Race Report 7 November 2026
Heat 5 of the Spring Series, 7 November 2026, on the new No. 6 Northerly course. Myra Too (Warren Miller) won from Australia IV and Yendys after the north-easter died at 3.40pm and the forecast southerly came in at 20 to 25 knots. The Mistake retired and the rest of the fleet finished afloat. With figures from the club’s harbour log and Yendys’s track.
Myra Too storms home in a wild weekend
Heat 5, Spring Series. Saturday 7 November 2026.
It was always going to blow … it was just a question of when the forecasted southerly would arrive at Sydney Harbour. As it turned out, the weather model predicted the arrival to within 15 minutes of the forecast.
On the beach, it was pretty much agreed that whatever washing you decided to go with, at least at some stage during the race you would be wrong. So, the old rule of going out with whatever was needed at the start prevailed and the 10-12 knot NNE breeze meant that a number 2 sail, or a reef and a number 2 jib was the best compromise.
All skiffs were away from the beach on time (a pleasant change, it has to be said) and were greeted by the starters who had set the start line just out of the way of the laser/ILCA fleet at the head of Double Bay. Top Weight remained in the shed.
There had been some talk in the Park about using the new number 6 course: a triangular course from Clark Island up to Chowder Bay North, back around Shark Island, down to Clark Island and twice around. When the breeze has a lot of north in it, it reduces the possibility of sailing by the lee down from the Beashel Buoy as can happen sailing the No.1 NE course. It also avoids having to sail into the light and fickle breezes around the old Chowder Bay South Mark (that is now dropped from the No.1 course as well).
Just prior to the start, The Mistake (Jerry Tickner) nearly came undone when she “mistakenly” almost sailed between the grey rib and the pin as it was being towed into place. By all reports the catastrophe was avoided and everyone’s vocabulary was increased in the process!
Tangalooma (Neville Turbit) and The Mistake were first away in a 12 knot nor-easter off 15 minutes, hotly pursued by Myra Too (Warren “Wazza” Miller). On the starboard leg across to Bradleys, it was obvious to the spectators that Myra was fast and going to be hard to catch off her very favourable 12 minutes handicap. The Scot (David Paget) off 10 minutes joined the chase, as did last week’s winner, Aberdare (Michael “Flipper” Carter) with a spanking new jib, and Australia IV (Terry Stewart), both off 9 minutes. Finally, Yendys, with Michael van Stom at the helm, farewelled the starters off scratch.
The flood tide had only just begun before the start but was having some effect meaning that a tack well before Bradleys was to go. From there it was just a case of picking the shifts as the breeze had set-in to the north while oscillating from NNW to NE. Wazza, as predicted, was fast in the relatively smooth water and rounded the top mark in close company with A4, Tangalooma, Aberdare and Scot.
With the north in the breeze, the new Chowder Bay mark afforded a comfortable, almost square, run to Shark Island. With Myra Too soon in the lead from The Mistake, followed by Tangalooma and Australia IV some distance back, they were followed by Scot and Aberdare in close company. Aberdare was first to hoist what looked like their No.2 Peak head kite that gave them an advantage over Scot who looked under-canvassed on the square run with a masthead spinnaker. Yendys had made good ground but an extra tack to round the mark caused by the shifting breeze lost her about 30 seconds or so.
Aberdare leads Scot away from Chowder Bay North, with Yendys (far right) still working up to the mark. All photos are thanks to Barley Stewart, who might have been the only one brave enough to take photos on the day!
The gybe at Shark Island led to a tight three-quarter shy run to the Clark Island bottom mark. We often say that this is what we go skiff sailing for. Under a kite, usually one size too big, it is a fast, planing run before the forw’d hands have to struggle to get the 30 feet of pole off the mast and the spinnaker back in the boat in time to round the mark.
Scot under her masthead spinnaker, with Australia IV ahead. Photo: Barley Stewart.
Myra Too had done well to maintain her lead at Clark Island where she rounded a minute ahead of A4. At that point the A4 crew would have thought that they were in with a chance for glory. Tangalooma was third and Aberdare was threatening in fourth place, another minute behind. Scot was fifth and Yendys had made up good time on the run and was 7 minutes adrift of the leader in last place.
But what of The Mistake? Radioing in to see if the course was shortened, The Mistake who had trailed Myra Too in second place, signalled that they were retiring due to a head knock suffered by the normally indestructible Bob Folwell. The correct decision of course, although resulting in The Mistake missing out on the fun that was to come.
Australia IV with North Head behind. Photo: Barley Stewart.
Tangalooma with the Heads beyond. Photo: Barley Stewart.
This was much closer than it looks, and many thanks to the Mingara crew for manoeuvring between Aberdare and Scot. Photo: Barley Stewart.
Myra Too looked like stretching out its lead on the second work up to Chowder Bay North. She was again travelling well in the 12-15 knots nor’easter and relatively smooth water until, approaching the mark, the breeze softened and backed to the nor’west leaving the fleet struggling for breeze and looking at the cloud build-up over the city skyline. By 15.45, the predicted southerly had arrived, soft at first in the rain and thunder and then, did it blow or did it not?
