This Week In Sailing - 13th April 2023

ETCHELLS GOLD COAST CHAMPIONSHIP, 27/28 MAY 2023

Entries are now open for our Etchells Gold Coast Championships. Come sail in the warmer open waters off Main Beach on the wonderful Gold Coast. We are expecting a large fleet of Etchells from Qld, NSW, Vic and other states. The early bird discount finishes in a few weeks. This is our Gold Coast’ Etchells’ premium annual event so come and enjoy the fun.

We have some wonderful sponsors and great corporate support for the event. Hill PDA (https://hillpda.com.au), North Sails. Harken, Peter McNeill Sails and Bosuns Locker.

There will be random draws and a PHS division so great opportunities for winning during the event. Also, a great opportunity to get your boat skills to the next level. Boats are available for charter. Every entry will receive a free event shirt.

This event is part of the Etchells Winter Swing with 4 regattas over 2 months.

Waterloo Cup held by Brisbane Fleet at RQYS 13and 14 May 2023

GC Champs Held by our fleet. 27 and 28 of May 2023

Mooloolaba Winter Australasian Champs 9-11 June

Coffs Harbour 24-25 June

This is also boat show time on the Gold Coast. Boat show starts Thursday 25 May so come up early and see the show and enjoy a great weekend of sailing.

Join us and some world-class sailors for a great weekend of sailing!

SAIL AIRLIE 2023

On the week leading up to Easter, four of our SYC families made the trip up to Airlie Beach to compete in the Sail Airlie Regatta. We had 7 optimists and 1 laser competing against a large amount of North Queensland sailors who we don’t often get the chance to test our skills against. After a 3-day training camp, the regatta began on Easter Saturday. It was challenging conditions for our sailors on day 1, with large swells and very gusty conditions, but all of our sailors performed fantastically when faced with these conditions. Day 2 proved challenging in a different way, with less than 5 knots in the morning, slowly growing throughout the day to an average of 12 knots with several strong bullets rocketing down the course. The weather up north was also challenging being much hotter than down in our local water, the kids were always keen to jump in the pool after racing. Regardless, the kids came back to shore with smiles after some high-intensity racing, regaling stories of crocodile, shark and turtle sightings (only one was true so you be the judge). We had Matthew Sinnamon, our Junior Vice Commodore, come away with a 4^th in the Laser 4.7 division, a huge accomplishment for him. Over in the Junior division we had Nathaniel McCarthy in 2^nd place, Lucas Dickson in 6^th, Addison Greenwood in 8^th, Jessica Sinnamon in 10^th, Evie McGuire in 11^th, Jack McGuire in 12^th and Lyla Greenwood in 13^th. A brilliant showing from our SYC sailors and what is more important from a coaching point of view is how all volunteers, other coaches and sailors commented on the friendly attitude and great sportsmanship displayed in our sailors. A huge success both on the water and on shore and we should all be proud of these kids’ achievements.

Results, Click HERE

Credits to Grace Murphy for the report and photos

BRISBANE TO GLADSTONE YACHT RACE

Congratulations to the SYC Representatives, Skippers & Crew who participated in the recent Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race.

Maritimo

Black Diamond

Kerisma

Hutchies Yeah Baby

Aramex

Results, Click HERE

THIS WEEK @ OXENFORD WATERSPORT CENTRE AND SQUAD UPDATE

By: Michaela Hanson

The Ripple Effect

At SYC Oxenford this week, we held our school holiday program and had participants from the Dinghy and She Sails programs come to hire boats. Two young budding sailors flew a hull on a Hobie Wave Catamaran and the adults introduced friends to sailing. It is very rewarding for the team to see our clientele base expanding, and being there to help all ages get out on the water sailing out of their comfort zone. Weeks like this highlight that what we do at SYC Oxenford, at a grassroots level, creates a ripple effect, for all SYC venues, via word of mouth and awesome on-water experiences.

Sail Airlie 2023

It was great to see 7 SYC Cadet sailors competing at Sail Airlie over the easter break with some fantastic results. Keep posted for next week’s newsletter with a more detailed event report.

SAILOR of the WEEK

Congratulations to Stirling Kelly who is our Sailor of the Week! Stirling is a keen learner and youth volunteer at SYC. He began his sailing career through the tackers program at Darwin Sailing Club, joining SYC in 2022 where he took part in 2 terms of Junior Fleet, the OutThere Sailing and Home School Programs.

The 22/23 Summer Series saw Stirling undertake a steep learning curve during his first competition series on his O’pen Bic “Rascal”. He also sails with the family on ‘Komono’ recently working the mainsheet upwind and tiller under spinnaker during the 50th RL24 Nationals in January.

Stirling is eager to sail a laser during the upcoming Winter Series and has been watching the other young sailors on the ’29ers with a lot of interest – they seem to have a lot of speed to burn! Well done Stirling!