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Latest News
 Dragon Tom Anderson, Australian Olympic Gold medalist in 1972, and long time member of, and contributor to, the Australian yachting community passed away earlier this week after a long illness. In recognition of Tom AndersonAnderson won Gold at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in the Dragon class, sailing alongside John Cuneo and John Shaw. At the same Olympics Tom’s twin brother John won Gold in the Star class making the Anderson’s the only twin brothers to win sailing Gold medals at the same Olympic Games but in different classes.
Tom had previously competed at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games, finishing fifth in the Dragon class, and also had success in winning two Prince Phillip Cups in the Dragon during the 1960s.
“Tom was a great competitor across a number of classes and he excelled at the highest level for many years, evident in his two Olympic appearances and Gold medal in 1972,” said Yachting Australia President Andrew Plympton. “He will be missed by many in the sport and on behalf of Yachting Australia I’d like to pass on our condolences to his family at this time.”
The Anderson’s began sailing together as teenagers and initially competed as a crew in a Flying Dutchman in the early 1960s.
Tom had also competed in a number of Sydney to Hobart races and was a Life Member of the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron.
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 Nominations are closing soon for the 2010 Australian Yachting Awards, recognising outstanding achievements in the sport of sailing during the year. Australian Yachting Awards nominations close on August 20Nominations for the 2010 Australian Yachting Awards nominations close on Friday, August 20 at 5pm and the winners will be announced at the 2010 Australian Yachting Awards gala dinner to be held in Sydney on Friday October 15. The 2010 Yachting Awards categories are as follows:
- Male Sailor of the Year
- Female Sailor of the Year - Sailor of the Year with a Disability - Youth Sailor of the Year - Sport Promotion Award - Lifetime Achievement Award - Sport Professional Award - Volunteer Award Nominations for the awards can be made by anyone in the sailing community - nomination forms and criteria are available on the Yachting Australia website. Nominations for the awards may be made in respect of achievements during the period 1 August 2009 and 15 August 2010.
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 Chris Oxenbould Rear Admiral Chris Oxenbould AO RAN (Rtd) has accepted an invitation to join the Yachting Australia National Safety Committee. Admiral Oxenbould retired as Deputy Chief of the Royal Australian Navy in 1999 after 37 years in the service, the last six as a Rear Admiral. Yachting Australia appoints new member to National Safety CommitteeHis career included command of the Royal Australian Navy Fleet and the Australian Task Group during the first Gulf War. Previously he was captain of the destroyer HMAS Perth and the frigate HMAS Canberra. On leaving the Navy Admiral Oxenbould maintained his links with the sea through appointments as Chief Executive of the Newcastle Port Corporation 2001 to 2004 and Chief Executive of NSW Maritime 2004 to 2008.
NSW Maritime is the state’s maritime regulator with broad ranging responsibilities for the safety of recreational and commercial vessels. While at NSW Maritime, Oxenbould represented the state as its member of the National Marine Safety Committee.
Chris Oxenbould is also an accomplished ocean racing yachtsman with more than forty years experience sailing off the southeast coast of Australia. He has competed in ten Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races.
He was the chairman of the 2000 and 2001 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Committees and more recently, chaired the internal CYCA Flinders Islet Inquiry which was completed in January 2010.
“We are delighted that Chris has agreed to join the National Safety Committee,” said David Gotze, Chairman of the Committee and a Board Director of Yachting Australia. “He brings a wealth of expertise and experience which is vital in dealing with some of the often complex issues we face in the area of Yacht safety.”
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 Yachting Australia has recently contacted each of its State and Territory Yachting Associations (MYAs) seeking clarification of the laws regarding trailers and towing in the different jurisdictions. Yachting Australia moves to clarify position on local towing regulationsThe variation in legislation between the States has been of concern for some time to the Yachting Australia Trailable Yacht and Sportsboat Committee. The International Etchells Class of Australia (IECA) has also written to Yachting Australia expressing their concerns over whether or not some trailable yachts and sportsboats comply with the legislation in some States. Of particular concern is the extent of the rear overhang, especially where the mast is carried on top of the boat. Yachting Australia is aware that there is a regulatory exemption Victoria to address the issue. Without this exemption, many sportsboats and trailable yachts towed on the road would not comply with the Victorian State regulations.
