon their division leaving the race committee the difficult task of picking a course appropriate for a possible shorten if the rest of the fleet managed to get away. The sailors were keen to try and the horn blew at 12.30 with very little wind coming from the nor west but just enough for most to fill a spinnaker setting them off at a snail’s pace.  A shorten was inevitable and the race committee set up at Lady Bay for the shortened course.

In Division 1 Rob Aldis got the gun on Kayimai  closely followed by Stormaway ( Jack Stening and Colin Gunn) with Khaleesi

(Sandy Farquharson) only a second behind for third place.

In Division 2  Peter Charteris took out 1^st place on Dania followed by Innamincka (John Crawford) and Escape (Dean Dransfield) in third.

For full results click here

Read more: Light winds for Winter Pursuit Race