Eight boats faced the starter for the 2016 NSW Championship hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club (Sydney Harbour, Australia). Racing was in The Sound, close to the heads of Sydney Harbour with its unique challenges of swell, shifting winds and heavy on-water traffic. The growing Sydney Harbour based J/70 fleet was joined by boats from Pittwater (Grasshopper Unit–owned by Stuart), Botany Bay (Infinity–Tony Brauer) and all the way from Melbourne (Javelin–Peter McFarlane). Day 1: The regatta got underway with James (Tim Ryan) called over the start in the first race and having to restart the race. James eventually sailed through the fleet to record a win from Grasshopper Unit, skippered by Stuart. Jester, with a new crew skippered by Brent Lawson, sailed through for a well-deserved third spot. The breeze strengthened to around the 15 knots mark for the second and third races, with James winning both races and Jester and Juno (Reg Lord) swapping turns for second place. Day 2: The second day’s racing started out with around 10 knots of breeze from the NNE again before strengthening to 18 knots for the final two races. These conditions produced some spectacular downwind racing in difficult and choppy swell conditions. The first race of the day saw Y Knot (Stephen Brady) lead around the first mark before Java (Paul Wood) took over to be first around the bottom mark at the halfway point. James, with Steve McConaghy calling the shots, headed to the right hand side of the course on the second upwind leg to sail through the fleet and held out for a close win. James won the next two races of the day to score a clean sweep of the series, but the racing for second and third place was very tight. Jester scored a third and two seconds to take second place overall. Reg Lord in Juno scored a sixth and two thirds on the last day to edge out Stephen Brady’s Y Knot on a countback for third. Y knot had a consistent series with four fourths and two fifth placings. Summary: Overall, this regatta produced some very exciting racing with five boats recording placings and three different boats leading around the first mark in the series. The closeness of the racing is demonstrated with only 36 seconds between second and sixth in the second race and 30 seconds between second and fourth in race 6.