Port Phillip Bay Racing Marks: Positions, Names and What They Mean
If you race on Port Phillip Bay, the marks you round every weekend are documented in a PDF attachment to your club’s sailing instructions, usually a table you have to zoom into on your phone at the dock. This page lists all 48 of them in one place: name, position, what kind of mark it is, and who owns it.
Positions are given in degrees and decimal minutes, the format most plotters expect when you enter a waypoint by hand, and in decimal degrees for anyone importing them into software.
Most “racing marks” on the Bay are not racing marks
This is the part that confuses newcomers. A course card might send you from a club-laid buoy to a shipping channel pile to a cardinal mark protecting a shoal. Only the first of those was put there for racing.
Port Phillip Bay racing borrows from four different sets of infrastructure:
- Club laid marks. Buoys a club lays and maintains for its own racing. On the Williamstown side these carry phonetic names: Xray, Uniform, Zulu. Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron uses lettered buoys, RMYS A through H.
- Port of Melbourne channel piles. Navigation structures marking the shipping channel into Melbourne. Race committees use them because they are fixed, lit, and never move.
- AMSA and Parks Victoria beacons. Federal and state navigation aids, plus sanctuary boundary marks.
- Cardinal marks. Placed to keep shipping off a hazard, and used in racing because they sit in useful places.
That matters on the water. A club buoy can be moved or lifted between seasons. A channel pile has been in the same position for decades. When a position in an old course book disagrees with what you see, the club mark is the one more likely to have shifted.
How to read these tables
Each mark is listed with the position published by its owner or in the sailing instructions. The DDM column is degrees and decimal minutes, matching how the positions appear in the course book. The decimal column is the same position in decimal degrees, rounded to four places, which is roughly 11 metres of resolution.
Marks are sorted north to south within each group.
Club laid marks: Royal Yacht Club of Victoria
The Williamstown racing marks. These are laid buoys, so treat their positions as accurate to the current season rather than permanent.
| Mark | What it is | Position (DDM) | Decimal | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xray | RYCV laid mark | 37 51.28S 144 54.97E | -37.8547 144.9162 | RYCV |
| V | Yellow special purpose buoy, the Volvo finish mark | 37 51.80S 144 55.50E | -37.8633 144.9250 | RYCV |
| A Mark | Laid mark set 250m south of Gellibrand Shoal Mark | 37 52.70S 144 54.90E | -37.8783 144.9150 | RYCV |
| Zulu | RYCV laid mark | 37 54.20S 144 51.26E | -37.9033 144.8543 | RYCV |
| Uniform | RYCV laid mark | 37 55.64S 144 54.97E | -37.9273 144.9162 | RYCV |
Xray is the reference point for most RYCV short courses, which start and finish near it, and V appears in about half of them. A Mark is laid 250 metres south of the Gellibrand Shoal cardinal, which is why the two positions look almost identical in the tables. They are not the same mark, and a course that calls for one will not accept the other.
Club laid marks: Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron
The St Kilda marks. R2, R3 and R4 are the numbered racing buoys; RMYS A through H fill in the shorter courses closer to the Squadron.
| Mark | What it is | Position (DDM) | Decimal | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R4 | Yellow buoy | 37 50.70S 144 55.36E | -37.8450 144.9227 | RMYS |
| RMYS G | Yellow special purpose buoy | 37 51.00S 144 56.25E | -37.8500 144.9375 | RMYS |
| RMYS D | Yellow special purpose buoy | 37 51.48S 144 57.47E | -37.8580 144.9578 | RMYS |
| RMYS H | Yellow special purpose buoy | 37 51.85S 144 57.69E | -37.8642 144.9615 | RMYS |
| RMYS A | Yellow special purpose buoy | 37 51.90S 144 57.47E | -37.8650 144.9578 | RMYS |
| RMYS E | Yellow special purpose buoy | 37 52.15S 144 57.79E | -37.8692 144.9632 | RMYS |
| RMYS C | Yellow special purpose buoy | 37 52.19S 144 56.41E | -37.8698 144.9402 | RMYS |
| SB3 | Special purpose or general buoy | 37 52.48S 144 56.31E | -37.8747 144.9385 | RMYS |
| R3 | Yellow light buoy marked R3 | 37 53.10S 144 56.23E | -37.8850 144.9372 | RMYS |
| RMYS B | Yellow special purpose buoy | 37 53.18S 144 57.20E | -37.8863 144.9533 | RMYS |
| RMYS F | Yellow special purpose buoy | 37 53.59S 144 56.30E | -37.8932 144.9383 | RMYS |
| R2 | Yellow light buoy marked R2 | 37 54.54S 144 56.34E | -37.9090 144.9390 | RMYS |
Watch this group
RMYS A and H are 335 metres apart, and A, C, D, E and H all sit inside a patch of water about 1.1 nautical miles across. They are identical yellow special purpose buoys with no distinguishing marks in the position table. In chop, telling them apart by eye is hard, which is why the course card gives you a letter rather than a description.
