Geographe Bay was alive with colour as the exciting Hobie sailboats raced the Pitts Design and Construction 53rd Hobie Cat Australian National Championships. Hosted by Geographe Bay Yacht Club the ten day event threw a challenging mix of wind conditions at the competitors and the friendly club venue was a fitting location for the Hobie racing community.
It was a destination event for sailors and supporters with the opportunity to visit the states glorious South West region. The event attracted teams from all around Australia plus two teams from Yucatán in Mexico, three from New Caledonia and an Italian team who reside in the UAE.
For the sailors, the north facing bay would not provide the typical WA wind conditions which the state is known for, many other locations become a left hand race track in the strong afternoon sea breeze. Not Busselton, the city could throw anything at the event and as the strong afternoon southerly wind battered the western coastline around the corner, sailors could experience a shifty offshore breeze as the wind punched its way over the land towards Geographe Bay and pushed out over the pristine waters. This set the stage for very exciting racing.
It was to be an event with plenty of opportunity, a good mix of wind strengths and range of directions throughout each series and no race would be over until the finish.
To kick things off, participants enjoyed a welcome function hosted by event partner Shelter Brewing Co. Located alongside the iconic Busselton Jetty, it was the perfect setting to introduce competitors and volunteers to the 53rd Hobie nationals.
Series One drew a strong fleet of Hobie 16’s to contest the Open event, this included divisions for Masters (helms 45 plus), Grand Masters (helms 55 plus) and Great Grand Masters which are each scored as a standalone series. Across the four days of racing, the full sixteen races were held and competitors experienced different wind conditions for each session. Busselton really put on a fair mix of conditions, the only thing consistent was the sunshine.
Australian competitors travelled from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, including Fletcher and Georgia Warren-Myers from Torquay, VIC who had placed runners up in the 2025 WA State Championship and 2007 World Champion Mick Butler from Vincentia, NSW sailing with Courtney Smith.
The Western Australian component had twenty three teams and several young crew from the host club. Locals were strong contenders for the overall championship with the defending champions and current World and European Champions Cam Owen and Susan Ghent, World Champions Gavin Colby and Josie Mark and multiple Australian Champions Darren Smith and Claire Bisgood. A seasoned Hobie competitor, this would be Darren’s 27th consecutive Hobie nationals and his 31st event.
There’s depth and experience in the WA fleet, seasoned teams like Matt Faulkner and Ben Raven and some new young competitors too including Alex Buckland and Scott Armstrong, a few would be competing in their first national level competition and all were excited about their home state hosting. Anna Peryer commented in the daily wrap up video “It’s our first nationals and its really amazing to be out there sailing with so many boats, its really quite a step up. The yacht club is fantastic, the water is crystal clear, the wind is gusty and hard to predict but that makes for interesting conditions. We have a great sense of community, everyone helps each other out and its like a family.”
For the Open places overall, three regulars took out the podium places. Defending champions Cam Owen and Susan Ghent were crowned Australian Champions and also in the Masters Division. Gavin Colby and Josie Mark placed second with Darren Smith and Claire Bisgood in third, placing first in the Grand Masters. The Great Grand Masters champions were Kevin Inder-Smith and Michael Verrall from Nedlands Yacht Club who came in 21st overall.
Series One wrapped up with a fantastic presentation evening and New Years Eve party hosted by Shelter Brewing. Many teams who had arrived to prepare for Series Two joined in the festivities.
Series Two saw the Hobie 16 return for the Women’s and Youth divisions which are raced at a lighter minimum crew weight than the Open fleet. A Rookie division was included with an instructor on course to encourage teams who were new to championship racing to get involved in the event. The instructor was free to assist these teams during the racing, getting more teams out on the water with confidence to learn and experience a national level championship event.
The main event in Series Two was the hotly contested Hobie 14. With the class making a come back in Australia in recent years, it was fun to see 26 teams compete in this class including five women.
Busselton again gave a range of wind direction and strength over the four day event. Race Officer John McKechnie and his team managed a 14 race series in some challenging conditions. Mostly light to moderate in strength, day three really challenged some sailors with the wind punching in through the afternoon with a solid breeze and waves. Good fun, lots of speed and plenty of good stories to share ashore afterwards.
Scores were tight in the Hobie 14 Open fleet and at the end of the series it was Mick Butler from Vincentia Sailing Club in NSW crowned Australian Champion finishing with 38 points. He was followed by his son Paddy with 42 points and then Western Australian Cam Owen with 44. Mick also led the Grand Masters fleet followed by Cam who aged in to this division for the new year and then Darren Smith in third who was only one point behind Cam in the overall scores. In fIfth overall and crowned Masters Champion was Fletcher Warren-Myers and the Great Grand Masters Champion was Hobie Legend Phil Smyth. It was fantastic to see Phil back on the water and having a great time in the Hobie 14 after being such a champion sailor in this fleet in his much younger years.
Georgia Warren-Myers was crowned Womens Australian Champion followed by Susan Ghent and then Emma Webb who should have also received a prize for the best smiles in the on water photos. Emma also won the Youth Division ahead of Elisabeth Smith.
The Hobie 16 Womens Australian Champions were sisters Jasmine and Natalie Hill, it was excellent to see this pair get back on the boat together but swapping roles this time and sailing so well together. They had recently taken on the challenge of the Tanzacat Regatta and Zanzibar Raid event, these girls have really got Hobie sailing in their veins and are sharing it with their own children too. During Series Two their partners were having a ball on the water with the kids on the fun Hobie Wave sailboats, getting the next generation of Hobie sailors on the water.
Great to see a strong contingent of women’s teams in the Hobie 16, Courtney Smith and Sophie Bates came in second with Matilda Morris and Abigail Beddoe in third. There were a few Youth Hobie 16 teams and local sailor Lachlan Putt sailing with Miriam Waters placed first overall ahead of Matilda and Abigail.
Visiting teams and their families enjoyed time to explore the gorgeous South West region, from the pristine waters and iconic coast to the tasty produce and local arts. Many took their time to experience Western Australia on their journey by road back to the Nullarbor heading east with boats in tow, what a great adventure. The 53rd Australian Hobie Cat National Championships was held with support from the WA Government and a generous event partner group. Pitts Design and Construction led the event partner group with premier partners Vaikobi, Shelter Brewing Co, Oceaneer Marine Brokers and Hobie along with a number of valued Championship Sponsors.
The volunteer race management team ran a top class event and all involved had a lot a fun. A number of young sailors from Geographe Bay Yacht Club took part in the championship and gained valuable knowledge and experience learning from the fleet and are ready to pass this on to the junior sailors through their roles instructing for their club.
It was a fantastic event for the City of Busselton and Geographe Bay Yacht Club. Visitors were excited about the experience that they had locally and the Club was very pleased with how the regatta went for their members and volunteers. Commodore Peter Togno from GBYC commented, “It was fantastic to have there Hobie crew at our club for their national titles. Great racing, great socialising at the best spot in the West, we would welcome them back anytime.”
Hobie Cat Association of WA Inc.
