The Harbour's Big Day

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday January 26, 1991

By PETER FORBES

Australia Day on Sydney Harbour today looks like being bigger than Ben Hur, bigger indeed than for years, except for Oz Day 1988.

One of the great sights will be the old Manly steam ferry South Steyne, returned at last from Melbourne to the bosom of mother NSW, if not to Sydney then at least to Newcastle.

Another highlight will be the 12-metre yachts celebrity race, in which Queensland's "golden girl" swimmer Hayley Lewis will be a guest, helming under the eye of Aussie America's Cup skipper Peter Gilmour. Should she fall overboard, there should be no worry for her safety.

Indeed, there should be something for just about everybody: a sailing regatta, international races, displays and a parade, followed by a spectacular entry to the Darling Harbour pond by the South Steyne and the steam tug Waratah as the fireworks there sputter to a finish and the bands play on.

The party will kick off with the start of the 155th Australia Day Regatta(formerly the Anniversary Regatta), which should attract about 500 yachts and open boats. It will take place in different parts of the Harbour - organised in the east by the Woollahra Sailing Club, in the main Harbour by the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, and west of the Bridge by Hunters Hill Sailing Club.

And concurrent with this general yachting will be the fifth heat of the World 18ft Skiff Championship. A crew from Japan will be competing for the first time.

Up-Harbour, the annual ferrython will start at Fort Denison and race west around Goat Island and back to finish under the Harbour Bridge, while the OTC Schooner Race will include such beauties as the Young Endeavour and the Solway Lass.

A special treat is offered by the first two races of the ANZ 12-Metre Challenge match-racing series between an Australian crew skippered by Gilmour, the world match-racing champion, and an overseas crew which will have fought its way to the finals in a week of preliminaries.

The 12-metre yachts Kookaburra II and III are being used in this contest, with the United States, Italy, New Zealand and Japan, contesting $105,000 in prize money in golf's "skins"-type format. The Saturday races (the first of seven over the long weekend) will be televised by the ABC.

Californian John Bertrand (yes, there are two of them) is skippering the US challenge, San Franciscan Paul Cayard the Italian bid, New Zealander Chris Dickson the Japanese bid and Rod Davis the New Zealand bid.

Also in the afternoon are the Australia Day windsurfing championships, which will be open to all-comers to all levels, on a Harbour course near Manly. About 200 entrants are expected.

In the evening, the Fly the Flag procession is expected to be made up of 800 commercial and private vessels of all sorts, in line over 2km and dominated by a monster Australian flag flown from a barge. The parade will begin at Fort Denison, go west around Cockatoo Island and end at Darling Harbour.

Yes, it is hardly likely that boating people will be bored, so have a good day, but observe the water rules and take care.