​TY Delegates Report 30 January 2016
We did get a sail in before the storm hit late on Saturday afternoon. Some of us sailed much better than the others, and that is reflected in the results.
Welcome to Aquaholic. Kurt and Bruce got that little boat going very well up wind. I hope you guys come back for some more TY action this season.
But to me something was missing from today’s sailing event. Grey Fox and Digger and Danny Hamer were absent. Grey Fox’s skipper Digger was not well and will take a month or so to recover. I believe I speak for all of us in saying we will miss you Digger and wish you a sincere get well soon message. We hope you have a speedy and lasting recovery and look forward to seeing you back on the water when you are well enough.
We all thought Digger was indestructible. But of course we are human and a “health bump in the road” could happen to any of us and can make you stop and reflect on what is important in your life. Sailing could be described as something we are passionate about and something important to us, and, the common interest that brings us together.  However I suspect what keeps us together and sailing are the strong bonds of friendship we form by being members of a sailing club.  Being a member of a collective like a sailing club provides us all with the opportunity to develop friendships and strengthen those friendships bonds.  As a club member we contribute what we can to the collective in ways that make belonging to the club important. By doing this it does suggest that we care about each other.  We care when one of us is injured or falls on difficult times or is just having a bad day.
So even though the sailing is an important part of our lives, it’s the friendships that we make that sustain us and support us through good and bad times.

Results for Championship 5 (Pointscore 14)
Position            Boat Name     Corrected Time CBH (PBH)
First                    Rosstered Off     63.49 (64.60)
Second              Momentum         64.96 (64.94)
Third                  Frou Frou            66.77 (66.77)
Fourth               Aquaholic            70.97 (70.97)
 
Hope to see many of you at Sussex Inlet this coming weekend.
The end Trev

TY Delegates Report 23 January 2016
Today started off damp and windy with the weather forecasts tipping further rain and 25 – 30 knots from the south. Not the nicest sounding conditions for today’s “Pointscore” 13 handicap race.  But, as is often the case the weather cleared and the predicted winds did not eventuate. This put an end to plans of scrapping the sailing for an early lunch, coffee and chat. Instead the relaxed atmosphere was replaced by hasty rigging activities and handicap allocation calculations.
In my opinion a handicap start race can sometimes be stressful for the handicapper. Getting handicaps right can be tricky. Apart from the standard requirements of working out handicaps objectively to keep them fair for all participants, other elements like moral and ethical considerations enter into the overall calculations. A handicapper treads a fine line between making it fare for all competitors based on historical performance results and predicted sailing conditions on the day, and making sure there is enough leeway in the start times for boats often at the back of the fleet to get an opportunity to start from and finish the race at the front of the fleet. I have also been reminded that, contrary to Roy and HG’s philosophical point of view (“What’s the point of being in control of the rules if can’t organise a win”, or words to that effect), it is never a good idea for a handicapper to set the handicaps in a way that ensures the boat they are sailing on can never loose.
Today’s TY fleet consisted of GreyFox, with Digger and Danny aboard, Rosstered Off with Jim, Dave Richard H and Shaun aboard and Frou Frou with Alan, Ray and Me aboard. 
Welcome back to Grey Fox and the Hamer family after the Christmas New Year break. We hadn’t had word from Digger since some time before the Christmas and I was getting a little worried for his welfare. I was even been checking the funeral announcements for a number of weeks just in case I had to get my good suit ready. So it was a relief to welcome the Hamer family back today.
Conditions ended up being very pleasant on the water with the wind never getting above about 15 knots and the waves smoothing out, perfect sailing conditions really. Grey Fox was sailed very well, easily holding her lead all the way to the finish and into a deserved first place. Rosstered Off passed Frou Frou early on during the last work to finish second with Frou Frou crossing in third place. I will leave it to you the reader to decide if the results were due to good moral and ethical handicapping processes or, more likely, because of good skippering and crew-work on the day.
From Frou Frou’s perspective at least (apart from a complaint to the handicapper of being too lenient on the other TY competitors), the initial misgivings about entering the water were wiped away by a fantastic days sailing. And I should mention that at least two other good things came out of today’s race. Nobody ran in to anybody at the start and Ray Stanley survived without being hit on the head and knocked overboard.

Pointscore 13, Handicap Start
Position         Boat Name        Finishing time
First                 Grey Fox               15.54.39
Second           Rosstered Off       15.59.34
Third               Frou Frou              16.02.19

 
The End Trev.

​TY Delegates Report 9 January 2015
Momentum and Frou Frou turned up for today’s race, fresh after the Christmas New Years break. What we lacked in numbers today we made up for in enthusiasm with more crew turning up than crew spaces available. It was particularly nice to see new people interested in giving sailing at our club a go. I do hope we can keep this interest and regular participation up.
Aboard Momentum were Barry, Ray, Phil, Richard Lech and new crew Lillian. Aboard Frou Frou were Andy and our 2 new crew Liam and Kirralee.  
Just because there were only 2 starters in the TY division today did not mean that we took things easily. The competition was hot and we had an exciting close start with Momentum climbing over the top of Frou Frou to take the advantage up the first work and rounding the top mark well ahead of Frou Frou.  
Like most sailing days aboard Frou Frou, and most other boats I have been on at lease, we decide on who will do what as a team. 
The tacticians’ role fell to Kirralee, which by the way she performed with great diligence. Standing in the companionway hatch she has a commanding view of the course and fleet. Kirralee offered very important encouragements aimed at improving our performance and position in the fleet. Things like, “Are we first yet” (interpreted by me as we are doing ok but could do better) and, “Why are those boats catching us and why are there boats still ahead of us” (interpreted by me as, we need to concentrate more if we are going to catch up) and, “This race is taking longer than I expected, are we there yet” (interpreted by me as, we need to improve our crew work if we are to make fewer mistakes if we are to finish before the end of 2016). Don’t you think it’s good having fearless crew aboard who pull no punches in giving thoughtful advice?
Just as Kirralee made her mark as the tactician Liam proved invaluable in the cockpit. He trimming the jib and hoisting the spinnaker like a professional and by the end of the race he was tacking and jibing and steering on the reaches and downwind like someone with years of experience.  Liam even helped to rescue Andy who had unfortunately slipped over the side during a spinnaker pole retrieval manoeuvre. I must admit that for an old bloke Andy sure can hang on. In Andy’s defence, the front of the boat is not his usual familiar position aboard. 
Liam told me he had experience on motor boats, but this was the first time on a yacht for him and Kirralee. Even so they both took to a sailing like it was second nature and really earned their keep as crew during the race. For Andy and me the kids made today’s race fun.
Talking to Barry in the rigging area after the race, we both agreed it was a great sailing day and that everyone aboard both boats enjoyed the experience. With any luck there will be more days like this to come in the second half of the season.  

Results for Pointscore 11

Boat Name      Position     Corrected time PBH (CBH)
Frou Frou           First             92.77 (92.77)
Momentum        Second       94.09 (94.13)

Sussex Inlet and St Georges Basin Sailing Club Regatta
I made an error with the date of the Sussex Inlet, St Georges Basin Regatta in the sailing calendar. The date should be the weekend of 6 and 7 February. My apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. It’s one regatta we don’t want to miss.
Next Saturdays race is Championship 5 and Pointscore 12 for TYs. I hope you are all able to join us for what should be a good race.  
The end Trev