NEWCASTLE Cruising Yacht Club had called it the "Olympic Happy Hour", but for the 50 or so in the harbourside bar this was the golden hour.
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For they were the loved ones and supporters of Will Ryan, and they were watching the Lake Macquarie sailor cross the finish line in Japan and reach the most precious of destinations in sport - the gold medal podium at an Olympic Games.
"I'm on top of the world," said Will's father Frank Ryan, an Australian flag draped around his shoulders.
"I feel like I'm shaking, it's hard to believe," said Will's mother, Mandy Ryan.
Wearing a smile as wide as he was tall, Will Ryan's grandfather, well-known businessman John Peschar, was bursting with pride as he watched the television coverage of the medal race for the men's 470 class.
"I've grown an inch taller!," declared Mr Peschar, who stands about six foot, six inches, or almost two metres.
The first vessel Will Ryan ever sailed on was his grandfather's yacht, Blue Moon, which was berthed in the yacht club's marina just outside, as if even the boat wanted to be part of the excitement.
"When he was born, within six weeks he was on Blue Moon," said Mr Peschar. "He's a natural sailor."
Family members had intended to travel to Japan to support Will, just as they had done when he and sailing partner Mat Belcher won silver at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016. But COVID restrictions scuttled that plan.
"It's killing me," Frank Ryan said about not being in Japan.
Two of Will's three sisters, Elise and Sasha, couldn't even be at the yacht club, as they were in isolation, so they joined the party via the internet.
However, there was one family member - and a fellow Olympic sailor - on the shores of Sagami Bay at Enoshima.
"I'm so happy someone can be here," said Jaime Ryan, Will's younger sister, on the phone from Japan before the race. "To be able to give him a hug at the end."
Jaime Ryan had represented Australia in the 49er class but didn't make the finals. Which meant she could change roles to being Will's chief supporter as well as fulfilling the duties that younger siblings seem to do so effortlessly, keeping him grounded and ensuring "he doesn't get a big head".
Jaime Ryan said she had received "strict instructions" from her father about supporting her brother. But she was simply appreciative that she was there.
"I said to my teammates this is such a supportive family, so the standards are pretty high," she said.
The family's Tokyo Olympics party may have been held by Newcastle Harbour, but the voyage to a gold medal began on Lake Macquarie for Will Ryan.
After the family moved to Coal Point when Will was nine, he took to the water. He joined the Toronto Amateur Sailing Club, and his parents bought him a sabot for $200. The little's boat name was Fast Forward but, just in case, it came with a paddle that had the word "Rewind" inscribed on it.
Mandy Ryan recalled how Will would take his three sisters out in the sabot, while she stood on the Coal Point shore holding a rope fastened to the boat.
Then he was allowed to venture a little further, as far as the moored boats in the lake.
"He says that's why he became a good sailor, because he had to tack so often," said Mandy Ryan.
Among those at the yacht club to watch the Olympic medal race was Mark Langford, who had sailed with Will when they were boys.
"He was fantastic right from the start, with his commitment and his attitude," said Mr Langford, whose brother, Kyle, is also an internationally renowned sailor. "You can teach skill, but you can't teach attitude."
When COVID caused global disruption last year, Will Ryan returned to Coal Point, and for a time, he and Mat Belcher trained on the lake.
As a training ground, Mark Langford said of the lake, "you can't get any better; it's just your backyard".
Even before this final race, Ryan and Belcher had all but assured themselves of winning the gold medal. As the television commentator said, "their domination is just extraordinary".
"I think I was not as overwhelmed as I might have been, because I always had confidence they would do it, right from Rio, when they got silver," said Jaime Ryan in Japan. "Everything about them is so driven, so determined."
But that didn't mean there wasn't a room full of nervous people in Newcastle, just hoping nothing happened out of the blue. The Australian sailors took their time at the start, but then nothing could hold them back, as the pair won this final race, setting off an explosion of joy at Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club.
Frank and Mandy Ryan hugged each other, and the Australian flag around Frank's shoulders was unfurled.
"It's nice to finally be able to celebrate," said Mandy Ryan.
"It's time to breathe!," said her husband.
Then, through FaceTime, the parents in the club and the sisters in isolation were able to talk with Will and Jaime in Japan. The jubilant Ryans were reunited by technology.
Frank jokingly admonished his son for winning the gold when he wasn't there.
"He just laughed," Will's father said, before adding, "They're stoked. The smile on his face.
"It obviously hasn't sunk in yet. For any of us."
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