Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: Under starter's orders
You may not see them – and in some cases you may not know them – but when the cannons are fired signalling 10 minutes to the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart, five minutes to the start and then…
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The latest news from the world of yachting and sailing including yacht & dinghy reviews, cruising and destination information plus the latest boating gear as well as inshore and offshore racing updates and regatta schedules. All things Sailing, Sail Racing, Sailboats and more.
Ocean Respect Racing addresses marine debris issue in Sydney Harbour
20 December 2018 (Sydney, Australia) – While preparing for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, the all-female professional sailing team, Ocean Respect Racing, joined forces with Clean Up Australia, not-for-profit Australian environmental organization, to raise awareness for how rubbish finds…
Dutch entry makes it six America’s Cup Challengers
Auckland, New Zealand – 21st December 2018: Emirates Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron are pleased to announce the acceptance of a sixth Challenger for the 36th America’s Cup, from The Netherlands. The joint Royal Netherlands Yacht…
Rolex Sydney Hobart contenders ready for Tattersall Cup battle
Five very different overall contenders for the Rolex Sydney Hobart’s prized Tattersall Cup rated their chances for winning the 628 nautical mile race at a press conference at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia today. After 41 races to the…
Wislang hopes history repeats in Sydney Hobart Race
The last time Daryl Wislang won the Volvo Ocean Race, he finished the year by taking out line honours in the famed Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. That will be his ambition again when he jumps on board Comanche for next…
Good international lineup for NZ Women's Match Racing Champs
The New Zealand Women’s Match Racing Championships is shaping up to be the best in years, with a stellar international lineup already booked in to compete. The event will take place at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron from February…
Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: Wax Lyrical in equal measure
Les Goodridge, owner and skipper of Wax Lyrical – a Danish design X 50 cruiser/racer – and a longtime member of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s (CYCA), shares his passion of sailing and racing the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race…
Wind holes and something for everyone – first forecast for Rolex Sydney Hobart
In an early forecast prediction, the Bureau of Meteorology’s Simon Louis told a selection of navigators at a Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race press conference at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia today to expect a little of everything in…
Large international showing expected for Ronstan Australian Finn Championship at Black Rock YC
With just four weeks to go to the Ronstan 2019 International Finn Australian Championship, at Black Rock Yacht Club, many Finn sailors from Australia and overseas are taking part in a series of events that ends with the national championship…
Yanmar Racing readies for Dragon World Championships off Fremantle
Yanmar Racing has been finalising race preparations off Fremantle for the upcoming Australian Championships in late December and the International Dragon Boat World Championships in January 2019. The team spent nine days in Fremantle with another championship Dragon Boat team…
Golden Globe – Jean-Luc Van Den Heede's lead cut by further 154 miles
Dutchman Mark Slats has taken a further 154 miles out French Race leader Jean-Luc Van Den Heede over the past seven days, reducing the gap to 794 miles with 4,300 miles still to run before the winner returns to Les…
Halyard locks offer benefits in sail handling and windage
Halyard locks have been around for many years, however recent times have seen great improvement in designs, with more simple and reliable systems available today. Locks in the past were mostly designed to manage big loads on big boats. The…
How to get the best Sydney Hobart coverage and other sailing news between Christmas and New Year
The six days between Christmas and January 1 are the busiest of the year for sailors in Australia. The big event, obviously, is the Rolex Sydney Hobart. But there are other offshore races worth watching too. The Launceston to Hobart…
Entry list for BOISW grows as late entry cut-off date approaches
The entry list for CRC Bay of Islands Sailing Week continues to grow, as time runs out before a late entry fee applies. Entries received from 1 January 2019 onwards will need to pay an additional late entry fee. The…
A well-matched fleet lines up for the world’s most southerly superyacht regatta
The New Zealand Millennium Cup’s 2019 fleet has brought together evenly-matched yachtsand commentators are expecting a fierce battle. On-water the racing will be relentless, butthe regatta is proud to announce it has become a certified Clean Regatta to ensure it’s…
Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: German family affair
German yachtsman Freddy Boehnert has sailed over 18,000 nautical miles on his X-50 Lunatix, just to contest the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s (CYCA) 2018 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race – unusual – as European owners normally ship their boats to…
SMEG team puts on display of power sailing in tough conditions
The Smeg 18ft Skiff team of Michael Coxon, Ricky Bridge and Mike McKensey gave an awesome display of power sailing as they tamed the 25-knot, gusting to 30-knots, North East wind to take out Race 4 of the NSW 18ft…
Olympians secure medals at Sail Melbourne
Racing at Sail Melbourne International 2018 wrapped up with a full final day of racing across all Olympic and Invited class fleets. After challenging race disruptions over the four-day event, caused by the current weather system sitting over Australia’s east…
British sailor feared drowned after night of drinking
St Lucia Star. By Keryn Nelson. What happened to Roy Broughton? Hardly anyone seems able to provide details other than that the British yachtsman was last seen around ten at night on Thursday, November 15, 2018. Boughton, who frequented the…
Lisa Blair completes circumnavigation of Australia
On Monday, December 17,2018, 33-year-old Lisa Blair became the first woman to circumnavigate Australia solo, non-stop and unassisted. Lisa crossed the finish line at Sydney Heads just after 2pm, giving a total elapsed time of 58 days and 3 hours….
