27 April, 2010 : The Sharpies attended the Batemans Bay Anzac regatta for the last weekend of state titles on the weekend. Mr Freeze still had a chance of taking first overall and Mainiac third. Mr Freeze had an unfortunate day on Saturday and missed the start of the first race, sailing through to 6th with Mainiac third.The second race was a different story with Mr Freeze leading until just before the finish when Smoke crept through to win - giving them the overall title. Mainiac had a poor race finishing 5th after trying unsuccessfully for a port end start. Pleasure & Pain and Road Kill also had good races. Not sure of all the results details yet but will post when I have them.
The forecast for Sunday was 20-30 knots - looked like it was going to come in and the first race was actually delayed by half an hour. However what we got was a very pleasant 5-15 knot SE breeze with a huge swell. The racing was very close amongst the top boats with 5-6 boats within a minute of each other in both races. Mr Freeze had a 4th and 1st and Mainiac two 3rds. Overall in the states Mr Freeze came 2nd and Mainac was equal 3rd on points but given 4th overall on countback.
Overall this was the end of a really good season for the PKSC Sharpie fleet. While Mr Freeze missed out on the states win, Todd, Hayden and Brad should be very proud of the achievements during the year. Next season will be very competitive and I am expecting that all the PKSC Sharpies will be well up in the results !
20 April, 2010 : For the final race of the season we had a pretty good turnout in the monohull fleet. The forecast was for 10-15 knots but we would be lucky to have got half that.
With the pointscore still up for grabs, Mainiac had to beat Mr Freeze to be in with a chance. However, Mr Freeze picked the winshifts well on the first work and led comfortably for the rest of the race on the long course. Mainiac and Pleasure & Pain battled for second place for the first couple of laps after which Mainiac went on to take second. Pleasure & Pain seem to have fixed their light weather speed and should be very competitive next season. Congratulations to Todd, Brad and Hayden on Mr Freeze who won both the Club Championship and the Pointscore for the season.
The short course saw an interesting development. Itchy & Scratchy were leading the Club Championship by one point going in to the last heat from Missguided Missile. The assumption was that whoever won the race would take out the overall. However, Dantes dad Dino had other thoughts and sailed his best race so far on the MG winning the race on yardstick. Missguided Missile came second and Itchy & Scratchy third. This left points equal overall. When looking at countback all results were also equal so after reading the rulebook again the final method of countback is who got the best result in the final heat. Congratulations to Dante and Lachlan on winning the Club Championship in their first full season together on the Flying Ant ! Congratulations also got to Nicholas and Lachlan on Itchy & Scratchy who won the Pointscore.
Next weekend the Sharpies will be sailing the last three heats of the State Championships with Mr Freeze in with a chance of taking out the title. Good luck guys !
I hope to see all monohull sailors at the presentation night on 22 May - if you have not already purchased your tickets please do so quickly.
15 April, 2010 : Dylan sent in this report of the CHS
The CHS this year was great , Nick, Alex and I all sailed on ‘Road Kill’ (sharpie). Thanks to Frank for lending us his boat.
Nick was skipper Alex was sheet hand and I was forehand,
We had a lot of different looks when we arrived with the sharpie. One kid asked " what does that boat do" we also had a lot of men come up to us for a chat as they talked about when they use to sail a sharpie many years ago...we were the only Sharpie in the fleet of 160 boats.
We only sailed the sharpie once together so we were hoping for lighter breeze, (which was most of the races) all our races we finished in the top 5 which was good considering we never sailed a sharpie together.
The last day the race started with only 5knots, we couldn’t even fly the kite there was no wind at all, we were suppose to do 3 triangle's but lucky they shortened the race and finished it with only one triangle, it took 1 hour to finish one leg..
14 April, 2010 : Three boats from PKSC attended the Combined High Schools Championship held at Belmont from Easter Tuesday to the following Saturday.
Nick Marzano, Dylan Zanin & Alex Marsano sailed Frank's Sharpie "Roadkill" It was the first time this trio had sailed together & the first time Nick had skippered a Sharpie. They had fantastic results coming 7th in their division and 6th overall out of 138 entries. As the only Sharpie in the event they were quite a center of attention.
John Richardson & Lachlan Beavan sailed on John's MG14 "Skulker" John has only owned the boat for a few weeks (previously on a Flying Ant) and also achieved great results coming 14th in their division and 25th overall.
Amelia Richardson & Kian Parkes sailed on Amelia's NS14 "Sticky Moments". These 2 have only been sailing for half a season and did incredibly well to come 16th in their division and 82nd overall.
The conditions were quite varied with 2 days of good winds 10-15 knots, one day where the race was postponed until the wind dropped to below 25 knots and 2 days that were under 5 knots. Infact on one of these "millpond" days more than half the fleet did not complete the course in the designated time.
Overall the kids had a great time (it would surprising if they didn't with 200 teenagers on mass). From a spectators viewpoint it was also very enjoyable as the Belmont 16' Club provides great facilities and there was plenty of free time to go to the beach, relax, socialise and explore the area.
I would highly recommend this event for any high school sailors. I'm sure we will be there next year....Paula (Richardson)
12 April, 2010 : The forecast had the breeze coming in at up to 15 knots but we were lucky to see 8 !! However it was a lovely day for a sail for our second last club race of the season. We were a little down on numbers as a few boats were away at the CHS regatta (see separate report). On Mainiac, we had a ring-in crew as both mine were up at Belmont - Gary from Road Kill sailed as forehand and Mitch from the juniors jumped at the chance to sail a Sharpie again.
On the long course we had a very close race after an interesting start - Mainiac had its main lowered to repair a fault with 1 minute to go and just made it to the line in time for a port tack start - which almost worked ! The first couple of laps had Mainiac and Mr Freeze within a couple of boat lengths of each other, closely followed by Blowflies and Pleasure & Pain. Mr Freeze eventually pulled out a small lead across the line. Pleasure & Pain sailed their best light weather race to date to finish first on PBH, followed by Mainiac and Mr Freeze.
Intensity sailed with a somewhat larger crew than usual (Kurt) on the short course and had their first win on PBH, followed by Dante on Missguided Missile who had his sister Jacina sailing with him for the day. Before the race Dante was asked if he was going to be nice to his sister - his response was "I will treat her as my crew - not as my sister" - good answer Dante !
This Saturday is the last club race of the season - lets get everyone out on the water for this one ! Its also the last heat of the Club Championship.
Don't forget to pay for the presentation night when you are at the club on Saturday - would be great to have a full turnout of mono sailors there.
8 April, 2010 : A number of our boats are sailing in the Combined High Schools Championship at Belmont this week. Nick, Alex and Dylan on Road Kill, John and Lachie on Skulker and Kian and Amelia on Sticky Moments. Road Kill and Sticky Moments went well in the invitation race (Skulker didn't take part as his crew had not arrived), however the first heat was a bit of a disaster with the breeze dropping of to nothing after the faster classes had finished. Well over half the fleet did not finish which was a bit sad for those sailing slower classes. Road Kill did manage to finish in the time limit which was great. I don't think any MG14s made it in time - they are the slowest class in Div 1 which sails quite a long course.
See the mono results page for updates - I have put a link to the results on there.
31 March, 2010 : A very good fleet of monos turned up to race again last Saturday. The forecast was for very shifty breeze but we ended up with a consistent 15 knot southeaster.
Mr Freeze and Mainiac pulled out a good lead up the first work with the third boat round the mark being John and Bryn in their new MG Skulker. Pleasure & Pain had a few issues including filling up with water near the top mark - a race to forget for them. After a race long duel, Mr Freeze opened up a bit of a lead over Mainiac on the last work when Mainiac tried the wrong side of the reef - it didn't work ! Next across the line was Blowflies who sailed a consistent race.
On the short course, Spruce Moose led the field home on line honours and also took out PBH. Intensity and Skuler had a close race - with Skulker capsizing a couple of times. Itchy and Scratchy had a good race coming second on PBH and Sticky Moments had their best race so far coming 3rd on PBH.
24 March, 2010 : I have been giving some thought to the way the current club pointscore works - and if there is a better way of attracting new sailors to the club during each season. What happens at the moment is that if one of our juniors becomes proficient enough to sail with the open monos for the second half of the season, or if we get a new sailor at that time, its already too late for them to effectively compete for anything !
I would like to propose that we split the pointscore for the monos next season and have Pointscore A covering all heats prior to Christmas and Pointscore B covering those in the second half - which would mean about 13 heats each and probably drop 3. We would still have the overall pointscore covering all which is usually 26 heats drop 6. There is the obvious issue of having to allocate more prizes - I would certainly be willing to help sponsor additional cost in the first season
So if everyone was keen on this idea and the one already raised about combining the two current fleets into one pointscore we would have all monos competing for the overall PS as well as PSA and PSB.
Any comments to Ian as soon as possible please.
22 March, 2010 : A number of new boats sailed in the monohull fleet on Saturday - John had his new MG14 and there were two International Canoes which are pretty way-out looking machines - and very fast too.
The Junior Camp was on over the weekend - with the juniors sailing on some of the larger boats in the afternoon race. Emmet sailed on Pleasure and Pain - he looked to be a very busy boy giving the three normal crew a bit of a rest ! Jared and Mitchell sailed on Mainiac and had a great time. We also had Hugh standing in as forward hand.
