Sailing the blue waters of Port Stephens has never been more popular with the number of males and females of all ages keen to show off their navigational skills in sail boats of all shapes and sizes.
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In the lead up to the Port’s biggest sailing event of the year, Sail Port Stephens in April, the growing Tanilba Bay Amateur Sailing Club is gearing up for its own major sail celebration.
The waters around Tanilba Bay will become a hive of activity as the 2019 Tanilba Bay Big Boat Regatta gets underway on the weekend of February 9 and 10.
The Tanilba Bay club is hosting the event, which is held each year for the beach catamarans 4.9m (16 feet) and longer.
Prominent sail club member Sam Breaden said that Tanilba Bay had a good fleet of catamarans, with up to 15 boats sailing regularly, “so it’s a really strong sailing culture and the perfect spot to hold a regatta”.
“Competitors for the annual event will come from all over NSW, including a big contingent hailing from the Central Coast and Sydney,” Breaden said.
“We are expecting up to 30 competitive boats to line up for starters’ orders, and we’re aiming to have up to eight races, as long as the weather holds.”
Observers are encouraged to head down to Peace Park on the Tanilba Bay foreshore from 12 noon on Saturday (February 9) and 10.30am on Sunday (February 10) to catch all of the action.
Various catamaran classes will be hitting the waters of Tanilba Bay, including taipans, formula 18s, A class and hobie classes.
All club facilities will be available on the day, including clubhouse, toilets/showers, lawn rigging area, concrete ramps to water, chandlery at Lemon Tree Passage, and camping will be available on the club grounds from Friday night.
The club continues to conduct successful meets, with three taipans, two A-class and a mari venturing out in a light southerly on a recent warm Tanilba Sunday afternoon.
A course was set towards Snapper Island and fleet succeeded in achieving a number of firsts in the only completed race for the day.