Cardinal marks and beacons
Navigation aids, not racing marks, used as course marks because they are fixed and unambiguous.
| Mark | What it is | Position (DDM) | Decimal | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gellibrand Shoal Mark | East cardinal mark | 37 52.56S 144 54.90E | -37.8760 144.9150 | PoMC |
| P3 | Pile with light frame | 37 53.38S 144 52.85E | -37.8897 144.8808 | AMSA |
| Pt Cook East Cardinal Mark | East cardinal mark | 37 55.58S 144 48.92E | -37.9263 144.8153 | PoMC |
| Pt Cook Sanctuary Limit Mark | Yellow special purpose beacon | 37 55.74S 144 48.69E | -37.9290 144.8115 | Parks Vic |
| Pt Cook South Pile | Yellow pile, X top mark | 37 55.74S 144 48.69E | -37.9290 144.8115 | PoMC |
| Outer Anchorage | Pile with light frame | 37 56.91S 144 51.49E | -37.9485 144.8582 | PoMC |
| Point Richards No. 1 Beacon | Point Richards No. 1 Beacon | 38 05.16S 144 38.48E | -38.0860 144.6413 | AMSA |
| Prince George Bank Beacon | Prince George Bank Beacon | 38 06.50S 144 44.12E | -38.1083 144.7353 | AMSA |
Two things worth knowing about this group.
Pt Cook Sanctuary Limit Mark and Pt Cook South Pile are published at the same position. They are listed as separate marks with separate owners, Parks Victoria and the Port of Melbourne, at identical coordinates. If your course calls for one of them, the position is the same either way, but check the sailing instructions for which name your race committee is using.
An east cardinal means pass to the east. Gellibrand Shoal Mark and the Pt Cook cardinal both mark shallow water to their west. Whatever rounding side the course card gives you, the water on the wrong side of a cardinal is shallow for a reason. Cardinals are placed to protect a hazard, and a course that routes you around one is not an invitation to cut the corner.
Shipping channel piles and transit lane marks
The Port of Melbourne channel structures. Permanent, lit, and reliable as course marks, but they sit in or beside a working commercial shipping channel.
| Mark | What it is | Position (DDM) | Decimal | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ch76 | Channel pile | 37 51.09S 144 55.62E | -37.8515 144.9270 | PoMC |
| Ch75 | Channel pile | 37 51.29S 144 55.80E | -37.8548 144.9300 | PoMC |
| Ch74 | Channel pile | 37 51.30S 144 55.68E | -37.8550 144.9280 | PoMC |
| Ch19 | Channel pile | 37 51.48S 144 55.00E | -37.8580 144.9167 | PoMC |
| Ch17a | Channel pile | 37 51.54S 144 55.18E | -37.8590 144.9197 | PoMC |
| Ch72 | Channel pile | 37 51.72S 144 55.67E | -37.8620 144.9278 | PoMC |
| Ch73 | Channel pile | 37 51.72S 144 55.77E | -37.8620 144.9295 | PoMC |
| Ch71 | Channel pile | 37 52.06S 144 55.76E | -37.8677 144.9293 | PoMC |
| T28 | Yellow transit lane mark | 37 52.31S 144 55.19E | -37.8718 144.9198 | PoMC |
| T25 | Yellow transit lane mark | 37 52.48S 144 55.91E | -37.8747 144.9318 | PoMC |
| Ch11 | Channel pile | 37 52.69S 144 55.76E | -37.8782 144.9293 | PoMC |
| Ch9 | Channel pile | 37 53.19S 144 55.75E | -37.8865 144.9292 | PoMC |
| Ch7 | Channel pile | 37 53.83S 144 55.72E | -37.8972 144.9287 | PoMC |
| Ch5 | Channel pile | 37 54.55S 144 55.70E | -37.9092 144.9283 | PoMC |
The odd-numbered piles, Ch5 through Ch19, run down the channel edge over about 5.8 kilometres. The seventies series, Ch71 to Ch76, is a tighter cluster of roughly 1.8 kilometres at the northern end, and the two groups overlap: Ch71 actually sits south of Ch19. Ch72 and Ch73 share a latitude and are 146 metres apart. Read the number, not the shape.
