VIC Sharpies

Hi all, entries are live for our states coming up at Sandringham Yacht Club on the 21st & 22nd of March.

After a bit of a post-nationals break, looking forward to seeing as much of the fleet out as we can. Get the boat out, dusted off and come join for another great weekend of racing and catching up with mates.

Sharpie State Championships 2026 - Sandringham Yacht Club Saturday 21 March to sunday 22 March 2026 official noticeboard Official Noticeboard online entry Regatta entry View entries COACH/SUPPORT BOAT REGISTRATION Coach/Support boat registration BRIEFING SESSIONS: Race Briefing Information Session for all competitors at 11.00am Saturday 21 March in the vic...

The Victorian & Australian Sharpie Sailing Associations would like to acknowledge the passing of Nicholas Major,

Sailing and Sharpies were a huge part of Nick's life, first joining the national Sharpie community at the 2013/14 Mounts Bay Nationals. He looked forward to meeting up with friends at each carnival, and time on the water was always an important outlet for him.

Those who had the pleasure of knowing Nick, knew that he had a knack for thinking outside the box and bringing creative solutions to problems others might not even be thinking about. Including his outing in the last two national titles, trialling a double diamond spreader rig. On and off the water, his intelligence led him to approach life in a uniquely Nick way.

Nick left his mark on the Victorian fleet and across the Sharpie class as a whole. He was incredibly influential and convincing when he wanted, and often chose to use that influence to encourage others to enjoy the Sharpies' social side. He was always too clever and insistent for most to come up with any reason not to enjoy a drink with him, and was able to level the playing field to ensure sailors across the fleet were dealing with a similar handicap in the next day's racing.
This definitely came through on State's night, while never a contestant himself, he was always right in the pit as a passionate self-designated coach and incredibly vocal leader of the cheer squad to his friends in the Victorian team.

On top of this, Nick was an incredibly switched-on and driven sailor, capable of bringing some great competition to the fleet. This was shown by his most recent outing at the Port Lincoln Nationals, with two top 15 finishes off limited training in an incredibly competitive fleet of 67, coming in at 23rd overall.

Friends will remember Nick for his unique and sometimes twisted sense of humour, infectious laugh, capacity for deep reflection and insight, strong passion and love for those he held close, and most importantly, leading us astray when we needed it.

The Sharpie family would like to pay our respects to Nick's wife Helen and daughter Joni and broader friends and family.

Vale Nick,
Rest easy mate

- Max Nichols, Victorian State President

Keep an eye on the results! Bangers, Ferret and Johnny Boy entrenched in the top 10 and showing plenty!

Good luck to all crews for the remainder of the series and there is one thing for certain, there’s nothing better than a fleet of sharpies in full flight!

Just about as good as it gets!

2025 Lake Bullen Merri Easter Regatta

Biggest mixed class regatta of the year and a great way to finish the sharpie calendar

Promises relaxed sailing and a good social scene off the water

See entry below or enter on the day

https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1359185

Couldn’t ask for a better event

Last weekend Sandringham Yacht Club hosted the 2025 Victorian Sharpie State Championships and turned on the weather for a great weekend

Shout out to our mates from South Australiaia on Shadow Boxer and U Boat for making the trip and showing us how it’s done

Congratulations to
Ostentatious skipperd by James Sly on finishing 3rd
5 Cougars skippered by Guy Bancroft on 2nd
And our Victorian Champions Shadow Boxer sailed by Zane Chaplin, Chappy and David Snoad from Largs Bay Sailing Club

Looking forward to the Bulli Merri Easter Regatta to finish up the season, give us a yell if you’re keen for a fun weekend with a bit of sailing on the side

More details to come!

A fantastic effort from fellow Sharpie Sailor Chris Hewitt organising the entire Parky Goes Pink event this past weekend.

Despite almost no wind there was a great turn out and Chris sailed for over 12 hours going into the night (solo in a laser).
Life member Grant Nichols even took out the Federal Attorney General for a one on one sail and lesson on the history of the Sharpie class.

There has been an incredible $16,000 fundraised so far for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, but it's not too late acknowledge this effort and contribute to some much needed research.
The Sharpies were the largest contributing fundrasing team and had 2 boats rotating through 12 crew across the day, be sure to join in next year for this great event.
https://fundraise.nbcf.org.au/fundraisers/chrishewitt

Tomorrow the Vic Sharpies will be taking part in Parky Goes Pink,
A Breast Cancer Foundation fundraiser where we will attempt a 12 hour sailing marathon from 8am-8pm out of Parkdale Yacht Club.

We'll be rotating through some crews across the day to break this up.
Sound like fun and keen to support?
Get in touch with Max Nichols and we'll try and find you a ride.
Some more details for the day here https://www.parkdaleyc.com/events/283533

Sounds like a great cause but can't make it?
Your donations are still very much welcome at the below link
(shout out Team Sharpies in your donor comment)
https://fundraise.nbcf.org.au/fundraisers/chrishewitt

This is an event we'd love the whole Sharpies family support in whatever way you can as a cause that hits a little too close to home for some of us.

Parky goes Pink 2025 As a Pink Hero, I want a world where there are ZERO deaths from breast cancer. I believe every death from breast cancer is one too many. To achieve this, I’m raising funds for more research. All donations made to this page will help do exactly that. The National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) is ...