''Australian Sailing magazine'' (ASL) was published by Yaffa Publishing Group, an independent publisher headquartered in

Surry Hills Surry Hills is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local gover ...

(NSW). Founded in 1976, it was Australia's only dedicated

yacht racing Yacht racing is a Sailing (sport), sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course mark ...

magazine.

Overview

The readership included owners and crew of the 100 ft

maxis Maxis is an American video game developer and a Division (business), division of Electronic Arts (EA). The studio was founded in 1987 by Will Wright (game designer), Will Wright and Jeff Braun, and acquired by Electronic Arts in 1997. Maxis is ...

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

racers,

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or Towing, towed by a Watercraft, larger vessel for use as a Ship's tender, tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they diffe ...

and

sailboard Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

racers.

History

Australian Sailing was founded by Bob Ross and Ken McLachlan in September 1976. Ross came from a newspaper background and entered boating journalism via Modern Boating magazine. McLachlan was an advertising salesman. A New Zealander by birth, Ross spent his early years in the Finn dinghy, in which he competed for Olympic selection in 1964 and 1968. He also raced competitively in J24s and offshore events including the

Sydney-Hobart The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual oceanic yacht racing event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately ...

, winning the 1986 Sydney-Mooloolaba race as co-helmsman aboard Nuzulu. In 1996 he won the Robert Greaves Achievement Award which recognises outstanding contributions to the boating industry. He wasn't able to attend the award ceremony because he was covering yachting at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

at the time. He has covered every major world yachting event, including every

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

since 1962, Admirals Cups and Olympic sailing. In 1986 Ross and McLachlan sold the magazine to Yaffa Publishing, a privately held company which publishes business-to-business and specialist consumer magazines from its

(

NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...

) base. Ross remained editor of Sailing until December 2003, when he handed over to Vanessa Dudley. One of the first women to compete against the men in 18 ft skiffs, as skipper of Nutrimetics, Dudley also had credentials in dinghy and offshore racing. She has completed 15 Sydney to Hobart races. Dudley was editor of Australian Sailing until June 2009. In 2009, due to the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, the frequency was reduced from monthly to eight issues a year. During the winter months the publication came out every second month. Roger McMillan was editor from July 2009 until November 2013. McMillan began his journalism career and his interest in sailing in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, where he cruised a small Spencer-designed keelboat offshore from

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. Moving to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1986 he built a 37 ft Van de Stadt and sailed it short-handed and solo from

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

via

Cape Leeuwin Cape Leeuwin is the most south-westerly (but not most southerly) mainland point of the Australian continent, in the state of Western Australia. Description A few small islands and rocks, the St Alouarn Islands, extend further in Flinders ...

, the

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight (geography), bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern Coast, coastline of mainland Australia. There are two definitions for its extent—one by the Internation ...

and the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

. In November 2013 Roger McMillan was replaced by Kimberley Wilmot as editor of the magazine and the frequency of the magazine reduced to six issues per year.

Notable Contributors

David Dellenbaugh was tactician aboard the 1992

winning boat America Cubed and publishes a bi-monthly newsletter specialising in yacht racing tactics. Tony Bull is a sailmaker and offshore racing consultant who provides a monthly column on faster sailing. Andrew Verdon is the strength and conditioning coach for the Australian Sailing Team. His column offers advice on preparation for race days.

Will Oxley William Oxley (born 1965) is a racing skipper/navigator and marine biologist who has completed more than 300,000 nm of ocean racing including five round the world races and 20 Sydney to Hobart races. From 1992 to 2000 he worked at the Aus ...

is a racing navigator who has completed more than 200,000 nm of ocean miles including three round the world races and 11 Sydney to Hobart races. Most recently he provided navigation and weather support for Puma in the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race. Bob Ross is the founding editor of Australian Sailing and contributed a monthly article on a variety of subjects from practical issues such as hull preparation and sailcloth to profiles of sailors. Vanessa Dudley is also a former editor of the magazine and is a World Masters

Laser Radial The Laser Radial or ILCA 6 is a popular one-design class of small sailing dinghy, originally built by Laser Performance and World sailing approved manufactures. It is a singlehanded boat, meaning that it is sailed by one person. The Laser Rad ...

Gold Medallist. She has helmed 18 ft skiffs, completed 15 Sydney to Hobart races and written about all major yacht races including the

. Dudley contributes a monthly Masterclass, concentrating on preparation and racing in off-the-beach classes.

References

External links

Yaffa Publishing Group website

Change of helm at Australian Sailing

{{Works about sailing 1976 establishments in Australia Monthly magazines published in Australia Sports magazines published in Australia Magazines established in 1976 Sailing magazines Sailing in Australia