''Australian Sailing magazine'' (ASL) was published by

Yaffa Publishing Group Yaffa may refer to: * Jaffa, the southern, oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, an ancient port city in Israel People with the name * Sami Yaffa Sami Yaffa (born Sami Lauri Takamäki; 4 September 1963) is a Finnish bass guitarist best known for his ...

, an independent publisher headquartered in

Surry Hills Surry Hills is an inner-city 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 area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surroun ...

(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 marke ...

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, EA in 1997. Maxi ...

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 wat ...

racers,

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

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 aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing g ...

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 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 . The race is run in ...

, 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 or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

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

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

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 ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

) 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, during the height of the Global Financial Crisis, 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 ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. Moving to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

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 Ba ...

, the

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia. Extent Two definitions of the extent are in use – one used by the International Hydrog ...

and the

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

. 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 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. It is a singlehanded boat, meaning that it is sailed by one person. The Laser Radial is a variant of the Laser standard, w ...

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