Newcastle Cruising YC to hold Santa Clause Race on Friday

by Richard Howard on 5 Dec 2012 The Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club will kick off the Christmas season by hosting the inaugural Santa Clause Laser race on basin part of the Newcastle Harbour this coming Friday. Sailors are required to suit up their Santa outfit and embellish their Laser boats with Christmas decorations in a night full of fun and surprises.

Newcastle Harbour will take on a distinctly Christmas flavour this Friday evening when the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club’s Laser fleet holds its inaugural Santa Claus race.

The sailors will wear Santa costumes and dress their boats up with Christmas decorations. There’ll be prizes for the best dressed boat, best sailing Santa and best swimming Santa (for the Santa that gets a bit hot under the collar and decides he needs to cool off…!).

Club CEO Richard Howard says the race is a great way for NCYC’s fledgling Laser fleet to celebrate a successful first year.

'This is the first year we’ve formally raced Lasers at the club and we’ve had a huge interest in the class with around 30 people registering to come racing with us now or in the future. Lasers are a fun boat and a great way to get into sailing. It is a relatively cheap ‘off the shelf’ dinghy which can be sailed by beginners through to Olympians and is designed with different rigs for varying weights which is one of the reasons the Laser Class is the largest and most versatile dinghy classes in the world'

'We’ve established a strong group of Laser sailors who take their racing seriously but also like having a laugh at themselves and each other on the water. NCYC’s Santa Sails a Laser Race this is a fun way to wrap up the year and will be quite a spectacle in the Basin part of Newcastle Harbour on Friday evening from 5.30pm.'

Lasers sail from NCYC on the Hunter River on Friday evenings while daylight savings is in force. More information regarding Laser sailing at NCYC is available at http://www.ncyc.net.au/sailing/laser-sailing/

If you’d like to get pictures of the fleet or require further information please contact Richard Howard on 4940 8188 or richard.howard@ncyc.net.au