The first round of the VSC’s Winter Series was well and truly wet, wild, and very windy! A huge East Coast Low hit the Moona Moona on Saturday, bringing with it a strong, gusty south-westerly, with rain slowly easing off into the early afternoon.
The VSC was lucky enough to receive two Hobie Waves donated by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club from up in Pittwater, with Andrew and Matthew McKenzie putting in the work this week to get the boats ready for club activities. The VSC would like to formally thank RPAYC for the generous donation, and we look forward to putting all the Waves to use this winter!
With the NSW Hobie Cat Association and VSC confirming they’ll host the inaugural Hobie Wave State Championships this September to kick off the 2025/26 sailing season, Team VSC has decided to trial Hobie Wave racing throughout this year’s Winter Series.
With the club’s original two Waves already on hand, the two newly donated RPAYC boats, and the McKenzies’ own Waves, Bingo and Bluey, the 2025 Winter Series is shaping up to be a cracker—featuring red-hot Hobie Wave fleet racing right through winter.
For the first of four winter weekends, Paddy and MB were on duty, with Rebecca joining them on timekeeping for the day. Five heats were held, run in the WaveGP format: a long reach, one short windward/leeward, followed by another long reach to finish. With five competitors and only four boats, average points were awarded to any sailor or team for the race they missed.
Racing on handicap, Matthew took the win for the day with three bullets, edging out his older brother Andrew, who scored two bullets of his own. Bryn finished with two wins and an OCS, putting him in third overall ahead of Jocelyn & Dobbo, while Fionbarr & Hazel rounded out the results in fifth—adding two capsizes to their tally for good measure!
We’re looking forward to next weekend’s Winter Wave Racing. With one down and three to go, there’s plenty more action in store right off the beach at the VSC. Be sure to come down and check it out—fingers crossed for some sunshine next time!
