Adams 10 National Championship 2026 at Lake Macquarie Yacht Club
by Geoffrey Charters 27 Feb 01:41 PST
20-22 February 2026
The Adams 10 National Championships, supported by Zhik and Scott Sails, were held on Lake Macquarie over the weekend 20 - 22 February, hosted by the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club.
An excellent regatta, by all accounts!
A fleet of 12 Adams 10's converged on the lake, with boats sailing up from Botany Bay, Sydney and Pittwater, to join the locals on this beautiful stretch of water. We also had an Adams 10 crew from Victoria chartering one of the Sydney boats to come and try to take the trophy down South!
With a number of boats changing hands in 2025, there were a few new faces and much speculation about who would be the top boat at the end of the regatta.
Following a sketchy forecast for day one, the Easterly / North Easterly filled in at 7 - 12 knots, just in time for a 12:00 start and the race officers got the fleet to complete four races. At the end of a hard-fought day, it was Gezzabelle in the lead on 7 points from Rock Solid on 12 points, followed by Tenacity on 15 points.
Day two followed a similar pattern, with the Lake "Doctor" filling in at 10 - 15 Knots to provide a platform for some excellent close racing. A further 3 races saw Gezzabelle consolidate her lead by going 3 - 2 - 1 to be on 10 points, with a drop of 3. Tenacity climbed to second spot on 17 points, with scores of 2 - 3 - 2 and a drop of 5. Rock Solid slipped to third with a 7 - 1 - 4 to be on 18 points with a drop of 7.
This left Gezzabelle with a relatively clear run to dominate the regatta on the final day.
Following another sweltering morning with no wind, the "Doctor" again obliged and provided a lovely 10 knot easterly for the final two races. Gezzabelle ended the regatta on 13 points following another disciplined display of focused sailing to claim a 1 - 2 knockout blow to the rest of the fleet. Rock Solid had a stellar final day posting a 2 - 1 result and climbing into second place, finishing on 20 points ahead of Tenacity's 28 points for third place overall.
Gezzabelle had a spectacularly successful regatta, dominating the Overall One design scratch result, the Masters (average age 55+) and the Corinthian (all amateurs) results, as well as placing third in the PHS standings. At the prize-giving Allen Stormon attributed Gezzabelle's success to meticulous preparation, many years of trying to win and the long-term support of his crew, most of whom have sailed with him for over 5 years.
The Adams 10 committee wish to thank all the boats for competing in great spirit. The Lake Macquarie Yacht Club once again putting on an excellent hosting performance. Our good wishes go to Ross Ahrens, the principal race officer who is retiring after having run many regattas for the class over the years.
The Association appreciates the support of our sponsors, Zhik and Scott Sails, who provided prizes for each of the winners.