The 72nd Regatta was held on March 15-17, 2024 and started when a small team arrived at the oval in full sun with warm conditions to start the Regatta setup. Not to be left out it did rain for a while mid-morning which then made the day a little more humid.

The Scouts, and tents started arriving on Friday afternoon and by Saturday evening we had around 520 campers around Balmoral Oval.

Saturday morning saw the Scout and Venturer canoe races whilst the sailors rigged their boats for the afternoon race. The wind was light to moderate as a fleet of 53 boats headed out for the start of the Saturday afternoon sailing race. We only had eight boats retired from the race.

With the fine weather we had an outdoor screening on the oval with the grass packed with movie-goers. However, the rain started late Saturday night with some heavy downfalls in the early hours of Sunday. The new drainage at Balmoral Oval did the job and there were none of the large ponds that we have become accustomed to. It was still raining when we started early Sunday, at 7.00am, for the Sirius Iron Man event, before the beach was invaded for the Cub Scout canoeing races.

Some of the key trophies and their winners were:

  • Commodore’s Cup (Champion Group Overall) – Lake Ginninderra
  • Sirius Shield (Overall Group Sailing) – Lake Ginninderra
  • Sirius Cup (Handicap Winner, Division 1) – Uproar, Lake Ginninderra
  • Little Sirius Cup (Handicap Winner, Division 2) – Flash, Lake Ginninderra
  • Voice Pipe (Total Points, Rowing & Canoeing Combined) – 1st Sailors Bay
  • Wal Piltz Skin (Champion Group Camping) – Epping

A full list of the results is available at http://siriuscup.x10host.com

A big thank-you goes out to all the leaders, Rovers, Venturers, and Scouts who helped in running the Regatta and to SWASH and the ACT Scout Groups that helped the safety boat team with boats (two from SWASH and three from the ACT). There are many volunteers who come down to help with the setup and packing up of the Regatta HQ, run safety and marker boats, marshal the events, staff the office and numerous other tasks.

Also thank you to Mowbray Radio/Bob Richards for loaning us the radios and PA systems and to Mosman Council for their assistance in running the event at Balmoral and allowing us to use the oval.

The 73rd Sirius Cup Regatta will be on in 2025 with the event being held over the weekend 21-23 March.

Paul Soltau – Regatta Co-ordinator