Sabre Winter Series 2012 - No Expensive Lift Tickets!

Please follow the link below to Winter Series Calendar, Poster and other relevant information

Victorian Sabre Winter Series 2012

Sabre Nationals 2012/13 29th Dec 2012 - 4th Jan 2013

Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron will be hosting the 2012/13 Sabre Nationals from 29th of Dec 2012 to 4th of Jan 2013.

Refer to links below for Invitation Poster, RQYC Video, RQYC Micro Website and other relevant information.
Sabre Nationals 2012-13 Invitation Poster
Royal Queensland YS Youtube Video
Royal Queensland YS Regatta Microsite
All regatta competition information will be found on the RQYS microsite:
- Regatta information will be added as it becomes available
- All racing and competition communication will occur via this site eg NOR and online entry
- This will be your “go to” before and during the regatta for all racing notifications and results

Sailing Venue, Facilities and Accommodation
Here you will find additional competitor information such as accommodation options, finding and negotiating the RQYS facility and surrounds, regatta social activities and so on.

37th Victorian State Championships - 11th &12th Feb 2012

The 130 boat National Titles are over but the 37th Victorian State Championships is at hand...can we get more than 80 entries?
Sandringham Yacht Club is hosting the titles over the weekend of 11-12 February 2012.
Vic Sabre 2012 Notice of Race
SAILING INSTRUCTIONS - Vic States

Our preference is for Entries to be made using the TryBooking online facility
Vic Sabre 2012 Entry Form
Vic Sabre 2012 Entries to Date
Vic Sabre 2012 Results
Vic Sabre 2012 TackTracker Replay
Vic Sabre 2012 Photo Gallery

Sabre Nationals 2011-12 - A Great Success

130 Sabres assembed at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron in Victoria over the Christmas New Year period for the class's 34th national championship sponsored by Club Marine .These numbers put the regatta in the top handful of class championships in Australia this year, and was easily the biggest in the history of the class. The event coincided with a delightful week of weather and lighter to moderate conditions which allowed all 10 scheduled races to be completed. Blairgowrie's facilities coped well with the big influx of sailors, aided well by its extensive lawn and beach areas and substantial patrol boat fleet. A focus on afternoon racing allowed competitors and their families to enjoy a sleep in or to explore the delightful Southern Mornington Peninsula.

Entries were drawn from around the country, including the classes newest state of WA where a 20 boat fleet has been created in recent years. A strong SA contingent of 12 were well placed to take on the big Victorian fleet.

The event was won by last year's winner - Black Rock sailor Chris Dance; with Adelaide sailors Mark Soulsby and Craig McPhee in 2nd and 3rd; and Blairgowrie's Wayne Bates and Peter Hackett in 4th and 5th. Chris Dance's 3 first places gave him a comfortable win in the series with 19 points between him and 2nd placed Mark Soulsby. It was without doubt the most competitive Sabre fleet ever assembled, with many sailors having highly impressive national and international sailing credentials. The regatta also saw the largest number of youth entries yet seen in the class with 17 entries; with Blairgowrie's Liam Edleston winning the trophy in his first year in the class.

The racing was exciting, and provided close boat-to-boat experiences that will be long remembered by all who took part. The starts and mark roundings in particular saw concentrations of boats that could only be described as awesome - and provided fantastic racing at all parts of the fleet. Good start lines and an experienced start team meant that the fleet got away without excessive levels of recalls. Important given that social events were scheduled for 5 of the 7 evenings during the regatta ! Highlights of the social program were a party night courtesy of long-time Sabre builder Brett Young of YMS and a presentation dinner with 250 in what might be the final such event at Blairgowrie before their clubhouse re-build later in the year.

The regatta produced many notable stories and personal achievements. One was clearly the entry of Stuart Wallace. Stuart returned to the class some 31 years after winning the championship as a junior (and later winning a world championship in the Lasers). Stuart had 'stumbled across' his original Sabre and decided to buy it and enter the regatta. Result ? A credible 13th. Then there were the 3 generations of Safety Beach sailors - Natasha Martin, her mother Fiona, and her father Tom McCullough. (with Tom winning the newly introduced 'Super Vets' division for those over 70). Another competition was the battle of the sail makers - with Jamie Thomson of Thomson sails beating off Brent Frankcombe of Quantum and long time class sailmaker John Hooper.

