Conspiracy - won the NSW Championship in November - Andrea Francolini pic - Sydney Harbour Regatta

The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club has a number of boats entered for next weekend's Sydney Harbour Regatta, over the weekend of 2nd & 3rd March, 2019, hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club, as well as offering Race Managment assistance with Alfred's II and a rib.  Entries close on Monday 25 February, 2019, for those RPAYC members who are still to enter.

Click here for the latest press release.

Click Here to Enter.

Lisa Blair is a lady who likes to go around things. She first circumnavigated in the Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race. In 2017 she became the first woman to sail solo and unassisted around Antarctica. It took her 183 days, during which she was dismasted in storm conditions more than 1000nm from land.

Now Lisa has just completed her circumnavigation of Australia, solo and unassisted. She could be excused for being exhausted after the Australian circumnavigation. She has been sleeping in 20 minute grabs for the past two months. But you will find that she has infectious energy and enthusiasm.

She will regale us with her Antarctic adventures but also some from the Australian circumnavigation. Some excerpts from her recent blogs include:
• I had a steady 4-5 meters but every now and then there would be this incredible set of waves that would come through standing steep and tall at well over 8 meters.
• It was a wild ride and I was sailing on such a knife edge so far downwind that any slip-up and I could crash gybe in 35 knots which would definitely break something or get rounding back up and pinned again. Boy was it fun.
• I finally conceded defeat and realised that I would need to climb up the inner forestay to get the grub screw in before the sail would come down.
• I use the acumen WOBBLE with my engine checks it stands for Water, Oil, Batteries, Belts, Leaks, Electronics.
• I started to hear the sound of lots of water sloshing around. I opened up the inspection hatch for the collision compartment forward and found what looked to be over 200 litres of water in the bottom of the boat sloshing around.
• One is when considering higher winds and is 'if I am thinking about reefing then I need to reef' and the other is when the winds are light and I am keen to sail full throttle but I don't wish to waste my energy I apply the 'Cup of Tea' Rule.
• My radar didn’t pick them up as they are a wooden craft so there is nothing to reflect from. It was a shock and not one that I am very comfortable with given that I was alone on my yacht and 100nm from land.
• Last night was another ripper of a sunset with the sky lit up with pinks and oranges.
• I climbed out the hatch I got quite the shock as I came face to face with a large seabird that was just perched on the rail of what is now becoming the feathered inn of the high seas.
• Eventually, I was released from the currents and the winds filled into a light 5 knots which was enough to get me moving in the right direction again just in time to watch an epic sunset.
• I can honestly say that this was one of the best decisions of the night as I took the helm to drive the boat through this gap in the reef. I was still surfing waves at 16 knots even with the reduced sail up but when the 40 knots of wind hit I was safe. I did find myself laughing like a mad woman in the night.

You can read more of Lisa’s adventures via her blog.

Lisa is a Master Class 5 skipper and the recipient of the Australian Geographic’s Spirit of Adventure award. She is one of the gutsiest sailors you will ever meet. And she tells some inspiring stories too.

Make sure First Friday in March (1st March 2019) is in the diary. Who knows, you might be tempted to sail out of your comfort zone.

Click here to book.

Two classic days of racing offshore from Palm Beach saw 10 boats battling it out in IRC, ORC and PHS divisions.

Saturday saw light winds and after an hours postponement saw 3 races conducted in light ENE winds. In IRC and the battle for the Pittwater Cup - Bushranger, Nine Dragons and Windy Too toped the leader board, only a couple of points separating them. The ORC results had Bushranger with 3 bullets, Windy Too in second and Conspiracy only a few points behind in third.
The PHS Division saw 3 different winners in each of the races – Conspiracy, Astral and Risk meaning the 3 of them sat in that order at the top of the leaderboard overnight.

Sunday, as the forecast predicted, saw a Northeasterly breeze of 12-15knots – Champagne sailing conditions. With no discards the pressure was on the leaders for no mistakes.
Race 4 saw the tussle for the Pittwater Cup continued between last years winner, Bob Cox on Nine Dragons and overnight leader Gerry Hatton on Bushranger with Gerry edging out a short handed Nine Dragons by just 13 seconds on corrected time. It was not to go all Bushrangers way as Nine Dragons overturned the result in race 5 taking the win by 14 seconds. Going into race 6; Nine Dragons needed to win with Bushranger no better than 3rd to retain the cup. Nine Dragons did their bit and took the bullet but Bushranger just pipped Conspiracy by 3 seconds to take second place and the series win on countback. Bushranger toped the ORC results with 6 bullets a perfect result.

Conspiracy, Astral and Risk resume their battle for the Petrel Cup. Astral enjoyed the increased breeze, sailing to 2nd in race 4 and then winning race 5. Going into the final race Astral and Conspiracy were tied on 14 points. Amazingly race 6 saw a tie for the win on corrected time, between Ian Edwards on Wings and Kieran Mulcahy on Astral with Conspiracy in 3rd meaning Astral won the series and the Petrel Cup.

