2025/2026 National Championships

Congratulations to the 19 boats that competed in the inaugural CYAA National Championships at Canberra Yacht Club December 5-7, 2025.

Podium:

1st: Pipalini #147, Mitch Bayliss, Tom Renshaw, Andrew Somerville

2nd: Rook #146, Glenn Scheen, Matthew Shepherd, Royce Vandeleur

3rd: White Knight #134, Richard Hart, Steve Hart, Charlotte Walker

Performance Handicap Trophies:

1st: Hataitai #124, Aaron Weare, Wayne McKinnon, Richard Lech

2nd: Dubboat #92, Simon Dubbin, Philip Dubbin, Greg

3rd: Araluen #7, Rob Tikoft

Click for Full Results (use the filters to see Castle Nationals and Scratch or PHS results)

Race Report

With the first race scheduled for 5pm Friday the anticipation was starting build from Thursday for the kick off the CYAA National Championships. Crews that had arrived ahead of time had already begun to witness the puffy conditions and variability in wind strength and direction. After briefing at 4:15pm it was quickly out onto the water for the first heat which was a triangle course with sail selection being a hot topic, and the weather just being hot at 35 degrees.

Race 1 and the start of the race was a nervous affair, and it became quickly apparent that with 19 boats competing it was going to be hard to find and hold an upwind lane. In around 8-13kts of shifty breeze from the NNW the sailing was very tactical. The first leg saw plenty of crossing tacks and changes of position, with Otazel and Canberra locals White Knight finding the pointy end of the fleet early before White Knight took the lead. After doing some learning up the first beat Victorians Pipalini and Rook did a better job the following lap and moved forward in the fleet. At around the hallway point of the race Pipalni took the lead from White Knight and were able to stay in front with Rook coming in 3^rd.

There was a lot of relief on shore after race 1 with everybody glad to have the nervous first race behind them, and boats were starting to prepare for the evening passage race to come. Unfortunately, the breeze was very light, and the race officer made the decision to abandon the night race planned for Race 2.

Saturday morning rolling along and the game had changed a little, it was still a very hot 35, but now the breeze was coming in a little higher up the range with everything from 8kts to 21kts on the racecourse.

Race 3, another triangle course kicked off and it was Wile E Coyote who took a flyer out the left side of the lake that paid off with them leading to the top mark by a couple of hundred metres. Wile E tried the same thing the next leg, and it wasn’t quite as effective but they still held the lead at the top mark 2^nd time around. On the third upwind it was Rook who nailed every shift and found themselves a healthy lead for the second half of the race which they held to the end. Pipalini managed to just sneak ahead of Wile E Coyote before the finish to round out the top 3 as the wind built to around 25kts. Several boats hadn’t correctly identified the finish line and had to return to finish correctly which jumbled things a little down the order.

Race 4 was the passage race around the lake, and the breeze was much stronger with plenty of bullets blowing through. This race also took us to the Western side of the lake where Black Mountain plays havoc with the wind strength and direction. Pre-race there was a lull in the wind of about 15 minutes where it was around 10kts, due to this some boats elected to hank on their Genoa headsails but most of the fleet went with #2 or #3. In the stronger wind it was Pipalini and Araluen who enjoyed the first upwind leg the most, with The Edge not far behind. The smaller headsails were proving more effective. The passage race was a slight soldier’s course, and these top 3 positions held until the finish, Araluen not flying a spinnaker showed that this was neat in high winds.

After sailing on Saturday, the CYAA committee put on a sausage sizzle and most of the fleet hung around to unpack the days racing. There was a very common theme in the conversation, the sailing was hard work and competitive, and everybody had an example of when they got a wind shift right, and when they got them wrong! Fair to say skippers and crews slept well that night.

Race 5 on Sunday saw a reprieve from the blustery conditions, and even a little less heat. This race kicked off in 5-10kts, and it was Hataitai and He’s Dreamin who got great starts and had good first legs, Otazel and Araluen were right in the mix as well. In the lower wind range finding the pressure was critical, with half a dozen places able to found or lost on a single puff. At the final top mark there was a brief shut down of breeze, before Pipalini was able to catch the last of the NW around the top mark and all the way down to the finish as the rest of the fleet ultimately had to wait for a NE breeze to fill and sail back upwind to the finish. It was Hataitai second over the line, Araluen third, and Otazel fourth. Earlier in the race Hataitai and He’s Dreamin’ had a little argy-bargy that resulted in a 30% arbitration penalty for Hataitai.

Race 6 and the final for the series was looking somewhat in doubt with the breeze having dropped right out to 3-6kts and swinging around the compass. Race Officer Jerry made the call to try and get a race away on time, which ultimately was a good call with boats preferring to go sailing than go home early. Hataitai did an amazing job on the first leg and launched into a substantial lead, with highly experienced local Redback finding the front of the fleet as well. There were several lead changes, with Rook and Redback both having a piece of the action at times. A shortened course was called, and it was looking like Redback would take the final heat win, but a little puff and a wind shift saw Pipalini get past in the last few hundred metres, with Rook rounding out third.

All in all, it was an amazing series due to the large fleet. Having so 19 Castles meant that there was always somebody to cross tacks with, and lot of races within races to keep people engaged and on their toes. At the risk of missing somebody the following boats led races at some point in the series which highlights the closeness of Castle performance: Pipalini, Rook, White Knight, The Edge, Hataitai, He’s Dreamin’, Araluen, Dubboat, Wile E Coyote, Mate, Redback, Otazel.