Hi Sonia, Just a quick note to say thanks for the very professional way the sale (or sail) of our beloved Felix the Catalina 36 was handled by you. From start to finish I felt we were being provided with the ‘real’ feedback and I appreciated your candid opinion on buyers, our boat preparedness and the market in general. I would have no hesitation on recommending you and YOTI to other boat buyers or sellers. – Paul McCarthy

By all accounts, Cam Wayland had a pretty successful CYCA 18/19 summer season on Hunky Dory, a super smart 2007 Hanse 400e.

Over 100 yachts took part over the seven-month event series, vying to take home a coveted trophy. From Club Marine Wednesday Twilight to the Ocean series Short Haul, competitors showed their talent and adaptability in a range of conditions.

Cam entered Hunky Dory in the CYCA Short Haul series for the second time this year. His enviable trophy collection now includes a win for the Short Haul Overall and many of the sub-series. He got top results in the Botany Bay Race and Pittwater Race, as well as 2nd in the Monica Geddes.

Cam’s approach to sailing is a testament to the fact that being a winner requires preparation and teamwork. Quick thinking and plenty of commitment and support are essential too.

Thorough Preparation

Cam’s experience in the offshore racing season means he has plenty of sage advice for the would-be racer. And his wisdom can apply to cruising too.

‘Having your boat suitably prepared is essential for safety and sailing performance,’ explains Cam. ‘The Short Haul is a Category 4 & 5 series. So the safety requirements fit nicely with the Cruising Divisions safety requirements.’ In fact, Cam’s initial safety check at Middle Harbour Yacht Club for Hunky Dory’s first Short, led to him joining their Cruising Division.

With safety checks ticked off, a suitable sail wardrobe is next.

‘Being non-spinnaker this is not a huge expense, and you won’t win a 13 race series with cruising sails. For the first season of Short Haul, I managed to replace the mainsail and purchase a #1. A new addition to the inventory. The #3 self tacker was still original Dacron. There was no spinnaker pole, so I had to fit a track to the mast and borrowed a pole that would work, if a bit short.’

In preparation for his successful 18/19 season, Cam improved what he had and made little additions, including a new Kevlar self-tacker.

Hunky Dory’s running rigging was the original double braid and tired. Between seasons, Cam had the mast removed for the insurance requirement. He added additional sheaves (i.e. spinnaker pole topping lift) and replaced all the double braid with 10mm Spectra/Dyneema. These tweaks improved the weight and ability to run in a hurry. He also taught himself how to splice Dyneema.

A balanced approach

We all know a racing fanatic who worries over every excess gram. Well, Hunky Dory is a cruiser that races, but weight can still make a significant difference. A performance cruiser needs the right “balance” to perform, so Cam put Hunky Dory on a diet. Out with unwanted or unused gear.

When sailing short-handed (with a typical crew of 3), you won’t always have movable ballast to keep the boat comfortably upright and sailing fast. So Cam paid particular attention to weight aloft.

Hunky Dory has a tall rig – a 17m mast with an air draft of 19.5m. Replacing the Dacron sails, steel backstay and double braid halyards with Spectra/Dyneema reduced the mast/aloft weight by about 60KG – a massive difference.

“I finally worked out what the weight balance was for optimal performance without going nuts or compromising real-world use. Through trial and error, I found around half a tank water in the bow tank (approx. 150l) given the diesel is it was it is aft, would balance the boat to make it sit on its lines nicely. Row around your boat and have a look at how she sits,” Cam advises.

She’s now a stiffer racing yacht, but still perfectly comfortable at rest. It’s all in the balance.

Working together

This season, Hunky Dory sailed mostly with 3, or a luxurious 4 handed crew. Occasionally with the minimum allowable of 2. Cam’s role as skipper was to get the best out of the mix of skills and experience available for the conditions.

Crossing the line safely as a priority sometimes meant compromising on sail selection. Hunky Dory’s #1 is a big 145% overlapping headsail. It’s fantastic up to about 15kn true with a full crew.

But if you only have 2 crew onboard in a moderate breeze, and you’re not both strong enough, Cam advises you use the self-tacker instead. Get around the course safely, perhaps slower, but removing unnecessary stress.

Cam also sees his role as general manager, coaching his team to get the best out of them. He’s happy behind the wheel, but he’s also handy on the bow or trimming.

‘Throughout the season, I evaluated who was onboard, what skills they brought, and what would keep them interested and focused. And also what was the best combination of crew/tasks to get the best out of Hunky Dory,’ Cam says.

