Four races were completed on day two of the 2012 Sydney 38 Australian Championships hosted by The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club with ‘The Next Challenge’ team skippered by Mark Bulka, winning the day and leading by eight points going into the final day tomorrow.

Thursday 26 January
By Damian Devine

Lou Abrahams ‘The Next Challenge’, boat of the day from the Sandringham Yacht Club, leads with only two points separating the first three boats in the 2012 Sydney 38 National Championships after a testing day one, hosted by The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club.

By Tracey Walters
Wednesday 25 January

The Melges 24 fleet are descending on Geelong from all over Australia to compete in the Melges 24 Australian Championships from the 26 – 29 January at the Festival of Sails.

This will be the largest fleet of Melges 24’s at a National Championships to date. Competitors are fired up and eager to take out the illusive title. Several new owners have joined the class and are discovering the great camaraderie in the competitive fleet.

Wednesday 25 January
By Damian Devine

There will be very little separating the 15 Sydney 38s contesting the Nationals being hosted by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, commencing on Australia Day. It will be extremely tight racing amongst this one-design class, where crew work is tested and tactics vital in an effort to maximise boat speed to gain an advantage over the competition.

Class president, Mark Griffith’s ‘Old School’ team comes into the nationals as the boat to beat having won their last four regattas including the NSW state titles and  IRC overall in the recent Pittwater & Coffs Harbour regatta. However, Mark is under no illusions that they will have it all their own way. “It’s great to see a Nationals fleet of over 15 boats. The margin between rooster and feather duster in One Design racing is very small, so we can’t be complacent, we have done a lot of preparation and I have a strong crew right across the boat which hopefully will give us the edge we need to come out on top,” commented Griffith.