Flotsam & Jetsam 21.08.26
Upcoming Events for the CYAA
Entries are now being accepted for the 2026 Cup Regatta. Click HERE to begin your Top Yacht entry process.
There will be a full passage racing and social program. Details later. This Cup Regatta will reprise the Port Phillip courses used for the 1880 Intercolonial Regatta and the 1907 Sayonara Cup. The 1873 Zephyr now stored at Ferdi Darly’s shed participated in the 1880 Inter-colonial event. Acrospire IV is expected to arrive from Sydney between 10th and 18th October. Yarrola, as seen below, our 2025 Cup Regatta motor yacht flagship is all set to be with us for 2026
Joe White recognition event
The Sunday following the Cup Regatta, on 8th November RMYS in conjuction with the CYAA will be conducting the Joe White recognition event .
It will take place South-east off St. Kilda Pier and support from the three Acrospires and the Tumlaren Yvonne is now confirmed.
The 2026 Sydney Hobart Classic Yacht Regatta
It nearly that time of year again. The event will be raced from the CYCA on Friday 11, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 of December 2026.
An invitation is extended to owners of eligible boats to enter the 2026 Sydney Hobart Classic Yacht Regatta to be sailed on Sydney Harbour, comprising an invitation race and 2 pointscore races. The regatta is open to: (a) Classics: any yacht that has a launch date prior to 1976 and has competed in a Sydney Hobart Yacht Race; (b) Modern Classics: any yacht that has a launch date after 1975 and prior to 1996 that has competed in a Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
Read on by clicking the image below.
JON WILSON - The Restorer's Journey
Many of you would know of Jon Wilson as the man who founded the seminal American Publication, “Wooden Boat”. Jon grew up in a chaotic household in Connecticut, and it was during childhood summers along the Connecticut coast that he found refuge in boats, later describing the water as "a place of peace" and "his heart's home." After dropping out of college and a stretch of counterculture experimentation, he took a job at a boatyard in Branford, Connecticut, working at Dutch Wharf and discovering a deep love for wood and traditional craftsmanship. By the early 1970s, with fiberglass boats rapidly displacing wooden ones, Wilson — who considered himself a better thinker about boatbuilding than a boatbuilder himself — became determined to preserve the art and science of wooden boat construction before it disappeared entirely. He sold his Alden ketch, using $11,000 of the proceeds along with a $3,500 loan to start the magazine. In September 1974, with no publishing experience, he launched the first issue of WoodenBoat magazine from an off-the-grid, self-built cabin without electricity or running water in North Brooksville, Maine, selling 400 copies and signing up 200 subscribers at that year's Newport boat show. Over the following decades the enterprise grew into a full publishing and education empire — WoodenBoat School, WoodenBoat Books, The WoodenBoat Store, The WoodenBoat Show, and the sister publications Professional BoatBuilder and Small Boats Magazine — eventually reaching a worldwide circulation of over 100,000. This recent cinematic portrait (brought to our attention by the ever vigilant Jamie Thompson) is well worth forty minutes of your time
A Horrible New Twist in the Ongoing Orca saga
From the Guardian on 14th August….
Spanish officials have launched an investigation after the matriarch of an orca pod known for jostling and ramming boats off the Iberian Peninsula was spotted with wounds suggesting she had been shot by a pellet gun. On Friday, Spain’s environment ministry said Toñi, the oldest living member of the pod, had been seen swimming in the Strait of Gibraltar with markings on her dorsal fin that were “consistent with shots from a pellet gun”.
A source from the ministry told El País that some of the projectiles remained lodged in her fin, posing a risk of infection. The ministry was in touch with officials in Portugal, the source added, as the markings were detected after the orcas had travelled from the waters off the Portuguese city of Faro.
The orcas of the Iberian Peninsula burst into headlines in 2020 after sailors shared stories of rudders that had been rammed and boats that had been spun 180 degrees or tipped sideways. Since then, a small group of orcas from the pod have been blamed for damaging scores of vessels and sinking at least four boats, leaving scientists scrambling to explain the baffling behaviour.
270,000 Square Miles Around Easter Island to Become Indigenous-Managed Ocean Reserve
As one of the most isolated landmasses on Earth, residents of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, rely on the bounty of the ocean more than most.
It’s as good a place as any to institute marine environment protections, and indeed the island’s famous stone heads, or moai, now gaze out upon one of the largest marine protected areas (MPAs) on Earth at more than a quarter-million square miles.
Moreover, the indigenous people of the island will maintain a voting majority on a “sea council” established to govern the massive area, holding 6 seats compared to 5 held by elected officials from Chile, the sovereign of Rap Nui.
The Sea Life Making a Home in Offshore Wind Farms
From https://atmos.earth/ Words by Chris Baraniuk, artwork by Natalie Liu
Offshore wind farms can pose risks to birds and marine life. But their foundations also serve as artificial reefs, providing essential habitat for oysters, lobsters, seals, and other species.
Stepping through a sturdy metal hatch, technician Jelle Pennekamp entered the lowest level of an offshore wind turbine. He was now inside a huge, hollow tower supporting three 318-foot blades at Hollandse Kust Zuid, a 139-turbine wind farm a little more than 15 miles off the Dutch coast. Around him, the low hum of machinery echoed up and down the steel structure as seawater sloshed below. That’s when he realized: Something was alive down there.
Sailing home to where she belongs!
You might remember our slight whinge about the Viking Ship used in the recent Odyssey film. Well all is forgiven when you see this magnificent clip of the boat making her way home to Olso from the movies set!