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2 weeks ago | 
livesaildie.com | Mark Rothfield
Sublime sailing weather on Day 2 of the Sail Port Stephens 2025 Performance Series was followed by a ridiculous amount of rain and wind today, with no further racing allowed. It meant that overnight results for the NSW Yachting Championship, TP52 Pallas Gold Cup Act 3, Super RC Series and Rob Hampshire Trophy (ORC) all stood.
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2 weeks ago | 
livesaildie.com | Mark Rothfield
Day 1 of the 2025 Sail Port Stephens Performance Series yesterday had a bit of everything – highly competitive racing on- and offshore, tropical islands, fluctuating tides, fluctuating fortunes and a hint of controversy. The inaugural Super RC Division start off Nelson Bay breakwall created an impressive sight for spectators who’d earlier attended Anzac Day services. The nine-yacht fleet made slow progress through the Port Stephens headlands as the seabreeze mustered strength.
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1 month ago | 
sail-world.com | Mark Rothfield
Sail Port Stephens 2025 Passage Series - Day 2
by Mark Rothfield 1 Apr 07:34 PDT
With the remnants of an East Coast Low still generating 4.5m monster swells off the twin sentinel headlands marking the entrance to Port Stephens, the Race Committee overseeing the Sail Port Stephens Passage Series wisely opted for a course within the huge and spectacular waterway.
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1 month ago | 
sail-world.com | Mark Rothfield
Sail Port Stephens 2025 Passage Series Day 1
by Mark Rothfield 31 Mar 18:21 PDT
Wet we got, wind not so much, as Race 1 of the Commodores Cup Passage series kicked off Sail Port Stephens for its 17th year, with the five divisions enjoying an action-packed race instead of retiring to the local cafes and pubs.
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1 month ago | 
livesaildie.com | Mark Rothfield
Light airs, heavy airs, harbour starts and choppy windward-leewards … nothing phased the TP52 Matador as it took both IRC and TPR honours at the 6th annual SailFest Newcastle Regatta over the weekend. The result stretched the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia entrant’s lead in the 2025 Pallas Capital Gold Cup, however owner David Doherty says the field is definitely compressing as Matador has become the hunted. “It’s getting harder and harder, and the gaps are getting down to seconds,” he said.
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1 month ago | 
livesaildie.com | Mark Rothfield
SailFest Newcastle Regatta 2025 got off to a flying start yesterday, with the TP52 and offshore fleets summing spinnakers inside the harbour and charging out the entrance for a passage race and two windward-leeward heats. Once offshore, a southerly gusting to 20 knots stirred up a steep wind chop to make life even more interesting for the crews. For David Doherty’s TP Matador, however, it was just another day, another victory.
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1 month ago | 
sail-world.com | Mark Rothfield
SailFest regatta celebrating 180 years of sailing in Newcastle
by Mark Rothfield 19 Mar 22:43 PDT
SailFest, one of Australia's oldest and boldest regattas, sets sail March 20th and continue through to Sunday, bringing TP52 and ocean racing yachts, top-level keelboat fleet racers, off-the-beach craft and TrySailing dinghies to Newcastle Harbour.
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Jan 12, 2025 | 
livesaildie.com | Andrew Stransky |Mark Rothfield |John Roberson
After a marathon 6 straight days of racing in the one person fitness machine, the ILCA Oceanic championships concluded in thrilling fashion. The racing was next level tight with all the results in nerve wracking doubt until the final 12th race. It was a regatta that had it all, kicking off with 2 days of strong SE winds then switching to moderate and very shifty northeasters with Moreton Bay turning on splendid and challenging conditions.
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Jan 11, 2025 | 
livesaildie.com | Mark Rothfield |Andrew Stransky |John Roberson
Manly’s IMEI, skippered by Joel Beashel and with old hands Rob Napper and Trent Barnabas aboard, has claimed victory in the 2025 Hervey Bay Boat Club 16ft Skiff Australian Championships after the final race was abandoned today due a dying breeze. At just 16 years of age, Beashel is believed to be the youngest ever winner in the proud history of the coveted national title, adding to a Belmont 16s Club Championship he took home last season.
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Jan 11, 2025 | 
livesaildie.com | Mark Rothfield |John Roberson
One of the cushier jobs at Queensland’s Hervey Bay is to be a surf lifesaver at a beach with no surf – until yesterday, that is, when the waterway bared its fangs for the penultimate two races of the 2025 Hervey Bay Boat Club 13ft and 16ft Skiff Australian Championships. Conditions went beyond chop and into wave territory as a north-easter gusting to 18 knots met relatively shallow depths and powerful tides.
