The sailing world is preparing to converge on Melbourne, with only a few days to go until the iconic Sail Melbourne regatta returns to the waters of Port Phillip.
The largest Olympic and invited class regatta in Australia, Sail Melbourne will take place from 14-18 January and will be proudly hosted by the Royal Brighton Yacht Club on Bunurong country.
The 2023 regatta will feature competition from Olympic classes such as the ILCA 6, ILCA 7, 470, Nacra 17, 49er and 49erFX, as well as the exciting new foiling classes iQFOiL and Formula Kite. Youth classes and invited classes will also be showcasing their talents. This year’s event will again incorporate the Australian Para Championships.
Sail Melbourne 2022. Photo by Beau Outteridge
Australian Sailing Team legend Matt Wearn is excited about the upcoming competition, having just this week claimed his fifth ILCA 7 National Title.
“I can’t wait to head down to Sail Melbourne again,” began Wearn.
It’s always a great regatta down in Melbourne and it’ll be a great opportunity for us to race against the best and challenge ourselves, especially with a big few years of competition on the horizon.”
Australian Sailing’s High Performance Director Iain Brambell stressed the importance of pinnacle domestic regattas such as Sail Melbourne as key opportunities to prepare and test all crews ahead of the pre-Olympic year and 2024 Olympic qualification.
“It’s definitely a competitive advantage to have our Australian athletes training and competing across the Southern Hemisphere summer coming into a pivotal season that will commence the opportunity to secure Olympic qualification spots,” said Brambell.
“We have the advantage of our home regattas to optimally prepare the team for the 2023 season and a testament to this advantage is the added benefit of welcoming a number of international crews which assists in deepening the competitive nature of the fleets. We are excited to get racing in Melbourne as crucially important steps to optimally preparing for a successful 2023 season while our competitors in the northern hemisphere continue to enjoy a cold winter.”
Other activities that will also be incorporated into the Sail Melbourne Regatta include:
• Online Competitor Briefing – 13th January, 6pm-6:45pm
• Para Classification – 13th January, 9am-5pm @ RBYC
• Race Officials Seminar – 15th January, 7pm-9pm @ RBYC
• Para Forum – 16th January, 6pm-7:30pm @ RBYC
Regatta documents are available here. For up-to-date information on the event, visit the Sail Melbourne website.