The breeze was light for the round the lake race. The Internaional Canoes seem to have some difficulty staying upright in those conditions - they are probably easier to sail as the breeze increases - sort of like the hare and tortoise as when they were upright they are very fast.
For the long course fleet the programmed pointscore race for the day was abandoned due to some boats assisting with the junior camp
We have a growing fleet of monohulls - it appears that the Canoes may sail semi-regularly which is great. For next season we are looking at ways of combining the pointscore into one fleet even though we have the two lengths of courses so we could have 15+ boats competing for pointscore honours. The Championship at this stage would still be separated between the two course lengths.
Looking at this seasons results, the Short Course Club Championship is still wide open with Missguided Missile only one point behind Itchy & Scratchy going in to the final heat. The Pointscores for both Long and Short course are very close - with two points separating Mr Freeze and Mainiac for the long course and three boats still in with a chance on the short course - Itchy & Scratchy, Missguided Missile and Kamikaze/Skulker. The last three races should be very exciting.
16 March, 2010 : Last Saturday was another good breeze - as seems to be usual this season - I can't recall too many days without nice sailing conditions. A good fleet of 11 boats started in a 10 knot S-SE breeze which freshened occasionally to 15 knots.
On the long course Mainiac got away to a fast start and led comfortably at the first mark. Mr Freeze, Pleasure & Pain and Blowflies (505) rounded together and had a very close battle for the first couple of laps. On the third work with the breeze freshening slightly, Mr Freeze changed gears and closed the gap to Mainiac setting the scene for tacking duels both upwind and downwind on the last lap - with the final gap at the finish 24 seconds. It was certainly fun and all came in with smiles as usual.
The short course saw Intensity (NS14) getting away to an early lead with a larger forward hand than usual helping the boat speed. A close battle for the Flying Ants saw Missguided Missile come through to win both the CC and PS events. Sticky Moments (NS14) sailed a great race - probably their best yet - they are learning fast and will be featuring in the placings soon !
One of our juniors decided to race the club Laser - however he capsized before the start and couldn't right it by himself. One of my crew jumped overboard and helped getting it going again. Its great to see the juniors getting involved in the afternoon racing - but as a class we need to ensure they have enough people on board to be safe. An extra hand would have made all the difference.
Don't forget this Saturday is the junior camp so be prepared to take on an extra crew for the afternoon race. Brad will be allocating people to the various boats.
The presentation night is coming up on 22 May - don't forget to buy your tickets at the club.
11 March, 2010 : Well what a wonderfully perfect breeze for a great afternoon of sailing.
The winds were a steady and moderate 10-15 knots. Some of the juniors were enjoying the sun on land too much and needed to get away a little earlier to make the start in time. Next week perhaps. Or maybe they were giving the rest of the fleet a fighting chance.
This week the crack crew of Roadkill made way for a Maniacal crew that were certainly up to the task of surviving a sail with the Roadkill skipper.
Roadkill was gleefully keeping up to Mr Freeze until the Seller / Curry combo put it in gear at the second work. Intensity was having a great race with Jacina smilling all the way on trapeze with her dad working hard to keep the boat flat - that girl of his is a feather weight!
In the junior race Itchy & Scratchy had an awful start - they did get there in the end, but for the rest of the race Misguided Missile was the boat to beat and it was not until the second last mark that Itchy redeemed it's start and passed them for a tight reach to the X.
A most enjoyable sail for all and as usual great sports in the mono classes. (report by Frank Marzano)
3 March, 2010 : Another really fun northeaster on Saturday - and a large fleet of monohulls left the club for the start including the full complement of Sharpies. Unfortunately on the way out on a really fast spinnaker ride, Frank decided to fall off Road Kill. The crew didn't notice for a while (what does that say ?) - and the boat kept sailing along. After a while Gary looked round and saw they had no skipper ! They capsized and got the mast very firmly stuck in the mud - while Frank was so far away a TY picked him up and delivered him back to the boat. What fun we have out sailing. Not to be outdone, apparently Dean decided to fall off the 420 which also continued to sail for a while.
The actual racing was great with some really good rides. In the short course, Itchy and Scratchy had a near perfect race followed by Kamikaze. Missguided Missile are now also handling the conditions well coming in third. Jonathan Liddle skippered his new Flying Ant and found it more challenging than crewing with a few swims. Dino on Intensity took an extra crew out to help with weight, and Sticky Moments got stuck in the mud and had to be towed home. All had a great time though - although I will have to look through the sails for Sticky Moments to find another jib as it didn't survive the day.
On the long course we had a really good battle between the Sharpies. Pleasure and Pain were back on the water after an extended Christmas break and were sailing really quickly. We had the first opportunity to try our new mast in stronger breeze - and it has certainly made a huge difference - we were not really losing much to Mr Freeze upwind which in those conditions is a dramatic improvement. Mr Freeze was trying out our old heavier mast - and it looked as though their main was working much better than before. The lead changed a few times but we managed to capsize for the second week in a row and lost touch with Mr Freeze on the last triangle - just holding off the fast finishing Pleasure and Pain. There were smiles all round after the race so it must have been a good day.
The monohulls have Club Championship races for the next two Saturdays. Unfortunately I will be away this week so I hope everyone has a great days sailing.
24 February, 2010 : We had a really great northeaster for the club race last Saturday - pity so many boats were away at regattas (and weddings and rescue boat duty !). Three boats started - two Sharpies and an NS. Sticky Moments made it round the course which was quite an achievement for them given the strength of the wind and their experience levels - well done Kian and Amelia.
We had a ring-in crew on my boat - with Ben Holloway as forward and Mitchell Gulic from the juniors as sheet. Ben has sailed all his life skippering F11, VS, B14, 49er, etc and loved the Sharpie although I think he was rather tired after the race. Mitchell really enjoyed himself but couldn't believe how wet we got from the spray ! We had a couple of swims which was a novelty - pays to uncleat jibs before going about. It certainly makes me appreciate how good my normal crew is when I have someone else on board who is not familiar with the boat.
This weekend we should have most of our fleet back - looking forward to some really good racing.
Please note that the Club Championship that was to have been sailed on 20/3 has been brought forward to 13/3 to allow for the junior camp on the 20th. We would like a full turnout of monohulls on the 20th as we will all take out an extra crew member from the juniors for our afternoon race.
16 February, 2010 : I understand there was not really enough breeze to hold a race at PKSC last Saturday - it wasn't much better on the harbour where we were sailing in the Sharpie states. We had three races - one on Saturday and two on Sunday.
In the Saturday race, Smoke (Canberra), Mr Freeze, Mainiac and Rocket Fuels had a race long battle for the lead. Unfortunately for us the breeze dropped to nothing on the last run and we were overtaken by a number of boats. Smoke won followed by Mr Freeze and a group of four boats then finished within about 15 seconds - Rocket Fuels 3rd and us 6th.
On Sunday we pulled out a sizeable lead in the first race but suffered a windshift on the third work to be overtaken by Smoke and Mr Freeze - Smoke winning by about 20 seconds from Mr Freeze with us about another 10 seconds further back. Rocket Fuels finished 5th in that race. In the last race, we were over at the start and spent the whole race trying to catch up. Smoke won relatively easily with Mr Freeze sailing through the next group of boats to finish second again. Rocket Fuels finished a good weekend in third (Dean I really think you need a Sharpie for next season) with us managing to catch up to fifth.
Overall it was a hot, humid and light weekend - but still good fun with very close racing. Going in to the final races, Mr Freeze is still hanging on to a narrow lead overall with Smoke second and Mainiac and Rocket Fuels equal third. After drops the series is still open to about 5 boats although most likely either Mr Freeze or Smoke will take out the title barring really bad results.
10 February, 2010 : Not much to report this week locally - most of the mono sailors were away at various regattas the remainder I think decided they may get wet if they came down ! We were on rescue boat duty - wishing we were sailing because it turned out to be a beautiful breeze for the cats who turned up !
Away from the club, the main monohull activity was the last weekend of Flying Ant state titles. All our boats performed well with all showing great speed - they have all improved so much. Itchy & Scratchy managed a second place in the last heat which was great - and Missguided Missile continue to show impressive speed in the right conditions.
Overall the club did well with Ichty & Scratchy 4th, Missguided Missile 5th and Kamikaze 6th. Kamikaze also won the St George trophy for the morning races for the second year. Well done all of you !
Some of the Sharpie sailors went back to Trailer Yachts for the weekend with Todd and crew equal first in the Sussex regatta.
The Sharpies will be away this weekend at the Balmoral heats of the state titles. Currently Mr Freeze is leading comfortably and Mainiac is in third place.
1 February, 2010 : The forecast for Saturday was for fresh SE breeze easing to about 15 knots in the afternoon. What we actually got was a drifter at the start followed by a 5 knot E/SE which made the course a bit of a follow-the-leader event - not what we were looking forward to for the 5th heat of the Club Championship. Oh well, we get what we get and all had to put up with the same conditions.
From the start in about 2 knots, Road Kill initially showed great speed and looked as though they may get the lead as the wind shifted all over the place. Mainiac was trying for some breeze further to the west. The Flying Ants were picking the breeze as well and were not far off the initial pace. Wookie the I14 decided to swim and wash the boat !
