Sail Melbourne is Australia’s premier Olympic and Invited Classes sailing regatta, held annually in the waters of Port Phillip, Victoria. As the largest annual ‘Off the Beach’ regatta in the southern hemisphere, it is critical to the growth and success of junior and youth sailors as it enables them to race alongside their Olympic heroes. 

Sail Melbourne provides a very special opportunity for the young champions of the future to sail among the national and international champions of today, which this year will include Rio medallists and members of the Australian Sailing Team as they prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Competing along side their Olympic heroes on the Port Phillip racetrack offers Australia’s up-and-coming sailing talent an important aspirational pathway.

Less than three weeks out from the event and with entries still open, fleet sizes already indicate that the Invited classes, including the youth sailing events that are known as the feeder classes for Olympic class sailing, will feature strongly. 

Ahead of the 2019 Australian Sailing Youth Championships in Tasmania early in the new year (10-14 January 2019) entries are looking good across the Bic Techno 293, 420, 29er, Nacra 15 and Laser classes with youth sailors making the most of their opportunity to test their skills ahead of the national titles in January. 

The Bic Techno 293 is one of the classes expected to feature strongly in Melbourne with windsurfers utilising the event as a preparation event for the Australian Youth Sailing Championships in Hobart, which will double as a selection event for next year’s World Sailing Youth Championships. From a pathway point of view, the class is used as a development class for youth windsurfing and aspiring Olympic windsurfers. 

Entries are also already high in the 420 dinghy as well as in the 29er skiff classes. A strong fleet is also expected in the Nacra 15, which serves as a feeder class to the Nacra 17, the multi-hull foiler class that premiered at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games where Australia’s cousins Jason Waterhouse (NSW) and Lisa Darmanin (NSW) claimed silver. 

The timing of the Sail Melbourne has also proven an excellent warm-up event for the youngest sailors, who will be heading to the Opti nationals in January as part of the 2019 Gill Optimist Australian and Open Championships at Sandy Bay Sailing Club from 3-10 January 2019.   

“It’s always exciting to see all the young faces at Sail Melbourne. Out on the water it’s such great mix of Olympians and our up and coming talent at the event, who thrive competing against the elite sailors. To be at the same venue and then part of the same event is a great thrill for the kids,” Kate Goss, President of the Victorian International Optimist Dinghy Association (VIODA), said. 

“It’s really the most significant regatta prior to the nationals which is the key event on the Opti class calendar. Attracting kids from interstate gives them a great opportunity to measure themselves against the best,” Kate Goss added. 

Jorja Mahoney is one of the local Victorian Opti sailors, who is looking forward to racing in Melbourne after a successful Opti regatta at NSW Youth Championships where she was undefeated in the Opti intermediate division. At Sail Melbourne the nine year old from Royal Geelong Yacht Club moves into the Opti Open division, but it is not all about winning for her. 

“I like sailing because i get to make lots of friends and I get to see lots of sea creatures. I look forward to making new friends from new places at Sail Melbourne.”

Entries for Sail Melbourne are still open and you can enter here: https://www.revolutionise.com.au/sailmelbourne/competitors/

Sail Melbourne International 2018 offers a full program for Olympic and Invited classes and includes the Australian Parasailing Championships. The event is hosted by Royal Brighton Yacht Club and will run from 13-16 December 2018.

Entries for Olympic and Invited classes close Wednesday, 12 December 2018.

For more information and the Notice of Race see www.sailmelbourne.com.au