News

Newsletter, 16 December 2025 🧑‍🎄🎄

Published Tue 16 Dec 2025

From the President

We’re finishing the year with a bang, and will barely stop heading into the new year.

Our kids did great things across all three fleets in the Optis at SOARs last weekend, some of the gang will be heading to Tasmania in the new year for the nationals. The ILCA fleet continue to go from strength to strength. Some of the squad will be heading to Tasmania for their nationals in the new year, and Healy is currently representing Australia in the ILCA at the Youth Sailing World Championships in Portugal. Speaking of Tasmania, Nic Livermore, Max Fischer and Sam Newton will all be heading south on Boxing Day, competing in the 80th Rolex Sydney to Hobart, cheer them on as you recover from Christmas lunch. We have Learn2Sail camps running right up until 23rd December, and kicking off again on 12th January. We have Skiff Skills underway, and Harper is just back from the Waszp Sprint Nationals and Victorian Waszp States in Geelong. Phew.

Capturing the spirit of community, family and giving back, we were privileged to have a visit from HHSC alumni and sailing legend Sam Newton of the Bonds Flying Roos last Sunday. Sam grew up racing Sabots, Flying 11's and 29ers at HHSC, and has since won multiple 18 footer world cups, an Americas Cup and a Sydney Hobart (to name a few items on his very impressive resume). Sam came by with his family and some Bonds Flying Roos merch for the next generation of HHSC sailors. Thank you Sam and thank you Elizabeth for organising.

Thanks to everyone who has volunteered in any capacity across 2025, I think you’ll agree that we’ve got something special here, and we need to continue to nurture it. Have a great break with your families and friends over the next few weeks, and we’ll do it all again in 2026.

HHSC Alumni and Bonds Flying Roo Sam Newton popping by 📸 Richard Vowles

New threads, thanks Sam! 📸 Belle Parker

From the Commodore

A reminder that Term 4 finishes this week and class training and racing stops over the Christmas period. There are still places available for some of our School holiday camps which are not only a great way to enjoy summer on the harbour but an opportunity to pack a lot of training into a short period. See below for links to the camps if you are interested in attending.

Our first race next term will be February 1st 2026 which is the HHSC Australia Day regatta. The ILCA Australia Day racing will also be combined with the Monarch of the River so please mark the date in your diary. It will be a huge day at the club and we want as many ILCA sailors as possible representing HHSC.

Good luck to Healy Ryan who is currently in Vilamoura Portugal competing in ILCA 6 at the 2025 Youth World Championships. Go Healy!! Congratulations also to Jaimie Swaverley (ex-HHSC Optimist coach) who is with the Australian team as a Coach.

Good luck to all ILCA and Optimist sailors who are heading to Hobart for the Nationals. All the best for a safe and successful journey across Bass Strait.

Also travelling across Bass Strait over the break is Nic Livermore, Max Fischer and Sam Newton competing in the 80th Rolex Sydney to Hobart. Good luck boys!

Finally, I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Christmas and New Year. See you next year!

Club racing

First race back at the club will be the Australia Day Regatta on 1st February, 2026.

Want to know what’s coming up in 2026? It’s all here:HHSC_Season_2025-2026_Calendar.xlsx

Results - Hunters Hill Sailing Club

Learn2Sail

That's a wrap for Term 4 L2S and T&T!

Our T&T Learn2Sail group did an adventure sail to Iron Cove bridge and then over to Drummoyne Sailing Club, where we were a bit jealous of their sandy launching and landing style.

T&T Learn2Sail adventure sail to DSC 📸 Belle Parker

The T&T Learn2Race group completed a two-week mini regatta where they put to play all their racing skills and rules learnt throughout the term. Congratulations to Irelene, Annie and Grace who won on countback.

T&T Learn2Race mini-regatta 📸 Belle Parker

A big congratulations to the Teens and Tweens graduates for Term 4: Irelen, Thomas, Thomas and Thomas (Pearson, Malorey and Colquhoun) who have all joined our ILCA race fleet.

The L2S groups were treated to glamour weather for their last session on Sunday.

L2S Rookie Emmanuelle and Martin 📸 Belle Parker

L2S Rookie 📸 Belle Parker

Momentum sailor, Matilda Newton testing a tacker boats speed limits 📸 Belle Parker

Jasper showing momentum in Momentum! 📸 Belle Parker

Last week we were delighted to welcome 30 sailors to the club for our Teens and Tweens camp. Thank you to all the Instructors who assisted to ensure the camp ran smoothly and we are looking forward to our pre-christmas camp commencing on Saturday, Dec 20.

Alexander and Archie traded their Optis for something a little faster last week 📸 Belle Parker

Teens and Tweens 8-12 Dec camp 📸 Belle Parker

December Learn2Sail camps

Christmas crept up on you too fast?

We get it!

Sign your sailors up for our 4 day, 20-23 Dec Christmas camp. Let them sail have fun sailing around the harbour with their mates, giving you the free time to sort out Christmas.

Rookie 20-23 Dec

Momentum 20-23 Dec

Pro 20-23 Dec

January Learn2Sail camps

All holiday camps and Try Sailing sessions are now open for registration via: Events - Hunters Hill Sailing Club

Camp Schedule:

Monday 12-Friday 16 January 2026
Monday 19-Friday 23 January 2026

Please help us promote our Learn2Sail and Teens & Tweens programs by circulating this flyer through your school, sports, and community networks:

Have family or friends who would like to try sailing? They can register for one of our free Try Sailing sessions being held on Saturdays at 9:00-11:00am on these dates:

The links above are Facebook Events, so please ‘like’ and ‘share’ with your family, friends, and community groups.

