Hardy Cup 2014 - Notice of race

by Peter Campbell on 15 Nov 2013 The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron’s prestigious Hardy Cup notice of Race is now available, an under 25 ISAF Grade three match racing event to be held on Sydney Harbour from Second to Sixth February 2014.

The Hardy Cup, an initiative of America’s Cup helmsman and Squadron member Sir James Hardy, has proved a significant stepping stone to national and international yachting for many young sailors from throughout Australia, New Zealand and other overseas countries.

While Sir James’ concept was to improve the match racing skills of young sailors – and the results of this are evident – it has also led others into the roles of tacticians on large one-design,

Last year’s Hardy Cup winning skipper, RSYS member David Chapman, is a excellent example. Since winning the Hardy Cup he has been in demand as a tactician on TP52s and Farr 40s in class regattas, including recently winning the Farr 40 Queensland championship on the Tasmanian yacht Voodoo Chile.

In a hard-fought series, Chapman and his crew won the Cup from West Australian David Gilmour, representing the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club. Gilmour, too, has gone on to international success in youth match racing events and early next year plans to defend the Warren Johns Youth Match Racing Series on the Swan River.

The 12 positions in the Hardy Cup fleet is by invitation only, but the Squadron has extended an invitation to Australian and overseas sailors to register their request for an invitation as soon as possible.

Application for Invitation Packages are available from the Squadron’s event co-ordinator Mitch Watkins, phone + 61 (0) 2 9955 7171 or email watkins@rsys.co.au.

The Hardy Cup will again be sailed using the Squadron’s fleet of Elliott 6 sports boats with the regatta comprising a double round-robin, a single round-robin, followed by semi-final, petit final and a final knock-out matches.