Sun shines on Seawind at 14th annual Pittwater Regatta

by Brent Vaughan on 2 Nov 2012 On the 26th to 28th of October 2012, a fleet of 27 Seawind catamarans sailed in idyllic conditions at the 14th Annual Seawind Pittwater Regatta, enjoying this yearly tradition of friendly racing, on-shore partying and entertainment.

Retaining the title as the largest big cat regatta in Australia, around 130 crew members from around Australia and even as far as Florida USA, assembled at Newport’s Royal Motor Yacht Club to go sailing with other Seawinds, catch up with friend’s and show their support for the brand as members of the ‘Seawind family’.

Friday night saw an invitation race in light conditions, followed by the official launch of the latest Seawind 1160 to be built and the first to arrive from the new Vietnam production facility. Named 'Avalon Spirit', owner Chris Lawrence christened his new boat with champagne across the bow, in front of a large crowd of fellow Seawind owners.

Dinner was later served at the yacht club with Seawind’s Managing Director, Richard Ward, providing his vision for the future, with Seawind moving forward utilising a new offshore production facility, while also assuring all owners that their warranty would be valid for both future and existing boats that have been built, regardless of where they have been manufactured.

Saturday’s racing had all 27 boats on the water with an exciting running start thanks to a fresh 15 knot southerly blowing down Pittwater. After some close and hard fought racing, the fleet rafted up in Towler’s Bay for lunch, with many of the BBQ’s firing into action. The second race got underway in similar sunny conditions, again with a constant 15 knot southerly blowing the fleet around Lion Island and back.

After the racing was complete, the fleet moored in Coaster’s Retreat and celebrated their winnings with an 80’s themed presentation party at the Basin to celebrate Seawind’s 30 years starting back in 1982. Only accessible by water, the Basin provides the ideal hiding place for Seawind throw a cruiser’s party, with catering and live entertainment ferried in especially for the evening.

There was a fantastic interpretation of the '80’s', with everything from pink head bans and legwarmers to mullet wigs and piano ties, but it was an army of Blue’s Brothers that took out the ‘Best Dressed Crew’ prize. There were many other fantastic prizes including a Stormy Seas inflatable lifevest, duffle bags from North Sails and $750 worth of insurance premium vouchers from Nautilus Marine.

The Seawind 1160 'Meltimi' owned by Ralph Gravolin took out the Overall winner’s trophy along with winning the Seawind 1160 division. Seawind 1200 'Mango' skippered by John Cook won the Mixed Division, 'Lions Den' skippered by Richard Fricker won the Seawind 850 division, 'Play On' skippered by Michael Meehan won the Seawind 1000XL division, and 'Tranquility' skippered by Allan Leach won the Seawind 1000 division.

The music and dancing went late into the night, but they were all back again the next morning for the Nautilus Marine BBQ breakfast, before returning to their respective home ports from as far north as Port Stephens to as far south as Jervis Bay.

Seawind would like to thank the Royal Motor Yacht Club for their assistance coordinating the regatta this year and sharing their fantastic multihull friendly facilities again with the Seawind fleet.

Seawind Cats website