13 November, 2026 – Melbourne
The 20th edition of the CYAA Cup Regatta is wrapped, and a wonderful event it was. From the opening scenes where the stars were the Tumlarens, duking it out for inter-colonial glory to the final scenes at the RMYS where the support cast accepted their prizes having driven the stars around a Port Phillip course full of comedic and dramatic moments for the preceding three days.
Scene 1: Tumlaren Challenge
Five classic Tumlaren one design boats lined up for the three race series representing Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland and New Zealand. Top gong went to the Victorian boat, Yvonne, skippered by Dave Allen with wins in the first two races. Race three saw the Taswegian pairing in Snow Goose with Peter Manthorpe on the helm prevail by the slenderest of margins over Yvonne but this was not enough to steal the title having to settle for the best supporting actor award. Best hair and makeup (3rd) went to the New Zealand representative Martin Robinson in Zephyr.
Results:
1. Yvonne (VIC) – D. Allen 1.0 1.0 2.0 4.0
2. Snow Goose (TAS) – P. Manthorpe 2.5 2.0 1.0 5.5
Scene 2: CYAA Cup Regatta (combined Divisions)
Saturday and Sunday saw two races completed with an optional non-point scoring pursuit race on the Monday. Whilst the nominees for the awards were divided across 3 categories (divisions) only the combined result is shown here. Readers can view each division by clicking on the link below.
With a solid performance over the two races, it was the division 2 (Tumlaren) yacht Ettrick with Gordon Tait on the helm that took out the combined result with 4.0 points, from the perennial performers from Division 3 Akala (D Mcneice) with 10.0 points and Marama (John Russell-Cook)with 11.0 points.
Results:
1. Ettrick G Tait 1.0 3.0 4.0
2. Akala D Mcneice 4.0 6.0 10.0
3. Marama J Russell-Cook 6.0 5.0 11.0
4. Mistral IX C. Black 2.0 10.0 12.0
5. Mercedes IV A. Sharples 11.0 4.0 15.0
It was a fantastic Cup Regatta once again, with a great turn-up of interstate and international guests, joining in for the on-camera action as well as the relevant after-parties. The CYAA was very happy to have had renowned New Zealand photographer and drone pilot Roger Mills as Best Cinematographer to capture the action with a full list of images available for purchase/download at the following links.
Congratulations to CYAA President Craig Brown, whose energy really drove this event, and the rest of the CYAA Committee who contributed greatly to the success of the event. A special thank you to George and Sarah Low, who made there beautiful home available for the closing function on the Monday.
We look forward to seeing everybody back next year for teh Cup Regatta’s 21st Birthday.
CYAA
- Friday (Tumlaren Challenge)
- Saturday (Race 1)
- Sunday (Race 2)
- Monday (Optional Pursuit)
- Friday (Opening Welcome)
A number of video presentations collected by drone are also available:
