With Acts 1 and 2 of Sail Port Stephens 2026 now successfully tucked in the sail bag, attention turns to the third and final Super Series running May 1-3, featuring the inaugural Cat Stephens regatta for multihulls, a Super Racer Cruiser division and a host of off-the-beach dinghy classes.
The yacht and multihull fleets will sail a passage race each day, with the start/finish line off the breakwall at Nelson Bay. Leading the way will be the Reichel Pugh 66 Wild Oats X, being campaigned by Phil Harmer from Hamilton Island Yacht Club, and it will be joined by David Gotze’s 60-footer Triton, Walter Carpenter’s glorious Marten 67 Caol Ila and other notables.
Smallest in this blue-ribbon fleet are the Lyons 49 Wine-Dark Sea (Peter Lowndes) and Beneteau First 50 51st Project (Julian Bell), the latter sailing its third consecutive series.
Among the catamarans making their first foray to Sail Port Stephens are four Seawinds – Chillout, Reflection, Sea Glass and Sea Twist – and they’ll mix it with a Lightwave 38, Lagoon 450F and Atlantic 48.
At the same time, five Corsair tris will hit the line running – with good breeze they may give Wild Oats X a run for its money.
The off-the-beach Bay Series being hosted by Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club’s Bay Sailing Centre will have 63 starters among the RS Aeros, Oks, Finns, 5o5s, Lasers, B14s and more.
Over the Anzac weekend, the Sail Port Stephens Performance Series proved to be one of the most competitive in the event’s 19-year history, courtesy of a weather pattern that made sailors wait each day but rewarded patience with perfectly timed easterly breezes of 5-15 knots.
In the prestigious NSW IRC Championships, which included the TP52 Gold Cup and Cape 31 Nationals, three yachts were almost unbeatable from Day 1, however the podium positions were hotly contested.
Performance Series Division 1
David Doherty, owner/skipper of the TRP52 Matador, showed remarkable consistency in anything but consistent breezes, the boat and crew able to overcome the odd mistake or misfortune and convincingly claim Division 1 and the TP52 Gold Cup Act 3.
“We’ve got a good group of people,” Doherty said. “We were deep in races a few times and we wiggled out of them.”
In Race 6 on Sunday, the crew were late across the line, tacked off to avoid being gassed, and ultimately rounded the top mark second, behind First Light. Matador then edged ahead on the final run.
In Saturday’s passage race it pulled back several minutes on First Light with a gybing dual, finishing just 20 second in arrears. Virago was able to take line-honours in the final race.
Matador has now claimed three NSW IRC Yachting Championships, equalling Marcus Blackmore’s TP Hooligan.
“It’s a great spot to sail,” Doherty added. “The water looks so clear and clean, it’s a great place to be – a good place in the world, really.”
Performance Series Division 2
Steering Karl Kwok’s Botin 40 Beau Ideal, representing Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Gavin Brady said the regatta gave the international crew all the competition they could ask for – and more.
“We built this boat last year in England and did the Admirals Cup for Hong Kong,” the former Olympian and America’s Cup legend said. “We then decided to ship it to Australia because the Super 40 fleet is so strong down here.
“I’m really glad we did because an Easter regatta in England a few weeks ago had, like, eight boats whereas here we had 15 boats, really good boats, in our class.”
Following the Australian season, Beau Ideal will return to England for the 2027 Admirals Cup. Brady was full of praise for Sail Port Stephens and the NSW Yachting Championship format.
“The first time we came to Port Stephens with our owner, Karl Kwok, was 10 to 12 years ago, and all the racing was offshore,” Brady said. “Now we come back and all the racing is in the harbour, which is so much more exciting because there’s so many lead changes.
“There’s also a good vibe from the race management and the organisers, and it filters down to the sailing teams, where it just feels positive. I’ve sailed all around the world and it’s definitely one of the one of the best regattas I’ve sailed in a long time.”
Performance Series Division 3
Sam Haynes claimed Division 3 and the Cape 31 title with five bullets out of six, his only blemish being a 3rd on IRC in the final race. Fifteen years of prior experience in both TP52s and J70s at Sail Port Stephens all met in the middle with the Celestial C31 campaign.
“Yeah, it was a good weekend – we’re really happy, really happy,” Haynes said. “Obviously it’s good to have a program that goes all the way through – plenty of one-design sailing, experienced team on board, and we’ve been sailing together now in the Cape 31 for a little bit, which has sharpened us up.”
Haynes praised Rob Greenhalgh, tactician and sailing master, for managing the program and dialling in the Cape 31’s sails and rig.
Of the Cape 31, Haynes added: “They’ve got all the features of a big boat, all the controls, all the sort of technicalities, so you can really tune them, and they really respond. And they’re small enough to be able to take advantage of all the shifts. You can tack easily, gybe easily and it’s very quick to manoeuvre.”
Regatta results: https://www.sailportstephens.com.au/results/
Sail Port Stephens is supported by the NSW Government tourism agency Destination NSW, Port Stephens Council and subsidiary sponsors.