About 10 minutes after the start a 5 knot southeaster came across the lake - there was much frantic repositioning to try to get the breeze first. Mainiac pulled out a good lead which they held to the finish. Road Kill held off Mr Freeze and Wookie for the first lap. In the end the long course results had Mainiac from Mr Freeze and Wookie on Yardstick and Mainiac from Road Kill and Mr Freeze on handicap.
The short course saw a race long battle between the Flying Ants. Intensity (NS14) took line honours. Missguided Missile, Kamikaze and Itchy & Scratchy finished first, second and third on both yardstick and handicap.
Next Saturday the monhull fleet will be somewhat reduced with many sailors going to the TY regatta at Sussex and the Flying Ants participating in their state titles. Good luck to all in these away events.
23 January, 2010 : Due to the race on Saturday 23rd being abandoned, CC5 for the monohull classes will now be held next Saturday 30/1.
18 January, 2010 : Wow - what a great breeze we were handed for our first day back on the lake on Saturday - NE with gusts I would guess up to 25 knots. We had a smallish fleet turn out for racing with three boats on the long course and two on the short course.
Dean sailed his 420 and Nick the club Laser on the short course - although the race ended up being only one boat as the Laser didn't make it to the start. Next time that boat is to be used for afternoon racing we should ensure the sailors know how to set a laser up !
On the Long Course, Road Kill decided to check the depth of the lake before the start and took a while to get going again while Mainiac and Crews Control had a race long battle for line honours. A swim on the gybe near the bottom mark slowed Crews Control - partly compensated by a spinnaker under the boat on Mainiac ! In the end Mainiac won by a small margin.
By next Saturday most boats should be back from the holiday season so we should have a good fleet on the water.
14 January, 2010 : Well, we are all back from our various escapades over the Christmas break - with the exception of the Curry's who are taking an extended familly holiday in Tasmania. It will be good to be back on Lake Illawarra this weekend after a frustrating time in Hobart. I think most of the PKSC monohulls had mixed feelings about their results - with Dean probably being the most consistent.
The Flying Ants were held in WA with Nick and Lachie representing the club in Itchy and Scratchy. I could tell by the look on Teresa's face each day when she read the many text messages from Frank how the boys had gone. They had some excellent races as well as some they were not so happy with, but ended up with a very creditable 10th place overall and lots of good experience.
The Sharpies were held on the very pretty Derwent River in Tasmania over the same period. The breezes were mostly strong - particularly at start time - and in most races were very flukey in direction. Mr Freeze was the best performed boat overall - with excellent speed in the stronger breezes we had most of the time they were right at the top of the fleet. A couple of not so good races had them in sixth place going into the last heat with an outside chance of getting 5th - but gear breakage put paid to that and the dropped to seventh - still and excellent result to build on in such a high quality fleet. Rocket Fuels sailed very consistently throughout the series and only missed out on the Junior championship on countback. On Maniac we struggled in the stronger breezes off the start and were probably the most inconsistent boat from PKSC with our worst results being in the midrange wind strengths with big chop. Our best result was in 5 knot breeze where we were fighting for the lead most of the race - more of those conditions would have been great. We also managed the most damage with a collision opening up the back corner of the boat - luckily just before one of the lay days.
Overall it was a weird series - even the Tassie people said some days were the most changeable they had seen. If you happened to be on the right side of the course in some races you could take advantage of swings of up to 180 degrees in wind direction. The last heat was probably the worst in this regard - I know on our boat we ranged from second last to third over the course of the race and most others had similar stories.
Thats enough for now - see you back on the water this weekend.
14 December, 2009 : The final race of 2009 was held in moderate NE conditions. For the long course monohulls we had the traditional round the lake race and the short course fleet sailed its normal Olympic style course. The race was also CC4.
A good fleet started for the round the lake course with all the regulars plus Sam Cronin in a 505 who will probably be joining the fleet on a regular basis. As seems usual, Mr Freeze and Maniac were separated by only a boat length for the first half of the course with Blowflies (505) and Crews Control close behind. By the time we got to Oak Flats, confusion had set in as to which marks we were heading for and the positions changed round considerably with Wookie leading comfortably. At the finish, Crews Control won on yardstick followed by Mr Freeze and Mainiac with Crews Control narrowly beating Pleasure and Pain on handicap.
Due to the Flying Ants being packed ready for their trip to WA, there was a reduced fleet sailing the short course. Missguided Missile won the race on Yardstick followed by his dad on Intensity.
Up to date progress results are available on the club website for pointscore and club championship for both monohull fleets.
As we head in to the Christmas holiday period I would like to wish all our sailors a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. In addition to the festive season wishes, we also have some of our monohulls participating in national titles - good luck to all !
The Sharpie nationals are being held in Sandy Bay, Tasmania hosted by the Sandy Bay Sailing Club from 28/12 through to 6/1 with three club representatives participating - Mr Freeze (Todd, Hayden and Brad), Mainiac (Ian, Alex and Dylan) and Rocket Fuels (skippered by Dean). I will try to get hold of the results as the series progresses and update the website.
The Flying Ant nationals are being held on the Swan River, Western Australia hosted by the East Freemantle Yacht Club from 27/12 to 3/1 with Itchy and Scratchy (Nick and Lachlan) representing our club. I will also try to get hold of these results as they are updated for our website.
11 December, 2009 : As part of the National Titles for the Sharpies, each state nominates 6 boats to represent the state in a teams trophy. The NSW team was announced yesterday with three PKSC boats being selected - Mr Freeze, Mainiac and Rocket Fuels.
7 December, 2009 : We had a good fleet of monohulls for the long course on Saturday - only really Road Kill missing as they were on duty. Good to see Kevin back after his pushbike accident. The only boat fronting for the short course was the Spiral as all the Flying Ants were on a training camp and the NS sailors were helping !!
From the start, Mr Freeze and Mainiac had a really close race with the lead swapping many times. The conditions were much more suited to the lighter crew on Mainiac than the last few weeks and they showed some very good speed. Unfortunately their boom vang broke with one lap to go and one repairs were completed Mr Freeze had taken the lead and was too far in front to be challenged. Pleasure and Pain did not enjoy the lighter conditions, and Wookie and the 29er finished well. Handicap was taken out by Mainiac.
1 December, 2009 : The Kembla Klassic was a real test for all the boats who participated - including a good Sharpie fleet who fronted for what doubled as the first three heats of their state titles. The event was very well organised as usual and most enjoyable - thanks to all those who gave up their sailing to run things.
PKSC had all ours Sharpies, Flying Ants and NS14s on the water representing the club. In the Flying Ants, it seemed to be a testing time for crews with Lachlan ending up in hospital after getting his finger caught in the spinnaker block, then chipping a tooth and hitting his head. Bryn was left behind after a capsize and was returned to Kamikaze by rescue boat. There was lots of attrition in the short course fleet, Missguided Missile sailed consistently to end up second overall and Kamikaze third.
The Sharpies had an interesting series with the standout being Mr Freeze who handled the conditions well and won all four races convincingly. If they sail upwind in the Nationals the way the did last weekend then they will certainly be pushing for a win in anything over 12-15 knots - I am not sure if anyone will get close to them. The competition for second place was more closely fought with Smoke, Mainiac, Rocket Fuels and Proud Aussie all very close. Some of us are hoping for more moderate winds at the nationals !!
Pleasure & Pain had lots of pain with a little please in the last race - struggling with fitness and gear breakages in the early heats to come through and perform very well in the last race. Road Kill used the series as a learning event - it was really a bit windy for them in their early stages of learning to sail a Sharpie.
After the first weekend of State Titles, Mr Freeze is leading with a perfect score and Mainiac is coming third.
26 November, 2009 : Last weekend the club’s sharpies attended the Canberra dinghy championships at YMCA sailing club. The event was well attended with sharpies, NS 14s, lasers, tasars, a large contingent of spirals, 2.4 metre 12 metre boats, small versions of America Cup boats, optimists and access dinghies. The race management was excellent and the friendly atmosphere was every bit as good as ours. The wind was a challenge, light and from many directions on Saturday and 15-25 on Sunday. The main contenders for the series were Smoke, Michael Foster from Canberra, Mr Freeze Todd, Braddo and Hayden, Mainiac with Ian and the lads and Rocket Fuels skippered by Dean with the Canberra boys. On Saturday we had Working Class Man skippered by Chris Ablett and Five Skippered by John Fisher. These guys kept the fleet honest, especially Chris Ablett who is known for his performance in light airs. Racing was close for all but the first race when Ian cleared out but then the wind dropped away and racing was adjourned to after lunch. The afternoon was fluky but the breeze kept in. Sunday saw the breeze come in gusting between 15 to 25 knots for short periods. Again racing was close between the PKSC boats and Smoke from Canberra. After 4 races we had 4 different winners. Final results 1st Smoke, 2nd Mr Freeze, 3rd Mainiac and 4th Rocket Fuels. Saturday night saw the sharpies sailors carry on in the same manner as at the nationals, good company, good stories, lots of lies and a few beers saw us finally retire late in the evening. After this weekend we all know where Hayden should and shouldn’t go and we all marvelled at Mr Freeze’s regatta ute, regatta tools, regatta spares, regatta sleeping gear and regatta people. Great boat, great people = great weekend. PS - I now appreciate NE sea breezes but the upside is it was also a pleasant 25 degrees all day Sunday. Paul Leaudais
25 November, 2009 : Last weekend our club held the flying ant state titles. The wind forecast was supposed to be strong but unfortunately it was light for most of the races. The last race on Sunday was the strongest so we had good spinnaker rides and a close race but the wind died off in the last leg. Over all it was a good weekend and two of the Port Kembla boats went well with 4ths and 5ths. (from John R)
16 November, 2009 : It looked as though we were going to have a really good black northeaster for the race on Saturday - some really great kite rides for the Sharpies and Flying Ant on the way to the start. During the race the wind eased somewhat though and turned northerly but it was still a really nice day to be on the water. Unfortunately the wind took its toll with the Spiral and NS14 withdrawing due to the conditions.
