At the start of February we welcomed back our learn to sail blue & red groups and hope everyone has had a great holiday. We’ve had some success at regattas with Jeff Conly placing 6th in the Spiral Nationals, Jan Scholten 3rd in ILCA Masters and our Juniors (Charlie Q, Ollie L, Neve Q, Tassie Y, Raphael C, Otto C) cleaning up at the Kurnell Cup as well as enthusiastic participation in the Manly Cup and F11 Nationals.

We hosted the 190th Australia day race on… Australia day. 

The Pittwater Regatta is on this weekend Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 February with Kookaburra ASC’s only entrant, plus Avalon regular Peter Gale on Force 8 (RPAYC) and PBYC’s Wahoo (Blue Water Shield)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFioJ4IBOnQ&t=3s

The Pittwater OTB regatta is on 14/15 March and we plan to host some of the classes at ASC with a social event on the Saturday night. Please consider if you can assist, especially with canteen and or bar or race scribing. Click here to volunteer

Don’t miss Jim Flaye’s talk recounting his adventures circumnavigating the globe in 2022-23 as part of the Oyster Rally. Not only does Jim spin a great yarn, he’s doing this as a fundraiser for the club - so please support us, by getting your ticket here.

We will have a sharp end to our season with an early Easter with our last sailing Sunday on 29 March with a Retriever Yacht race and Centreboard Championship #7

Helena van de Linde

Commodore

Dates for your diary

Every Sunday until Sunday 29 March Blue/Red Learn to Sail- 

Tuesday 3 March Jim Flaye Talk

7-8 March Refuge Bay-Americas Bay Cruise

14-15 March Pittwater OTB regatta

Other events

28 Feb - 1 March F11 Regatta Georges River SC

7-8 March Sydney Harbour Regatta

28-29 March Open Skiff Speers Point

28 Feb to 1 Mar KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix 

13-18 April Sail Port Stephens

3 May Peter Loft BYRA

Jim Flaye Talk - 3rd March

Come and listen to Jim Flaye talk about his epic voyage around the world on the yacht Temerity. In 2022-23 Jim participated in the Oyster World Rally, with 22 other yachts, circumnavigating the world in 16 months, with the 27,000 nautical mile route covering three oceans, and seven seas.

Bar will be open from 6:30pm, nibbles will be provided. 

Jim will commence talking at 7:30pm.

Tickets $30per person. Register here

This is a fundraiser with all proceeds going back to the club. 

Pittwater Off The Beach Regatta 14/15 March

This is a collaboration with RPAYC and BYRA to encourage dinghy sailors to visit us and enjoy sailing on Pittwater. We are inviting the Spirals and Open Skiffs to sail from ASC and this will involve some welcoming (boat schlepping) and running a social event on the Saturday night. Please sign up here if you can assist. 

SIGN UP

Australia Day at ASC

The Australia day regatta is the world’s longest continuing regatta and Avalon Sailing club is the proud home of this event which is run in sailing clubs all over the country. This year we had entries from 16 yachts and 18 Centreboards. We started with traditional Lamingtons for morning tea before rigging up and racing a single race in windy conditions. There was not much motor traffic on the water and the wind was consistent but strong from the south which made for great racing conditions.  

Congratulations to our CB winners Jan Scholten and Nicholas Chan and our yacht winners Kelly Holder (Kathleen Mary), David Evans (Gold finger) and Malcom Bradford (Greybeard). These winners will receive invitations to be presented with their medals at Town Hall. Jacqui Scruby dropped in and sent us a lovely letter of acknowledgment of all the work we do as a volunteer club to keep this tradition alive. 

Response Crew

Our Sunday sailing program relies on the work of our response crew who are overseen by Ian Turner and Kingsley Forbes Smith and managed by Chris Wyton. This is a great role for young people (girls can also apply) who have good powerboat handling skills and like to spend time on the water. Crew typically stay with us for a couple of years and then move on to other careers. Please welcome Jeremy, Finn & Charlie who started with us this season along with Dylan Zonca who doubles up with the Instructor teams in the mornings.

