Day 1 – 22 March 2025
SailFest Newcastle off to a flying in-harbour start
SailFest Newcastle Regatta 2025 got off to a flying start yesterday, with the TP52 and offshore fleets summing spinnakers inside the harbour and charging out the entrance for a passage race and two windward-leeward heats.
Once offshore, a southerly gusting to 20 knots stirred up a steep wind chop to make life even more interesting for the crews. For David Doherty’s TP Matador, however, it was just another day, another victory.
Fresh from winning Act 1 of the 2025 Pallas Capital Gold Cup series, the grey-hulled CYCA entrant with the bull insignia charged to three consecutive wins under the class’s TPR handicap and grabbed two of three IRC bullets, finishing second to Hooligan in the final windward-leeward.
Calling the shots on Marcus Blackmore’s Hooligan was Olympic gold medallist Malcolm Page, who was satisfied with three 2nd placings on TPR and two on IRC.
“I felt like we had an OK day, but it was a long one and I certainly feel beaten up,” Page said. “Our boat is very stiff and it carries a lot of runner load, so we feel the jolts.
“Newcastle turned on the conditions though, and it was a cracking day from that perspective. As for tomorrow, we’ve had a debrief and we think there’s some fruit to grab, but Matador is a tough boat to catch. They sail that boat very well.”
Middle Harbour Yacht Club (MHYC) entrant Zen sits third in both divisions. The boat recently underwent a full bottom restoration, stripping the antifouling and returning it to a gloss finish, which noticeably improved the performance.
“It was a great day’s yachting,” relief helmsman Shane Guanaria said. “It has been a long time between days on the boat, because it has been in a shed for three months, so how could you not enjoy it.
“The boat’s going on a ship in two weeks for the Admiral’s Cup. We’ve got some new guys like Chris Nicholson and Justin Ferris in key roles, and it gave us valuable time together. They’re putting us in the right place at the right time and keeping the boat rolling.”
The day’s Division 2 IRC honours went to the Farr 40 OD Seeking Alpha, also representing MHYC.
Skipper David Hamilton: “We’ve worked hard over the past six months to get the boat performing so we’re pretty happy with today’s results. We’re bang on class spec and trying to sail to our IRC handicap.
“We bought the boat nine months ago after we came home from 27 years abroad. I’ve never sailed off Newcastle before but it’s fantastic – 15 minutes off the start we had a couple of dolphins going alongside us.”
Southport Yacht Club sailor Gary Holt sits three points adrift of Seeking Alpha and level with Joe de Kock’s Farr 40 KD1.
“We were a bit unlucky with the breeze today but that’s sailing,” Holt said. “We made two tactical errors in the last race as well, which didn’t help, but other than that the boat’s good, the crew was good, the competition was good, and it’s good to be back in Newcastle.”
It was a hectic day for Race Officer Denis Thompson and his team as the breeze fluctuated.
“It held in well for the Passage Race, where we saw up to 20 knots, but not long after the start of the first short race the wind went left by 30-degrees. The boys on the marks did well to reset the course and get it right,” Thompson said.
“For the last race the wind started fading and shifting even more. It was good to see some really close racing.”
He’s predicting the wind to lighten further overnight and move south-east.
Six entries contesting the Sailing Champions League – Asia Pacific finals completed the full complement of 16 races for the day, and even got an early mark. Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron leads from Royal Perth, New Caledonia and Woollahra going into the final day.
Port Hunter 16ft Sailing Skiff Club also completed its historic Cock of the Harbour race to crown the fastest sailboat of Newcastle Harbour.
Day 2 – 23 March 2025
Placings decided by mere seconds in SailFest Newcastle finale
Light airs, heavy airs, harbour starts and choppy windward-leewards … nothing phased the TP52 Matador as it took both IRC and TPR honours at the 6th annual SailFest Newcastle Regatta over the weekend.
The result stretched the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia entrant’s lead in the 2025 Pallas Capital Gold Cup, however owner David Doherty says the field is definitely compressing as Matador has become the hunted.
“It’s getting harder and harder, and the gaps are getting down to seconds,” he said. “We lost one by four seconds yesterday and won one by 10 seconds, which is great for the TP class.
“The joy of my boat is that we’ve kept a very consistent crew, and we just try to do our thing. The boat has always been known as a light air performer but we’ve also won in 30 knots; I think we’ve changed its range for the better.”
In Division 2 IRC the Farr 40OD Seeking Alpha clung onto its overnight lead, beating the Corby 36 Let’s Get it On by 1pt and the Farr sistership KD1 (Joe De Kock, Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club) by 2pts.
“A very tricky day,” said owner David Hamilton. “We’d expected a little more pressure than there was and it was all over the shop, so quite stressful sailing.”
The two Farr 40s were rarely separated in today’s final two races.
“The last race they went inshore and benefited from less current but thankfully the breeze filled in and we got the result. Clearly, Joe knows the local waters really well and it was super tempting to follow him, but we invested in the right and believed in it.
Tom Spithill was calling tactics on Seeking Alpha and Hamilton had high praise for his crew.
“It was our second regatta with the boat – next up is Sail Port Stephens (March 31-April 5) so we’ll see how we get on there.”
Peter Farrugia’s Bull 9000 Bullwinkle claimed both wins today after three 4ths yesterday. As consolation, it won the PHS division.
Second place overall in the TP52s went to Gordon Ketelbey’s Zen from Middle Harbour Yacht Club, a confidence booster ahead of its upcoming Admiral’s Cup tilt.
“We spent a lot of time, and lots of money, on the boat but it’s paying off,” Ketelbey said. “It’s super competitive in light airs – we came first across the line twice today, beating Hooligan which is a brand new, state-of-the-art design.
“Mid-range stuff we’re not too sure about, so being competitive in the UK will depend on what turns up, wind-wise.”
In other results, ORC honours went to Let’s Get it On and the Cruising title to the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 44 Ca Va. The Sailing Champions League – Asia Pacific final was won by the Royal Sydney Yacht Club crew of Zac West, Katina Casimaty, Gretel Payne and Garth Bickford.
The F18 Magical, sailed by Kyle Amadio and Andrew Driver, claimed Saturday’s Cock of the Harbour race, eclipsing the Taipan 4.9 Just Play sailed by Sam and Saxon Breadon. Third was the 16ft skiff Kilos. Yardstick victor was the VS SFC sailed by Michael Babbage, Lennon Sullivan and Gabe Turton, from another VS, Runaway, sailed by Steve Sims, Troy Botting and Jeremy Dodds.
Conducted by the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club, SailFest marked 180 years since the first Newcastle Regatta was held.
Conducted by the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club, the annual SailFest Newcastle Regatta is supported by City of Newcastle, Hahn and Bacardi.
Images © Promocean Media
