Young Australian sailors have regained the prestigious Hardy Cup ISAF under 25 grade 3 match-racing title from the New Zealanders, with Evan Walker from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Youth Sailing Academy winning a hard-fought final against Josh Junior from Wellington’s Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club on Sydney Harbour in early February.
The final, sailed in a building 10-12-knot north-easterly seabreeze, went to four flights as the two young sailors and their crews used all their helming, sail-trimming and tactical match-racing skills in a bid to out-manoeuvre each other in the Elliott 6 sports boats.
Walker is only the second skipper to have won the Hardy Cup more than once, an event conceived by eminent Australian yachtsman Sir James Hardy to promote match-racing skills, who was watching the 2010 regatta. The success of his concept can be judged by the ongoing international success of Adam Minoprio (NZL), three-time winner Michael Dunstan (AUS), Laurie Jury (NZL) and Mark Campbell-Jones (GBR).
Many of the competitors in this year’s Hardy Cup can be expected to go further in match-racing and other yachting pursuits – Evan Walker the following day was skippering an 18-footer in the JJ Giltinan international regatta on Sydney Harbour while Josh Junior is returning to New Zealand to campaign a single-handed Laser for the London 2012 Olympics.
Walker won the Hardy Cup for the first time in 2008 and finished a rather luckless third last year. Despite some losses in the round-robins this week, he remained at the top of the leader-board throughout the regatta, eliminating Jordon Reece from the host club, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, 2-0 in their semi-final and then winning the best-of-five final against Junior 4-1.
Junior won his best-of-three semi-final against fellow Kiwi and defending Hardy Cup champion, Adrian Short from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland, 2-0.
“Josh was sailing really well, upwind he was faster but we managed in all but the second race to overtake him downwind. In the first race, we looked out of the running but I think we ‘spooked’ him into gybing away; then, when he came back we did the same thing; we made up four or five boat lengths on the final third of the last run to the finish,” recalled Walker, who crossed the line just two seconds ahead.
Walker lost flight two after incurring a pre-start penalty for tacking across Junior’s bow and trying to take the exonerating turns nearing the finish. “It didn’t work and we lost out,” Walker said.
Walker and his crew of Carl Langford (tactics/mainsail and bow) and Ted Hackney (jib and spinnaker trim) again came from astern to win flight 3 by 18 seconds after the New Zealander broke his tiller extension. The fourth and deciding flight again saw Junior faster upwind but losing downwind, with a penalty adding to their woes, losing the flight by 14 seconds and the Hardy Cup 3-1.
In the petite final to decide third and fourth placings overall, Adrian Short (NZL) scored two straight wins over Jordan Reece (AUS), generally sailing “faster and smarter”, as one spectator commented.



First sailed in 1898, the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania’s 84th Bruny Island Race is not only the oldest long distance inshore/offshore race but the course is unique, circumnavigating the historic, elongated island in southern Tasmanian waters.
The 89 nautical mile course, exactly the same as it was 112 years ago, this year took the 25 boat fleet down the River Derwent and through the winding d’Entrecasteaux Channel to round Bruny Point and Tasman Head and out into the Tasman Sea for a final run up the rugged, seaward shoreline of the island, past Adventure Bay where Cook, Bligh, Bruni d’Entrecasteaux and other early navigators anchored centuries ago.
Originally called ‘The Ocean Race’, the Bruny Island Race was not sailed every year in the early days, but since 1947 has been sailed every year, except 1959. Over the years, many of Tasmania’s best-known yachts have won the long race, including the Tasmanian One Design class boat Weene which won in 1914 and is still racing with the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club. The famous Sydney yacht Culwalla III won the race 100 years ago while other visiting winners have been the maxi yachts Sovereign and Konica Minolta. Tasmanian Admiral’s Cup team yacht Intrigue has won the race seven times.
With principal race officer Roger Martin sending the fleet on an inshore/offshore course, nine hours of smart tactical sailing in light and fluky winds down the d’Entrecasteaux Channel played a key role in a double handicap win for Michael Denney’s 30-footer Wild West.
While other yachts fell into windless ‘holes’ in the Channel, Denney and his crew from Bellerive YC successfully picked the fluctuations, and Wild West was among the first group of yachts to reach Cape Bruny and Tasman Head early Saturday evening.
From there on, it was a question of optimising boatspeed as the fleet set spinnakers for a faster run up the outside of Bruny Island into Storm Bay and back in the Derwent, with Gary Smith’s Bakewell-White 45 The Fork in the Road taking line honours from Andrew Hunn’s Cape/Barrett 40.
The Fork in the Road crossed the line shortly before 1am on Sunday, taking a slow 15hrs 25mins to sail the 89nm course. By 8am, only 16 yachts from the 25 boat fleet had finished.
First place in the premier IRC division on corrected time went to Auch, from The Fork in the Road and Dekadence, David Creese’s DK46, which was the early race leader and finished third in fleet.
This was the first Bruny Island Race in which an AMS division has been included, with Wild West winning from the Dovell 38 Whistler, skippered by David Rees, and The Fork in the Road third.
Wild West won the PHS division from Dekadence, with The Fork in the Road completing a fine race by placing third in the PHS division, giving the Hobart-built 45-footer line honours and three handicap placings.