Sailing Camp 20-22 January 

We had eight young people participate and 5 coaches/volunteers and parent volunteers as well as members Mindy M, Jane D and Helena vdL. Responses from parents: 

“Alex had the best day in his life.”

“What a wonderful club.”

“Phryne really enjoyed it and is enthusiastic about her next opportunity to sail with you.”

“Ben and Maxime absolutely loved it. They want to continue sailing which is fabulous.” 

Thank you Kingsley for running a successful sailing camp. 

Maritime are out there

On 1 February (very windy day) our coaches were practicing motorboat skills and were stopped by Maritime who conducted a safety audit and licence check on the spot. Make sure you are always wearing a life jacket, carrying your boat licence and have the appropriate safety gear on board.

Weddings & Hall Hire at ASC 

Thank you to all members for your assistance, patience and working around weddings and other hires at the club. Whilst we always prioritise sailing activity, the income earned from these bookings is critical for funding our ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the building, our support boats and other assets.

Our regular hires are:

Mon, Tue, Wed & Fri mornings - Clareville Fiitness

Thursdays during school term - Meredith's Art Classes

Emails are sent to all members announcing all other (usually one off) hires for the weeks ahead, including the access and time restrictions agreed with the hirer. We also post these announcements on the club door &  notice board.

We limit the number and types of hire to ensure we comply with council restrictions which are to ensure we aren’t disrupting our neighbours. We only hire to members for low noise and low impact events with the guideline: “If you are looking for a venue for a party with music and dancing - unfortunately we aren’t able to provide that.”  

Guidelines are on our website 

Typically we are hosting wedding ceremonies only, with receptions held at local venues like Dunes, Moby’s & The Pasadena. 

Congratulations to Ella & Harrison who were recently married at the club, and sent us this video to share !Click Here to view on the club’s Facebook page.

Club Dinghy Trailer 

We have acquired a trailer, parked on the grass above the club, that members can book for short term use. It’s suitable for transporting centreboards (Spirals, Lasers, Puffins etc), tenders and small ribs.

If you would like to use the trailer please make the request via email to info@avalonsailingclub.com.au so that we can manage the “bookings” to avoid clashes and track who is using it.

In Memoriam

Our condolences go to the family & friends of the following Avalon Sailing Club members recently passed away:  

Life member Bob Dummett sailed on Eyas for many years and served as Commodore from 1987 to 1989.

Jim Carmichael who crewed with Dick Chapel passed away in December aged 76.  

Cathy Jarrett at the end of September. 

Thank you Ceila Craig for keeping us informed. 

SailGP: 28 Feb to 1 March 

SailGP returns to Sydney harbour on 28th Feb. The Flying Roos, as they are now known, won the first 3 seasons, came second to the Spanish team in 2024 and second to the English last year. This year’s season just got underway in Perth with the Roos second again to the English.

Each team has two female members. Tash Bryant & Nina Curtis on the Australian team both learned to sail at Avalon before heading to the RPAYC youth development program.

These boats need to be seen to be believed, reaching speeds towards 50Kts (Record is 56Kts or 104 Km/h). You can get tickets to official viewing areas, or watch it from public places like Bradley’s head. It’s really impressive and somewhat unreal to see boats sailing at these speeds, and an experience not be to missed !

MEET SailGP SAILORS AT WARRINGAH MALL ON 22 February

Fans can meet Tom Slingsby and the crew in person, collect autographs from the athletes, score exciting giveaways plus a few extra surprises. 

KEY DETAILS

📍Where: Westfield Warringah Mall, Shop 2611, Level 1
🗓 When: Sunday 22 February 2026
⏰ Time: 10:00am-11:00am

🇦🇺 Who: Tom Slingsby, Tash Bryant, Jason Waterhouse, Sam Newton, Iain Jensen and Tom Needham.