New ORC champions and other winners declared at Pantaenius Pittwater Regatta
by Di Pearson / RPAYC media 15 Feb 00:52 PST
13-15 February 2026
A third and final overcast day of dealing with unpredictable conditions at the 2026 Pantaenius Australia Pittwater Regatta - it can't always been sunshine and roses and there was good racing after delays - plus sunshine here and there at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club's event.
Two new NSW ORC champions - Crazy Diamond and Organised Chaos
Today's finale of the NSW ORC Championship, supported by Sydney Marine Brokerage, comprised of three offshore windward/leewards on the Palm Beach Circle starting late this morning. Despite delays because of shifty and fading winds throughout, officials prevailed and the six race Championship was completed.
John Bacon steered Crazy Diamond, his Melges 32 to five wins to win Division 1 from Seeking Alpha (David Hamilton), the Farr 40 scored one win and sat in second place throughout the competition. LCE Old School Racing (Mark Griffith) placed third and also sailed well throughout.
Speaking for Bacon, tactician Darren 'Twirler' Jones said, "The wind and conditions favoured our boat as a whole, though the Farr 40 was also good in the light air, but we had an edge.
On their fifth place in Race 5 won by Seeking Alpha, Jones explained, "We got smoked. The breeze was 14-16 knots and we can't get our numbers back in that downwind."
Crazy Diamond's crew were happy with the way they sailed throughout. "It's not easy to get a boat like that around the course and we sailed against a competitive fleet. We were discussing how I'm used to sailing these boats in a one-design fleet, so tactics come into play in a very different way in a mixed fleet like this.
"Fleet management was important, especially as the smallest boat," ended Jones, who has world and other titles to his name, "I've had a blessed career," he said, when reminded.
Division 2 went to Garry Gudmunson's Organised Chaos, the well-sailed ID35 that won Division 1 last year. Three wins and other top places secured the title against second place getter, Young at Heart, Simon Grosser's Young 88, by 8.5 points. Third went to last year's winner, Local Hero, Dave Davies' BH36. The latter two scored a win each today.
"It was a different day offshore. First race was in the south-east 8-10 knots, a bit tricky. Second race came in out of the south at 12-15 knots and third race it died again and we had 6-8 knots.
"A very testing day - we had a couple of issues - but got through them and won. Fantastic. We had a new tactician this weekend, Matty Young, we used to sail together back in the Hooligan days with Marcus Blackmore. We have a good rapport."
Super 40 win goes to Revolver
Three inshore windward/leewards completed the set of five to decide the winner - Michael Ritchie's Ritchie 38, designed by his dad, Bruce. Although he didn't win a race today, after claiming both of yesterday's, Ritchie's 2-4-2 results were good enough to give him the overall win.
Last year's winner, Ross Hennessy's Ker 40 MK3, Condor, was runner-up, two points behind Revolver after winning Race 4. Third went to Gerry Hatton's MAT 1220, Bushranger, winner of Race 5. Ed Cox's Ker 40, Minerva, won the first race of the day.
Breeze on the Super 40 courses was anywhere from 7 to 16 knots and Ritchie admitted, "A tricky day today, more easterly, then it went east to south, east to south. A hard day's sailing with lead changes. The amount of close racing we did today was incredible. The fleet really got something out of it," Ritchie said.
"We did enough to stay in the race to win. The crew we had was put together by Chris Way and me for the Invitational Cup last year at New York Yacht Club. We didn't do as well as we wanted there, but we did at this regatta.
"Chris unfortunately couldn't join us this weekend, which is a shame, as he was instrumental in getting the crew together and working. Steve McConaghy took his place this weekend doing tactics and was really good."
Ritche also praised their course official, Steve Merrington: "Steve was great. He puts a lot into his race management. We were leading Race 3, when he abandoned it, because the breeze went from 8 to 2 knots. We waited another half hour and he re-started us. His race management was exceptional."
Pittwater Cup
Two inshore races were run by RPAYC Commodore, Rob McClelland, both days. Yesterday was unbelievable, with spinnakers the whole way round the course," he said.
"Today, we had the first race in a lovely breeze and managed to get in race to Coasters Retreat and back, it took around two hours. The breeze came up from 6 to 12 knots, so beautiful sail on Pittwater. As they finished, the breeze evaporated.
"We had to wait 1.5 hours till 3pm to get the last race started. A light easterly came in and increased. As we started Division 3, the breeze swung to the south, but we eventually got under way and finished in a nice breeze. A reach, a tight reach and run - it was a challenging day for all."
A new Teams component to the Cup seduced a large contingent from Newcastle, but in the end it was won by the RPAYC2 team of Conspiracy (David Hudson), Harlequin (Ian Kindred) and Ascalon (Ian Quarrie). It is hoped this will become a popular addition to the regatta and other clubs are able to put teams together.
Heath Walters Melges 32, Rock n Roll took out Division 1 from Shaun James' Sydney 47, Wot Next. Richie Allanson's Newport 9, Ultime, which led yesterday, took third place on countback from Michael Coxon's Cole 30, Anitra Miday. Ultime scored two wins, but 18th in the middle killed Allanson's chances.
Division 2 went the way of Colin Hills' Northshore 370 Sports, Gusto, which despite not winning a single race, scored a five point win over Kim Williams' Summit MD35, Rock n Roll. Filling out the top three was Bombolo, the Beneteau Oceanis 46.1 owned by David Boekemann.
"It was very intense, but very exciting, said Hills who racked up 5-3-4 results compared to Rock n Roll, which scored two wins, but fell down with an 18. The well-worn saying 'consistency pays' came into play. "There were lots of boats and the crew did a fantastic job. "Yesterday was exciting sailing the whole course under kite. We did a lot of gybes, which made the foredeck guys work hard. Today in the last race, we were delayed 40 minutes waiting for breeze and then had two General Recalls. We were floating around waiting."
Division 3 was won by Frank Milner's Jeanneau SO 349, Pinta Bay by seven points from Albert James' Radford 10.6 Day Dreamin'. Scott Wallace and his Elan 340, Gee Whizz finalised the podium after winning the final race.
Eighty six boats took part in the RPAYCs Pantaenius Pittwater Regatta, incorporating the ORC NSW Championship, Pittwater Cup, including the inaugural teams event, plus the Super 40 division and the Grand Soleil Yachts Cup.
Last night's spinnaker competition was a treat, as 20 odd crews had to pack, hoist and set a spinnaker on the Club's front lawn flagpole. The other competition had one person blind folded putting a life jacket on someone else and then inflating it. An absolute hoot of a night.
Commodore McClelland said at the end, "From my perspective, 13 yacht clubs coming to visit and sail here. I think everyone's had a good time."
Ashore tonight, the party fired up early as the end of the regatta ended and the final prize-giving held to award all winners.
For full results and all information please visit: www.pittwaterregatta.au