MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                                        4 February, 2020

The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) in Sydney and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) in Auckland take great pleasure in announcing Moonen Yachts as the naming rights sponsor of the inaugural Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race 2021.   

Moonen Yachts is a Netherlands-based builder of luxury superyachts recently acquired by Australian owners, Matthew and Louise Baxter.

Welcoming the company as naming rights sponsor of the 1250 nautical mile race, Robert McClelland, chairman of the RPAYC race organising committee said: “We are thrilled to be entering this partnership with Moonen Yachts. Their commitment to producing global voyaging vessels of the highest standard adds to the prestige and is a good fit for this new yacht race.”

Commenting on their sponsorship, Matthew Baxter noted: “It’s our goal to present Moonen Yachts to the world, to a larger audience. And of course, with Sydney Harbour in our backyard and our connection to New Zealand, we’re proud to bring the brand to the South Pacific.”

The Baxters first connected to the brand when they spotted a Moonen yacht in Pittwater, where the RPAYC is also based: “We were curious because she stood out. It was love at first sight,” Louise Baxter commented.

“The brand is impeccable, no question, and the team is very talented,” added Matthew. “They’re all very passionate about what they are building.”

Matthew and Louise Baxterlive in Sydney and are no strangers to yachting. “I started sailing when I was eight,” said Matthew, who heads AM Group, a global group of manufacturing companies he founded in 1972 – the same year the couple bought Barbarian, a Sparkman & Stephens design, which they still own. The pair subsequently purchased a Finnish Swan 60.

“We sailed all over the Pacific in that boat. I circumnavigated New Zealand and I’ve sailed to Noumea with Louise five times,” he said.  

We had 11 RPAYC Laser sailors attend the NSW Laser Metros held at Double Bay Sailing Club. There were 3 Laser 4.7’s, 3 Radials and 5 Standards out of a fleet of 98 boats. 
 
Saturday we saw a strong 25+ knot NorEaster and a very choppy Sydney Harbour and we sailed three very tough races in very strong conditions. Races were held near Double Bay between Clarke Island and Shark Island. There was plenty of harbour traffic and plenty of hoots from the Manly Ferries. Also there were plenty of sore bodies on Saturday night.Three races were completed, with Olivia Williams ending the day with a 3,3,1. 
 
Sunday had a light southerly arrive and the first race was held in front of Double Bay in a light and very shifty breeze. Bayley got off to a handy lead in the 4.7’s only to be outdone by a shift and gust from nowhere to have the other competitors catch up and pass. The RO moved the course into Rose Bay for the final two races where the wind was a little more consistent and a bit stronger. Highlight of the day was Dave being first to the top mark in the Standards in race 6, in front of his coach Brett Beyer.
 
Top result in the 4.7’s was Olivia third overall and first female with Bayley receiving the encouragement award for 5^th overall and second female. Pru was 8^th in the small but very competitive 4.7 fleet.
Top result in the Radials was Liam with a 26^th, but Lauren and Kerrie were not far behind with 31 and 32 respectively. The radial fleet is by far the most competitive with 50 boats entered.
In the Standards, Stuart came 6^th overall, Steve 16^th overall, Dave 23^rd and Bruce 28^th  from a fleet of 37 boats. Chris was forced to retire after a suspected knee injury from Saturday’s racing.

Thanks to Double Bay Sailing Club for running another great event for us Laser sailors.
 
Full results can be found here

Report - Thanks to David Taylor & Steve Bryant

On Tuesday 28 January, Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club (NCYC) members and 2019 Australian Sailing Award winners Jan Howard & Mary Holley joined the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club Women’s Twilight fleet in their fortnightly race on Pittwater. 

Late last year Jan and Mary were presented with the inaugural SheSAILS Award at the Australian Sailing Annual Awards night.  This award recognised their long-time volunteer efforts to encourage women’s participation in sailing.  Jan and Mary joined the crew onboard Pretty Woman, which is skippered by their great friend Elaine Fowler who has been a pioneer for women in sailing for decades.  Elaine was RPAYC’s first female full member, she was the first female Vice Commodore Yacht Racing at the club, started the Women’s Twilight Series at the RPAYC 27 years ago, was one of the first female National Race Officers and the first female Life Member of the RPAYC.  

Back at the clubhouse over dinner, Lisa Ratcliff introduced Jan and Mary and invited them to speak and share their experiences and achievements.  Jan and Mary explained that they began a program in 2010 to encourage more women into sailing. This involved the club purchasing a fleet of Force 24s and opening a sailing academy which has given many women the opportunity to learn to sail, learn to helm and learn to race in dedicated regattas.  In 2017 program was rebranded SheSAILS@NCYC and two annual regattas were established with the club’s new fleet.

Over the past five years SheSAILS@NCYC crews have successfully competed in regattas along the east coast of Australia including Sail Port Stephens (each year since 2015), Airlie Beach Race Week and Townsville GaLS Regatta.  Some Newcastle women have been a part of the winning crews in the Australian Women’s Keelboat Regatta and in 2018 SheSAILS@NCYC sent the first ever all-female team to compete at the Volvo Cork Race Week in Ireland. 

In a true testament to the success of SheSAILS@NCYC, Australian Sailing officially adopted the SheSAILS brand and logo created by Jan and Mary which has now attracted Hamilton Island as the major partner of the program.  The Australian Sailing SheSAILS program is designed to recognise all of the amazing female contributors to our sport, and to encourage women of all ages to get involved in the sport of sailing through organised activities at their local sailing club. 

More information can be found at www.shesails.org.au.

The Alfred's is proud to be supporting the Firefighters Family Sailing Day with Above and Beyond Boating. The Club is a hub for the RFS Firefighter Family Day on Sunday 15 March 2020.

Across Australia our dedicated fire fighters are stretched to the limit with the terrible bushfire season. They are working tirelessly to keep our homes, friends, family, wilderness and wildlife safe, often at a huge cost to themselves and their family.

The Firefighter family day on the water initiative was created by Above and Beyond Boating to provide a way for the boating community to give back to the men and women who are battling blazes across our country.

Firefighters and their family can register to attend one of the events and enjoy a day out on the water with one of the volunteer skippers who are lending their boats for the experience.

Multiple events are being planned for various dates and locations around the country. To be part of this great event register here: https://aabboating.com/firefighters/

We currently have 17 boats registered to take families out from RPAYC and 2 registered families. The maximum number of boats is limited to 30 at each hub. 

 
All registrations and queries or changes to registrations should be fielded back through Neil and the team at Above and Beyond Boating. ABB will link the boats and families and arrange a meet and greet and introductions at the club with a planned departure at about 1000hrs. 
 
On arrival at the club will be providing a breakfast BBQ – sausage sizzle / bacon and egg roll for the any boat owners and the families.
 
Boat owners are being asked to supply a light lunch for the families at their expense.
 
 

Congratulations to members Tristan & Beau White, who competed in the F18 Australian National Titles in Lauderdale, Hobart, TAS last week.

Tristan & Beau achieved a 3^rd place overall with two race wins and solid finishes throughout the event with their worst result of only 13^th in a fleet of 29 boats onboard their Goodall C2.

In addition, Tristan also won the 1^st Youth and Rookie awards.

The regatta was characterised by high speed racing in gusty shifting winds off the land. Their experience from racing on Pittwater and sailing the smaller F16s at club level assisted them in working their way to the front of a very competitive F18 fleet that included three teams that finished in the top 10 at the F18 Worlds in Spain last year.

Tristan & Beau report that ‘There is still much work for us to do as a team for the F16 National Titles in March at RPAYC and the F18 and F16 worlds in Italy later this year’.

Full Results Here