Hi Impulse sailors,
In this Bulletin please read on for a wrap of the States at Portarlington last month, well done to our new Victorian Champion Matt Kiely, and the dates for the 2026 - 27 Travellers series, the first heat of which was sailed at the recent Lake Boga Easter Regatta and the second which comes up very soon at Safety Beach Sailing Club on Sunday 26th April.
We are pleased to annnounce the 2027 Victorian State Titles will be hosted by Stawell Yacht Club on the Labour Day weekend, 6th - 8th March.
Thanks everyone for contributing to a great Summer season, we hope to see some of you soon at Safety Beach and later at Albert Park in June. Keep an eye out for details of our training weekend in late August or September,
Vic. Impulse Committee. |
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Impulse Victorian Championships 2026
28 Impulses sailed the 2026 States at Portarlington Sailing Club over the March long weekend. A range of conditions from 15 - 20 knot Southerlies on the first two days to a light Easterly on the Monday gave everyone a chance in their favoured winds, with the top sailors showing consistency throughout. The courses were a little different than the standard triangle, windward return, triangle we've been sailing lately. A longer beat with 2 triangles seemed to be well received by most sailors.
The series started out in predictable fashion with Ben Johnson losing another mast before the start of the first race. Sorry Ben but you really are making a habit of this! Impressively he was able to get back to the beach, rig up some spare stays which he had on hand for just such an occasion and get back to start the first race. Other notable performances on day one included a few sailors competing for the best capsize, Ryan Blackstock tipping over just metres before the finish line and Peter Kemp capsizing just before the start with a lightning quick recovery were frontrunners who caught the attention of the committee boat. Portarlington Commodore Jacob Stuchberry showed some impressive upwind speed, leading around the top mark a couple of times. Unfortunately for Jacob (and perhaps fortunately for the rest of the fleet) to counter this he made a considerable effort to rival Paul Richard's claim to be the slowest downwind sailor in Impulses. Plenty of helpful (and not so helpful) advice followed on the beach, when he gets it right he's going to be very difficult to beat.
On the reaches the ones to watch seemed to be Paul Farrell, Toby Leppin, Leon Raymond, Jon Pulham to name a few, often recovering from an unfavourable position at the end of the beat to a spot well in the mix by the bottom mark. The absolute standout reaching in the heavier wind had to be speed demon Shaun Ritson, passing even the fastest with ease. Shaun had a strong start to the series, winning two races before Matt Kiely got on a roll and won the next three on the Sunday to set himself up with a solid lead and needing only one decent result going into the final two races on the Monday.
He might have been a bit worried overnight with the forecast for considerably less wind, but while light wind specialists Jon Pulham and Peter Kemp finished 1st and 2nd in what was developing as a close contest for 2nd overall, Matt held it together to finish 3rd in the morning's first race, winning the series with a race to spare. |
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A series of contrasts, stormy skies on Saturday and Sunday and a gentle breeze and sunshine on Monday
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In the final race Toby Leppin led from start to finish, claiming the boat felt so good "it felt like I was cheating!". Peter and Jon had a close duel with Peter edging ahead on the final beat to claim 2nd. Ross Martin enjoyed the lighter winds, finishing 4th and 3rd in the final two races. Leon Raymond also preferred the lighter winds, finishing with two 6th places in a late charge which was not quite enough to clinch the Great Grand Master title from Mick Wright who sailed a very consistent regatta. The Grand Masters was won by Shaun, the Masters by Brendan Brown and the Seniors by Ben.
Winning the Ladies division in her first State Championship, Tanith "the Flea" Ryan did some seriously impressive sailing to finish races in difficult conditions in a still overpowered 6.6. Hoisting the full rig for the final day she managed a 13th in race 7. Well done Tanith and we hope your example might bring some more women into the class. Having the 6.6 sail as an option in heavier winds is certainly an attraction for lighter sailors. |
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Roger (530 left) and Gordon (120 right) from Port Cygnet Sailing Club in Tasmania.