A good fleet of Sharpies was in attendance, but only one Flying Ant as the others were on a training camp. The standard of Sharpie racing is improving every week with all boats having very similar boatspeed in the medium breezes. Most races are being decided on tactics and mistakes which is a good way to be. Mr Freeze led the fleet home from Mainiac, Rocket Fuels and Please & Pain. Only a few minutes separated the fleet.
Next weekend the Sharpies will be sailing in the ACT Championships and the Flying Ants will be at PKSC and IYC for their next weekend of State Titles. Good luck to all.
As I will be at Canberra I will see you back at PKSC for the Kembla Klassic the following weekend.
8 November, 2009 : The forecast told us it was going to be wet this weekend but it turned out to be a beautiful day with a nice E/NE breeze blowing all day. In the morning we had some training for the Flying Ants which went well. Plenty of video taken to show to the sailors in the future. What was very pleasing is all of the boats are sailing very well with only some fine tuning required.
Talking of fine tuning, we have been searching for upwing speed on our Sharpie so far this season - which has been very frustrating as we were very fast at the end of last season. I found the problem during the week and its a good lesson - when you buy a good second hand boat don't assume its well set up !! In our case it was spreader angles which I should have checked but hadn't.
The afternoon race saw the whole short course fleet on the water for the first time this season with four Flying Ants and two NS14s. The long course had three Sharpies with a couple of the regulars away. Also Kevin Linnet had a bike accident during the week and couldn't sail the I14 - hope you are better quickly Kevin !!
Mr Freeze and Mainiac had a great battle with the lead swapping many times. The final result was only decided approaching the top mark for the last time with Mr Freeze picking the shifts better and going on to win narrowly from Mainiac. Rocket Fuels had a solid race with good speed - only losing out from a bad windshift on the first work. Itchy and Scratchy led the short course race from Kamikaze. Sticky Moments sailed in their first race and made it round the course well.
2 November, 2009 : Well - we have waited for a while for a good northeaster but we certainly got one on Saturday. By the time the race started the wind was about 15-20 knots with occasional stronger gusts. A good fleet turned out, however Road Kill had some problems on the way to the start and withdrew. In the Sharpies, Mr Freeze continued with their impressive early season upwind performance and led from the start to finish. After some wild kite rides, Pleasure and Pain had a spectacular swim leaving Mainiac a clear second. In the Flying Ants, John on Kamikaze had been looking forward to a strong breeze all season and was able to pull away from the others to finish a clear first. Well done to the lightweights on Missguided Missile in making it round the course without too many problems.
Please remember that next Saturday is Club Championship 3 - moved from later in the month due to clashing association events.
29 October, 2009 : As mentioned previously we will have to move CC3 due to conflicting association regattas. There are no days available where we are not duty class so we will have to schedule on one of those. The boat on duty gets "best 4" average points. CC3 will be held on November 7 unless there are objections to me this weekend.
28 October, 2009 : A good day with light breeze and full of holes from east. In the Sharpie fleet we had Dean Souter skippering Rocket Fuels from Canberra which he will be sailing in the Tasmania nationals - making up the numbers as Mainiac was absent. Hopefully we can have all on the water soon ! Dean and the Canberra boys on Rocket Fuel led from the start. Mr Freeze went after them hard staying intouch all race but Deano come out on top in the end. The two guys from Canberra went home very happy. Haydo a close second. Pleasure & Pain crashed and burned. Lots of tuning to do. Frank on Road Kill was 4th with big smile on his face, not at work, not on PC - they are improving fast.
4 Ants sailed including Amie and Adam Middleton. Richard Cook sailed on his spiral had a good day.
Thanks to Paul for the update
This Saturday is the monohull CC2. CC3 will be rescheduled soon as it clashes with the FA states and ACT championships.
20 October, 2009 : We will be running an advanced training session for the Flying Ant sailors on the morning of 7 November. Aim is to teach how to set sails and other tuning issues for various conditions. We will have a video camera on the water as well. Although this is aimed at the club Flying Ants any sailor at the club is welcome to participate. Please contact Ian Richardson for details
19 October, 2009 : The Flying Ants had their first State Titles weekend at Port Hunter and Toronto sailing clubs. Itchy and Scratchy (Nick and Lachlan), Missguided Missile (Dante and Lachlan) and Kamikaze (John and Bryn) represented the club and had some amazing results. At Port Hunter on Saturday Itchy and Scratchy led for much of the states heat but got overtaken when they sailed into a lull and dropped back to fifth. They sailed back through to take second place with Missguided Missile 5th in their first regatta and Kamikaze 7th. Sunday saw a light breeze with Missguided Missile sailing from the back half of the fleet through to second only to have Lachlan fall overboard. Everyone thought this was the end of their challenge but this was not the case - they once again sailed through the fleet to grab 2nd on the line - well done boys ! Itchy and Scratchy finished 5th and Kamikaze 7th again. A great weekend for our Flying Ants !
10 October, 2009 : A nice S-SE breeze was blowing for the first heat of the Club Championship with an excellent fleet of boats on the water. In the long course, Mainiac got off to a good start followed by Mr Freeze and Wookie with Pleasure & Pain close behind. After swapping tacks up the first work Mr Freeze picked the shifts better and lead round the first mark - going on to win the race from Mainiac and Pleasure & Pain on yardstick - with Pleasure & Pain taking out the PBH honours. It looks as though Mr Freeze will be the boat to beat for the Sharpie trophy this year. The short course saw Itchy and Scratchy continue its good early season form to take both yardstick and PBH wins.
6 October, 2009 : The NSW Youth Championships were on over the long weekend at Georges River. Itchy and Scratchy performed very well to finish 6th in the Intermediate Double fleet - there were 34 boats participating. Well done Nick and Lachlan !
29 September, 2009 : The resail of Club Championship heat 1 will be on 10 October
26 September, 2009 : Racing today was called off - the Club Championship heat will be rescheduled shortly.
19 September, 2009 : The breeze today looked as though it was going to really blow - it was probably about 20 knots NE at the start. During the race, though, it did ease and started to swing between NE and NW. On the long course Road Kill found the conditions difficult and did not finish. Once again Mr Freeze and Mainiac had a good race with windshifts and capsizes causing the lead to change at least 5 times. In the end Mr Freeze picked the shifts on the last work better and took line honours. The difference on PBH was only one second. On the short course Itchy and Scratchy showed that they are the boat to beat this season by taking line honours and PBH.
13 September, 2009 : We had a great first day of the season with about half the fleet sailing. A great battle in the sharpies with Mr Freeze and Mainiac swapping the lead during the whole race including an intense tacking duel on the last work. Mr Freeze chose the right path on the last reach and managed to grab the lead at the last mark - winning by 17 seconds. Road Kill performed well in its first full race under new ownership - well done Frank. We also had two new NS14s - Sticky Moments and Intensity - the latter being a well kept secret - great to see you on the water Dino ! The NS14s will be sailing the short course this season. Itchy and Scratchy sailed well to take the win on the short course.
7 September, 2009 : Sailing starts this weekend - hooray !!
18 August, 2009 : At the end of last season we agreed that the monohull class would meet to confirm courses and handicapping for this season. Could all monohull sailors please attend a meeting prior to the briefing for the first race on 12 September to finalise what we are doing ?
17 August, 2009 : The last IYC winter race was held on Sunday with 4 PKSC boats participating. Of note was the first outing of Frank and his new crew on Road Kill - they sailed really well although a couple of swims slowed things down. We had president Paul sailing with us as forward hand on Mainiac - in one 15-20 knot gust he was heard to say "now I know there is a god" !! We are all now looking forward to the start of the season.
27 July, 2009 : We had 3 Sharpies and 2 Flying Ants at the winter race on Sunday - wind was very fickle - hopefully there will be more wind at the next one which is scheduled on 16 August. Richard Hipsley crewed with us on the Sharpie - its apparently 28 years since he last set foot on one !
17 July, 2009 : From what I hear there will be a few Canberra boats coming down for the next IYC winter race. We should also have a few more of our club boats sailing. Its on 26th July with a start time of 12:30
10 July, 2009 : The Notice of Race and the Entry Form for the Sharpie Nationals in Tasmania have now been published
7 July, 2009 : The sailing calendar for the NSW Flying Ant association has now been published
25 June, 2009 : For those looking for Sharpies for next season there is an updated listing of boats for sale here
20 June, 2009 : Sharpie sailor Hayden Sellers had some great news on Thursday - the arrival of twins - a boy and a girl. Both children and mum are doing well. Congratulations to the Sellers family !
19 June, 2009 : The fleet for 2009-10 season is looking strong. The buildup of the Sharpie fleet continues with 4-5 boats expected to be on the water at the start of the season. The senior category will also have International 14s, MG14s, Finns and 29ers. The junior fleet at this stage will have Flying Ants and NS14. Remember, all monohull classes are welcome !