Rolex Sydney Hobart – intense preparation with nine days to go
Intense preparation is the name of the game as realisation dawns on owners and crews that only nine days remain before the start of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s (CYCA) 2018 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Top of the…
Former Sydney Hobart winners tackle Launceston to Hobart
This year’s 26-boat fleet for the Riversdale Estate Wines Launceston to Hobart Race certainly can boast some class, including two past overall winners of the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and a runner-up in the famous blue-water classic. The heydays of…
Australian Sailing Team sailors in medal positions at Sail Melbourne
It was another late day of sailing on the penultimate day of Sail Melbourne with only the Finn, Nacra 17/15, Opti and Bic Techno classes getting some racing in. Melbourne’s weather system made for another challenging day, with race delays…
A great Rhum was had by all!
The 40th anniversary Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe proved to be a memorable edition, with big crowds turning out in Saint Malo to see the record fleet of 123 boats in six divisions start the 3,542-nautical mile race to Pointe-à-Pitre. Huge…
Aussie wins top spot at Kite-Surfing World Cup title
The winners of the final event of the 2018 professional Global Kitesports Association (GKA) Kite-Surf World Tour were announced at Point Danger, Torquay today, with Australia’s World No 3, Keahi de Aboitiz, winning the Men’s Single Elimination, moving him up…
ARC comes to a close
In Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia last night crews from ARC+ route of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers gathered on the green of IGY Marina to mark the end of their Atlantic adventure that began in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria…
18ft Skiff Supercup: Barnabas still has what it takes
In consistent rain, a brief thunderstorm, low visibility and light winds, the inaugural Australian 18 Footers League 18ft Skiff Supercup races got underway in poor sailing conditions, but as the weather improved and the breeze freshened, the three-race series of…
Four Seasons in one day at Sail Melbourne
Season’s greetings was the theme at day two of Sail Melbourne International 2018, with sailors battling the elements of sun, rain, not enough and then too much wind on Port Phillip today. The day started out with a light breeze,…
Strong fleet set to contest Australian OK Dinghy Nationals in two weeks
With just two weeks to go before the start of the 57th Australian OK Dinghy Championship, the entry list is looking like a who’s who of OK sailing in Australia, with 30 entries so far received. The championship will take…
Olympians flock to Sail Melbourne
A selection of the world’s best sailors has assembled at Melbourne’s Royal Brighton Yacht Club this week to contest the 2018 edition of Sail Melbourne International (SMI) starting tomorrow, Thursday, 13 December 2018. Sail Melbourne is Australia’s premier Olympic and…
The IMOCA class continues to push forward
The IMOCA class held its annual general meeting on Tuesday 11th December in Paris. This gathering enabled the class to present its appraisal of what was a very positive 2018 season coming to a climax with an outstanding edition of…
Stars & Stripes Team USA confirm acceptance as fifth Challenger of the 36th America's Cup
The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is pleased to confirm that the identity of the fifth accepted challenger for the 36th America’s Cup is the Long Beach Yacht Club, another historic and internationally respected yacht club. It will be represented by ‘Stars…
Golden Globe Race – lead narrows and storm threatens Istvan Kopar
As French race leader Jean-Luc Van Den Heede works to protect his shrinking lead over second-placed Dutch rival Mark Slats, the focus is once more on a violent storm in the Southern Ocean that looks likely to overtake fourth-placed American/Hungarian…
Record entries and new Corinthian Trophy for Transpac 50
LOS ANGELES, CA – Race managers at the Transpacific Yacht Club are pleased to announce that next July's 50th biennial edition of the 2225-mile Transpac race from Los Angeles to Honolulu has set a new record of 82 entries to…
Harken introduces Element – a quality block priced for your wallet
Pewaukee, WI – When developing Element for wallet-conscious sailors, Harken engineers were faced with this question: How to deliver the critical design objective of Harken quality at a value price? Frankly, the road was HARD. Harken engineers decided a new…
A superb piece of navigation – the incredible story of the SS Warrimoo
The passenger steamer SS Warrimoo was quietly knifing its way through the waters of the mid-Pacific on its way from Vancouver to Australia. The navigator had just finished working out a star fix and brought the master, Captain John Phillips,…
Change of craft for 90th Stonehaven Cup Regatta 2019
In January 2019, Royal Brighton Yacht Club will host the 90th Stonehaven Cup – the longest continuously contested junior one-design dinghy trophy in Australian yachting. This is the first time the competition will be conducted using the new RS Quest…
Foul weather doesn't deter competitors at Sail Melbourne
On the first day of 2018 Sail Melbourne International, Melbourne’s weather presented itself from a challenging side with the day starting out in rainy, windy and ever-changing conditions, requiring a lot of patience from sailors and race management alike. But…
The Gonet Monofoil enjoys spectacular first season
Geneva, Switzerland, 11 December 2018: Swiss sailor, Eric Monnin’s gamble has paid off. The Gonet Monofoil, an innovative new foiling monohull, designed alongside Damien Weiss and Simon Bovay has enjoyed an impressive first season. And there is plenty of room for…
TMG announces the international debut of the new Dragonfly 32 Evolution
One of Australia’s leading multihull specialists, TMG (The Multihull Group), has announced that the new Dragonfly 32 Evolution will make her international debut at the Salon Nautique in Paris (8-16th December 2018) and then at boot Düsseldorf 2019 (Jan 19-27,…
