The Heaven Can Wait (HCW) Sailing Regatta Committee was named the Hunter region’s Volunteer Team of the Year at the recent NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards, presented at South Newcastle Leagues Club.

The regatta is hosted by Royal Motor Yacht Club, Toronto, to support the Hunter branch of the NSW Cancer Council who provide domestic support services for terminal and recovering cancer patients.

The club’s vice-commodore, Mel Steiner, said the HCW committee had been fundraising and volunteering for 11 years and was approaching $250,000 raised.

“They rally the sailing community and people come from all over Australia to compete and raise funds,” Mr Steiner said.

Mr Steiner, who is the HCW committee chairman, said in just 24 hours the yachts undergo a year’s worth of wear and tear to the sails because of the event’s course changes.

The event was founded by local yachtsman Shaun Lewicki, who devised the event while being treated for cancer at John Hunter Hospital.

“While I was in hospital there was some flaking paint on the wall,” Mr Lewicki said.

“It fell off while I was lying there, and it looked like Lake Macquarie – and right in the middle, of course, was Pulbah Island – so I thought that’s what I’ll do: I’ll have a race around Lake Macquarie.”

It’s a unique event on two counts.

It is Australia’s only overnight regatta on a lake.

And it’s the only event in which 50-foot yachts and 11-foot Moth-class dinghies can compete in the same sailing race.

“It is unique. It is one of a kind,” Mr Lewicki said.

Twenty regional Volunteer of the Year Award ceremonies are held around NSW.

As a regional winner, the HCW committee is now in the running for an overall NSW Volunteer of the Year Award, which will be announced at a gala event in Sydney in December.