Celestial and Saltwater Wine have been crowned national champions as the 2026 Australian Yachting Championships wrapped up on the Gold Coast, with the title regatta making its debut inside The Yacht Sales Co Sail Paradise.
Sam Haynes' Celestial took out the Division 1 title after three days of racing, while Tom Woods' Saltwater Wine secured Division 2 honours.
It was the first year the national championships have run inside Sail Paradise, bringing title racing to the Gold Coast over the King's Birthday long weekend. Sixteen yachts contested the TREX Monohull Rating Division, with crews travelling from Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. The fleet ranged from quick Cape 31s through to considerably larger offshore boats.
Haynes and his New South Wales-based Celestial, a Cape 31 flying the colours of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, had the measure of the regatta across the three days.
"We're really excited for the result," Haynes said. "Today was a bit of a harder race but we had a pretty good regatta overall and we're really happy with our performance and the boats, it's a great place to sail."
Saltwater Wine's path to the title was almost accidental. The JPK 1080, skippered by Tom Woods out of Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club, only entered after ducking in from open water.
"We stopped in because of some strong wind heading home from Magnetic Island," Woods said. "We stopped in at Southport Yacht Club for cover and decided to enter Sail Paradise and became the Australian Yachting Champions."
Conditions opened with 10 to 15 knot northerlies on day one, enough for the Rating Division to get through three windward-leeward races while the Performance Division and Sports Boats ran a passage race south towards Mermaid. The 144-foot superyacht SY Encore turned up offshore to watch the fleet race against the Gold Coast skyline, one of the more memorable sights of the regatta.
Day two belonged to the next generation. Two all-youth Sports Boat crews took on yachts well bigger than their own, and more than ten sailors under the age of 21 held skippering or crewing roles across the regatta.
With the titles settled, Sail Paradise 2026 draws to a close with final presentations at Southport Yacht Club, closing out a landmark first year for the Gold Coast as host of Australia's national yachting championship.