Similar exemptions may apply in other States and the Territories. “We have asked our MYAs in other jurisdictions to confirm the position with the relevant authorities,” explained Yachting Australia CEO Phil Jones. “Depending on the regulations in place, the MYA concerned may need to act on behalf of this large community of boat owners to seek an appropriate exemption to ensure that their boats can be legally towed on the public highway.”
Of particular concern to Yachting Australia is the possible impact on insurance and in particular, CTP insurance, of the unlawful loading of a vehicle in the event that vehicle is involved in an accident.
Yachting Australia is urging owners of trailable boats and sports boats to check local regulations to ensure that their loads comply. “The legislation in this case is State/Territory based and is the responsibility of the relevant Road Traffic Authority (RTA). If members are concerned they should contact their RTA for details of the legislation. MYAs should also be able to provide advice as a result of their enquiries.”
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 Supporters of the Australian Sailing Team can now bring the sailors into their living rooms with each athlete starring in their own video biography on the official Australian Sailing Team website. Australian Sailing Team athletes tell their own stories onlineLocated at www.australiansailingteam.com.au the video biographies were produced to allow the sailors to tell supporters their own stories. Covering topics such as how they got into the sport, when was the first time they represented Australia, what it means to represent Australia and what has been their greatest achievement in sailing the videos give an insight into what it takes to represent Australia at the highest level in Olympic class sailing.
Australian Sailing Team athlete biographies can be found here; http://tinyurl.com/26tpxwk, and Australian Women’s Match Racing Team biographies here; http://tinyurl.com/2dyq27v.
Supporters can also keep up to date with the Australian Sailing Team through Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.
For Facebook users search for the Australian Sailing Team and become a fan of the team, there are currently more than 1,350 fans and growing daily.
Catch up on all the video highlights on the Australian Sailing Team’s YouTube channel which can be found at www.youtube.com/YachtingAUS, all the videos are also featured on the Australian Sailing Team website and Facebook page.
The latest way to keep up to day with the team is through Twitter, with news updates and regatta results available at www.twitter.com/AusSailingTeam.
To take your support of the team to the next level visit the SLAM online store at www.slamanz.com to purchase a range of Australian Sailing Team apparel.
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 The Australian Sailing Team’s Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page have won the 470 World Championship in The Netherlands, leading the regatta from start to finish to win the Gold medal by 21 points. Australia’s Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page win 470 World ChampionshipBelcher and Page headed into the medal race with an unbeatable 20 point lead but didn’t take their foot off the accelerator finishing second and confirming their first World Championship victory as a team. The pair crossed the line in the final, double-points, medal race behind France’s Nicolas Charbonnier and Baptiste Meyer Dieu, who won the Silver medal, with Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic of Croatia finishing with Bronze.
“We’re very happy with how today went, it’s nice to have it all official now,” said Belcher. “Mal and I are really excited about the result and happy to finish the regatta off with a good race.”
“Winning this World Championship is the greatest achievement of my 470 career so far,” he said. “2010 has been a great year for us, we’ve won the World Cup, now won the World Championship and hopefully will be the number one ranked crew in the world by the end of the year, we couldn’t have hoped for more.”
“It was a tough regatta, winning from day one probably made it a bit harder as there was a lot of pressure and expectation on us from day one but we were able to hold off the competition the whole way through,” said Belcher.
For Page the 2010 World Championship is his fifth 470 World Championship victory and his first since winning Gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
“We’re stoked with the result, we knew we had it in the bag last night and just had to go out and keep our nose clean but that’s always easier said than done,” said Page. “We had a decent start and were quite conservative off the line, making sure we ticked the box for a clean start.”
“We were seventh at the top mark and chipped our way back through the fleet getting up to second late in the race,” he said. “It was a good way to finish off the regatta, by no means was the whole week easy, when our backs were against the wall we came through well and took the pressure and hopefully put it onto our opponents.”
“It was great to head into the medal race with the regatta already won, you never know when you’re going to get an opportunity like that,” said Page. “You hope to be in with a shot at the medal race and at the start of yesterday we didn’t think we were going to be that far in front so it was a great finish to the event.”