‘That meant occasionally setting the spinnaker pole. Or if I knew a crew member was also an excellent driver, giving them a go and having a slightly longer lunch break.

Communication is also paramount. If you’re trimming or changing course, let the crew know why, and listen to their feedback. The aim is for everyone to have fun, work together as a team, and want to come back for more!’.

Go your own way

With short ocean racing, there are often a few options to get from A to B, and you don’t always have to follow the fleet. Cam suggests you use your own knowledge and experience. Be confident and make your own decisions.

‘Both of our passage race wins were substantial as we did not follow the fleet, sailing to the forecast prevailing conditions instead. We made tactical decisions based on real-time information such as wind, current, SoG and course. Many of the boats in the fleet were larger, faster and “racier”, so just following the fleet would not necessarily have been the right move.’

Just remember to be aware of your surroundings, and chart your own course!

Commitment and Support

If you are going to do well in a racing series, it is wise to enter every race you can – a challenging undertaking.

This second year of Short Haul for Hunky Dory was going to be the “give it a crack” year for Cam. And he felt he was in an excellent position to get the best from the boat with optimised gear and crew.

The crew knew the dates ahead of time so they could work out their schedules.

And while they were out having fun on the water, there was always a solid support crew of partners and families indulging Cam and the team as they put Hunky Dory through her paces.

Short Haul Pointscore

The Short Haul Pointscore is a 13 race, non-spinnaker series. From day-time harbour races, night harbour races and short ocean races, crews enjoy heading up and down the beautiful Sydney coast between destinations such as Botany Bay to Pittwater.

‘Being out on Sydney Harbour in the evening is really nice. Often we were the only boats out there experiencing it – that’s very special,’` says Cam.

The Short Haul Pointscore is a popular series, attracting return competitors and those who want to make a start in close yacht racing without finding a full crew every week.

Cam took home PHS Overall and PHS Div2.

Short Haul Passage Pointscore

The Passage Pointscore includes the Sydney to Pittwater weekend races, combined with the Australia Day Botany Bay Race from the Short Haul Pointscore. Many teams compete in both, and the races run concurrently.

Cam says it’s a great entry point into racing. ‘It is a fantastic series. I competed for six years on another boat and raced the last two seasons on Hunky Dory. It’s nice to be able to get out of the heads and get away from the number of boats in the harbour. But also it’s much more manageable with the number of sails and people I need.

The competitive comradery with all the yachts is great. Everyone comes out and waves to each other and says hello. We were able to get 30 people together up at Pittwater to have dinner and get to know each other.’

Hunky Dory’s accolades continued, winning PHS Overall.

A recipe for sailing success

Cam’s vision of what he wanted to achieve, a well-prepared vessel, a dedicated crew and the ability to respond to changing circumstances enabled him to achieve top results on Hunky Dory this season.

‘The series was a lot of fun. It’s a great experience for cruisers wanting to get offshore, sharpen their skills and race in a friendly but competitive non-spinnaker series.

The results were fantastic. But we also had a great time sailing Hunky Dory, often at close to 100% in and out of the harbour. We’re really starting to get the best out of the boat.”

……

Cam purchased his Hanse 400e, Hunky Dory, through YOTI in 2017. If you’re inspired by his racing success, talk to our friendly team about purchasing your own racing or cruising yacht and join the fun! Contact us on info@yoti.com.au or (02) 9960 6222.

Dear Ian and Peter, Thank you to all at YOTI for a really good experience in selling our much loved Catalina. We felt very comfortable always with your professional advice and guidance and the time and energy you put in to attract buyers. You kept us informed after each viewing with potential buyers’ feedback and requirements. Nothing seemed to be too much trouble and we are happy with the result. All helped by the great rapport with Ian. Peter and Karyn. – Georgie and John Spinks

My introduction to the YOTI team at Pittwater was as a potential buyer of a Hanse. The Hanse had only recently been listed but it was clear from the video and the description it was a good match to what we were looking for, even though we had not considered this brand. Both Peter’s were extremely helpful in understanding what we wanted from our next boat and took us through the boat features to where we felt comfortable to make an offer based on what was important to the previous owner. We were always kept informed throughout the negotiation period and were able to quickly arrive at a package of inclusions, exclusions and final price both parties were happy with. It was a testament to their understanding of both parties motivators, and the support from YOTI back office we were able to achieve this including paperwork within a week. We are now very happy Hanse owners.