Sabre championship fleets have been growing strongly in recent years, reflecting a broad range of favourable factors. The class is clearly filling a gap in attracting sailors seeking to 'simplify their sailing' by taking up a single handed boat. But within that cohort lies a full spectrum of sailing experience. At the pointy end; it is revealing that every one of the top 10 place getters in this year's nationals has moved into the class with solid national or international experience in the serious dinghy classes like Sharpies, 470's, Contenders, Lasers, Tasars and 505's . Move down the fleet a bit though and you'll find surprising numbers of sailors who have returned to sailing after a break of maybe a decade or more. Others again have taken to the class after having learned to sail as an adult and quickly adopted the Sabre as their natural 'sweet spot'. Others have been long time Sabre fans, Regardless of ability though; the Sabre provides the key attributes of a single handed boat that doesn't require an Olympic level of athleticism, but is still fun to sail and provides large fleets with close racing.

Those charged with managing the class though would point to a range of other factors behind the class's long term success. The addition of new fibreglass builders in 3 states has created ready availability of high quality and fast boats. This couples with a move by organisers of championships to choose venues with proven appeal to would-be participants and their facilities, plus the resources and experience to host bigger regattas. And then there is the classes culture - a good balance between great racing and a relaxed and supportive social side to the class.

The championships move to Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron and Perth Dinghy Sailing Club in the next 2 summers as the class moves to further develop as a national class by focussing on building up the states outside the traditional powerhouse states of Vic, SA and Tassie.

by Andew Graham

Sabre Nationals 2011-12 Photo Gallery

Sabre Nationals 2011-12 TackTracker Replay (unofficial)

Club Marine Sabre Nationals 2011-12 Results

Invitation Race 28th Dec 2011

Race 1 29th Dec 2011
Race 2 29th Dec 2011
Race 3 3rd Jan 2011 (Resail Results)
Race 4 30th Dec 2011 (Updated)
Series Results After Race 4
Race 5 31st Dec 2011 (Updated)
Race 6 31st Dec 2011
Series Results After Race 6
Race 7 2nd Jan 2012
Race 8 2nd Jan 2012
Series Results After Race 8
Race 9 3rd Jan 2012
Series Final Results

Club Marine Sabre Nationals 2011-12 Entry

The All Time Entry Record Has Been Broken - 130 Entries!

Below are links to key documents:
Competitor Information Sheet Dec 21 Schedule of Events

Sabre Nationals 2011-12 Entry Form
Sabre Nationals 2011-12 Entries to Date
Sabre Nationals 2011-12 Entries to Date by Sail Number

* The online electronic  entry form is the prefered method to enter the regatta. The form incorporates a secure payment method to allow you to process your entry in less than 5 minutes.
Sabre Nationals 2011-12 Sailing Instructions
Sabre Nationals 2011-12 Notice of Race
Sabre Nationals 2011-12 Poster
Sabre Nationals 2011-12 Newsletter

YOUTH ENTRY REBATE - UP TO $150 PER FAMILY
Vic committee has decided to offer rebates to youth entrants in the 2011 Nationals. Single youth in family $100, $150 for 2 or more youth entrants in a family.
Enter online and pay the required entry fee. Barry Eastgate, SSAV Treasurer will then contact you and arrange for the rebate to be transferred to you. The rebate is offered irrespective of your State to help with travel and accomodation costs.

Sabre Nationals 2011-12 Just One Month Away

To avoid having to pay a late entry fee for the nationals - please be sure to have got your entry in by this Friday 25 November.
As we have previously indicated - we will be offering a choice of shirts and tops for competitors. We have placed photos of the different merchandise onto the Australian page of the website. All competitors have a choice of receiving any of a red polo, white polo or the long sleeved white shirt free with their entry; and can also buy an additional shirt or upgrade to a light grey hoodie or red cap as well.
For competitors who have not nominated a shirt, the default shirt will be a red polo. If you would like to substitute a white polo or a white long sleaved shirt - then please email your preference (incl size) to Barry Eastgate at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Additionally, if you would like to order more than one item (eg a shirt and a cap or hoodie) please similarly email Barry this week (orders will be closing after the weekend.

