29th August 2008
By Peter Campbell
Founded in 1862, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron will maintain its sustained record of conducting yacht racing on Sydney Harbour when its 147th summer season starts on Saturday, 6 September.
Apart from conducting the traditional Saturday afternoon racing for mixed divisions and one-design classes and the now firmly established twilight races, the Squadron this summer will host a number of National and State championships, including the prestigious Prince Philip Cup for the International Dragon class.
While Club racing starts of 6 September, the 147th Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron Opening Day and Parade of Sail will be held on Sunday, 21 September.
A season Opening Crew Welcome Night will be held at the Squadron on Friday evening, September 12.
Saturday Club racing will cater for four mixed divisions of cruiser/racer yachts along with one-design racing for International Etchells, Ynglings and Dragons. Mini Regattas for these one-design classes will also be held over the season, along with Sydney 38s and Sydney 32s.
Competition in both the Etchells and Dragon classes will be significant this season with the Etchells World Championships to be held on Melbourne’s Port Phillip in March 2009 and the Squadron hosting the Prince Philip Cup, the Australian Championship for the Dragon class in early January.
The Squadron will also host its traditional offshore races for the Gascoigne Cup, the Morna Cup and the Milson Cup, as well as a Short Ocean Pointscore series combined with other Sydney Harbour clubs.
The Prince Philip Cup is expected to attract entries from Melbourne and Geelong, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and Perth, as well as from Hong Kong Kong, New Zealand and the United States, along with the competitive Squadron fleet.
Veteran Squadron member Gordon Ingate will be defending the Prince Philip Cup which he won on Hobart’s River Derwent last January.
The RSYS Spring Series will run from Saturday, September 6 to Saturday, December 20. Racing will resume after the Christmas break on Saturday, January 17 with the Summer Series for all divisions continuing through to Saturday, April 4. In total, there will be 23 Saturday races over the summer.
With the Sailing Office still receiving entries, indications are that there will be strong fleets in all divisions and classes. Morag Bheag will be returning to the Short Offshore Division while additional Hood 23s, including Brotherhood, are expected to boost Division 4.
The Mini A Regattas over the season will be for Etchells and Sydney 38s, the Mini B Regattas for Dragons and Ynglings. Joining the Sydney 38 fleet will be Xcubed.
Twilight Racing is now a major part of the Squadron’s sailing program, with the first Friday Twilight Race scheduled for October 10 and the first Tuesday Ladies Twilight Race, the ‘Pink Race’ for Breast Cancer, to be held on November 11.
With the extension of daylight saving in New South Wales, the Friday Twilight Racing will extend through to April 3, 2009, providing a total of 23 races.
RSYS Sailing Manager Brian Clayton says there are few changes to the sailing instructions and to division courses for the 2008-2009 season, but he drew the attention of skippers to new requirements regarding ferries, incident reporting and minimum fleet requirements for mini regattas.
The new Racing Rules of Sailing will come into effect from 1 January 2009 but changes to the Special Regulations will not be applicable until 1 July 2009.
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