SAILING Champions League – Asia Pacific organisers have partnered with Mornington Yacht Club (MYC) as the official host club of the 2021 SCL – AP: Qualifier 1.

MYC is a vibrant and active club, perfectly situated on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula at Schnapper Point, 70km south of Melbourne, with great sailing conditions, fantastic viewing opportunities directly off the pier and a passionate and welcoming membership. With this venue change, the new regatta dates are February 6-7, 2021.

SAILING Champions League – Asia Pacific has already announced significant changes for the 2021 season, including gender equality for all teams, U22 & Open divisions and the Asia Pacific Finals (U22 & Open) hosted from Sydney Harbour’s Cockatoo Island (April 13-14 and April 15-17), where all competitors will stay.

Royal Geelong Yacht Club’s cancellation of the full-format 2021 Festival of Sails necessitated a change in venue for Qualifier 1. “We thank RGYC for their support and assistance and look forward to running future events in Geelong,” said event director Mark Turnbull.

This first 2021 qualifying regatta (Q1) will be sailed in a supplied fleet of identical RS21s and cater for club teams from the ‘southern’ states of Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. From this event, the top eight U22 and top eight Open teams will qualify directly for the respective U22/Open Asia Pacific Finals in Sydney in April. The second qualifier, for northern states, is unchanged, being March 20-21 at Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club.

The Notice of Race and formal entries will be released shortly, however, now is the time for clubs to start preparing their representative teams (2 male / 2 female) for the pathway to potentially being crowned the best club in the world at the SAILING Champions League Final 2021 in Europe. The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron claimed this honour in 2019, the first year of Asia Pacific joining the league (see video here).

Photo credits: Beau Outteridge / SAILING Champions League – Asia Pacific