While the northern hemisphere is in the throes of winter the southern hemisphere is heating up, and so is their sailing season. A number of world class events are set to begin in the next few weeks and sailors the world over are waiting and watching.
This year's Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is set to launch in less than a week. The annual event is arguably the largest on the 'down under' summer racing schedule, and this year has attracted over 100 boats. Many have described the 628 nautical mile course as "the most gruelling long ocean race in the world" and each year sees a number of boats retire due to breakages and damage. However this prospect clearly doesn't deter, as many have contested the famous event year after year. This year's race is truly a global event with boats bearing flags from China, Germany, Italy, Hong Kong, USA, New Caledonia, Great Britain, New Zealand, South Korea, Poland, United Kingdom, and Australia.
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will begin at 1.00pm, 26 December, 2017 (AEDT).
---------------------------------------------------
New Zealand's Bay of Islands is the location for the 16th annual Bay of Islands Sailing Week which runs from January 23 to 26, 2018. The regatta is the largest of its kind in New Zealand, and ranks among the Southern Hemisphere’s premier yachting events. The Sailing Week regularly attracts around 100 sailboats from around New Zealand and across the globe for three days of highly competitive racing. The 2018 event will conclude with a rally to Kawau, which will "add some fun and friendly competition to the trip back down the coast".
---------------------------------------------------
If you're fast, you might be able sail to Australia in time for the annual Festival of Sails hosted by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club in Victoria, Australia. The 2018 festival will be held over the weekend of January 26 - 28 and will mark the event's 175th year, making it one of the nation’s oldest sporting events, while the fleet of over 300 hundred participating yachts and 3,000 competitiors makes the Festival of Sails the largest annual keel boat regatta in the Southern Hemisphere. The three-day festival will kick off with the annual Melbourne to Geelong Passage Race, which at the close of 'Early Bird' registrations had already attracted 164 sailboats.
Festival of Sails, Geelong, Australia, 2017.
---------------------------------------------------
And then of course, there's the everyday sailing in harbors, bays, rivers and lakes that engages people of all ages and from all walks of life.
Walpole Yacht Club in Western Australia is kicking off their first sailing program.
So if winter means your boat is under wraps, or backed into a shed, remember that summer will return and when it does, so too will the summer sailing adventures that you love to enjoy and along with them, Summer Sailstice 2018.
Sign up, add your sailing plans, and share the love.