5 June, 2009 : A number of boats from our monohull fleet participated in the first IYC winter race at the end of May - why not join us for the next one to keep your skills honed ? Future dates are 28 June, 26 July and 16 August
The forecast for Sunday was 20-30 knots - looked like it was going to come in and the first race was actually delayed by half an hour. However what we got was a very pleasant 5-15 knot SE breeze with a huge swell. The racing was very close amongst the top boats with 5-6 boats within a minute of each other in both races. Mr Freeze had a 4th and 1st and Mainiac two 3rds. Overall in the states Mr Freeze came 2nd and Mainac was equal 3rd on points but given 4th overall on countback.
Overall this was the end of a really good season for the PKSC Sharpie fleet. While Mr Freeze missed out on the states win, Todd, Hayden and Brad should be very proud of the achievements during the year. Next season will be very competitive and I am expecting that all the PKSC Sharpies will be well up in the results !
20 April, 2010 : For the final race of the season we had a pretty good turnout in the monohull fleet. The forecast was for 10-15 knots but we would be lucky to have got half that.
With the pointscore still up for grabs, Mainiac had to beat Mr Freeze to be in with a chance. However, Mr Freeze picked the winshifts well on the first work and led comfortably for the rest of the race on the long course. Mainiac and Pleasure & Pain battled for second place for the first couple of laps after which Mainiac went on to take second. Pleasure & Pain seem to have fixed their light weather speed and should be very competitive next season. Congratulations to Todd, Brad and Hayden on Mr Freeze who won both the Club Championship and the Pointscore for the season.
The short course saw an interesting development. Itchy & Scratchy were leading the Club Championship by one point going in to the last heat from Missguided Missile. The assumption was that whoever won the race would take out the overall. However, Dantes dad Dino had other thoughts and sailed his best race so far on the MG winning the race on yardstick. Missguided Missile came second and Itchy & Scratchy third. This left points equal overall. When looking at countback all results were also equal so after reading the rulebook again the final method of countback is who got the best result in the final heat. Congratulations to Dante and Lachlan on winning the Club Championship in their first full season together on the Flying Ant ! Congratulations also got to Nicholas and Lachlan on Itchy & Scratchy who won the Pointscore.
Next weekend the Sharpies will be sailing the last three heats of the State Championships with Mr Freeze in with a chance of taking out the title. Good luck guys !
I hope to see all monohull sailors at the presentation night on 22 May - if you have not already purchased your tickets please do so quickly.
15 April, 2010 : Dylan sent in this report of the CHS
The CHS this year was great , Nick, Alex and I all sailed on ‘Road Kill’ (sharpie). Thanks to Frank for lending us his boat.
Nick was skipper Alex was sheet hand and I was forehand,
We had a lot of different looks when we arrived with the sharpie. One kid asked " what does that boat do" we also had a lot of men come up to us for a chat as they talked about when they use to sail a sharpie many years ago...we were the only Sharpie in the fleet of 160 boats.
We only sailed the sharpie once together so we were hoping for lighter breeze, (which was most of the races) all our races we finished in the top 5 which was good considering we never sailed a sharpie together.
The last day the race started with only 5knots, we couldn’t even fly the kite there was no wind at all, we were suppose to do 3 triangle's but lucky they shortened the race and finished it with only one triangle, it took 1 hour to finish one leg..
14 April, 2010 : Three boats from PKSC attended the Combined High Schools Championship held at Belmont from Easter Tuesday to the following Saturday.
Nick Marzano, Dylan Zanin & Alex Marsano sailed Frank's Sharpie "Roadkill" It was the first time this trio had sailed together & the first time Nick had skippered a Sharpie. They had fantastic results coming 7th in their division and 6th overall out of 138 entries. As the only Sharpie in the event they were quite a center of attention.
John Richardson & Lachlan Beavan sailed on John's MG14 "Skulker" John has only owned the boat for a few weeks (previously on a Flying Ant) and also achieved great results coming 14th in their division and 25th overall.
Amelia Richardson & Kian Parkes sailed on Amelia's NS14 "Sticky Moments". These 2 have only been sailing for half a season and did incredibly well to come 16th in their division and 82nd overall.
The conditions were quite varied with 2 days of good winds 10-15 knots, one day where the race was postponed until the wind dropped to below 25 knots and 2 days that were under 5 knots. Infact on one of these "millpond" days more than half the fleet did not complete the course in the designated time.
Overall the kids had a great time (it would surprising if they didn't with 200 teenagers on mass). From a spectators viewpoint it was also very enjoyable as the Belmont 16' Club provides great facilities and there was plenty of free time to go to the beach, relax, socialise and explore the area.
I would highly recommend this event for any high school sailors. I'm sure we will be there next year....Paula (Richardson)
12 April, 2010 : The forecast had the breeze coming in at up to 15 knots but we were lucky to see 8 !! However it was a lovely day for a sail for our second last club race of the season. We were a little down on numbers as a few boats were away at the CHS regatta (see separate report). On Mainiac, we had a ring-in crew as both mine were up at Belmont - Gary from Road Kill sailed as forehand and Mitch from the juniors jumped at the chance to sail a Sharpie again.
On the long course we had a very close race after an interesting start - Mainiac had its main lowered to repair a fault with 1 minute to go and just made it to the line in time for a port tack start - which almost worked ! The first couple of laps had Mainiac and Mr Freeze within a couple of boat lengths of each other, closely followed by Blowflies and Pleasure & Pain. Mr Freeze eventually pulled out a small lead across the line. Pleasure & Pain sailed their best light weather race to date to finish first on PBH, followed by Mainiac and Mr Freeze.
Intensity sailed with a somewhat larger crew than usual (Kurt) on the short course and had their first win on PBH, followed by Dante on Missguided Missile who had his sister Jacina sailing with him for the day. Before the race Dante was asked if he was going to be nice to his sister - his response was "I will treat her as my crew - not as my sister" - good answer Dante !
This Saturday is the last club race of the season - lets get everyone out on the water for this one ! Its also the last heat of the Club Championship.
Don't forget to pay for the presentation night when you are at the club on Saturday - would be great to have a full turnout of mono sailors there.
8 April, 2010 : A number of our boats are sailing in the Combined High Schools Championship at Belmont this week. Nick, Alex and Dylan on Road Kill, John and Lachie on Skulker and Kian and Amelia on Sticky Moments. Road Kill and Sticky Moments went well in the invitation race (Skulker didn't take part as his crew had not arrived), however the first heat was a bit of a disaster with the breeze dropping of to nothing after the faster classes had finished. Well over half the fleet did not finish which was a bit sad for those sailing slower classes. Road Kill did manage to finish in the time limit which was great. I don't think any MG14s made it in time - they are the slowest class in Div 1 which sails quite a long course.
See the mono results page for updates - I have put a link to the results on there.
31 March, 2010 : A very good fleet of monos turned up to race again last Saturday. The forecast was for very shifty breeze but we ended up with a consistent 15 knot southeaster.
Mr Freeze and Mainiac pulled out a good lead up the first work with the third boat round the mark being John and Bryn in their new MG Skulker. Pleasure & Pain had a few issues including filling up with water near the top mark - a race to forget for them. After a race long duel, Mr Freeze opened up a bit of a lead over Mainiac on the last work when Mainiac tried the wrong side of the reef - it didn't work ! Next across the line was Blowflies who sailed a consistent race.
On the short course, Spruce Moose led the field home on line honours and also took out PBH. Intensity and Skuler had a close race - with Skulker capsizing a couple of times. Itchy and Scratchy had a good race coming second on PBH and Sticky Moments had their best race so far coming 3rd on PBH.
24 March, 2010 : I have been giving some thought to the way the current club pointscore works - and if there is a better way of attracting new sailors to the club during each season. What happens at the moment is that if one of our juniors becomes proficient enough to sail with the open monos for the second half of the season, or if we get a new sailor at that time, its already too late for them to effectively compete for anything !
I would like to propose that we split the pointscore for the monos next season and have Pointscore A covering all heats prior to Christmas and Pointscore B covering those in the second half - which would mean about 13 heats each and probably drop 3. We would still have the overall pointscore covering all which is usually 26 heats drop 6. There is the obvious issue of having to allocate more prizes - I would certainly be willing to help sponsor additional cost in the first season
So if everyone was keen on this idea and the one already raised about combining the two current fleets into one pointscore we would have all monos competing for the overall PS as well as PSA and PSB.
Any comments to Ian as soon as possible please.
22 March, 2010 : A number of new boats sailed in the monohull fleet on Saturday - John had his new MG14 and there were two International Canoes which are pretty way-out looking machines - and very fast too.
The Junior Camp was on over the weekend - with the juniors sailing on some of the larger boats in the afternoon race. Emmet sailed on Pleasure and Pain - he looked to be a very busy boy giving the three normal crew a bit of a rest ! Jared and Mitchell sailed on Mainiac and had a great time. We also had Hugh standing in as forward hand.
The breeze was light for the round the lake race. The Internaional Canoes seem to have some difficulty staying upright in those conditions - they are probably easier to sail as the breeze increases - sort of like the hare and tortoise as when they were upright they are very fast.
