News

Newsletter, 27th April 2026

Published Mon 27 Apr 2026

From the President

The weather has cooled but there is still plenty of great sailing to be had, and I encourage everyone to get out on the water while the sun is shining and make the most of the off season programs. If you want to know what’s on, check out the Club Calendar.

A quick reminder regarding memberships: please ensure yours is up to date. To continue with our winter training programs, all sailors must hold a valid membership. Importantly, remember that every junior or youth member must be paired with an adult member (sailing or non-sailing), and as we are a volunteer run club every parent member is to have a working with children check. This is vital for our club’s community structure.

Finally, here are a couple of important dates for your diary. Please ensure your diaries are clear for Saturday, 8th August. We will be hosting Frost on the Foredeck, our premier fundraiser for the year. It will be a highlight of the winter season and a crucial event for supporting our asset renewal projects. Along with the End of Season Presentation Night on 30 May where we celebrate the season, we’ll have the HHSC AGM. Everyone is welcome to come and nominate themselves for roles.The more the merrier.

Learn2Sail

Although it’s been a quiet few weekends for Learn2Sail, things certainly haven’t slowed down!

We hosted one of our biggest holiday camps, welcoming 60 enthusiastic young sailors to HHSC. A big thank you to all our coaches who made it possible to safely manage such a large group and ensured the week ran smoothly and efficiently.

A special shoutout to Bill Voulden, who spent the week ashore as a first aider and assisting with maintenance 👏

We’re now getting ready to return to our regular Saturday/Sunday schedule, with classes resuming next weekend (2–3 May).

Preparing for Term 2

To ensure your sailor is ready to start Term 2 Learn2Sail (L2S) and Teens & Tweens (T&T) classes, please complete the following (as outlined in previous emails):

Renew your sailor’s membershiphere
- “Youth” membership for L2S
- “Teens and Tweens” membership for T&T
Renew your membership (“Non-sailing adult” or “Adult sailor”)
Log in to your sailor’s HHSC account
Go to Account → Training Sessions here
Select and enrol in your desired classes
- If attending both L2S and Learn2Race T&T sessions, you must enrol in each separately

All weekend classes are included in your annual membership; however, registration is still required so we can safely allocate coaching numbers.

Important: For insurance and safety reasons, sailors who have not both renewed their membership and registered for classes at least 48 hours prior will be sent home and will be asked to return the following week.

Schedule

Saturday
T&T Learn2Sail: 1:00–3:00pm
T&T Learn2Race: 3:00–5:00pm

Sunday
Rookie (Level 1): 8:00–9:30am
Momentum (Level 2): 9:30–11:30am
Pro (Level 3): 11:30am–1:30pm

Winter Sailing Gear

As we move into winter, please ensure your sailor is dressed appropriately for the conditions—wetsuits, spray jackets, thermals, beanies, etc.

If your sailor does not have their own wetsuit or spray jacket, they are welcome to borrow club gear from the shed. Please ensure all borrowed gear is treated with care and hung up correctly after use.

If you have any issues registering for classes or accessing your sailor’s HHSC account, please contact:
learn2sail@huntershillsailingclub.org.au

Optimist Fleet

Opens - Fitness training 📸 Alessio

Milton Emma Sijia in Brighton 📸 Rebecca Tomkins

We’re back! With the school holidays behind us, it’s time to kick-start the new season. Although, for some, the sailing never stopped… Milton, Sijia, and Emma represented at the Australian Team Camp in Brighton, enjoying great conditions and valuable preparation ahead of Nationals there next year.

Our Open fleet was back on the water this Sunday for their first session. Coach Daniel put the sailors through some fitness testing …and you can definitely feel the burn just looking at the photos! A good reminder that fitness is just as important as time on the water.

And just like that, the first regatta is already here! Round 1 of the Interclub series takes place this Sunday, 3rd of May at WSC. It’s a fantastic winter regatta with plenty of prizes, short races, and a relaxed format to keep everyone engaged through the colder months. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Important: Renewal of child/parent membership and payment of storage fees is compulsory before this weekend. Sailors will not be able to train or race unless this is completed.

Other classes

Over the past month, Matthew Quinlan (IQ Foil) and Sylvie Stannage (Ilca 6) have been racing in Europe, boasting extremely impressive results. In the IQ Foil class Matt Quinlan finished 85th in the Princess Sofia Trophy whilst Sylvie Stannage finished 60th in the Ilca 6 with a very impressive 1st and 2nd in Silver fleet in the last two races of the regatta.

Sylvie and Matt just came off the back of the French Olympic week in Hyères, finishing on the 25th of April. Sylvie came away with a 43rd with a best result of 13th in race 2! Matt came home strong with a final result of 51st, with a best result of 13th in race 2! Very big congratulations to Matt and Sylvie, we look forward to following the rest of your European tour! You can follow the whole Australian Sailing Team on Instagram here.

On the yachting front, Nicolas Livermore has been racing in the 2026 TP52 Gold Cup, racing aboard the First Light. Up in Port Stephens, Nic and his crew finished 2nd overall on line honours and 4th overall on handicap, boasting a win over the line in the passage race on day 2. This result currently puts First Light in 2nd overall for the 2026 TP52 Gold Cup.