Warwick Rooklyn Adds Sydney Harbour Regatta To His Victory List

Sydney Harbour was a mass of colour yesterday on the opening day of Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s annual Sydney Harbour Regatta, which boasted 237 boats from the two grand prix 66ft Reichel/Pugh designed Wild Oats X down to the historic 18 foot skiffs and vintage yachts, which turned a few heads.

As expected, Warwick Rooklyn was the boat to beat in the Melges 24 One Design class. Rooklyn (CYCA), the reigning national champion, cleaned up on day one with three wins from three races in the varying 5-19 knot winds that swung from the north-east, to east, then south-east throughout the day. The new South Australian title holder, Kevin Nixon and his family crew on Accru (RPAYC) finished day one second overall.

Try as they might on day two, none could scramble quickly enough to beat Rooklyn, who has been sailing his whole life, courtesy of his late father Jack, of Apollo and Ballyhoo fame. The Eastern Suburbs sailor is keen to see others join the class he loves so much.

Warwick Rooklyn (CYCA) did not put a foot wrong, winning all six races over the series in the increasingly popular Melges 24 one-design sports boat. His nearest rival this weekend was Kevin Nixon and his Accru crew, which features his wife and children finishing second.

“Middle Harbour Yacht Club do an awesome job just to cater to so many classes on Sydney Harbour and we all enjoyed it – and to win six from six – it can’t get better; we’re over the moon,” Rooklyn, the owner/skipper of Bandit said.

“We’re blessed to come together as a team. Going to the Melges 24 World Championship in Texas has helped us understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We came back with a lot of knowledge about the boat,” said Rooklyn, who has had an excellent season with four wins from four regattas, including taking out the National Championship in January.

“Conditions were testing all weekend; the morning light shifty breeze yesterday was hard, then the light north easterly left a lot of wash and made it choppy on the course – it was a very good event.

Dave Bull Jester 4 previously a Sydney 32 owner secured third place overall assisting with their Melges 24 Worlds preparations.

Winners across the 16 classes and 24 divisions were cheered at Middle Harbour Yacht Club after racing as they received their trophies and Helly Hansen prizes for the feats in the Club’s seventh running of the Sydney Harbour Regatta, which boasted 237 boats.

Di Pearson
MHYC Media

Full Results http://www.shr.mhyc.com.au/

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