It was going to be another work up to Shark Island. Yendys meanwhile had picked up a couple of places before taking third place behind A4 and moving well before the blow. But as the breeze strengthened, tactics and strategy had moved to survival. This worked well for Myra Too and A4 who handled the conditions better than most. By all reports, the challenge now was 20-25 knots and plenty of gusts more than that, taking the tops off the waves.
And here is the good news … the entire fleet survived the conditions and kept afloat to the finish. This is a credit to the training and significant improvement in boat handling skills that we are currently seeing. At the finish, the podium was taken by Myra Too from A4 and Yendys. They were followed by Aberdare, Scot and Tangalooma.
Well done to all skippers and crew.
The southerly having set in with an east coast low now having formed, also meant that the 12s had to abandon their race on Sunday when 25-30 knots, gusting to 37 knots, made sailing more than a challenge. There were only six starters in the modern 18s on Sunday and only three finishers. A wild weekend indeed!
But then there is next week … more challenges and more fun … so get your body to the Squaddie!
From the harbour log and Yendys’s track
The club’s harbour log and the GPS track that Yendys carries add some numbers to the day. They come from Yendys’s crew, and the track is hers alone.
The weather model was right, and the words were early. The Bureau had a Strong Wind Warning up for Sydney Enclosed Waters all Saturday, and its 11.19am harbour forecast had the south to south-easterly, 15 to 25 knots, in the early afternoon, with squalls on the change and a thunderstorm likely. The model forecast the harbour log keeps had the north-easter fading by 3pm and the southerly in by 4pm. The change reached the course at 3.40pm.
Until then it was a sea breeze. At 2pm it was 30°C at Sydney Olympic Park and 29°C at Observatory Hill, but the air at Wedding Cake West was 23.6°C, only two degrees above the 21.3°C sea. Air that close to the water’s temperature is the sea’s own breeze, not the gradient wind. It blew north-east 8 to 13 knots at Fort Denison and 12 to 16 at Wedding Cake West. By 3pm the airport was reporting thunderstorms nearby and cumulonimbus at about 2,400 m, the cloud moving from the north-west, while the southerly came up the coast underneath.
How the change crossed the Harbour:
| Where | The north-easter died | The southerly |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney Airport | No lull: ENE 7 knots at 3.30pm | 3.43pm, SSW 21 knots, gusts 28 by 3.50pm |
| Fort Denison | 3.40pm, 1 knot | 3.50pm, SE 7 knots; 4pm, S, gusts 24 |
| Yendys, below Chowder Bay | 3.39 to 3.41pm, under 2 knots | 3.41pm, light from the SE; filled about 3.57pm |
| Wedding Cake West | 3.50pm, SE 5 knots | 4.02pm, SSW 8 knots, gusts 23; 4.09pm, 20 knots, gusts 31 |
| North Head | 4 to 4.10pm, WSW 5 to 7 knots | 4.19pm, S 14 knots, gusts 21 |
Behind the change the air was cold. Observatory Hill fell from 26.8°C at 3.30pm to 22.5°C at 4.20pm, and its pressure rose 2.5 hPa in 45 minutes. Cold air over warmer water is unstable and brings the stronger breeze aloft down in bursts. By 4.30pm the stations read 16 to 23 knots, with gusts of 24 to 31.
Yendys sailed 9.44 nautical miles, 46 minutes for the first lap and 63 for the second, and her track shows the extra tack at the first Chowder Bay North. Her fastest was 9.7 knots at 3.14pm, on the shy run from Shark Island to Clark Island. On the second lap she stopped about 650 m short of Chowder Bay North at 3.40pm, under 2 knots for two minutes, and the leg back to Shark Island, a run the first time round, became a slow work that took 24 minutes against 13½. Off scratch she was the quickest round the course, by 6 minutes 23 seconds.
By their crews’ accounts nobody went big. Australia IV and Scot carried their No. 2 mains and No. 3 jibs, Tangalooma her No. 2 main and No. 2C jib, The Mistake her No. 2 rig, Myra Too her small main with a reef and her No. 3 jib, and Yendys her only main, reefed, with her No. 2 jib.
The ferries kept their timetable through all of it. Twenty trips crossed the course while the fleet was racing, ten to Manly and ten to Watsons Bay, one every six or seven minutes. The Manly ferries cross the leg from Chowder Bay North to Shark Island, and the Watsons Bay ferries cut across both works.
One heat of the Spring Series is left, on 14 November: Yendys has 20 points, Australia IV 18 and Scot 17.
Wind, temperature and pressure: Port Authority of NSW (Fort Denison) and the Bureau of Meteorology. Model forecast: ECMWF through Open-Meteo. Ferries: Transport for NSW.
The results are on this site’s page for Race 5, Spring Series heat 5.
The original report, sent to members as The Ringtale, also carries the day’s wind from Seabreeze, the new course card with a line from Aquatics of 13 August 1891 (Mark Foy’s vision of a triangular course, with distinctive colours on the sails, so that spectators can “witness the racing from start to finish”), the results table, and its thanks to the volunteers, we can’t do this without you!, a pointer to this website, the results and the weekend’s road closures for the jacarandas. The part headed “From the harbour log and Yendys’s track” was added for this site.