“We’ve been working towards being at our best at this stage of the year and all the hard work has paid off,” he said. “We had good form in Kiel, Germany, last month and knew that we would be in the mix here so it’s a great feeling now that it all came off.”
Australian Sailing Team head coach Victor Kovalenko was impressed with how Belcher and Page stayed on top of the competition throughout the week.
“I’ve very proud of Mathew and Malcolm, their sailing was fantastic throughout the regatta,” said Kovalenko. “They had brilliant team work and a great understanding of each other.”
“At this regatta there was a lot of waiting, more than usual, waiting on the start line, waiting for the wind to arrive and then waiting for it to go away,” he said. “It was a very tough psychological marathon and Mathew and Malcolm know how to wait and took all the pressure in their stride.”
“Today’s medal race was great,” said Kovalenko, “We had about 15 knots of wind, lots of spectators, a couple of helicopters and an amazing atmosphere. “The boys were conservative as they didn’t want to interrupt the other crews who were fighting for Silver and Bronze so they started on port, ducked the fleet headed out to the right and sailed very well from there on.”
Belcher and Page teamed up at the beginning of 2009 and their hard work and dedication on and off the water has paid off in 2010, adding Sunday’s World Championship victory to the ISAF Sailing World Cup which they clinched in Germany last month.
Page commented earlier in the week that all World Championships are marathons but somehow the 2010 470 World Championship seemed even longer.
Day one of racing was cancelled after a lack of wind initially kept the crews on shore in the morning followed by a severe weather warning later in the day.
When racing finally got underway on day two Belcher and Page got off to the perfect start, winning the opening three races in light, tricky, conditions to have a four point lead at the end of the day. The pair held onto their lead on day three with two races possible before the day was cut short once again due to the extreme weather.
Day four was cancelled due to strong wind, but not before the crews battled their way out onto the racecourse twice throughout the day.
Belcher and Page extended their points gap to six after the first day of finals racing and then made their move on the penultimate day, with a 14th, a first and a second giving them an untouchable 20 point lead going into the medal race.
The team will now enjoy a couple of weeks break before heading to Weymouth, England, for the seventh and final round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup at the 2012 London Olympic Games venue.
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 The application for invitation has been extended for the Australian Open & Women's Match Racing Championship. Applications now close strictly on 26th August 2010. Application for invitation extended for Australian Open & Women's Match Racing ChampionshipsThe 2010 Australian Open & Women's Match Racing Championship are being organised by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania in conjunction with Yachting Australia. The application for invitation to the events have been extended to 26th August 2010. Entries will need to be recieved no later that this date by your MYA to be considered for entry to the events which will act as the qualifiers for the regional finals of the Nations Cup. The Notice Of Race for the 2010 Australian Match Racing Championship can be found here, while the Notice of Race for the 2010 Australian Women's Match Racing Championship can be found here. Further information on the 2010 events can be found here. | ||||||||
Nominations are now open for the 2010 Australian Yachting Awards, recognising outstanding achievements in the sport of sailing during the year. Nominations for 2010 Australian Yachting Awards now open
The winners will be announced at the 2010 Australian Yachting Awards gala dinner to be held in Sydney on Friday October 15. The 2010 Yachting Awards categories are as follows: - Male Sailor of the Year Nominations for the awards may be made in respect of achievements during the period 1 August 2009 and 15 August 2010. Yachting Australia President Andrew Plympton said that “the annual Yachting Awards provide the ideal opportunity to officially recognise those who contribute so much to, and achieve so much in, sailing.” "From athletes competing on the world stage to the vast number of tireless volunteers involved at every level of the sport, sailing relies heavily on the contribution of everyday Australians so I encourage anybody who feels they know of an individual who should be considered for an award to make a nomination," said Plympton. "The Australian Yachting Awards allow our community to recognise and celebrate those that help to make sailing such an outstanding sport in this country," he said. Plympton will also present the President's Award which recognises outstanding contributions to Australian sailing. Nominations close on 20 August 2010 with details regarding venue and ticket sales to be announced at a later date.
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