With a grappling hook only, a pike and sword being unavailable, popular Port Macquarie Yacht Club sailor Basia Dworak was inducted into the mostly forgotten Order of the Pike Sword and Grappling Hook, in front of a small gathering of crew from Kookaburra 2 and Cool Change, onboard Kookaburra 2, prior to last Sunday’s Ocean buoy event. · Read more

The start of Port Macquarie Yacht Club’s river “A” race run last Sunday 14 th of September was delayed two hours, resulting in “golden zone” sailing conditions. For the five yachts that turned out to contest the event all the world seemed in tune on that fine afternoon, as they lined up for the start in around 12 knots of northerly breeze. · Read more

He’s some cool dude, and is like “the little engine that could”. Seldom praised, but an integral part of the glue that holds the yacht club together, club handicapper Ken McDonald took the spotlight after the first leg of last weekend’s Port Macquarie Yacht Club’s Charles Nichol trophy event, which was run in the pursuit format. · Read more

Was it Proust, or was it Dennis Connor, who said, once we renounce the truths, we will never understand sailing? It has been similarly expressed by many. A pessimist scrawled on a changing room’s wall, “The wages of sin is death with a curse, but with sailing, of course, it can always get worse.” written perhaps by a sailor feeling the inequities of an unfavourable wind shift. Of course in sailing if you’re an optimist, your truth is “Luck is a Fortune”. · Read more

Folie à deux,  translates loosely as a condition where two closely associated individuals share similar delusional beliefs. One can only wonder why every sail boat jointly owned does not carry this name. Perhaps this became apparent when the Cygnet 20 of that name, the tiniest boat in the fleet, and sailed by its co-owners,  showed a clean pair of heels to the Port Macquarie Yacht Club fleet in last Sunday’s scheduled river race from Settlement Point to Dennis Bridge and return. · Read more

Sunday June 22nd saw the final race in the current ocean sailing season. After a disrupted season which saw numerous abandonments, skippers’ hopes were high when the seven day forecast was for an 8 – 14  knot wind range on  a lazy half meter swell. Those checking the forecast would have seen little change in the forecast swell, but a progressive falling away of wind strength. · Read more

With the Mercury dipping and Instagram videos of snow falling on the adjacent range, Port Macquarie sailors presented in multi layered sailing apparel for last Sunday’s scheduled PMYC long river event from Settlement Point to the Dennis Bridge mark and return. · Read more

While sailors were well rugged up at the start of last Sunday’s PMYC offshore event, some skippers thoughts were further south where Port Macquarie Sailors Fiona MacManus, Hannah Walmsley and Alison Woolstenholme were experiencing gale force conditions while competing in the Australian Women’s Keelboat regatta · Read more

A sharp eye for picking wind lines and the savvy mastery of light airs sailing were on full display in Sunday’s Port Macquarie Yacht Club “river A” event. The event which the Officer of the Day, wisely changed the course from “river B” was run in breezes ranging from zero to five knots, and an initially surprisingly strong run in tide. · Read more