Whats Melbourne(oz) like for sailing?

[smonard]

Looks like I'll be moving down under to Melbourne. Whats the sailing like down there? Is it strictly a rich mans game? I'm currently a member of the Forth Corinthian Yacht Club, a self help inexpensive club and possibly the best club in the world. Will there be anything like that. Someone told me trailer sailers are the way to go. I'm going there Tuesday for a few days, any suggestions for places to look at? Any insights?
Don't think I'll be able to take my beautiful Halcyon 27, make me an offer and its yours.
cheers

 

[noelex]

Lots of sailing and plenty of great yacht clubs that will welcome you. The bay is very good for racing, but there are very limited crusing spots unless you can get lots of time off and go further.
For crusing trailerabe yachts are popular as their are many spots that can reached by car over a long weekend. Large cars are popular and cheap, so larger trailerable yachts in the 21-26 feet are common.

 

[smonard]

Thanks Noelex

 

[RobbieW]

Agree with Noelex, I have friends who lived in Melbourne for a few years about 10 years ago. They were members of the Royal Victoria in Melbourne and have glowing reports - very different to Royal clubs in the UK. In racing, bar starts seemed to be common.

They liked the boat they had there so much that she came back to the UK in a container as 'household goods' - still the (I think) only Adams 10 in the UK and a great sail.

 

[jonjo]

I had a day sail there last year. Club wise I don't think you will have trouble finding a range establishments comparable to UK offerings. For a less swanky sailing base head west over the massive bridge out of the city then turn south for Williams town.

The sailing experience in Melbourne is odd, there is a large bay (think super sized Poole harbour) where some yachtsmen spend their whole sailing lives. Once outside the bay you immediately shift gear into big league serious offshore sailing. My sailing host made the exit from the bay sound like the Alderney Race, Portland Race and the Gulf of Corryvreckan all rolled into one.

Climatically speaking Melbourne is one of the wetter Aus cities, also the sun hovers high in he wrong half of the sky.

 

[jhr]

I didn't go sailing when we were there, but St Kilda looked promising.....

 

[John.edwards]

Visitors to Oz usually rave about Sydney or the Whitsundays for sailing, but the South coasts have a lot to offer too. A great place but I agree with Jonjo5. Inside Port Phillip Bay can be hairy....big bay with potentially big fetch. Entrance to the bay os a significant hazard, with various shipping and small boat channels, and can be very rough with tide running. That said, inside the bay is great, and I would recommend Sandringham YC east of the city. Geelong is a way to the west on Corio bay (still a part of Port Phillip Bay) and hosts Victori Week Regatta each January. Outside the bay it is straight into Bass Strait - influenced by strong westerly weather across the Southern Ocean. Apollo Bay is charming, then further west is Cape Otway....very like alderney race.

Melbourne to Hobart race sails at the same time as the Sydney Hobart but sails down the West coast of tasmania each summer. also a Melbourne to Devonport race (devonport is on the nearest northern tasmania coast) but that is still 200 miles each way.

as always, best to join a club

 

[short-handed]

Not sure if you're into trailer-sailers or not but if you Google trailersailerplace you'll find a very helpful forum. http://www.trailersailerplace.com.au
While the main audience is trailer-sailors there is a section for keel boats.

The Gippsland Lakes, about three hours drive east of Melbourne, provide the best sheltered waters for cruising in Australia. Melbourne sits on Port Phillip Bay which is a relatively large expanse of water and can get surprisingly challenging, quite quickly, at times.

The winters are cool in the southern parts of Oz, but probably not as cold as the UK. Melbourne's weather is changeable during winter and spring. Summer is OK but the fronts come through every few days. Autumn can provide some fantastic weather.

 

[smonard]

Thanks for all the info guys.

 

[Rob_Webb]

Try to come to Auckland instead!

 

[HinewaisMan]

While we and Hinewai have now reached the UK, we’re still absentee members of Royal Brighton YC back in Melbourne so allow for a tad of bias in the following….

Melb is primarily a racing place – there aren’t that many places to cruise to within the bay – although RBYC has a strong cruising division with trips to Tassie etc.

Not too sure about the smaller clubs, but there are 5 main clubs there – Royal Victoria Yacht Club and Hobson’s Bay YC in Williamstown to the west of the Yarra - and to the east as you go round the bay, Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron in St Kilda, RBYC in Brighton and Sandringham Yacht Club in Sandringham. Way down round the bay to the west there’s also the Royal Geelong.

The Squadron has been doing it hard over the last few years trying to raise the money to rebuild the marina – you can see the state of it in the pic above - and it looks like they have at last succeeded…. although there are the usual wowsers complaining....

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/yachties-to-extend-st-kilda-pier-breakwater-20120527-1zd32.html


In addition to the bigger boat fleets, RBYC has a strong Etchells fleet and great views of the city.

View attachment 18612

View attachment 18613


The serious racing is over the weekends, with pursuit beer races Wednesday or Thursday evening depending on the clubs.

Clubs are always looking for good crews but membership can be expensive.

Drop me a PM if you want and I’ll give you a couple of contacts.

Peter

PS Best way to get into a yacht club is to walk in, hold a pack of Stugeron up and declare loudly "I have Stugeron!". For some strange reason, it's banned in Oz so is always a popular gift to yachties

PPS Auckland is a great place to sail, but if you want to be accepted, make sure the tops of your seaboots are wide enough to slip the back legs of a sheep into them.