Combined Opening Day on the Derwent

4:37 AM Thu 6 Oct 2011 GMT

'Tasmania's Governor Peter Underwood AC taking the salute on Opening Day on the Derwent in 2010' Peter Campbell &copy Click Here to view large photo

The combined fleets of Hobart's major yacht and motor boat clubs will provide a spectacular sail past in Sullivan's Cove this coming Saturday afternoon, 8 October, to celebrate the Opening Day of the yachting season, an aquatic event probably unique to the River Derwent in Australian waters.

The Combined Clubs Opening Day will mark the official start of a yachting season that will see two prestigious national championships and two major dinghy and keelboat regattas on the river, in addition to a summer-long program of interclub racing on the river and long ocean races.

This summer will herald significant change in the format of Saturday yacht racing, with the introduction of Combined Clubs Series racing for harbour and long distance races in place of individual club pennant racing.

The first Combined Clubs distance race, the Channel Race, will be conducted by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania on Sunday, 9 October, with the Derwent Sailing Squadron running the first Combined Clubs harbour race day the following Saturday, 15 October. This will be the first time in more than a century that the three major clubs have joined in combined Saturday racing.

Depending on the weather, up to 150 pleasure craft could be on the river on Saturday for Opening Day, maintaining this grand spectacle that began more than 130 years ago with the Opening Day of the Derwent Yacht Club which went on become the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.

Taking part will be fleets of dinghies, racing keelboats, cruising yachts and motor boats from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, Derwent Sailing Squadron, Bellerive Yacht Club, Geilston Bay Boat Club, the Cruising Yacht Club of Tasmania and, for the first time in many years, the Motor Yacht Club of Tasmania.

Sailing or motoring in close formation, line astern, the fleet will perform similar manoeuvres to those carried out 130 years when nine yachts assembled for the Opening Day of the 1881 yachting season on the River Derwent.

According to reports of the time, signals were hoisted at the main peak of the small schooner owned by then Commodore, Captain H N Stanley RN. 'A fresh breeze blowing enabled the sailing qualities of the boats and the skills of their skippers to be judged,' says a report in 'Sailing On', the history of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, 1880-1980.

A foiler Moth joined the big keelboats for last year's Opening Day - Peter Campbell &copy Click Here to view large photo

Opening Day 1881 was the beginning of organised yachting on the Derwent, with the Derwent Yacht Club ultimately becoming the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.

Established in its wake, as the sport of yachting and sailing expanded in southern Tasmania, have been other major clubs such as the Derwent Sailing Squadron and Bellerive Yacht Club and many off-the-beach dinghy clubs such as Sandy Bay Sailing Club, Kingston Beach Sailing Club, Lindisfarne Sailing Club and Montrose Bay Sailing Club.

This year Commodore John Hebbink of the Motor Yacht Club of Tasmania, in Defiant, will lead the Opening Day 2011 sail past, the first group of sailing craft, dinghies and centreboard classes, starting from off at Regatta Point at 2.00pm, followed by the Division 1, 2 and 3 and Farr 40 yachts.

The fleet will set sail, in five minute intervals, over the next 40 minutes, in line astern under sail or motor, into Sullivan's Cove where the Mr Peter Underwood AC, Governor of Tasmania, will take the salute aboard the historic vessel, M.L. Egeria.

Although Saturday racing will be Combined Club events this season, individual clubs will continue to conduct events such as The Showdown Regatta (RYCT), the Crown Series (BYC) and the King of the Derwent (DSS), while the RYCT will run its major ocean races, the Maria Island Race in November, the Mewstone Race in January and the Bruny Island Race in February.

The DSS will conduct the Launceston to Hobart Race down Tasmania's east coast, starting from Beauty Point on 27 December.

The RYCT will also conduct the Prince Philip Cup for the International Dragon class in January and the Australian championship for the SB3 sports boat class in February.

In addition to racing events, the major clubs will conduct social twilight racing on weekdays, with the BYC on Wednesday evenings, the RYCT on Thursday evenings and GBBC on Friday evenings when the RYCT will also conduct twilight racing for Lasers and SB3s.

Bellerive held its first twilight races this week, with almost 60 yachts taking part in perfect sailing conditions.