A fleet of 47 boats took part in the regatta which was contested in a variety of light and heavy winds and seas. The regatta was generously sponsored by Riley Fittings, MD Spars and VicSurvey.

After winning the 2025 Victorian Impulse State Championships, 2025 Victorian Sailor of the year Mark Bulka from McRae Yacht Club has returned to Altona once again on “Shaky Knees” to win his first Impulse National Title. In second place was Peter Kemp of Beaumaris Yacht Club, who took out three wins across the regatta versus six wins by Mark Bulka. In third place, was Queensland Impulse President and Darling Point Sailing Squadron member, Dave Harrison. Impulse National President Jon Pulman took out the remaining race win on the last race of the regatta.

Winning skipper Mark Bulka said, “Running all races as planned in a range of conditions from about 2 knots to about 20 knots was a pretty good effort by the race committee. The breeze on day two was juicy with the big wave plus close racing and a good size fleet of 46 boats. For me sailing the same regatta with my son but for the first time in competition with each other means a lot to me, so it's great to be sailing on the water with him. The Impulse is a great class that accommodate a range of people. Thanks to Michael Johnson from Altona (Shaky Knees) and Albert Park Sail Club Commodore Graeme Cox (Livewire) who lent me and my son boats. It was great to have 2 nice boats to use. Altona Yacht Club did a pretty good job hosting the regatta.”

Jim Scott (local Altona Yacht Club Sailor) noted that, “The last 6 days has been hard work because I'm getting a bit older now. We had a variety of conditions of some windy days, some scary stuff and some very light stuff on the last day. I'm happy with the way I went, I wasn’t expecting to set the world on fire, but I like to do reasonably good. I do think the competitors having the different conditions of racing meant they really enjoyed it. I must also say the new fencing at my home club of Altona Yacht Club looks good and now provides security for visiting boats for when we host regattas.

Regatta Race Officer, Andrew King weighed in, saying, “The regattas was a mixed bag with sort where we got a mix of weather strong winds up to 20 knots and then lighter stuff, so I think we've got a range of breeze and conditions for all sailors. With some juggling of heats, we managed to run 10 races which were happy about. The weather went our way a bit and we got the job done.”

Altona Yacht Club Commodore, Paul Lindemann thanks the members who put on a very professional regatta, "It was a great regatta with varying wind conditions. Thank you to our canteen volunteers, shore crew, powerboat crew and race committee. There is a great community culture at Altona Yacht club with many new faces getting involved in the many facets of what make a great club. This means we can in turn invest back into our members with equipment and facilities for our club plus host professionally run regattas like this. We also appreciate the ongoing support of our sponsors such as Bendigo Community Bank in Altona and Laverton that has helped make this possible”.

Altona yacht Club will once again provide sailing training each Saturday morning from Jan 31st until March 28th catering for both children and adults.

Written by - Peter Robinson
Photographer - Danny Matesic