For the long course fleet the programmed pointscore race for the day was abandoned due to some boats assisting with the junior camp
We have a growing fleet of monohulls - it appears that the Canoes may sail semi-regularly which is great. For next season we are looking at ways of combining the pointscore into one fleet even though we have the two lengths of courses so we could have 15+ boats competing for pointscore honours. The Championship at this stage would still be separated between the two course lengths.
Looking at this seasons results, the Short Course Club Championship is still wide open with Missguided Missile only one point behind Itchy & Scratchy going in to the final heat. The Pointscores for both Long and Short course are very close - with two points separating Mr Freeze and Mainiac for the long course and three boats still in with a chance on the short course - Itchy & Scratchy, Missguided Missile and Kamikaze/Skulker. The last three races should be very exciting.
16 March, 2010 : Last Saturday was another good breeze - as seems to be usual this season - I can't recall too many days without nice sailing conditions. A good fleet of 11 boats started in a 10 knot S-SE breeze which freshened occasionally to 15 knots.
On the long course Mainiac got away to a fast start and led comfortably at the first mark. Mr Freeze, Pleasure & Pain and Blowflies (505) rounded together and had a very close battle for the first couple of laps. On the third work with the breeze freshening slightly, Mr Freeze changed gears and closed the gap to Mainiac setting the scene for tacking duels both upwind and downwind on the last lap - with the final gap at the finish 24 seconds. It was certainly fun and all came in with smiles as usual.
The short course saw Intensity (NS14) getting away to an early lead with a larger forward hand than usual helping the boat speed. A close battle for the Flying Ants saw Missguided Missile come through to win both the CC and PS events. Sticky Moments (NS14) sailed a great race - probably their best yet - they are learning fast and will be featuring in the placings soon !
One of our juniors decided to race the club Laser - however he capsized before the start and couldn't right it by himself. One of my crew jumped overboard and helped getting it going again. Its great to see the juniors getting involved in the afternoon racing - but as a class we need to ensure they have enough people on board to be safe. An extra hand would have made all the difference.
Don't forget this Saturday is the junior camp so be prepared to take on an extra crew for the afternoon race. Brad will be allocating people to the various boats.
The presentation night is coming up on 22 May - don't forget to buy your tickets at the club.
11 March, 2010 : Well what a wonderfully perfect breeze for a great afternoon of sailing.
The winds were a steady and moderate 10-15 knots. Some of the juniors were enjoying the sun on land too much and needed to get away a little earlier to make the start in time. Next week perhaps. Or maybe they were giving the rest of the fleet a fighting chance.
This week the crack crew of Roadkill made way for a Maniacal crew that were certainly up to the task of surviving a sail with the Roadkill skipper.
Roadkill was gleefully keeping up to Mr Freeze until the Seller / Curry combo put it in gear at the second work. Intensity was having a great race with Jacina smilling all the way on trapeze with her dad working hard to keep the boat flat - that girl of his is a feather weight!
In the junior race Itchy & Scratchy had an awful start - they did get there in the end, but for the rest of the race Misguided Missile was the boat to beat and it was not until the second last mark that Itchy redeemed it's start and passed them for a tight reach to the X.
A most enjoyable sail for all and as usual great sports in the mono classes. (report by Frank Marzano)
3 March, 2010 : Another really fun northeaster on Saturday - and a large fleet of monohulls left the club for the start including the full complement of Sharpies. Unfortunately on the way out on a really fast spinnaker ride, Frank decided to fall off Road Kill. The crew didn't notice for a while (what does that say ?) - and the boat kept sailing along. After a while Gary looked round and saw they had no skipper ! They capsized and got the mast very firmly stuck in the mud - while Frank was so far away a TY picked him up and delivered him back to the boat. What fun we have out sailing. Not to be outdone, apparently Dean decided to fall off the 420 which also continued to sail for a while.
The actual racing was great with some really good rides. In the short course, Itchy and Scratchy had a near perfect race followed by Kamikaze. Missguided Missile are now also handling the conditions well coming in third. Jonathan Liddle skippered his new Flying Ant and found it more challenging than crewing with a few swims. Dino on Intensity took an extra crew out to help with weight, and Sticky Moments got stuck in the mud and had to be towed home. All had a great time though - although I will have to look through the sails for Sticky Moments to find another jib as it didn't survive the day.
On the long course we had a really good battle between the Sharpies. Pleasure and Pain were back on the water after an extended Christmas break and were sailing really quickly. We had the first opportunity to try our new mast in stronger breeze - and it has certainly made a huge difference - we were not really losing much to Mr Freeze upwind which in those conditions is a dramatic improvement. Mr Freeze was trying out our old heavier mast - and it looked as though their main was working much better than before. The lead changed a few times but we managed to capsize for the second week in a row and lost touch with Mr Freeze on the last triangle - just holding off the fast finishing Pleasure and Pain. There were smiles all round after the race so it must have been a good day.
The monohulls have Club Championship races for the next two Saturdays. Unfortunately I will be away this week so I hope everyone has a great days sailing.
24 February, 2010 : We had a really great northeaster for the club race last Saturday - pity so many boats were away at regattas (and weddings and rescue boat duty !). Three boats started - two Sharpies and an NS. Sticky Moments made it round the course which was quite an achievement for them given the strength of the wind and their experience levels - well done Kian and Amelia.
We had a ring-in crew on my boat - with Ben Holloway as forward and Mitchell Gulic from the juniors as sheet. Ben has sailed all his life skippering F11, VS, B14, 49er, etc and loved the Sharpie although I think he was rather tired after the race. Mitchell really enjoyed himself but couldn't believe how wet we got from the spray ! We had a couple of swims which was a novelty - pays to uncleat jibs before going about. It certainly makes me appreciate how good my normal crew is when I have someone else on board who is not familiar with the boat.
This weekend we should have most of our fleet back - looking forward to some really good racing.
Please note that the Club Championship that was to have been sailed on 20/3 has been brought forward to 13/3 to allow for the junior camp on the 20th. We would like a full turnout of monohulls on the 20th as we will all take out an extra crew member from the juniors for our afternoon race.
16 February, 2010 : I understand there was not really enough breeze to hold a race at PKSC last Saturday - it wasn't much better on the harbour where we were sailing in the Sharpie states. We had three races - one on Saturday and two on Sunday.
In the Saturday race, Smoke (Canberra), Mr Freeze, Mainiac and Rocket Fuels had a race long battle for the lead. Unfortunately for us the breeze dropped to nothing on the last run and we were overtaken by a number of boats. Smoke won followed by Mr Freeze and a group of four boats then finished within about 15 seconds - Rocket Fuels 3rd and us 6th.
On Sunday we pulled out a sizeable lead in the first race but suffered a windshift on the third work to be overtaken by Smoke and Mr Freeze - Smoke winning by about 20 seconds from Mr Freeze with us about another 10 seconds further back. Rocket Fuels finished 5th in that race. In the last race, we were over at the start and spent the whole race trying to catch up. Smoke won relatively easily with Mr Freeze sailing through the next group of boats to finish second again. Rocket Fuels finished a good weekend in third (Dean I really think you need a Sharpie for next season) with us managing to catch up to fifth.
Overall it was a hot, humid and light weekend - but still good fun with very close racing. Going in to the final races, Mr Freeze is still hanging on to a narrow lead overall with Smoke second and Mainiac and Rocket Fuels equal third. After drops the series is still open to about 5 boats although most likely either Mr Freeze or Smoke will take out the title barring really bad results.
10 February, 2010 : Not much to report this week locally - most of the mono sailors were away at various regattas the remainder I think decided they may get wet if they came down ! We were on rescue boat duty - wishing we were sailing because it turned out to be a beautiful breeze for the cats who turned up !
Away from the club, the main monohull activity was the last weekend of Flying Ant state titles. All our boats performed well with all showing great speed - they have all improved so much. Itchy & Scratchy managed a second place in the last heat which was great - and Missguided Missile continue to show impressive speed in the right conditions.
Overall the club did well with Ichty & Scratchy 4th, Missguided Missile 5th and Kamikaze 6th. Kamikaze also won the St George trophy for the morning races for the second year. Well done all of you !
Some of the Sharpie sailors went back to Trailer Yachts for the weekend with Todd and crew equal first in the Sussex regatta.
The Sharpies will be away this weekend at the Balmoral heats of the state titles. Currently Mr Freeze is leading comfortably and Mainiac is in third place.
1 February, 2010 : The forecast for Saturday was for fresh SE breeze easing to about 15 knots in the afternoon. What we actually got was a drifter at the start followed by a 5 knot E/SE which made the course a bit of a follow-the-leader event - not what we were looking forward to for the 5th heat of the Club Championship. Oh well, we get what we get and all had to put up with the same conditions.
From the start in about 2 knots, Road Kill initially showed great speed and looked as though they may get the lead as the wind shifted all over the place. Mainiac was trying for some breeze further to the west. The Flying Ants were picking the breeze as well and were not far off the initial pace. Wookie the I14 decided to swim and wash the boat !
About 10 minutes after the start a 5 knot southeaster came across the lake - there was much frantic repositioning to try to get the breeze first. Mainiac pulled out a good lead which they held to the finish. Road Kill held off Mr Freeze and Wookie for the first lap. In the end the long course results had Mainiac from Mr Freeze and Wookie on Yardstick and Mainiac from Road Kill and Mr Freeze on handicap.
