Cream rises in phenomenal finale at Port Stephens
It was a fitting finale to the 2025 Sail Port Stephens Passage Series (Commodores Cup), with crews aboard the 105 yachts enjoying the kind of premium sailing conditions that attracts boats from as far as the Gold Coast and Melbourne to the event.
An 18-knot westerly provided plenty of horsepower at the downwind kite start off Nelson Bay, with sport boats such the Thompson 920 Road Runner soon surfing across Shoal Bay at 18 knots.
David Hamilton’s Farr 40 Seeking Alpha had, by its lofty consistency standards, a relatively ordinary day on the 16.5 nautical mile course out around Little and Cabbage Tree Islands. But the crew’s strong performances across the previous four days of tight racing saw them secure both PHS and ORC honours in Division 1.
“We’ve enjoyed every single moment, the racing and the hospitality, it’s been phenomenal,” Hamilton said. A highly experienced yachtsman with international silverware in Farr 40s, Farr 30s and Melges classes in his trophy cabinet, Hamilton was delighted to add a Commodores Cup to his collection.
“It’s very technical in the Bay with the tides,” he agreed. “I spent a lot of time lake sailing in Switzerland, Italy, France and Germany and it’s as technical here as it is there.”
In Division 2, Greg Brand and his crew from the Cronulla Sailing Club on Brand X won the battle against fellow Beneteau First 40.7 Schouten Passage from the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club. Sail Port Stephens regulars Drew and Pete Van Ryn in their Farr 44 Sea Hawk, made it a first and third from Cronulla.
Ataraxia from the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club remained the boat to beat in Division 3 and owner Scott Knights and his crew capitalised on the Jeanneau 3200’s strengths to secure PHS honours.
“Even though it was fresh in the first couple of days it was flat water so we were able to put up bigger sails,” he recounted. “It’s been fantastic,” he continued. “The standard of sailing is pretty high and it’s fun at the same time, plus its really convenient for people coming up from Newcastle and Sydney.”
After chalking-up two bullets during the first two days of the regatta, Matt Doyle’s Beneteau Sense 50 La Troisieme Mi-Temps slipped back to third in the overall Division 3 standings, while David Ashton’s Archambault 35 Absolut slotted into second.
With a podium result up for grabs in Division 4, Richard Fleck and his crew on Scuffy made a strategic call to divest some of the cruising comforts on the Beneteau Oceanis 37.
“We finally decided to get serious,” Fleck laughed. “We had hot showers to get the water tanks down a bit, but then we decided to take-off the outboard, the dinghy, two spinnakers and the life raft as well, that was the heaviest item. I reckon we got 150 kilos off the boat,” he confided.
Summer Salt, Tim Gleeson’s Beneteau First 36.7 from the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club, pushed the Scuffy team all week and had to settle for second, with Slac-N-Off, Martyn Colebrook’s Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 39i, never far behind in third.
With four podium placings from five outings John de Meur’s fears of his Jeanneau 30 349 Elysium not featuring during the predicted lighter winds weren’t realised. John and his crew from the Middle Harbour Yacht Club in Sydney recorded the most impressive scorecard in the regatta: 1, 1, 1, 5 and a 2 to win the Non-Spinnaker Division.
The pace was definitely on the Super 40 Division with MC38’s, a Kerr 40, Mat 1220 Bushranger and other serious race boats mixing it on the scenic inshore and offshore courses. But it was Peter “Box” Geddes’ Thompson 920 Road Runner from the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club that saw off the hot competition and took home the trophy.
Sail Port Stephens Regatta Director Paul O’Rourke rated the 2025 edition as one of its most memorable: “There was a good variety of winds which gave everybody a reasonable chance of doing well in their conditions,” he said.
“It was a bit wet the first few days but sailors are typically resilient and eventually the trademark sunshine arrived. The onshore social events were really enjoyable and the race management team did a great job, getting racing in every day,” he added.
Dates for the 2026 Commodores Cup Passage Series are April 13-18.
Sailors can also look forward to the Performance Racing Series, a three-day event scheduled 25-27 April 2025 at Port Stephens. The event includes the prestigious NSW Yachting Championships (IRC), Rob Hampshire Cup (ORC), Act 3 of the TP52 Gold Cup (TPR and IRC), and the new Super Racer Cruiser division (IRC).
From 2-4 May, the Sail Port Stephens Bay Series will feature the Australian Sports Boat Association NSW Title, J/70 class racing and off-the-beach classes.
Sail Port Stephens is supported by the NSW Government via its tourism agency Destination NSW, Port Stephens Council, Pantaenius Australia and subsidiary sponsors.
Regatta website: https://www.sailportstephens.com.au/
Results: https://www.sailportstephens.com.au/regatta-results/
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