Unfortunately I had listed my existing boat for sale with another broker, and it took some period of time and inaction before I was able to move the yacht to the YOTI Pittwater team. What a difference in attention to detail, market feedback, key selling points, proactive updates, and of course the fantastic on water sailing video they shot compared to the previous broker’s approach. Another example of their proactive customer service was during one of the winter storms. I was overseas they sent me a text saying they had been on board, all was good and not to worry about anything. As the weather warmed up out of winter they upped their marketing efforts and soon had a prospect that matched the buyer profile, and again but in reverse, we were able to reach an agreement with the new buyer about inclusions, exclusions and price, again all done in a week. With hindsight if I had known the difference in approach & service I should have listed her with YOTI in the first place. Therefore I have no hesitation in writing this reference as the whole YOTI team make buying or selling a boat much easier and more professional than the others. – Cam Wayland

Spring is a time for YOTI to consider the year that is quickly passing, take stock and prepare for the very busy summer ahead. A huge point of note this year is that we only saw a very minimal slow down through the winter months due to a healthy, confident and well educated market. 2017 has already been a year of steady sales, lot’s of boat shows, world class regattas and of course lot’s and lot’s of sailing.

This year has seen the biggest year ever for our involvement in boat shows on all levels. We are happy to be seeing an increase in numbers and popularity of the local boat shows such as Pittwater Sail Expo in April. This event which grows every year is professionally organised with a fun and relaxed vibe allowing the industry to showcase their very best and in turn allow the boating public a fun easy free day on the water. We were very happy to also support and be supported by the Quays Marina Boat Show, Bobbin Head Boat Show plus our long list of national and international shows we attended this year included: Sanctuary Cove Boat Show, Sydney International Boat Show, the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart and Cannes Yachting Festival.

We have been pleased to see an increasingly educated market – buyers who know what they want and who understand the product and it’s value. More often, our owners are selling to upgrade rather than to ‘get out’ – a very healthy sign for sailing. At YOTI, one of our key functions is to present as much information as possible to our buyers so they can better make their decision. Without doubt, still the best performers are the well known production yacht brands from 35 – 45’ which have been well maintained and are correctly priced and critically are well marketed. Race yachts are still a big part of our sales yet we are seeing further increases towards multi functional yachts – quick boats which can race but also comfortably accommodate family and friends. One off or specialised cruising yachts are still being sort out from often some of our most seasoned and knowledgeable cruising sailors. Our buyers rightly so expect up to date information such as service history, and are very much in-tune with pricing. By focusing on our own results and market feedback, we are able to offer accurately priced vessels. We learn each yacht intimately in order to understand a superior level of product knowledge.

A further trend we see is an increasing level of nationwide buyers. Our national network of six East Coast offices has been critical in servicing a very mobile market. Professional delivery skippers and trusted road transport providers allow interstate and international purchasing a real consideration. Our buyers are achieving their sailing goals which is more often includes long distance passage making and extended time on board so more so than ever, the product needs to be trusted and understood.

Multi-hulls have been a significant growth area for YOTI which has been nurtured primarily by our dedicated multi-hull office at Boatworks on the Gold Coast. This area has been strengthened by our partnership with The Multihull Group (Lagoon distributors, the world’s biggest Catamaran manufacturers). Many mono hull owners are making the transition, allowing us to service all angles of the transaction.

We now prepare for what will certainly be a busy summer of selling and sailing. We are building our stock levels of production yachts, speed machines, catamarans and specialised cruising yachts. We look forward to a big season and are excited to be able to present our newest listings to our buyers with the tightest network, strongest industry connections and industry leading marketing.

– Peter Mactier

Tim and Peter, I would like to thank you for the professional and thorough way you negotiated the sale of my yacht. The feedback from Peter after inspections was much appreciated and so much more professional than the previous broker I used. I would be very happy to recommend you to future yacht sellers. – Ken Chandler

Thank you Danny for all your efforts in the sale of our 50′ yacht, Future Days. We are pleased that we changed to YOTI and you made the sale smooth and easy, keeping us well informed all the way. A bit of a difficult time for selling large boats, but you constantly kept in touch with us, and gave us great feedback. Although sorry to see Future Days sail off, we know the new owners will be happy, and know exactly what they have purchased. A great outcome. – Roger and Lynn McMaster

Tim, I have been meaning to provide positive feedback with regards to the purchase of Meseini (Hanse 445). Well we have finally purchased our yacht after looking for several years.

