CASTLE 650 : NSW State Championship (Lake Macquarie)
The inaugural NSW Castle Yacht Championships were held on October 4+5 2025 as part of the Newcastle & Hunter Trailer Yacht Association's (NHTYA) 3 & 6 Hour Regatta.
This Regatta was chosen due to the large fleet of Castles regularly sailing at the NHTYA, and the fact that Lake Macquarie is a magnificent sailing venue. The 3 & 6 hour regatta consists of an approximately 14 nm 3hr race on the Saturday and an approximately 24nm 6hr race on Sunday encompassing a tour of the lake. Ian Smith represented Mornington YC sailing Blackjack.
Event report from Michael Collins
11 castles from around the country, 2 from Victoria, 1 from Queensland and 8 from around New South Wales turned up at Styles Point on Lake Macquarie to enter the first ever New South Wales Castle state titles since the boats started being built 40+ years ago. The fleet was sailing in both spinnaker and non-spinnaker configuration with a handicap allowance for non-spin.
There was near perfect weather, average temperatures 28C with winds not too strong not too weak, between 5 and maximum 15kn but sitting it about 10kn most of the weekend. South-east Saturday and north-west Sunday
The Saturday race start line was at Rathmines heading initially to Swansea, followed by a few loops of the lake via a series of LMYC markers, then back to the finish.
Race 1: Notes from Mitch Bayliss (Pipalini) and Ian Smith (Blackjack):
Pipalini, He's Dreaming, Hataitai, Blackjack and Araluen II all got off the line fairly well and started the long port biased beat to Swansea Mark. Eventually He's Dreaming and Hataitai fell into bad wind and tacked off leaving the others to drag race. Pipalini was able to tack and cross in from of Araluen and Blackjack to be first to Swansea with Araluen not far behind. Those positions stayed as they were until the end of the race with the short spinnaker legs not letting Blackjack get past Araluen. The race took the fleet on port tack right across the track of large fleets of closely packed Cadet and Laser dinghies which at times made for some very tricky avoidance decisions.
The inaugural NSW Castle Yacht Championships were held on October 4+5 2025 as part of the Newcastle & Hunter Trailer Yacht Association's (NHTYA) 3 & 6 Hour Regatta.
This Regatta was chosen due to the large fleet of Castles regularly sailing at the NHTYA, and the fact that Lake Macquarie is a magnificent sailing venue. The 3 & 6 hour regatta consists of an approximately 14 nm 3hr race on the Saturday and an approximately 24nm 6hr race on Sunday encompassing a tour of the lake. Ian Smith represented Mornington YC sailing Blackjack.
Event report from Michael Collins
11 castles from around the country, 2 from Victoria, 1 from Queensland and 8 from around New South Wales turned up at Styles Point on Lake Macquarie to enter the first ever New South Wales Castle state titles since the boats started being built 40+ years ago. The fleet was sailing in both spinnaker and non-spinnaker configuration with a handicap allowance for non-spin.
There was near perfect weather, average temperatures 28C with winds not too strong not too weak, between 5 and maximum 15kn but sitting it about 10kn most of the weekend. South-east Saturday and north-west Sunday
The Saturday race start line was at Rathmines heading initially to Swansea, followed by a few loops of the lake via a series of LMYC markers, then back to the finish.
Race 1: Notes from Mitch Bayliss (Pipalini) and Ian Smith (Blackjack):
Pipalini, He's Dreaming, Hataitai, Blackjack and Araluen II all got off the line fairly well and started the long port biased beat to Swansea Mark. Eventually He's Dreaming and Hataitai fell into bad wind and tacked off leaving the others to drag race. Pipalini was able to tack and cross in from of Araluen and Blackjack to be first to Swansea with Araluen not far behind. Those positions stayed as they were until the end of the race with the short spinnaker legs not letting Blackjack get past Araluen. The race took the fleet on port tack right across the track of large fleets of closely packed Cadet and Laser dinghies which at times made for some very tricky avoidance decisions.
Above photo: the start of race 1
On the second day the race started again at Rathmines Point worked its way up to Toronto in the opposite direction and wound its way all the way down to the other end of the lake around a Pulbah Island followed by a work back to the finish line. It started at 10:15. Along the way Sand Island marker was broken in half and very hard to see making for some tricky navigation.
Above photo: the course for race 2
Race 2: Notes from Mitch Bayliss (Pipalini) and Ian Smith (Blackjack):
Pipalini won the downwind start with Araluen and Ozatel not far behind. Ozatel challenged Pipalini but didn't manage to get past. On the long beat to Toronto Pipalini stretched her legs with Blackjack, Araluen and Ozatel not far behind. On the broad reach to Belmont it was pretty even until Pipalini parked in no breeze at Belmont allowing Ozatel and Blackjack to come steaming in to within a few boat lengths. It was a close tussle from there to Pullbah Island where once again light breeze saw the front 3 come together. Once back in the breeze it was upwind to the hard to find Sand Island and Pipalini started to gap the chasers. By the turn for home Blackjack had passed Ozatel and began quickly closing on Pipalini but fell into a big hole at Wangi Point. On the final beat Pipalini cleared out and Blackjack also gapped the remainder of the fleet resulting in a Victorian one two result for the race and in the overall placings.
Pipalini won the downwind start with Araluen and Ozatel not far behind. Ozatel challenged Pipalini but didn't manage to get past. On the long beat to Toronto Pipalini stretched her legs with Blackjack, Araluen and Ozatel not far behind. On the broad reach to Belmont it was pretty even until Pipalini parked in no breeze at Belmont allowing Ozatel and Blackjack to come steaming in to within a few boat lengths. It was a close tussle from there to Pullbah Island where once again light breeze saw the front 3 come together. Once back in the breeze it was upwind to the hard to find Sand Island and Pipalini started to gap the chasers. By the turn for home Blackjack had passed Ozatel and began quickly closing on Pipalini but fell into a big hole at Wangi Point. On the final beat Pipalini cleared out and Blackjack also gapped the remainder of the fleet resulting in a Victorian one two result for the race and in the overall placings.
Above photo: approaching the first mark race 2
While these races weren't your conventional 'championship' race courses, it was decided by the newly formed Castle Yacht Association of Australia that Newcastle & Hunter Trailer Association was a good starting point in a nice location and close enough that the organisers could convince at least one Queenslander and 2 Victorians to come tackle the 12+ hour drive.
The racing was conducted in very good spirit and was very competitive. The Castle trailer sailer class is currently undergoing quite a resurgence and now appears to be the most active trailer sailer class in the country. The next major event is the National Championships to be held in December in Canberra with a fleet of at least 20 boats anticipated.
The racing was conducted in very good spirit and was very competitive. The Castle trailer sailer class is currently undergoing quite a resurgence and now appears to be the most active trailer sailer class in the country. The next major event is the National Championships to be held in December in Canberra with a fleet of at least 20 boats anticipated.
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