Sailors all around the country will soon be competing to be recognised as the newest champion, with Australian Sailing today launching the Zhik Australian eSailing National Challenge.

With regattas around the country cancelled, many sailors and clubs have been getting their fix competing against friends and foes on Virtual Regatta.

Virtual Regatta is a digital sailing platform that puts you at the helm of a range of inshore yachts including ultra-fast foiling catamarans, dinghies or cutting-edge monohulls. The short format of racing is identical to the one used for real life competitions, such as the America’s Cup or the Star Sailors League, with a unique virtual umpire who applies the official rules of sailing.

Throughout April and May of this year, members of Australian Sailing affiliated clubs will be competing in a series of virtual regattas to be crowned the inaugural Zhik Australian eSailng National Challenge champion. 

Australian Sailing would like to thank our partners at Zhik for their support of the Zhik Australian eSailing National Challenge and for their ongoing support of sailing in Australia.

Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions

Here’s how it will work:

Round 1: Club Championships
Clubs around Australia will be invited to host their own Virtual Regatta club championships, with one club champion proceeding to the next stage of the challenge. Clubs who are unable to run a Club Championships or do not have sufficient entries may still forward a Club Champion to Australian Sailing. Club champions must be decided by Monday 18 May.

Round 2: State Championships
Each club champion will then represent their club at one of the Australian Sailing eSailing State Championships across the weekend of 22-24 May. The top two finishers at each State Championship will proceed to the next stage. Where possible, the regattas will be live streamed on the Australian Sailing state Facebook pages.

Round 3: National Challenge
On Thursday 28 May the sixteen state representatives will compete in the inaugural Zhik Australian eSailing National Challenge regatta. Here they will be joined by three members of the Australian Sailing Team, including reigning back-to-back European Laser Champion and Tokyo 2020 representative Matt Wearn. The winner of the regatta will be crowned the Zhik Australian eSailing National Challenge champion and be sent a prize pack from our partners at Zhik.

The regatta will be live streamed, ensuring clubs and states and cheer on their representatives live! 

Club officials will be emailed with details on how to nominate their sailor for the State/Championships. The regatta page with further information can be found here.