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It was wonderful to have sailing with us 2 Tasmanian Impulse sailors, Gordon Stewart and Roger Masters who sail on the Derwent in Hobart. Gordon won the Vintage division is his boat "Ariel II" Impulse 120. Not believe it or not the oldest boat in the fleet, that honour went to class newcomer Brandon Wong with "Phoenix" Impulse 115. Welcome Brandon! Great to see the older boats still around and competitive in the right hands. Check out the Tasmanian Facebook page: Impulse 4.0 Sports Dinghy - Tasmania
Many thanks to all those involved from the club and their volunteers and to all our competitors for making this a regatta to remember. With sailors from 12 different clubs in the top 15 it shows the depth of talent in Impulses at the moment. Congratulations to Altona Yacht Club for being the best represented club with 6 boats, closely followed by South Gippsland Y.C. with 5. Full results can be found here. |
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Well done State Champion Matt Kiely and Ladies and 6.6 Champion Tanith Ryan
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Traveller's Series
Sometimes these series are won by whoever can get to the most races but the 2025/6 series went right down to the wire with the winner being decided at heat 10 of the travellers, the first race of the States at Portarlington. Going in to the race Matt Kiely had the advantage, any position would do, while for Jon Pulham only a win would overtake Matt. The wind was up so Matt could have been forgiven for thinking he had it in the bag, but Jon snuck into the lead on a nice shift at the last windward mark and powered through to take the win. The top 3 in the Travellers, Jon, Matt and Toby Leppin each received a BCF voucher.
Race 1 of the 2026/27 series has been held at the Lake Boga Easter Regatta. Only 5 Impulses made it this year, possibly due to the uncertainty of availability and cost of fuel, although the regatta as a whole had a decent number of entries. Boga is by far the furthest to get to for most of us so hopefully we'll see a few more travelling to our other venues.
Boga Results:
1st Matt Kiely Wolley
2nd Ross Martin Windfix
3rd Bill Manning Roxy
4th Geoff Rippingale Ripper
5th Henry Mueller Random
The calendar for the 2026/27 series is below. A few of the latter races are awaiting confirmation of exact dates, we'll keep you updated with future emails and via Facebook. |
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Upcoming Heats:
April 26 Safety Beach Sailing Club 1st Race Sunday 2:00pm start
June 20-21 Albert Sailing Club Winter Regatta 1st Race Saturday pm
September Bendigo Icebreaker Regatta 1st Race Saturday pm
October Rhyll Yacht Club
November Cairn Curran Annual Regatta 1st Race Saturday pm
December Altona Yacht Club Short Course Series 1st afternoon race
January South Gippsland YC Australia Day Regatta
February Williamstown Sailing Club Date TBC
March 6-8 Stawell Yacht Club State Titles Race 1
10 races are scheduled, 5 drops. Pick your 5 favourites or try to get to them all!
Where there is a regatta the travellers is the first heat sailed unless otherwise stated
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Stawell Yacht Club - Victorian Championships 2027 Labour Day Weekend 6th - 8th March
On the waters of Lake Fyans in the shadow of the picturesque Grampians. Last States we sailed here we had over 40 Impulses, would be fantastic to get another fleet that size. Plenty of camping available at the club, if you'd like a cabin there is a caravan park next door or hotels, houses to rent etc.10 minutes drive away in Stawell. The club is able to guarantee good water levels for us in March. Put it in your diary now!
Check out Stawell's Facebook page for some great videos and photos of just how good sailing here can be: Stawell Yacht Club Facebook |
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Membership
All entrants into State and National championships as well as training weekends etc. must be financial members of the Australian Impulse Association. (Anyone may enter a heat of the Traveller's series but only members are eligible for prizes). To join the Impulse association or renew your membership please head to the registration page to renew your membership: Registration Page
If you prefer to fill out a paper form and direct deposit the membership fee the form can be found here:
Membership Form
Any questions or issues please email web@ausimpulse.com.au for support.
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Official Enewsletter of the Victorian Impulse Association
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