Australian East Coast Championship Coming Up This Weekend

Forecast Fifteen to twenty knots of breeze should provide some spectacular racing for day one of the Melges 24 and Melges 32 East Coast Championships this Saturday.  The Championships are part of the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht club Festival of Sail, a six race series of one design starts will be raced over the weekend. This will be the first time the Melges 32 starts alongside it’s brother the Melges 24 in Australia.

Harken Australia and Sperry topsiders have kindly come onboard as sponsors for this event.  Harken deck hardware is an integral in the fitout of the high tech Melges range.  Sperry topsiders yachting apparel have been very supportive of Melges internationally and are keen to support the  growing Australian fleet.  Sperry are makers of the original boat shoe, their range includes nautically inspired shoes, clothing & accessories perfectly suited for boat and bar. 

Competitors this weekend include Etchell  World Champion and M24 Australian president, Cameron Miles; current Melges 24 Australian Champion Heath Walters;  Justin Lambeth (previous owner of Syd 38 London Tavern); Warrick Rooklyn on Bandit and J24 Champion Steve Girdis. 

Gold Medalist Nathan Wilmont and brother Jeremy, will be on deck on Saturday to assist with tuning and setup of the boats and will be racing after returning from a successful international Melges 20 Gold Cup and Melges 32 World Championships.

The fleet of Melges 24’s at the RPAYC is growing rapidly with two more boats currently in production .  The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club is supporting one design racing providing a Melges 24 three race sprint series every second Saturday  throughout the summer sailing season.  The RPA will also host the 2011 Melges 24 Australian Championships in March.

We look forward to watching the competition.

Tracey Walters

Public Officer