Championships lure players to Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Harbour Regatta
by Di Pearson / MHYC media 16 Feb 15:20 PST
7-8 March 2026
2025 Cavalier 28 NSW Championship winner Centaurus - Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Harbour Regatta © Andrea Francolini / MHYC
The 2026 Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Harbour Regatta, to be held over the weekend of 7 and 8 March is sure to be a memorable one, not only is the annual event turning 21, but it is also hosting three major class championships.
Middle Harbour Yacht Club Commodore, Rob Aldis said, "At this early stage, entries are looking healthy across the board and we're looking forward to hosting an Australian and two NSW Championships' in our 21st year."
Quick on the draw with their entries for the Sydney 38 NSW Championship were Advanced Philosophy (Peter Sorensen), Gusto (Colin Gunn/Jack Stening), Kaizen (Michael Liang) and Mondo (Lisa Callaghan/Stephen Teudt), all keen to topple the current champion, Conspiracy (David Hudson/Peter Byford).
Callaghan, the Sydney 38 class president, is on a high. Mondo finished runner-up to Conspiracy at the last NSW Championship and placed second in Division 4 and won the Sydney 38 Division in the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart.
In their efforts to beat Conspiracy and an improving fleet, Callaghan said, "We've decided to take our offshore crew - a winning combination - and bring them inshore. It's going to be very hard to knock off Conspiracy.
"Stephen, who puts so much effort into preparing the boat, helmed at the last Championship. I'm helming this time. This year I'm hungrier than ever, not only to dominate offshore, but inshore as well. This time (at the SHR) we have some offshore races in the mix - and that's my speciality. I'm training five times a week," the determined yachtswoman said.
"Both Conspiracy and Advanced Philosophy will be hard to beat. Having said that, we've seen newer owners to the class coming up in the fleet, so I think this will be one of the closest states we had in recent times.
Callaghan finished, "I'm working hard, as Class President, to see at least 12 yachts compete this year. I'm really proud to see that while other classes are in decline, our class is actually in resurgence,"
The SHR is also hosting the Fareast 28R Australian Championship. Beckoning others to enter are Wildling 3 (Conrad Johnston), Aetos III (Christian Charalambous) and Cool Runnings (Paul Bradley/Kevin Bloor). The trio is eager to take on all-comers for the title.
In the 2024 and 2025 Championships at the SHR, Wildling 3 finished third and second respectively. Johnston is focussed on taking a step up to the podium's top spot in 2026.
"We seem to go up and down in second and third, but we haven't made it a win yet. "I hope we might finally get the win this year," Johnston said.
Johnston is in the throes of "trying to rustle up as many competitors as I can," he said. "There are people coming up from Melbourne on The Menace - and that's great - so the fleet is strong in terms of the interest," he says of the Championship that will be sailed in conjunction with the Super 30s Cup.
Johnston is a big fan of the SHR: "It's great, the regatta, because we have the windward/leewards - short and sharp They (race officials) always put us in the right spot and set great courses. It's very professionally run."
The Cavalier 28 NSW Championship early birds are Craig Mitchell's Centaurus, Peter Donnelly's Flying Circus and Greg Purcell's Scuttlebutt.
Centaurus won the 2025 Championship on scratch, with Scuttlebutt third. U2 (Andrew McPherson) took out the main event under the class PHS handicap system from Centaurus.
"Hopefully there'll be six to eight of us at the regatta. At the moment, Soshana (Jonathan Rosenberg) and Scuttlebutt are the ones to beat, but some of the boats bring in better crews for the Championship, so that can change things...," Mitchell said.
Mitchell has fond memories of the event: "We've loved the Sydney Harbour Regatta in the past. We haven't been for a little while now for our Championship, but we're back and looking forward to it. It's a nice time of year - not too windy and not too light."
Competitors in the Performance Class divisions have a field day, as they boast far more entries than any other division. One of those that come back for more on a regular basis is She's the Culprit from Newcastle.
Owned by the Culprit syndicate, Glen 'Cyril' Picasso and his fellow owners recently updated to a DK43 and made their debut at the 80th Sydney Hobart. They will arrive in force: "There'll probably be five or six that did the Hobart with us, along with some of the other regular crew. I try to run a happy boat - we like to win - but the focus is that we are still friends when we get off the boat."
The Novocastrians head south frequently and Cyril says, "We normally do the Sydney Harbour Regatta, it's a good social weekend for us."
Cyril says, "We like sailing against boats from all different areas and love sailing on flat water - different to offshore at Newcastle. It's a good a social atmosphere around the Club (MHYC) after racing. On the Sunday, I get up early and run to Manly and back, which I love doing. I sneak away and leave the partying to the rest of the crew!"
To celebrate the Regatta turning 21, major sponsor Yachting Holidays, Australian booking agent for Sunsail, is offering one lucky division winner at the Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Harbour Regatta a luxury bareboat charter in the Greek Islands or Croatia and is providing Zhik apparel for the crew prizes.
Supporting sponsors are Zhik and Kieser. Zhik is donating prize vouchers for each of the divisional placegetters and apparel for the Female Helm prize, while Kieser is contributing to one of the Grand Prizes - all will be revealed shortly!
Entries close at 23.59 hours on Tuesday 3 March 2026. After 'Close of Entries', additional entries shall be made in writing and may only be accepted at the discretion of the Organising Authority, so enter now.
To enter and for Notice of Race, please visit www.shr.mhyc.com.au.