Optimist Fleet

That’s a wrap for 2025!

The Opti team wrapped up the year with SORS (Summer Optimist Regatta Sydney) at George’s River Sailing Club, racing across the weekend plus Monday. Three days of intense competition provided the perfect preparation ahead of the National Championships in Hobart this January.

With a full range of wind conditions, the fleet saw 40 Open sailors and over 40 Intermediates battling it out on the water.

Once again, the HHSC sailors made us incredibly proud with some outstanding results:

•3rd Overall: Luca

•1st Female: Kirra

•2nd Female: Sijia

•3rd Female: Emma

Girl power at its best! 💪

A special mention also to young Alasdair Bonnitcha, who competed in his first major Intermediate regatta and finished an impressive 12th overall—a fantastic way to announce yourself on the competitive Opti scene.

Congratulations to our two Green Fleet sailors, Edith and Archie, on competing in their first major Green Fleet regatta! They had a blast and gained some great racing experience, and Edith took home the “Most Determined Green Fleet Sailor” award.

Huge thanks to parent/coach Julian for his wisdom and support over the three days, and to all the parents who helped both on and off the water.

SORS Results

Our HHSC Open winners 📸 Alessio De Giosa

HHSC Squad at SORS 📸 Rebecca Tomkins

Briefing with Coach Julian on the third day of SORS - George’s River Sailing Club 📸 Jason Chai

Edith “Most Determined Green Fleet Sailor” SORS - George’s River Sailing Club 📸 Eve Jarvie

Training and racing are now officially finished for the year until we kick things off again at the Australia Day Regatta on Sunday, 1st of February.

Best of luck to the 10 sailors heading to the National Championships in Hobart—Opens: Sijia, Emma, Kirra, Luca, Tom, Milton, Axel, Cleo and Interm: Miles , Zac. We’ll be cheering you on!

Stay Connected
Follow all the Opti action oninstagram and on Facebook. Check out the updated NSWIODA Opti website – all regatta dates, photos, useful links, and resources are available there. Stay up to date with everything Opti-related happening in NSW, including the latest news, updates, and regattas via the state group chat.

ILCA Fleet

Our sailors are once again setting their sights on far-flung shores 🌍⛵

Healy Ryan is off to Portugal 🇵🇹, while Milley, Zac and Sophie are heading south to Tassie for the ILCA Nationals. They’ll be putting in the hard yards with two solid weeks of training before making the voyage to Hobart - all to make sure they hit the start line ready to fire. Best of luck to them all! 💪✨

Club racing will be back with a bang at the Australia Day Regatta on February 1st. Until then, there’s plenty of sailing to be had. Jump into the WhatsApp group, see who’s around, make a plan and get out on the water. Organise your own mini-sessions, enjoy some relaxed afternoon sails, and make the most of the (hopefully) glorious summer weather ☀️🌊

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone - sail safe, have fun, and we’ll see you back at the club very soon!

Sun 7th December Club Racing 📸 David Malorey

Radials first around 📸 David Malorey

Some intense stalking! 📸 David Malorey

Here come the 4.7’s! 📸 David Malorey

29ers/49ers

It has been great to have the Skiff Skills course kick off with a land based skills session. Coach Connor Hay is running the show and we have a mixture of senior Opti and sailors and sailors from the teens and tweens programs. The course continues through to April, so it’s not too late to join if you are keen! Detail are here: https://www.huntershillsailingclub.org.au/events/328624

Coach Connor and the Skiff Skills gang 📸 Luke Ryves

Wow, this has a bit more sail than my Opti! 📸 Luke Ryves

Waspz

The demo Waszp is back! Use is managed by Minette via the Whatsapp group. A reminder of the club rules around using the Demo Waszp:

1.⁠ ⁠Let Minette know you're taking the demo Waszp out via the HHSC Waszp WhatsApp group & confirm with Minette when it’s returned plus any damage report. If you break it you repair it.

2.⁠ ⁠⁠Have rib support. From a parent if you’re an Opti sailor.

3.⁠ ⁠⁠Know how to launch & land it, plus have enough people to do that. Minimum 2 youth/adult or 3 Opti sailors in the water.

4.⁠ ⁠⁠if you haven’t been on the Waszp before or don’t know how to rig it, you’ll need to wait for an organised session.

Aussie Sprints/Vic States Regatta report from Harper

I recently went down to Geelong to participate in the Waszp Sprint Nationals and Victorian Waszp States. It was great seeing a solid fleet of about 25 boats come together for some tight, fast racing. The conditions were pretty windy with flat water most of the time, averaging around 18-20 knots, however the last day was cancelled as it was gusting 37! I struggled a bit in the breeze and had some great capsizes! It was really nice meeting Andrew McDougall, the designer and creator of the Waszp, who gave us lots of tips for foiling. I also used my new 7.5 sail which is slightly smaller than the 8.2 and more suited for sailors like me. While most of the competitors came from Victoria, there were a number of sailors from interstate and a couple from the UK. Everyone at the regatta was so welcoming and happy to help. I had the best time, learnt loads and am excited to start training for nationals in Airlie beach next year!

For those not heading down to Tassie in January, the next Waszp regatta will be APacs at RQYS 6-10 Jan. Lots of international sailors will be heading to Brisbane including current Waszp Female World Champ, Pearl Lattanzi. Highly recommend making the trip up there for some fast, fun racing!