Once again a big thank you and I’m sure we will have many years of happiness on our Meseini. – Narelle, Mark, Wade and Dannon Beeton

In year’s past there has generally been one of the YOTI crew represented in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. In the 2015 race we were fortunate to have two, David Burt of YOTI Race and Jeremy Larkin from YOTI Melbourne. Their experiences were vastly different and they have shared their experiences with us below.

David Burt, Secondary Helm and Trimmer – TP52 ‘Celestial’

Morning on the Dock
Relative calm. Final discussions with key decision makers as to our final selection of sails to take. IRC rules state a maximum number of headsails and spinnakers. We need to ensure we have the right combination for the upcoming conditions, we don’t wont excess as that is extra weight but we need enough to be sailing at optimal speed at all times.

Clothing for the race is your full wet weather gear plus one small water proof bag. The bag fits at set of thermals, beanie, head torch, dry socks and very little else. The other decision is shoes or boots; you can’t take both, most go for their boots given the forecast decision.

Pre start
As with all the boats first thing first, complete safety briefing by the boats safety officer. A settling talk by the owner/skipper as to crew roles, race expectations and goals. Navigator gives a weather over view for the race and then more specifically what we can expect for the start and the first couple of hours. “ Check In” with the Race Committee Start Boat with all our storm sails up and in full working order. Sail over start line and down harbour to assess condition and decide on final sail selection. With sail selection made go for sail and make sure boat is tuned for those sails. Back to start line to “ping” this gets GPS points at either end of the line. This is utilised to established favoured end and know time and distance to line at any stage.

The Start
Bang! That’s the 10 minute gun and it’s all business now. The crew know from this point to minimise conversation, to listen for the calls of the tactician and Skipper, ideally the only ones talking. They have decided on mid start line and search for clear air, considered conservative but safe, you can’t win a Hobart at the start but you can loose one. (Regrettably too many found that out this year). Less than a minute to go and we are heading to the line in slow mode, we have “time to burn” but Ragamuffin 100 is above us and coming in fast, we close up the gap early to ensure she ducks us, and she does. Down to less than 10 seconds and we are more congested than we had hoped, nothing to do now but set sails and go as fast as we can. BANG and we are off but we are overlapped and therefore slow, this is not ideal so we slow further and make room for a port clearing tack to the eastern shore. This pays off and we get safely away from the start in clear air and out to sea well above mid fleet and right with our rivals.

Downwind running in 20-25kts NNE
Ahhh! Out of all the harbour traffic and getting out to sea. As we have a building NNE expected to get to 30kts (we hope) we set the A4 and a spinnaker staysail and now enjoying the ride. Unless you are on the pumps (pedestal Grinders) as you are working flat out maximising every wave and opportunity to keep the boat up on the plane. We settle into this mode sailing at an average of approximately 20kts with some nice runs in the mid-twenties. The other challenge with this boat is keeping the nose out of the wave in front, it loads up the rig and obviously slows you down, not to mention the 2-3 feet of green water that runs over the deck. This is where you find out who has the cheap wet weather gear!

Southerly front hits 35-45Kts SSW
The forecast has been pretty consistent over the past couple of days and both commonly used models were relatively aligned. So we knew that by 2130 – 2200hrs the first night we will be hit by the Southerly front moving up the east coast of Australia. This is certainly not uncommon on the east coast of Australia but routinely there is a transition between the Northerly and the Southerly of 30 -45 minutes where the breeze dies out and shifts around. What happened with this one on a cloud covered night (hard to see the Southerly front cloud formation) was very different. There was no real transition, within less than 5 minutes of 20-25kts from the North we had 30-40 knots from the South. Given what we had expected we had the no 5 Headsail already plugged in ready to go, however we still had a the kite up and a full main, this created some pressure on the crew to get the kite inboard and reefs in in gusts of 40kts before we damage the sails, the helmsman at the time did a great job of balance and steering the boat whilst this was successfully completed with no damage by a competent and well trained crew. Within 10 minutes we had the correct sails set and now bunkered down to what would be another 23hrs of 35-45kts of breeze and 4-5 meter sea way. It was this change without transition that caught many boats out and lead to many retirements.

All these things as strange, uncomfortable and out of the ordinary they are, but shared and conquered with other like-minded people is what brings many of us back to this great race year after year.

Creature Comforts

Galley (Kitchen) that is it folks! One only gas gimballed burner feeding 13 crew. Food for main meals is freeze dried, simply boil water, add to packet and wait 10 minutes, and yes it’s as tasty as it sounds. We eat with a plastic “spork” (combined spoon and fork). There is only one per crew member on board, so don’t loose it. There is no fridge, so all other food needs to be non-perishable.