Photos – Gerry Hatton lifts the Pittwater Cup, Kieran Mulcahy lifts the Petrel Cup and Nine Dragon leads around the bottom gate in perfect conditions.

The team of Alistair Reid, Antony Hawke, Clare Costanzo & Emma Rankin, accompanied by Club Coach Tom Spithill have finished racing in the CenterPort Youth International Match Racing Championships. The event was sailed out of RPNYC in Wellington, New Zealand.

Day 1 
A typical wellington day greeted the team with a north easterly wind ranging from 5 to 35 knots. These challenging conditions kept all competitors, umpires and repair boats, on their toes.

Representing the RPAYC is Alistair Reed (Skipper) and his crew of Clare Costanzo, Emma Rankin and Antony Hawke. 
This is Alistair's first time as helmsman at an overseas event, and the feedback from his crew onboard has been very positive.
Although we managed to only line up one win today against our friends at the RSYS, many of their races so very close finishes, and the way the draw was structured saw RPAYC going up against the top ranked teams first, as Alistair is yet to get a World Sailing Ranking.

One area that the team and in particularly Alistair is keen to improve on, is keeping infringement free. Yesterday the team received 5 penalties, mainly relating to incidents around tacking. "My aim today is to try and not get a penalty for the same mistakes I made yesterday" commented a rhapsodic Reed. "The Elliott 6s, is a different beast to our E7's they are a bit more flighty and light, and it is easy to get caught down speed or too high out of a tack, so that is one area I will be focusing on today"
 
Racing was finally called off for the day at around 1700hrs, after a failure in the forestay saw one of the boats dismasted. Thankfully the mast has been repaired and we are good to go this morning and finish of the first round robin.

Thankyou to the members of the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club for their continued support of our Youth Development Program.

Day three on the water for the Centreport Youth Match Racing Regatta out of Royal Port Nicholson Yacht club in Wellington.
Windy Wellington lived up to its expectations with a southerly wind ranging from 12 to 38knots
Alistair Read representing The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club had a pleasing day recording two wins from two races.
Unfortunately the combined score from the double round Robbin saw RPAYC qualify 6th and therefore miss out on a semi finals berth.
Given this is Alistair's first overseas event as helmsman. A 5th place would be a respectable result for this dynamic new team, and that will be their goal for the final day of racing.
"We really proved today with our boat handling that we could mix it with the top teams" Alistair referring to his win against one of the top four teams.
"We hope tomorrow we can implement the lessons learnt this week, and move up in the pecking order" said a spirited Read. Readis currently unranked on the world sailing rankings. However after his result this week he is sure to make his mark once the new rankings are released by the world sailing federation.

A big thank you once again to the RPAYC and its members for the continued support of youth sailing. 

After 24 years enjoying living in ‘Pitt Point’ on Scotland Island, members Greg (1986) and Louise Roberts are planning a move back to the mainland.
They have always commuted to their safe berth on L Marina – as do a number of offshore-living RPAYC members, some of whom live close by. Their beautiful north-facing waterfront home, built and owned all its life by RPAYC members, is on the market.

‘Pitt Point’ sits on the northern tip of Scotland Island, the first jetty east of Tennis Wharf, looking straight up Pittwater to Barrenjoey and beyond. Jetty, substantial pontoon with wave-breaker protection barrier (a rare facility), mooring, slipway, working boatshed – all have proven wonderful for their boating and sailing activities.
Very often, it is a 2 minute sail/motor to the Start boat. Or a comfortable, elevated, front row seat relaxing on the terrace, with a glass of something, for many of the races.

For more information on ‘Pitt Point’ house – click here.

For some history of ‘Pitt Point’ and Scotland Island – see below:-

Greg and Louise were sitting out on the terrace of ‘Pitt Point’ and took some shots of the Wed 26th October 2018 race start, with Wild Oats very apparent.

A number of people have now seen ‘Pitt Point’ from the water – hard to miss with the huge ‘For Sale’ sign over the boatshed.

Some have asked – how would you describe the house?

Greg refers to the article in the fairly recent ‘Houses’ magazine for architects and designers (Issue 120) – ‘The house is a collection of buildings and shapes in a seemingly ad hoc arrangement, “as if they developed over time” according to architect Walter Barda, who was an Associate Director of Ken Woolley’s practice at the time and produced designs and drawings for the project.

“The idea was a small village of clustered vernacular elements: main house, the guest wing building, the lookout tower – it’s an island house after all. To that we gave skewed geometries and overscaled pitched roofs chopped in half [living room and master bedroom]. From an aerial perspective, the plan kind of wiggles through the site, some of its elements intersecting or colliding. It’s all very informal but structured.”

Being ostensibly an adult retreat, its key spaces in the main house are the living area, with the luxuriously sized main bedroom above. These are gathered up under two pitched roofs that intersect above the stairs. They both face north to the water, with views right up the Pittwater to Barrenjoey lighthouse, winking in the dark.

Behind the bedroom, the plan splits under a shallow skillion roof with a skylit ensuite, tiled in terracotta, followed by two interconnected studies, facing west and south into the rear bush garden, with its series of ponds and tumbling water – a feature of most Woolley houses, along with meticulous craftsmanship.

‘Pitt Point’ is a beautiful house – clearly no expense was spared in its build.

As for commuting to ‘Pitt Point’ – from RPA to the house, it’s less than 8 minutes - (see video – click here.)

Greg and Louise ‘downsized’ to ‘Pitt Point’ from their Bayview waterfront home when they were thinking about future retirement – they wanted to stay on the water.

And that was 24 years ago.

And now for a further downsizing back to the mainland.

Click here for more information on the ‘Pitt Point’ house.

For more on the background of Scotland Island - click here.

This Friday & Saturday SailGP will light up Sydney Harbour with six national teams in supercharged F50 catamarans competing in a series of thrilling fleet races.

The event will showcase the best the Sydney Harbour has to offer, with racing like you have never seen before. Sydney SailGP will take place on Friday 15th from 4pm-6pm and Saturday 16th February from 3pm-5pm, 2019. Each national team will compete in fleet races, culminating with the top two teams racing for a place on the winner’s podium in a match race on Saturday afternoon.

Come down and watch these amazing boats and support club member Jason Waterhouse who is onboard with the Australian Team.

If you can't make it down on the water then don’t miss a moment of Sydney SailGP by viewing LIVE on FOX SPORTS, on Foxtel and streamed LIVE on Kayo.

Read more..

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Rob and Virginia McClelland’s Jeanneau 57 First Picasso took out First Place in the Bay of Islands Race Week Island Racing Division B. It is their second win at this event. The regatta commenced on the 23^rd January and was three races over three days with all races counting in the point score.

The regatta started well for First Picasso with a win in race one against a competitive fleet of 20 boats. Race two resulted in third place with First Picasso now second overall by one point to Legacy, a Young 11, who won the race. This win followed a second in race one giving her three points to First Picasso’s four.

In order to win the event First Picasso needed to beat Legacy with a boat between them in Race three, the last race. The course was set at 29 nm around a number of the islands in the bay. It would prove to be a challenging race with a southerly breeze at the start which was soon to be influenced by a building sea breeze, creating many no wind zones in between the two competing breezes. After an average start First Picasso found a number of holes in the first part of the race and her chances were not looking good. However, after finding the sea breeze and making some good tactical decisions she was back in the game and by the finish she was far enough ahead of Legacy to get fourth place with Legacy in sixth giving First Picasso the win. However, it was close with only a 41 second margin to fifth place.

The crew was a mixture of Aussie’s and Kiwis; joining Rob and Virginia were Richard & Leigh Hudson, Trevor Hannah & Annie Taylor, the Kiwis included Ray Hasler, Roy Dickson, Debbie Whiting, Barbara Thompson and Hew Campbell.

It was a great regatta with perfect weather, good courses and an excellent team.

Alistair Reid is making his debut as helm on the Youth International Match Race scene sailing at the prestigious Hardy Cup at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron this week. In recent years the RPAYC has posted some pleasing results, with Clare Costanzo’s historic win last year as an all-female team where they made history by breaking an 18-year run of male skippers adding their name to the Under 25 Trophy.

Over the past 3 years The Alfreds have featured in the finals which resulted in 2 victories. The pressure however this week is not on Alistair to win or final, but to go out there and make mistakes and learn. On-board Alistair will have great guidance with senior squad members James Farquharson (fresh from his Warren Jones win) and Jess Angus (Fusion Racing) helping bleed in the next generation of sailors with current squad members Antony Hawke & Jasmine Bridge. 
Alistair managed to have a great first day on the water resulting in 2 wins against what is a star studded field of competitors, including the current National Champion. His 2 wins were against the RNZYS & RSYS.
Racing can be followed live by www.matchracingresults.com or if you are down near Kirribilli they are racing right out the front!

Final 2018 Highlights Video

The Club has devoted the weekend of 27th & 28th April for the annual Club Marine Sail Expo.

The Club Marine Pittwater Sail Expo has matured into an occasion to showcase the Club and an enormous range of marine products and services.  It’s become familiar amongst both the sailing public and the broader community. As in recent years, the 2018 Expo directly generated a significant number of new memberships to RPAYC.  It also alerted a wide group of potential candidates to the sailing and boating opportunities available to members of the RPAYC. 
 
The Club is calling out for members to volunteer at the 2019 event. Volunteers are vital to the success of the event and provide event assistance, promote membership and reinforce the RPAYC “personality” to visitors.  Volunteers are assigned key areas including; Sign In/Greeting, Membership Stand and Car Park Assistance and a comprehensive brief of duties is provided. 
 
If you would like to volunteer some of your time on either Saturday 28th, Sunday 29th (or both days) please email sailexpo@rpayc.com.au to advise confirm your availability.

Event Website