Go for Gold Regatta - Black Rock 26th & 27th Nov 2011

Go for Gold remains Australia’s only true ‘coaching’ regatta where recognised coaches can be in the race area during the entire event. This gives sailors and coaches the unique opportunity of immediate feedback and improvement from their coaches in a real race environment.
This year, the Sabre class have arranged on-water video in the form of both in-boat (GoPro cameras onboard) and rescue boat footage during racing.  Gary McLennan and Chris Dance will be collecting the video footage and conducting a debrief  after racing each day.  A good Sabre fleet is expected and sailors are encouraged to enter the regatta this week.
Notice of Race and Online Entry Form on Black Rock Yacht Club Website www.bryc.yachting.org.au

Rex Fettell Cup at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron Nov 12th 2011

The Victorian Association will be hosting the Rex Fettell Cup at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron on 12 November 2011. This is intended to  be a warmup race for the Nationals so it would be great to see as many Victorians as possible experiencing the National Titles waters and taking the opportunity to prepare for the big event. It will also include the Sabres sponsoring a race for the Victorian Minnows fleet which Rex also designed and which has supplied many of our Sabre Youth sailors. Race start time is 2pm, hope to see you there.

Nationals Just Over 2 Months Away

One of the great unknown when organizing a championship is just many boats will turn up...fleet sizes at the nationals have been growing strongly In recent years. (we had 95 boats earlier this year in the Victorian championships alone). The message remains though - the nationals remain the biggest event on the Sabre calendar. A huge fleet, a great buzz, lots of like- minded sailors and their families, a great social program, and a great place for a holiday. Don't be put off by our hope that this will be the biggest Sabre nationals ever with over 100 boats. The start lines are long; and so long as you aren't trying to share that really sought after real estate in the final 20m of the start line then there should be room for all !

We're adopting the same race format as was used in both of the last 2 nationals - ie the new 'default' format that the class hopes will be seen going forward. Assuming the wind behaves; it will be an all afternoon regatta; with 8 of the 9 races being done on a back-to-back basis. We will however ensure we have the flexibility to alter the format or timing if the winds don't behave. (Would that ever happen at a sailing championship ?) Our Principal Race Officer is confident that he will be able to conduct the racing with a 'single fleet' - ie we're not yet that big that we'd need to split into "Gold" and "Silver" fleets or whatever. We're planning on having all boats being able to be stored and rigged in the areas immediately in front of the club this time - not the other side of the pier like the last time we were at Blairgowrie.

We're going all out to make this as fun a regatta off the water as on it. So it might be best not to plan too many quiet nights in front of the TV. We'll have 4 organised Sabre nights at the club over the week

Get your entry in !

New Easier Sail and Foil Measuring Procedures

The organising committee for the nationals have used the flexibility recently agreed by the national association - such that sails & foils that have been previously measured will not need to be remeasured for the current season (Only one sail may be used during th eregatta though)

Youth Entry REBATE - up to $150 per Family.

Vic committee has decided to offer rebates to youth entrants in the 2011 Nationals. Single youth in family $100, $150 for 2 or more youth entrants in a family.

Enter online and pay the required entry fee. Barry Eastgate, SSAV Treasurer will then contact you and arrange for the rebate to be transferred to you.

The rebate is offered irrespective of your State to help with travel and accomodation costs

Sail a Sabre Video

Victorian Calendar 2011/12

The victorian calendar has been published for the season, including the dates for the nationals.

Refer to the Victorian page for more details.

Blairgowrie Nationals - Latest News

Here is our first of 3 newsletters, showcasing the upcoming Sabre nationals at  Blairgowrie. 

Click for pdf file

The Nationals will be held between the 27th Dec to Jan 3rd.

Refer to the Australia page for more details. To see some photos of the Blairgowrie club and surrounds click below.

Blairgowrie Nationals 2011/12 Photos

Vale Eric Szabo

The Sabre Association of Australia is saddened by the tragic death of 18 year old Tasmanian Sabre sailor Eric Szabo from Lindsfarne Sailing Club.

Not only was Eric one of our most accomplished junior sailors but a fine all-round athlete, representing Tasmania in water polo, most recently as goalkeeper for the Under-18 team.

As a competitor Eric reminded us of what Sabre sailing is all about....he sailed hard, played by the rules and always had fun. He will be sadly missed.

On behalf of the Sabre sailing community throughout Australia we offer our thoughts and sincere condolences to the Szabo family.