Entries have opened and regulars and first timers alike are expected to take part in the 2025 Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship (SSORC) when a mix of passage and windward/leeward courses will put every crew through their paces to decide the best across both styles of racing.

The 48^th edition of Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s (MHYC) Championship is to be held over the weekend of 29 and 30 November. Entry and the Notice of Race (NoR) are now online.

Apart from the usual Division 1 and 2 boats, organisers are also expecting a small fleet of TP52 to take part.

Planned for the weekend is an ocean passage race as the opener with short offshore windward/leeward races on the Sunday, set to test everyone’s mettle. Nobody wants to be caught short on the fast and furious windward/leewards where good team work means all. All races will start and finish in Watsons Bay. 

Races in this Championship additionally form part of the MHYC Ocean Pointscore Series, while the Saturday race forms part of the CYCA Summer Short Offshore Series.

Entry into the SSORC is free for entrants in these series, although they must enter online and comply with the requirements of the NoR.

You can’t keep a good man down and  Bob Cox, winner of Division 1 for the past four years, is sure to be there with his DK46, Nine Dragons.

The same can be said for Neil Padden, who has skippered his Beneteau 40.7 Wailea to Division 2 third overall in 2023 and 2024.

Padden keeps returning, he says, “Because the crew and I enjoy regattas. We always do the SSORC, Pittwater Regatta, Sydney Harbour Regatta and Sail Port Stephens.

“The SSORC is a great mix of racing; one day of a Passage Race and then windward/leewards the next day. We don’t do much offshore racing, so the windward/leewards are our stronger point,” he explained.

“It’s always a well-organised regatta, so that’s part of what we enjoy. The visiting boats seem to enjoy the regatta too, so it’s also a chance to race against other clubs’ boats.

Padden concluded, “We’ve had some success at the SSORC, which is encouraging – we’ve also had some disasters!”

Daguet 2, the Mylius 50 owned by MHYC Commodore Rob Aldis and Peter Byford are committed to entering, as is MHYC Special Events Chairman Ian Box with his XP44, Toy Box 2. Both yachts sail in Division 1.

“It’s an event that’s steeped in history and has longevity,” Box commented.

“It’s important to keep the tradition and continuity of the event moving forward, to hang onto the historical value of having an offshore Championship,” said Box, a past Commodore of the Club.

“The long held ambition is for the boats from the CYCA that take part on the Saturday in the Summer Short Offshore Series pointscore, to stay and race on Sunday as well, as many have in the past,” he said.

Like Bob Cox, Box is a staple at the annual event with his competitive Toybox 2 that has enjoyed its share of wins. At the SSORC, Box faces regular competitors along with new campaigners and says of the competition: “The high level of competition is good to sail against!”

The racing, Box says, “Is a mix of a passage race and shorter windward/leewards, where you have to be disciplined and can make gains at the corners. The best at both decides the overall winners.”

A two-day Championship, it has traditionally been a shakedown for those yachts taking part in the Rolex Sydney Hobart and is sailed on courses off Sydney’s Heads and has the added challenge of Harbour exits and entry to the finish lines.

The SSORC is run in conjunction with the Seven Islands Race, for those who prefer a challenge against a variety of designs and a romp around Sydney Harbour’s famous islands. It offers a pursuit style start from the Club where the event also finishes.

Standard entries for the SSORC close on Friday 21 November, so sign up now. Late entries will be accepted up until 5pm on Wednesday 26 November.

For entry and Notice of Race, please visit: www.ssorc.mhyc.com.au 

Di Pearson/MHYC media

Entries are taking shape for the 2025 Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship (SSORC), inclusive of the Seven Islands Race, to take place over the last weekend of November and hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club (MHYC).

Both Division 1 and 2 reigning champions are returning to defend their titles.

Bob Cox has won Division 1 the past four years straight with his DK46, Nine Dragons. Can he be beaten? There are takers who are coming to try. Ray Hudson is one, bringing XS Moment down from Pittwater to challenge all Division 1 entrants and his crew had had better bring their A Game.

Hudson’s crew are good offshore on the XP44 design – and they are stayers, taking line honours in the 2024 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race to place third overall, a race in which few held out in the light and tricky conditions. However, they will need to mix it in the two short windward/leeward courses on Day 2 if they are to succeed.

Hudson says: “We like competing against the Harbour based boats every now and again. It gives us an opportunity to see how our current form is against the Harbour regulars.

“This year we’re not doing the Hobart and other long races, as we’ve typically done in past, but we want to stay in form. A lot of the crew like sailing on the Harbour for a change too.”

In 2024, Matt Wilkinson won Division 2 with Foreign Affair. The Farr 30 has podiumed at the last three SSORC’s.

Local Hero is a new contender and this is a first SSORC for her owner, David Davies. After buying the BH36, he raced her at the Club’s Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Harbour Regatta (SHR) in March and held his own in an extremely competitive division.

“There’s not much in the way of IRC events around these days - and that’s our main thing. We did the Sydney Harbour Regatta and it was a really good fleet on a level playing field. The short format windward/leeward stuff is what we’re into. We did the Pittwater Regatta too, which was also great. It’d be good to encourage more clubs to run these rating events,” Davies said.

Shane Foley is another owner/skipper about to take advantage of a new experience. He has entered the Seven Islands Race, which is held alongside the SSORC. Foley is the new owner of  Boudicca, the Dufour 36 Performance he bought out of Townsville and he is looking forward to the race around Sydney Harbour’s landmark islands.

“I’m a newbie at Seven Islands, but some of my crew have done it. I’m absolutely looking forward to it and I’m going in the spinnaker division. It’s a lot of fun going with a spinnaker. Go hard or go home,” he said, laughing. “We did our first spinnaker race the other day, in the MHYC Harbour Trek and we enjoyed it,” Foley said.

“For about the last five years since I retired, I’ve being sailing on Wailea (Neil Padden’s Beneteau 40.7), then I bought Boudicca and started cruising it while I raced on other boats,” explained Foley, who is making the best of retirement, gaining a Coxswains certificate and undertaking a Sailing Instructors course, which he has put to good use at MHYC.

“I’m doing it all to improve my own skills. I’ve just started racing Twilights with Middle Harbour Yacht Club too and I’ve now made a commitment to do their corporate, charity and feature events. I have a good data base of people wanting to crew and they seem to enjoy sailing with me,” he concluded.

Apart from the fun of racing around the islands, the other interesting aspect of the Seven Islands Race is the diversity of entries from their size to their design, which makes the pursuit style start all-important, as Foley will discover for himself on the Saturday.

The 48^th edition of the SSORC is to be held over the weekend of 29 and 30 November and MHYC CEO, Andrew Forbes, spoke of the significance of the relationship between the Club and its principal partner: “Our partnership with Nautilus Marine Insurance continues to be a cornerstone of Middle Harbour Yacht Club and the regattas we proudly host,” he says of the SSORC and SHR.

“It’s more than support – it’s a relationship grounded in a shared passion for sailing and the community that surrounds it,” Forbes ended.

Don’t miss a weekend SSORC passage and windward/leeward racing or the Seven Islands Race – take your pick!

Standard SSORC entries close on Friday 21 November - so sign up now. Late entries will be accepted up until 5pm on Wednesday 26 November.

For entry and Notice of Race, please visit: www.ssorc.mhyc.com.au 

Di Pearson/MHYC media