Ch5 is worth a footnote: it does not appear in the current sailing instructions mark table, and its position here comes from the Port of Melbourne’s own navigation aid data. If a course card sends you to Ch5, confirm it with the race committee.
Special purpose marks and passage finish lines
Marks used further down the Bay, plus the finish lines for passage races to Portarlington, Mornington and Blairgowrie.
| Mark | What it is | Position (DDM) | Decimal | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P2 | Yellow buoy marked P2 | 37 55.46S 144 53.19E | -37.9243 144.8865 | RYCV |
| SYC 5 | Special purpose buoy, X top mark | 37 58.81S 144 58.38E | -37.9802 144.9730 | SYC |
| Spoil Ground | Yellow buoy | 37 59.05S 144 53.05E | -37.9842 144.8842 | RYCV |
| Carrum #2 | Special purpose buoy | 38 03.04S 145 04.52E | -38.0507 145.0753 | RYCV |
| Centre Mark | Special purpose buoy, X top mark | 38 03.51S 144 52.21E | -38.0585 144.8702 | RYCV |
| Portarlington Finish Line | Finish line at Portarlington | 38 06.61S 144 39.14E | -38.1102 144.6523 | RYCV |
| Mornington Finish Line | Finish line at Mornington | 38 12.64S 145 02.20E | -38.2107 145.0367 | RYCV |
| R1 | Recreational Buoy No. 1 | 38 16.35S 144 58.44E | -38.2725 144.9740 | AMSA |
| Blairgowrie Finish Line | Finish line at Blairgowrie | 38 21.29S 144 46.53E | -38.3548 144.7755 | RYCV |
The three finish line positions are single points. An actual finish line is defined in the sailing instructions as a transit between a mark and a committee vessel or shore structure, so use these as the approach waypoint rather than the line itself.
What the mark types mean
| Type | Meaning | Racing implication |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal | Marks a hazard, named for the safe side. An east cardinal means safe water lies to its east. | Shallow water on the hazard side. Treat as a hard boundary. |
| Special purpose | Yellow, marks something other than a channel: a sanctuary, a spoil ground, a racing area. | Usually safe to round close. Check the local chart. |
| Channel pile | Fixed structure marking the shipping channel. | Permanent and reliable. Commercial traffic has right of way in the channel. |
| Transit lane mark | Marks the recreational transit lane crossing the shipping channel. | Fixed. Positioned for crossing traffic, not racing. |
| Laid mark | A buoy a club lays and lifts. | Position is current for the season, not permanent. |
How marks become a course
A course card does not give you positions. It gives you an ordered list of mark names and a rounding side for each. Course 11 in the RYCV Wednesday afternoon and Sunday morning list is a 7.0 nautical mile east or westerly course, and it reads:
V to starboard, Gellibrand Shoal Mark to starboard, P3 to port, Gellibrand Shoal Mark to port, V to port, finish.
Five legs, four distinct marks, one of them rounded twice on opposite sides. Everything you need to sail it is in this page’s tables, and none of it is in the course card itself. That gap, between the names on the card and the positions on the water, is where races get lost.
Across the current course book there are 129 courses over ten series, ranging from 2.1 to 27.4 nautical miles, all built from these same 48 marks. For more on reading a course card under race pressure, see How to Navigate a Club Buoy Race.
Before you rely on these positions
These positions are compiled from published club sailing instructions and the Port of Melbourne’s navigation aid data, current as at publication. They are here for race preparation and planning. They are not a substitute for current charts, the sailing instructions in force for your race, or your own lookout. Laid marks move between seasons. Always sail to the version your race committee published.
If you spot a position that disagrees with your club’s current sailing instructions, tell us and we will correct it.
How Fetch handles this
Fetch is a racing navigation app for club buoy racing. The 48 marks on this page and the 129 courses built from them are loaded into the app already, so you select the course number the race committee posted and start racing. No waypoint entry, no transcribing positions from a PDF at the dock.
During the race, Fetch shows the next mark with its bearing, distance and rounding side, and advances to the next leg as you round. It will not tell you which tack to sail. That is your call, and that is the sailing.
Now on iPhone
Fetch is on the App Store
Royal Yacht Club of Victoria in Williamstown is our first partner club, and its courses are loaded. Fetch is free to download. Racing somewhere else? Tell us your club and we’ll work with your race officer to load it.
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