This is luxury, electric carbon toilet, privacy equals nil. Note that is the water maker bolted to the wall next to the head as it shares the water intake, less through hull fittings. Rest assured it has been plumbed in in such a way there can be no “errors in flow”, that’s what they told me anyway.





Bunks, hard to see in the picture but my bunk (known as the suicide bank is up through that aft bulkhead) its considered luxury as it is the only bunk that fits a 6 foot tall person. Every tack or gybe you must clamber over and around the steering quadrant and assortment of traveller, outhaul and cunningham lines which run to a centre cockpit console, to get to the high side. Sleeping on the low side in any sort of breeze is absolute taboo and likely to shorten your racing career. I was thrown out of the bunk on multiple occasions given the sea state on the first night. There are no interior lights in this area, head torch mandatory.

Jeremy Larkin – Moody 54DS ‘Trybooking’

My first Sydney to Hobart ended on the second night of the race 60NM north of Eden. Whilst hugely disappointed to not make it to Hobart it was an extraordinary experience in many differing ways.

It would be fair to say the boat I started the race on is as far from your standard S2H yacht as it is possible to get and most certainly at the other end of the spectrum from David’s TP52 Celestial. My ride was a Moody 54DS owned by RBYC member and YOTI customer Grant Dunoon. Grant is a very experienced ocean sailor who approaches ocean races as a challenge and experience rather than a win at all costs sports event.

Comfort and an enjoyable time are the order of the day on Try Booking and the menu has as much time spent on it as the boat. During our qualifying race to Stanley (TAS ) Grant tried out a few new dishes and the Lentil curry soup was a personal highlight. Éclairs and chocolate cakes have been cooked from scratch in the past and I was hoping for a repeat performance from our cook/skipper.

 
I arrived in Sydney with most of the other crew on Christmas day and the CYCA was surprisingly quiet. It quickly dawned on us that most of the Sydney crews would, of course, be still at home with their families. We started ticking off the list of remaining jobs in-between visits from other Melbourne crews and various hangers-on. The forecast southerly change on the first night was on everyone’s mind so we attempted to arrange the forward sail locker in a logical order as well checking the boat over and doing a test hoist on the storm sails. This is a requirement for the start and the experience would prove useful the following day.

The start of the race is exactly as everyone describes. The start line is actually quite small and the gap between the spectator boats very claustrophobic with that number of boats. A lot of boats from the first two start lines (we were on the 3rd) drop back making our area even more congested. The stress and pressure of the occasion certainly gets to some as the several crashes attest. The noise level is extraordinary and only adds to this stress. At 27tonnes our boat isn’t the most manoeuvrable so we sat well back and took a very conservative approach. We got a very average start and started tacking up the harbour. We were staggered to find ourselves passing several of the Clipper RTW boats. They are not designed for up wind sailing but it was still surprising. As we left the heads the fleet spread out the helicopters and spectator boats rapidly leave.

As with every other boat our Navigator had weighed up all the options and decided on an inshore course for the first 24hrs. With pretty strong Northerlies behind us we made pretty good progress until 10pm that night when the front hit. The crew on deck saw it coming but like a lot of other boats were caught out by how quickly the wind swung around. Northerlies became 45 knot southerlies within the space of 20 minutes.

The noise woke me from my bed and I came up to help get a wayward headsail under control. Unfortunately it tore before we could get it furled away. The sea state at this point was pretty extreme and this brought on a bit of sea sickness amongst the crew. By daylight we were trucking along nicely with a reefed main and our storm headsail. The wind had eased to high twenties with daylight making the waves easier to negotiate. The odd rouge wave kept us on our toes with one particularly nasty one washing me off my feet whilst at the helm.

By sunset we had been lifted about 20 degrees and were almost pointing due south. The whole crew were feeling better and planning on getting a kite up as soon as the next change came through. Around 10pm that night a heavy slamming was detected from the bow locker. The bow thruster was the main suspect but a visual check revealed nothing. The slamming would definitely have done damage had we continued so the decision to retire was an easy one.

The real shame of it all was that we had come through the worst of it and as a crew overcome several problems in some extremely challenging conditions. We lasted longer than some very classy outfits and were surrounded by some much more experienced boats when we returned to the CYCA. So despite not making half way it was still an extraordinary experience and much thanks must go to Grant and the rest of the crew.