The short course saw a race long battle between the Flying Ants. Intensity (NS14) took line honours. Missguided Missile, Kamikaze and Itchy & Scratchy finished first, second and third on both yardstick and handicap.
Next Saturday the monhull fleet will be somewhat reduced with many sailors going to the TY regatta at Sussex and the Flying Ants participating in their state titles. Good luck to all in these away events.
23 January, 2010 : Due to the race on Saturday 23rd being abandoned, CC5 for the monohull classes will now be held next Saturday 30/1.
18 January, 2010 : Wow - what a great breeze we were handed for our first day back on the lake on Saturday - NE with gusts I would guess up to 25 knots. We had a smallish fleet turn out for racing with three boats on the long course and two on the short course.
Dean sailed his 420 and Nick the club Laser on the short course - although the race ended up being only one boat as the Laser didn't make it to the start. Next time that boat is to be used for afternoon racing we should ensure the sailors know how to set a laser up !
On the Long Course, Road Kill decided to check the depth of the lake before the start and took a while to get going again while Mainiac and Crews Control had a race long battle for line honours. A swim on the gybe near the bottom mark slowed Crews Control - partly compensated by a spinnaker under the boat on Mainiac ! In the end Mainiac won by a small margin.
By next Saturday most boats should be back from the holiday season so we should have a good fleet on the water.
14 January, 2010 : Well, we are all back from our various escapades over the Christmas break - with the exception of the Curry's who are taking an extended familly holiday in Tasmania. It will be good to be back on Lake Illawarra this weekend after a frustrating time in Hobart. I think most of the PKSC monohulls had mixed feelings about their results - with Dean probably being the most consistent.
The Flying Ants were held in WA with Nick and Lachie representing the club in Itchy and Scratchy. I could tell by the look on Teresa's face each day when she read the many text messages from Frank how the boys had gone. They had some excellent races as well as some they were not so happy with, but ended up with a very creditable 10th place overall and lots of good experience.
The Sharpies were held on the very pretty Derwent River in Tasmania over the same period. The breezes were mostly strong - particularly at start time - and in most races were very flukey in direction. Mr Freeze was the best performed boat overall - with excellent speed in the stronger breezes we had most of the time they were right at the top of the fleet. A couple of not so good races had them in sixth place going into the last heat with an outside chance of getting 5th - but gear breakage put paid to that and the dropped to seventh - still and excellent result to build on in such a high quality fleet. Rocket Fuels sailed very consistently throughout the series and only missed out on the Junior championship on countback. On Maniac we struggled in the stronger breezes off the start and were probably the most inconsistent boat from PKSC with our worst results being in the midrange wind strengths with big chop. Our best result was in 5 knot breeze where we were fighting for the lead most of the race - more of those conditions would have been great. We also managed the most damage with a collision opening up the back corner of the boat - luckily just before one of the lay days.
Overall it was a weird series - even the Tassie people said some days were the most changeable they had seen. If you happened to be on the right side of the course in some races you could take advantage of swings of up to 180 degrees in wind direction. The last heat was probably the worst in this regard - I know on our boat we ranged from second last to third over the course of the race and most others had similar stories.
Thats enough for now - see you back on the water this weekend.
14 December, 2009 : The final race of 2009 was held in moderate NE conditions. For the long course monohulls we had the traditional round the lake race and the short course fleet sailed its normal Olympic style course. The race was also CC4.
A good fleet started for the round the lake course with all the regulars plus Sam Cronin in a 505 who will probably be joining the fleet on a regular basis. As seems usual, Mr Freeze and Maniac were separated by only a boat length for the first half of the course with Blowflies (505) and Crews Control close behind. By the time we got to Oak Flats, confusion had set in as to which marks we were heading for and the positions changed round considerably with Wookie leading comfortably. At the finish, Crews Control won on yardstick followed by Mr Freeze and Mainiac with Crews Control narrowly beating Pleasure and Pain on handicap.
Due to the Flying Ants being packed ready for their trip to WA, there was a reduced fleet sailing the short course. Missguided Missile won the race on Yardstick followed by his dad on Intensity.
Up to date progress results are available on the club website for pointscore and club championship for both monohull fleets.
As we head in to the Christmas holiday period I would like to wish all our sailors a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. In addition to the festive season wishes, we also have some of our monohulls participating in national titles - good luck to all !
The Sharpie nationals are being held in Sandy Bay, Tasmania hosted by the Sandy Bay Sailing Club from 28/12 through to 6/1 with three club representatives participating - Mr Freeze (Todd, Hayden and Brad), Mainiac (Ian, Alex and Dylan) and Rocket Fuels (skippered by Dean). I will try to get hold of the results as the series progresses and update the website.
The Flying Ant nationals are being held on the Swan River, Western Australia hosted by the East Freemantle Yacht Club from 27/12 to 3/1 with Itchy and Scratchy (Nick and Lachlan) representing our club. I will also try to get hold of these results as they are updated for our website.
11 December, 2009 : As part of the National Titles for the Sharpies, each state nominates 6 boats to represent the state in a teams trophy. The NSW team was announced yesterday with three PKSC boats being selected - Mr Freeze, Mainiac and Rocket Fuels.
7 December, 2009 : We had a good fleet of monohulls for the long course on Saturday - only really Road Kill missing as they were on duty. Good to see Kevin back after his pushbike accident. The only boat fronting for the short course was the Spiral as all the Flying Ants were on a training camp and the NS sailors were helping !!
From the start, Mr Freeze and Mainiac had a really close race with the lead swapping many times. The conditions were much more suited to the lighter crew on Mainiac than the last few weeks and they showed some very good speed. Unfortunately their boom vang broke with one lap to go and one repairs were completed Mr Freeze had taken the lead and was too far in front to be challenged. Pleasure and Pain did not enjoy the lighter conditions, and Wookie and the 29er finished well. Handicap was taken out by Mainiac.
1 December, 2009 : The Kembla Klassic was a real test for all the boats who participated - including a good Sharpie fleet who fronted for what doubled as the first three heats of their state titles. The event was very well organised as usual and most enjoyable - thanks to all those who gave up their sailing to run things.
PKSC had all ours Sharpies, Flying Ants and NS14s on the water representing the club. In the Flying Ants, it seemed to be a testing time for crews with Lachlan ending up in hospital after getting his finger caught in the spinnaker block, then chipping a tooth and hitting his head. Bryn was left behind after a capsize and was returned to Kamikaze by rescue boat. There was lots of attrition in the short course fleet, Missguided Missile sailed consistently to end up second overall and Kamikaze third.
The Sharpies had an interesting series with the standout being Mr Freeze who handled the conditions well and won all four races convincingly. If they sail upwind in the Nationals the way the did last weekend then they will certainly be pushing for a win in anything over 12-15 knots - I am not sure if anyone will get close to them. The competition for second place was more closely fought with Smoke, Mainiac, Rocket Fuels and Proud Aussie all very close. Some of us are hoping for more moderate winds at the nationals !!
Pleasure & Pain had lots of pain with a little please in the last race - struggling with fitness and gear breakages in the early heats to come through and perform very well in the last race. Road Kill used the series as a learning event - it was really a bit windy for them in their early stages of learning to sail a Sharpie.
After the first weekend of State Titles, Mr Freeze is leading with a perfect score and Mainiac is coming third.
26 November, 2009 : Last weekend the club’s sharpies attended the Canberra dinghy championships at YMCA sailing club. The event was well attended with sharpies, NS 14s, lasers, tasars, a large contingent of spirals, 2.4 metre 12 metre boats, small versions of America Cup boats, optimists and access dinghies. The race management was excellent and the friendly atmosphere was every bit as good as ours. The wind was a challenge, light and from many directions on Saturday and 15-25 on Sunday. The main contenders for the series were Smoke, Michael Foster from Canberra, Mr Freeze Todd, Braddo and Hayden, Mainiac with Ian and the lads and Rocket Fuels skippered by Dean with the Canberra boys. On Saturday we had Working Class Man skippered by Chris Ablett and Five Skippered by John Fisher. These guys kept the fleet honest, especially Chris Ablett who is known for his performance in light airs. Racing was close for all but the first race when Ian cleared out but then the wind dropped away and racing was adjourned to after lunch. The afternoon was fluky but the breeze kept in. Sunday saw the breeze come in gusting between 15 to 25 knots for short periods. Again racing was close between the PKSC boats and Smoke from Canberra. After 4 races we had 4 different winners. Final results 1st Smoke, 2nd Mr Freeze, 3rd Mainiac and 4th Rocket Fuels. Saturday night saw the sharpies sailors carry on in the same manner as at the nationals, good company, good stories, lots of lies and a few beers saw us finally retire late in the evening. After this weekend we all know where Hayden should and shouldn’t go and we all marvelled at Mr Freeze’s regatta ute, regatta tools, regatta spares, regatta sleeping gear and regatta people. Great boat, great people = great weekend. PS - I now appreciate NE sea breezes but the upside is it was also a pleasant 25 degrees all day Sunday. Paul Leaudais
25 November, 2009 : Last weekend our club held the flying ant state titles. The wind forecast was supposed to be strong but unfortunately it was light for most of the races. The last race on Sunday was the strongest so we had good spinnaker rides and a close race but the wind died off in the last leg. Over all it was a good weekend and two of the Port Kembla boats went well with 4ths and 5ths. (from John R)
16 November, 2009 : It looked as though we were going to have a really good black northeaster for the race on Saturday - some really great kite rides for the Sharpies and Flying Ant on the way to the start. During the race the wind eased somewhat though and turned northerly but it was still a really nice day to be on the water. Unfortunately the wind took its toll with the Spiral and NS14 withdrawing due to the conditions.
