The Port Macquarie yacht club runs sufficient offshore regattas for regularly competing skippers to have a reasonable idea of expected elapsed times for the various courses. Last Sunday, with racing scheduled to commence at 9.30am on the North easterly regatta course a fleet of seven yachts faced the starter at the slightly delayed start, in a light to non existent breeze. · Read more

Many visitors to Port Macquarie who sing the praises of the light and gentle breezes and the safe, accessible beaches would have found only wind whipped sand and beaches closed due to the heavy seas on Saturday when PMYC ran the first day of it’s Invitational race weekend to Laurieton and return. In those conditions four yachts only contested the weekend’s events. Northshore 38 Solar Coaster skippered by Stuart Watson used the weekend as a training run for its skipper who has entered · Read more

Variable breeze from 7kts to 23kts greeted the reduced fleet that faced the started for Sunday’s long river race from Settlement Point to the Dennis bridge turning mark. The handicapper was in form, dealing with the varying winds and a segmented race, managing to produce two separate segment winners, and with the longest segment sailed being decided by a mere 0.77 seconds on handicap. · Read more

Some of the more senior Port Macquarie Yacht Club sailors were heard to comment that last weekend’s Offshore regatta was like an episode of Survivor, as, one by one yachts withdrew from the event until there were only the placegetters left standing. · Read more

Australians are traditionally believed, not least by themselves, to be outdoorsy sporting types, more comfortable wrestling crocodiles, than wrestling a spreadsheet, which was generally considered best left to the less sporty studious types. A rethinking of that image was due following last Sunday’s demonstration “pursuit” event held in the eastern arm of the Hastings river on Port Macquarie Yacht Club’s river A course. · Read more

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was again on the minds of crew on the seven yachts that faced the starter in last Sunday’s “river B” event sailed on the Hastings river between the Settlement Point and Hibbard ferries. With around 2 knots of breeze, unrippled water and tidal run of about 1.5 knots, there was little prospect of starting at the scheduled time. · Read more

Last weekend the Port Macquarie Yacht Club scheduled races to Laurieton and return. After reviewing the weekend weather forecast and in view of dangerous conditions forecast for Sunday, the whole of weekend event was abandoned and replaced by a Saturday non-point score long ocean race. · Read more

After last Sunday’s Long River race results were published where river race magician Teddy Clausen’s Cool Change recorded another river race victory, many were questioning “How does he do it?”. Cool Change has five series victories in the seventeen races contested so far and only rarely fails to podium. · Read more

Spring arrived on Sunday, and as usual provided plenty of surprises. With wind strengths forecast from 5 to 10 knots generally from the north forecast, several yachts in the Port Macquarie Yacht Club fleet were contemplating setting up for the forecast light airs when from about 11 am the stiff Nor East breeze set in for last Sunday’s offshore event. When the yachts started some yachts reefed down, with wind strengths in the 15 – 18 knot range, the “Golden zone” for sailing · Read more