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On a non-pointscore day, sailing was the clear winner

Perhaps the best place to take the temperature of a sporting body such as a local yacht club is at an event where annual pointscore placings are already settled, the race effectively counts for nothing, and the weather forecast is somewhat blancmange. In such case then the Port Macquarie Yacht Club would appear to be in very good shape, as a healthy fleet of seven yachts turned out to contest last Sunday’s ocean buoy event.
Tue 10 Dec 2024

Third Man combines maintenance and tactics to score a great win

With a peaceful bar crossing, winds hovering around the 15 knot mark and easy seas, skippers and crew, considered they had found the ultimate in sailing bliss, and could only marvel that five yachts alone faced the starter for Sunday’s long ocean north event.
Tue 26 Nov 2024

River shaman Teddy Clausen steers Cool Change to victory

The definition of relentless is “continuing in a determined way without interruption”. Such definition could be applied to Cool Change’s skipper, who, although having taken an unassailable lead in Port Macquarie Yacht Club’s inshore pointscore, with a crew of irregulars, continued in Cool Change’s domination of club inshore events, on a day that tested all skippers and crew.
Tue 19 Nov 2024

Ocean pointscore regatta: Clean sweep to Enticer

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.
Tue 12 Nov 2024

Invitational race to Laurieton and MRPM Ocean Classic trophy race return

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
Tue 29 Oct 2024

A day of variable breeze followed by great celebration

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.
Tue 22 Oct 2024

A lesson in survival : Offshore Regatta weekend

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.
Tue 15 Oct 2024

Indefatigable four in hot pursuit

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.
Wed 02 Oct 2024

Double trimaran trouble! ;)

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.
Tue 24 Sep 2024

Cool Change continues to lead the river series

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.
Tue 10 Sep 2024

Our first Spring race delivered "Golden Zone' wind conditions

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
Mon 02 Sep 2024

On a day of no wind, sailing was the winner

When James Cook sailed up the East Coast of Australia, he remarked on the smoke from campfires that were observed as the Endeavour made its way north. Skippers and crew were reminded of this while, when awaiting the start for last Sunday’s river “B” event a column of smoke rose vertically from the North Shore.
Mon 26 Aug 2024

A weekend of extremes - Port-Laurieton return Charles Nicol trophy race

Nine yachts faced the starter in PMYC’s Charles Nicol weekend event from Port Macquarie to Laurieton and return in a race marked by extremes. Wind strengths on day one averaged from five to eight knots, and frequently less for much of that leg, while the return journey saw “golden zone sailing” with wind in the fifteen to twenty knot range.
Mon 19 Aug 2024