A good fleet of Sharpies was in attendance, but only one Flying Ant as the others were on a training camp. The standard of Sharpie racing is improving every week with all boats having very similar boatspeed in the medium breezes. Most races are being decided on tactics and mistakes which is a good way to be. Mr Freeze led the fleet home from Mainiac, Rocket Fuels and Please & Pain. Only a few minutes separated the fleet.
Next weekend the Sharpies will be sailing in the ACT Championships and the Flying Ants will be at PKSC and IYC for their next weekend of State Titles. Good luck to all.
As I will be at Canberra I will see you back at PKSC for the Kembla Klassic the following weekend.
8 November, 2009 : The forecast told us it was going to be wet this weekend but it turned out to be a beautiful day with a nice E/NE breeze blowing all day. In the morning we had some training for the Flying Ants which went well. Plenty of video taken to show to the sailors in the future. What was very pleasing is all of the boats are sailing very well with only some fine tuning required.
Talking of fine tuning, we have been searching for upwing speed on our Sharpie so far this season - which has been very frustrating as we were very fast at the end of last season. I found the problem during the week and its a good lesson - when you buy a good second hand boat don't assume its well set up !! In our case it was spreader angles which I should have checked but hadn't.
The afternoon race saw the whole short course fleet on the water for the first time this season with four Flying Ants and two NS14s. The long course had three Sharpies with a couple of the regulars away. Also Kevin Linnet had a bike accident during the week and couldn't sail the I14 - hope you are better quickly Kevin !!
Mr Freeze and Mainiac had a great battle with the lead swapping many times. The final result was only decided approaching the top mark for the last time with Mr Freeze picking the shifts better and going on to win narrowly from Mainiac. Rocket Fuels had a solid race with good speed - only losing out from a bad windshift on the first work. Itchy and Scratchy led the short course race from Kamikaze. Sticky Moments sailed in their first race and made it round the course well.
2 November, 2009 : Well - we have waited for a while for a good northeaster but we certainly got one on Saturday. By the time the race started the wind was about 15-20 knots with occasional stronger gusts. A good fleet turned out, however Road Kill had some problems on the way to the start and withdrew. In the Sharpies, Mr Freeze continued with their impressive early season upwind performance and led from the start to finish. After some wild kite rides, Pleasure and Pain had a spectacular swim leaving Mainiac a clear second. In the Flying Ants, John on Kamikaze had been looking forward to a strong breeze all season and was able to pull away from the others to finish a clear first. Well done to the lightweights on Missguided Missile in making it round the course without too many problems.
Please remember that next Saturday is Club Championship 3 - moved from later in the month due to clashing association events.
29 October, 2009 : As mentioned previously we will have to move CC3 due to conflicting association regattas. There are no days available where we are not duty class so we will have to schedule on one of those. The boat on duty gets "best 4" average points. CC3 will be held on November 7 unless there are objections to me this weekend.
28 October, 2009 : A good day with light breeze and full of holes from east. In the Sharpie fleet we had Dean Souter skippering Rocket Fuels from Canberra which he will be sailing in the Tasmania nationals - making up the numbers as Mainiac was absent. Hopefully we can have all on the water soon ! Dean and the Canberra boys on Rocket Fuel led from the start. Mr Freeze went after them hard staying intouch all race but Deano come out on top in the end. The two guys from Canberra went home very happy. Haydo a close second. Pleasure & Pain crashed and burned. Lots of tuning to do. Frank on Road Kill was 4th with big smile on his face, not at work, not on PC - they are improving fast.
4 Ants sailed including Amie and Adam Middleton. Richard Cook sailed on his spiral had a good day.
Thanks to Paul for the update
This Saturday is the monohull CC2. CC3 will be rescheduled soon as it clashes with the FA states and ACT championships.
20 October, 2009 : We will be running an advanced training session for the Flying Ant sailors on the morning of 7 November. Aim is to teach how to set sails and other tuning issues for various conditions. We will have a video camera on the water as well. Although this is aimed at the club Flying Ants any sailor at the club is welcome to participate. Please contact Ian Richardson for details
19 October, 2009 : The Flying Ants had their first State Titles weekend at Port Hunter and Toronto sailing clubs. Itchy and Scratchy (Nick and Lachlan), Missguided Missile (Dante and Lachlan) and Kamikaze (John and Bryn) represented the club and had some amazing results. At Port Hunter on Saturday Itchy and Scratchy led for much of the states heat but got overtaken when they sailed into a lull and dropped back to fifth. They sailed back through to take second place with Missguided Missile 5th in their first regatta and Kamikaze 7th. Sunday saw a light breeze with Missguided Missile sailing from the back half of the fleet through to second only to have Lachlan fall overboard. Everyone thought this was the end of their challenge but this was not the case - they once again sailed through the fleet to grab 2nd on the line - well done boys ! Itchy and Scratchy finished 5th and Kamikaze 7th again. A great weekend for our Flying Ants !
10 October, 2009 : A nice S-SE breeze was blowing for the first heat of the Club Championship with an excellent fleet of boats on the water. In the long course, Mainiac got off to a good start followed by Mr Freeze and Wookie with Pleasure & Pain close behind. After swapping tacks up the first work Mr Freeze picked the shifts better and lead round the first mark - going on to win the race from Mainiac and Pleasure & Pain on yardstick - with Pleasure & Pain taking out the PBH honours. It looks as though Mr Freeze will be the boat to beat for the Sharpie trophy this year. The short course saw Itchy and Scratchy continue its good early season form to take both yardstick and PBH wins.
6 October, 2009 : The NSW Youth Championships were on over the long weekend at Georges River. Itchy and Scratchy performed very well to finish 6th in the Intermediate Double fleet - there were 34 boats participating. Well done Nick and Lachlan !
29 September, 2009 : The resail of Club Championship heat 1 will be on 10 October
26 September, 2009 : Racing today was called off - the Club Championship heat will be rescheduled shortly.
19 September, 2009 : The breeze today looked as though it was going to really blow - it was probably about 20 knots NE at the start. During the race, though, it did ease and started to swing between NE and NW. On the long course Road Kill found the conditions difficult and did not finish. Once again Mr Freeze and Mainiac had a good race with windshifts and capsizes causing the lead to change at least 5 times. In the end Mr Freeze picked the shifts on the last work better and took line honours. The difference on PBH was only one second. On the short course Itchy and Scratchy showed that they are the boat to beat this season by taking line honours and PBH.
13 September, 2009 : We had a great first day of the season with about half the fleet sailing. A great battle in the sharpies with Mr Freeze and Mainiac swapping the lead during the whole race including an intense tacking duel on the last work. Mr Freeze chose the right path on the last reach and managed to grab the lead at the last mark - winning by 17 seconds. Road Kill performed well in its first full race under new ownership - well done Frank. We also had two new NS14s - Sticky Moments and Intensity - the latter being a well kept secret - great to see you on the water Dino ! The NS14s will be sailing the short course this season. Itchy and Scratchy sailed well to take the win on the short course.
7 September, 2009 : Sailing starts this weekend - hooray !!
18 August, 2009 : At the end of last season we agreed that the monohull class would meet to confirm courses and handicapping for this season. Could all monohull sailors please attend a meeting prior to the briefing for the first race on 12 September to finalise what we are doing ?
17 August, 2009 : The last IYC winter race was held on Sunday with 4 PKSC boats participating. Of note was the first outing of Frank and his new crew on Road Kill - they sailed really well although a couple of swims slowed things down. We had president Paul sailing with us as forward hand on Mainiac - in one 15-20 knot gust he was heard to say "now I know there is a god" !! We are all now looking forward to the start of the season.
27 July, 2009 : We had 3 Sharpies and 2 Flying Ants at the winter race on Sunday - wind was very fickle - hopefully there will be more wind at the next one which is scheduled on 16 August. Richard Hipsley crewed with us on the Sharpie - its apparently 28 years since he last set foot on one !
17 July, 2009 : From what I hear there will be a few Canberra boats coming down for the next IYC winter race. We should also have a few more of our club boats sailing. Its on 26th July with a start time of 12:30
10 July, 2009 : The Notice of Race and the Entry Form for the Sharpie Nationals in Tasmania have now been published
7 July, 2009 : The sailing calendar for the NSW Flying Ant association has now been published
25 June, 2009 : For those looking for Sharpies for next season there is an updated listing of boats for sale here
20 June, 2009 : Sharpie sailor Hayden Sellers had some great news on Thursday - the arrival of twins - a boy and a girl. Both children and mum are doing well. Congratulations to the Sellers family !
19 June, 2009 : The fleet for 2009-10 season is looking strong. The buildup of the Sharpie fleet continues with 4-5 boats expected to be on the water at the start of the season. The senior category will also have International 14s, MG14s, Finns and 29ers. The junior fleet at this stage will have Flying Ants and NS14. Remember, all monohull classes are welcome !
5 June, 2009 : A number of boats from our monohull fleet participated in the first IYC winter race at the end of May - why not join us for the next one to keep your skills honed ? Future dates are 28 June, 26 July and 16 August
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