Update 4/1/2021

The Sail Melbourne regatta planned to be held at Brighton Yacht Club, Melbourne,  Jan 16-20, 2021, has been cancelled due to COVID-19. The Pacer association is currently investigating alternatives. More information to come.

The Pacer website has recently experienced technical difficulties which are almost fully resolved. We are back online and will continue to provide updates to news, events and Pacers for sale.

Upcoming events:

The next Pacer Victorian State Championships will be hosted by Somers Yacht Club, March 6-8, 2021

Pacer membership is necessary for participation in Pacer events. Join the association here: https://www.trybooking.com/694066

Further information to come.

The 2020 Victorian Championship will be held at St Leonards Yacht Cub over the labour day long weekend - March 7-9.

Results are available at https://www.sailres.com/view.php?s=1292

Notice of Race is now available. Click HERE

Entry is available here: https://www.trybooking.com/586520

Current entries

There are campsites nearby with limited availability. Contact the association: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Results are posted HERE

We are excited to announce that the 2019-20 Pacer National Championships will be held at Mordialloc Yacht Club on Port Phillip Bay, from 28th December, 2019 to 3rd January, 2020. We’re hoping to attract a large contingent of local and interstate sailors to this event. So, if you’re not from Melbourne, now is the time to book some accommodation for the New Years period. It's a vibrant time to be in Melbourne, with plenty of events happening  in the city, on the Mornington Peninsula, and in the Yarra Valley. .

Enter at https://www.trybooking.com/524050

Documents now available:

Notice of Race

Flyer

The mighty Puffin Pacer was first introduced to Australia in the late 1960’s. Designed by Jack Holt in the UK many boats were made in Australia from timber kits utilising the stitch and glue process. The UK Pacer Association allocated numbers in the 600’s to 800’s range for boats in Australia. In the early 70’s Anchor Marine provided the first fibreglass boats. These came with wooden gunwales, mast gates and thwarts. Smackwater began making fibreglass boats in the 80’s down at Carrum. They were good boats but where structurally a little weak and maybe not as stiff as was needed as they were made with a lot of chopped matt fibreglass. Many timber boats are still with us today, boats made by Graham Downey and Alex Magner are still in use and sailing well.

Latest results can be found here:

https://www.sailres.com/view.php?s=1014

Congratulations to the Australian champions Ross Martin and Natasha Martin, winners on a countback.

Junior champions are Lauren Kemp and Eliza Kemp.

Winners of the non-spinnaker division are Ethen Perry and Archer Manuell.

Junior / Senior champions are Jessica Viza and Anne Vize.

Masters champion is Paul Taig with Emma Taig.

We regret to announce the passing away of Leslie Donald Sharp on 21 July 2015.  Les was the Inaugural Life Member of the Pacer Association of Australia, awarded on the 12 September 2003. To be awarded this honour a candidate must, “be a member who have given outstanding service and exceptional commitment to the Pacer Association and its objectives over a long and substantial part of their life, and who has been held in high regard and appreciation by the membership of the Association during that time”.  

Those who have had the privilege of knowing Les are in no doubt of his suitability for this award.  Les’s wife Pam, commented, “Les loved the Pacers and the Pacer people and camping with them for titles. I was so pleased for him when it was decided that he should be Life Member No.1, but I think he wondered what he had done to deserve it.”
 
A very modest man and a champion, winning the 1981 State and Australian Championships in Red Jacket, the first boat he built.  Always at the top end of the fleet, he was a highly competitive sailor who conducted himself at the highest standard of sportsmanship, always congratulating his fellow competitors at the end of the race.  Sailing until he was 83 years old, he shared his love and skills with many crew.
 
He started as a child sailing a converted canoe with his brother, and getting rather wet in the process!  His introduction to racing was in a cadet dinghy (Red Jacket) at Brighton.  Employment, marriage and family meant it was 1968 before he came back to sailing by joining the Beaumaris Yacht Club.  His first boat was a Heron, followed soon after by a Pacer.  Even while supporting a family of three children, he found time to participate fully in all the many tasks necessary to run a (then) very large club.  His formal roles included Committee Member, Membership Officer, Chief Maintenance Officer and Commodore.  He was awarded a Life Membership in tribute to his many contributions.
 
While Les had always built and repaired timber dinghies, after retiring from work, he began buying old timber Pacers and rebuilding them to a high and reliable standard.  If you couldn’t afford a Jim French fibreglass Pacer, you would do well to buy a rebuilt Les Sharp Pacer – it wouldn’t let you down & there was always the chance that some of Les’s skills would transfer to the new skipper.  It wasn’t only Pacers.  Minnows, Sabres and a couple of 125s were also restored to their former glory, his Minnows being highly sought after. A staggering total of over 60 boats passed through his hands in this manner. When Les retired he was sailing Silver Fox.  As each new or refurbished Pacer left his garage, he would try to name them in the fox theme. The last boat that Les sailed, which he also built, was Fox Folly.

He was a people person, even his home boatshed opened out onto the side street so that neighbours and friends could stop for a chat while viewing the work in progress.  The rear brick drive was always where you parked your car when visiting because that’s where Les would be.  If not, it was a short stroll to the back door for a chat in the kitchen over a cup of tea or coffee and one, (or two) of Pam’s delicious cookies.  The front door was very rarely used.
 
At the club and regattas Les would talk to everyone, including the children, encouraging them to enjoy sailing while improving their skills.  Always approachable and generous with his time and knowledge when help or advice was requested, it seemed he simply wanted people to get the same pleasure from sailing that he did.

Thanks Les.

The Queensland Pacer Association have recently published their newsletter here.