Yachting Victoria’s Club Marine Series was always set to have a good breeze by the time the afternoon arrived on a sunny Port Phillip. What occurred in the morning of Saturday 6 February for the Division Zero Race was a little over expectations at around 12-15 knots, but it just kept building from there. In fact, all the way to 35 knot gusts and with it, 2.5 to 3 metre peaks in the seas that came in sets of threes.
For that first race of the day, Cougar II won in IRC, with Living Doll second and Shogun third. The two TPs were duelling it all the way and on the last gybe, as they came into the finish from opposing sides of the course, it looked like Shogun had done enough to pass Cougar, who had a round-up just as the boats crossed.
“Glad to get out of that one in front. We had a winch issue and then with Shogun wrapping the kite, we’ve just skipped home,” Alan Whiteley of Cougar said after the finish.
With building breezes and seas, it was going to be a tough day. Terra Firma retired from the first race and did not re-appear. Living Doll joined the growing list of retirees and did not make the start of the second race. Shogun may well wish they had not participated in the afternoon’s fun, after a touch-up with the pin-end buoy. After screaming past the bottom mark with kite issues, Shogun also then retired from race two, once the kite had finally been brought aboard.
Cougar did well all day and with no competition, she got around the course at a more comfortable pressure level and sailed well. She won race two in IRC, with Veloce second and XLR8 third. As a result of their great day, Cougar are now clear leaders in the series, over Calm and Veloce.
As Division One got underway things really began to get interesting. The last boat over the start line was a good few minutes behind the front row. Smooth Criminal hit the Committee Boat and retired, then First Musketeer joined that ever-expanding list. Allegresse did a great job of coming back into port with no engine and no damage to anything.
Just A Minor Hick Up took out IRC, AMS and Event Handicap for the day. Reverie was the second boat back down, with Lou Abrahams’ Challenge next with another Sydney 38, Sierra Chainsaw right on their transom. Just A Minor Hick Up’s skipper Peter Coleman was pretty thrilled back at the host’s clubhouse – Royal Brighton YC.
“We got the gun comfortably, which is great! It shows what can happen when 10 people sail together for 10 years and don’t make many mistakes anymore,” he said, paying deference to his crew and their great work, in the process. “The boats that have the same crew every race was really evident out there today.”
IRC placings for the day in Division One were, Just a Minor Hick Up, Executive Decision and Reverie. AMS results were JAMHU, Executive Decision and Reverie. EHC was JAMHU, INXS and Stampede. Executive Decision also leads the series across all three systems, as well.
Over on the other course, Apache took Division Two IRC from Surprise and Top Gun. However, Surprise still retains the series lead. Apache also took Div2 AMS over Top Gun and a very drenched crew aboard, Flying Fox. Mystery took the EHC prize, from Apache and Salamander III. Godzilla leads the series in AMS and EHC.
In Division Three, Intrusion got the IRC win, from Double Malt and Red Dog. She also holds the series lead. In AMS, Rhiannon won over Double Malt and Spellbound and has the series lead there.

Marine Park yabby could be new species

A species of yabby discovered at Fingal Bay in Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Park over the holiday period has been sent to a crustacean expert at Museum Victoria for identification.
An area, known as Kiddies Corner, at the southern end of Fingal Beach, has been temporarily closed to yabbying as a result of the find.
The closure prevents all forms of yabby pumping and collecting, from the boat ramp to the southern headland.
Marine Park manager Max Haste said it was precautionary to close the area as it was unusual to find a yabby species along a beach and it could be a new species.
“Yabbies are normally found on mud flats in the shallows of estuaries, so we’re interested to find out more about this species.
“It’s possible it could be a new species or a Victorian species well outside its range.”
Local fishing identity and recreational fishing representative on the Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Park advisory committee, John Clarke, said the yabbies had been found accidentally by visitors.
“All the yabbies I’ve ever dug have always come from the estuaries, but this little population lives on the beach.
“It’s amazing, no one had a clue they were there.”
Mr Haste said signs would soon be in place in the area.

Marine Industry Seminars to run during Rosehill Gardens Boat Show

The Boating Industry Association of NSW has gathered a number of industry experts to share their advice and guidance on topics of vital importance to the recreational marine industry.
The speakers will help visitors understand the matters in more detail and guide industry members on how to deal with the issues within their businesses.
The seminars will coincide with the annual running of the Rosehill Gardens Boat Show on 6-7 March.
The seminars are free and are intended to help businesses get up to speed on issues that will have an impact on the industry this year.
Speakers will include Ken Evans of Mercury Marine who will explain the issues surrounding Bio-fuels, Nick Richards will help the industry deal with the issues on Nav lighting on vessels, and the very popular Matt Freedman will again assist us understand and best use E-Marketing in our businesses.
With the ever changing legislation surrounding the workplace, Penny Nicholson from Workers Compensation will assist visitors to understand what workers compensation responsibilities your businesses have under the OH&S laws.
Jessica Stefano from IC Frith will compliment this by guiding businesses on how to best manage their costs and responsibilities under the act. To complete the speaking line up will be a representative from NSW Business Chamber who will explain how the new Industrial Relations Laws that came into effect on the 1st January will affect your business.
To compliment the speaker’s presentations, a number of suppliers to the marine industry will also display their products and services within the Trade Expo.
The Seminars and a Trade Expo will run for one afternoon only on Saturday 6th March from 1pm to 5pm. It will be located on Level 3 of the JR Fleming Stand at Rosehill Racecourse.
Entry and parking are free. More info at www.bia.org.au/TradeEvent