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TY Delegates Report 23 March 2013

23/3/2013

TY Delegates Report 23 March 2013

It was perfect sailing weather for Saturdays TY championship 7 event but only two starters were able to make it, Frou Frou with Trev and Ian aboard for the long course and Blu Hart with Arthur and Dave Shephard aboard for the short course. The lack of competition did not diminish our enjoyment of the moment though with a slightly overcast sky and 10 to 15 knots from the north east keeping us on our toes and the spectacle of the dinghy and cat sailors circling around us creating another great day on the water. Consequently Frou Frou and Blu Hart recorded a clean sweep with first places in their divisions. Congratulations on a job well done.

Welcome Dave Shephard to our club. I hope Dave enjoyed his afternoon on Lake Illawarra and will continue his association with us by hanging around for the rest of the season and come back for next season.

I had some good feedback about the inaugural St Georges Basin around the basin race on Saturday that a couple of our TYs participated in. Sounded like lots of fun, one we should include in our next year’s sailing calendar if it’s put on again.

Only three more races left in our sailing calendar, one being a championship event. Frou Foru would much prefer racing against someone else rather than travelling solo around the course. Watching the strong dinghy fleet compete made us very envious watching. To all you TY sailors, if you have the next 3 Saturdays free please bring your boat down to PKSC to make it an interesting competition and support the club.

The end, Trev.

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TY Delegates Report 16 March 2013

16/3/2013

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TY Delegates Report 16 March 2013
The sight that greeted you at the club on Saturday morning was enough to lift your spirits. On the horizon you could see a fleet of MJ’s and near the shore another fleet this time of Skywriter. On shore more activity, with parents watching and helping kids in and out of the water. It was inspirational to see so much energy at the club.

But of course this was the weekend of the junior sailing camp and the last event specifically for our junior fleet for the year. This was a day for the kids, one I really look forward too in the sailing calendar. It provides us old codgers with an opportunity to include junior sailors as crew and hopefully to give them a pleasant taste of life aboard a bigger boat. Parents allow us to borrow their kids for a couple of hours, and then we can give them back. It couldn’t be a more perfect arrangement for us grumpy old sea salts.

For the afternoon around the lake Championship race 6, Frou Frou welcomed Crista and Alanah aboard for a second time and Michael aboard for the first time.

The Race
The weather was kind with 10 knots of north easterly setting us up nicely for the zigzag trip around the lake. At the start Rosstered Off and Nirvana 7 slipped ahead to round the reef mark in close proximity, then hoisting their spinnakers to head off down wind with Frou Frou, Spy C, Grey Fox and The Blond close behind.

It’s about now that I usually mention crew members of the participating boats, but there were too many hanging of the sides of the TY’s for me to count. Some of the younger (and older) crews were throwing water balloons at other competitors (great fun but probably not strictly legal as a sailing strategy. I have to admire it though as an effective tactic for distracting your competitors). What other tactics have been taught in the junior sailing program I wonder?

I digress, now back to the race. Rosstered Off had opened up a substantial lead by the time she had rounded the Oak Flats mark. Nirvana 7 then rounded ahead of Spy C and Frou Frou. I didn’t ask the crew of Nirvana 7 what happened to them next as she seemed to have lost a lot of her advantage during the Windang section of this up wind leg. Spy C chose the middle of the lake while Frou Frou headed for the eastern shore that proved better up wind option on the day. As it turned out the TYs were well matched in the conditions with Nirvana 7, Frou Frou and Spy C were all finishing within a couple of minutes of each other and Grey Fox and The Blond close behind on handicap.

Long course results
The day belonged to Rosstered Off who finished first on CBH, winning today’s Championship race 6. Second was Frou Frou, third was Nirvana 7, fourth was Spy C and fifth was Grey Fox.

Short course results
First on CBH was The Blond who led the short course fleet from start to finish. We are going to have to give these guys some reasonable competition in order to make their sailing experience more challenging.

On a final note I would like to say how impressed I was with the sailing skills of Alana Crista and Michael. Both Crista and Alanah although good the first time we sailed together had improved immensely from the last time they were on board. It will be interesting to see how Michael improves if he continues to sail like his dad and brothers. In any case the three kids displayed very good interpersonal and teamwork skills. They were great company and a pleasure to have aboard as crew (my regular crew are now on notice).

The End Trev

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TY Delegates Report 9 -10 March Marlay Point Overnight Race Report.

9/3/2013

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TY Delegates Report 9 -10 March Marlay Point Overnight Race Report.

The best thing about the Marlay Point Overnight Race, in my opinion, is not the race, but what happens before and after the race. If you are lucky enough to have a few extra days up your sleeve to float around the lake system on a trailer yacht, especially up the Lakes Entrance - Metung part of the world, the rewards are great. The myriad of little sand island are home to bird life of all descriptions. The entrance to the ocean at Lakes Entrance is home to dolphins and seals. It is truly a wonderful experience watching these creatures swim around and below you. The weather this year was eerily warm with 25 degree nights and 30 degree days. Ninety Mile Beach on the other side of Bunger Arm was kind enough and pleasant enough to have a body surf. This type of weather is something I have never experienced in my 25 years of venturing down this way.

And now to my interpretation of this year’s race, and in fact, the impression echoed by my sailing buddies who shared the experience (could also be called experience of torture).

If I tell you the weather report was for winds of up to a maximum of 5 knots it might give you some idea of the speeds expected of the 130 odd starters. To say there were many moments when we seriously considered retiring just to end the tedium would sum up the 14 hours of at times frustrating sailing.

For those of you who have completed the race on previous years you will no doubt understand the significance of the race being shortened at the Point Turner. That’s about one nautical mile before reaching Paynesville. Frou Frou was luckier than most of the fleet, streaking away at 0.6 of a knot while others were languishing at 0.3 of a knot. However the sailing gods did not go all our way. After we had finished the Southerly change came through bringing the rest of the fleet home in grand style. You know the saying “Things were going good then everything turned to ####”. Frou Frou did manage to finish first over the line and 4th on CBH in Division C.

It was a race for being warm but not for traveling fast. The sunrise was glorious bringing a smile to our sweaty faces (never thought I would be able to say that of a 6:00 am Gippsland Lake sunrise).

Will we be back again? That is a good question. If other PKSC boats went then no doubt we would seriously consider it again.

The end.
Trev.

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TY Delegates Report 23 March 2013

TY Delegates Report 16 March 2013

TY Delegates Report 9 -10 March Marlay Point Overnight Race Report.

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