Hobie Wave Open and Hobie 16 Extreme on Pittwater (Sydney) Australia

3:51 AM Mon 1 Feb 2010 GMT

'Ready to go - Hobie Wave Open and Hobie 16 Extreme on Pittwater (Sydney) Australia' Anthony Duchatel

A unique sailing event for catamaran sailors of all ages has just wrapped up on the pristine waters of Pittwater in Sydney, Australia.

In the spirit of promoting sailing, particular to youth sailors on Pittwater, the Palm Beach Sailing club along with the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club ran a competition over the Australia day long weekend using the RPA based Hobie Wave Training Fleet.

The fleet of 10 Waves was used in a 'Round Robin' format, similar to a World Titles, with the Saturday as a Qualifying Series and the Sunday as a Finals Series. After Saturdays qualifying the 18 Wave sailors were split into Gold and Silver Fleets.

'The logistics of running this type of event are enormous' said Andrew Nelson, the innovator of this event and Regatta Manager. 'There were 78 movements off the Waves onto support boats but everyone loved the interchange' said Andrew.

Simultaneously with the Wave Open, a Hobie 16 Extreme event was staged. The Hobie 16 is the big brother to the wave, being a powerful two person catamaran and the most popular catamaran in the World with over 112,000 built. Making it 'Extreme' was that the 16's were to be sailed one-up, a fair challenge normally but even more so in a race series.

The weather was perfect, hot and 10 to 15 knots - from the SE on Saturday and NE on Sunday. The Wave sailors loved the chance to mix it up and build on their sailing skills. In contrast the 'Extreme' sailors were just worn out, exhausted after managing overpowered boats around a long and demanding course.

The Waves Gold Fleet clear winner was Bridget Waterhouse from Chris Way and the father and son duo of Damien Miller (mainsheet trimmer) for son Daniel.

In the Silver Fleet only one point separated the top three sailors. Taking out first on a countback was Jake Price from the team of Molly Blackburn and Josh Singh with Sam Henman third.

Molly Blackburn and Josh Singh 2nd in Silver Fleet - Hobie Wave Open and Hobie 16 Extreme on Pittwater (Sydney) Australia - Anthony Duchatel

Most improved over the series was Luke Maras, who only stated sailing this season as a crew on a Hobie 16.

'Of concern' for the Hobie 16 helmsman was that most of the successful Wave sailors were normally their crew who now have a taste for steering.

The 'Extreme' series was taken out by Rod Waterhouse followed by David Renouf and Jerry Schaffer, all very experienced 'long distance or marathon sailors' who had the endurance and skill to place consistently over the two days. The racing was not only extreme due to its difficulty but due to the very tight racing.

Rod Waterhouse, when accepting his first place trophy, said 'the event would not have been a success without the vision and drive of Andrew Nelson'. Rod 'hoped another event would be held towards the end of the sailing season to build on the success of this event'

The event was hailed by all as the most successful local event since the Youth International last January and will only increase the popularity of sailing in Pittwater and Sydney.

The event has topped off a stellar year for the local Palm Beach Sailing Club. While the Palm Beach Sailing club is the largest catamaran club on the East Coast of Australia it is still modest in size by most standards with just 80 members however in the last 12 months members of the club have won the ISAF World Youth championships; the two main east coast cat regattas at Foster and Pittwater; three of the four World Masters titles at the recent Masters games in Sydney; the Open and Grandmasters titles at the NSW State Titles; and the Masters and Grandmasters titles at the Nationals in Western Australia.

More importantly though, the club is family orientated one with its main focus on growing family and youth sailing on the Pittwater peninsula in Sydney's northern beaches.

Palm Beach Sailing club is very proud of its association with the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club and the joint Hobie Wave Initiative that is proving so popular with new sailors of all ages.

Gold Fleet winner Bridget Waterhouse out in front - Hobie Wave Open and Hobie 16 Extreme on Pittwater (Sydney) Australia - Anthony Duchatel

3rd in Gold Fleet Daniel Miller (helm) with dad Damien (mainsheet trim) - Hobie Wave Open and Hobie 16 Extreme on Pittwater (Sydney) Australia - Anthony Duchatel