TY Delegates Report 15 October 2016
Two boats, lots of wind, but both finished without loss of life. That about sums up Saturdays sailing. When we got back to shore and debriefed, looked up the wind speeds that averaged 22 knots from the North East with gusts of 28 knots we thought we both had done very well.  As all skippers will contest, I tried my hardest to keep my crew dry and comfortable. Unfortunately, a number of rogue waves and unpleasant gusts conspired to wet Stephen Frou Frou’s foredeck crew for the day. The good news is that Stephens sacrifice kept Andy and me very dry.
Credit must go to Pier and Aaron. This was their first time as duty crew and they discharged their duty extremely well. They set a good course in difficult conditions, and rendered assistance to upturned sailors as well.
It can get rough out there on the lake as we know, and today’s conditions reaffirmed the primary function of our duty crews. That is to keep a look out for the safety of sailors competing in a race.  
Given the size of our racing course, it’s difficult for a duty crew to notice everything that is going on in this regard. TYs have had a long history of responding to sailors that look like they are in trouble. I am sure we will continue this tradition and make reasonable adjustments to finishing times for any TY that responds to sailors in need of assistance.
If you have not already approached me could all those TY crews let me know your availability to assist with running the Kembla Klassic scheduled for November 26 and 27. I will need help with finalising the course layout and determining the start finish line configurations plus have crews in duty boats around the course. We will also need to assist on shore with results and in the canteen over the weekend to ensure that participants are looked after.
See you all this Saturday.
Results for Pointscore 5
Position     Boat name     Time in minutes PBH (CBH)
First              Frou Frou             71.60  (71.60)
Second         Rosstered Off      72.59  (71.96)
 
The end Trev.

​TY Delegates Report 22 October 2016
What do you think is the sort of weather that best suits introducing first timers to sailing? Do you think it’s one of those perfect lazy sunny days with the wind steadily wafting in from the north east at around 10 knots. The sort of day when there is time to point out the finer things of sailing, where all the ropes go and what they do, what a cleat does and how to us it, which way a winch turns and how to tie a bowline, why you cannot sail straight in to the wind and how to set sails, the type of conditions that allows a person time to gain their sea legs.
Sounds good doesn’t it? But when you think about it that description of perfect conditions does not happen very often, it’s rarely just right.  As I have been reliably informed (by the PKSC table of knowledge brains trust, which is where I get most of my important decision making information, sailing isn’t about only going out in perfect weather all about adapting the best you can to the conditions on the day (at least better than your competition you hope). Conditions often change during the course of a race anyway, so why should we think otherwise.
Getting back to the point I was hoping to make, I reckon that the weather on Saturday could not have been much further from the mythical perfect conditions. Starting off drizzling with rain, temperature maxing out at 15 degrees and wind gusts up around 30 knots from the South (according to Holfuy). It was an important championship race as well so there were no doubts about heading out into it. Added to that mix was Jess and Allen, brand new people to the club and new to sailing that we were about to expose to the “joy of sailing”. Rossterered Off with the experienced skipper Jim and accomplished crew of Richard, Shaun and Oscar aboard taking on Alan for his first time sailing, and Frou Frou with Stephen, Andy and me aboard taking on Jess for her first time on a TY.
Spare a thought also for Barry and Ray our duty boat crew for today’s race. Conditions were particularly challenging for a duty crew and they were in the middle of it laying course marks, setting the start line (a very good one I would like to say), keeping an eye out for our safety, rendering assistance to upturned boats and generally getting soaking wet bouncing around in the waves. Thanks Barry and Ray for you dedication. It is much appreciated.
There were waves across Frou Frou’s bow as well plus some less than perfectly planned and executed tacks and jibes, and, a few exciting reaches and downwind runs that stretched our combined sailing skills. The good thing is that Frou Frou’s very considerate crew blocked most of the white water and wind thereby keeping me dry and warm.
On the second last work of the race Rosstered Off decided she had had enough of the nasty conditions. Her gooseneck failed leaving her boom flailing around the heads of those aboard. That was the end of her race. Frou Frou continued but decided to retire before finishing. So there you go, another Saturday race without finishers.
What amazed me was that Jess and Alan thought it was all great fun and have committed to returning for next Saturdays race . Perhaps ignorance is bliss, but I think sailing is contagious. Jess and Alan have been infected by the sailing bug and the experience can only improve for them from here.
The end Trev

​TY Delegates Report for 8 October 2016
One of the things that I find myself doing as I get older is try to hang on to my youth. Why is it that even though your brain thinks you are 23, bits of you start to seize up or break down.  Most of you can relate to this unfair and often surprising reduction in function. Like Barry’s shoulders, Jims back, Richards knees, and the list goes on (forgive me if I have neglected to mention anyone’s ailments. You are still important). For me it’s my knees and shoulder. My genetic inheritance has left me with dodge knees and the right shoulder is the result of long ago falls and fractures from motorcycle riding during my early 20’s. Now entering my more mature years the shoulder has said it’s had enough.
Over the last year I have been on a mission to reverse this seizing up trend, spending many hours a week (and quite a lot of money) in exercise therapy. It is starting to make a difference with the offending body bits causing less discomfort and flexibility is improving. But gees, isn’t this body maintenance stuff exhausting and time consuming?  Now stick with me as I am getting to the point of this discussion. All this effort is to try and keep everything together at least enough to remain a competent and hopefully competitive sailor.
Being involved with and participating in organised “Sailing” is to some degree what motivates most of us to keep our bodies and minds in functional order.  So thank goodness for sailing otherwise we could be 6 feet under and pushing up daisy’s or worse still clogging up the bicycle paths with our electrified mobility devices.  
However staying physically and mentally able is often not enough to get a boat out to the start of a race, around the course and over the finish line.  The fickle finger of fate can intervene and something unanticipated can happen like what happened to Frou Frou just before the start of this Saturday’s race.   We were doing a few pre race manoeuvres with our new crew member for the day Arron and on a perfectly ordinary jibe the traveller car decided to disintegrate resulting in little “torlon” ball bearings scattered everywhere and the main sheet flapping in the breeze.  I suppose you could say that if I took as much care with Frou Frou’s maintenance as with my own we would not have experienced this on the water failure. Apologies therefore must go to Jim, Rob, Shaun and Dave aboard Rostered Off for not making the start to give you a decent run for your money.
Rosstered Off and crew did something extremely honourable and sportsmanlike in this Saturday’s race and I would like to acknowledge their good deed.  Rosstered Off retired from the race thereby sacrificing valuable first place championship points. Your sportsmanship is appreciated.
With only two TYs on the water, one of which did not start and the other did not finish, there are no race winners to report.  Perhaps we can reschedule championship 2 for another day?
Just a reminder about the TY-Staycation events tentatively scheduled for Sunday 4 December, Saturday 14 or Sunday 15 January 2017 and Saturday 8 or Sunday 9 April.  Please have a think about this initiative and let me know your thoughts and preferences in person or by email.
The End.  Trev

TY Delegates Report 24 September 2016
Is Saturday sailing an informed choice or is it just habit? Do we sail because it is programmed in to us or because we like it?

It’s all of the above and more for me. It is a habit, a good habit I hope. Sailing gets me out of bed most Saturday mornings, so that’s a plus. It’s a commitment made and kept with friends. Some days you may not feel up to it or if the weather is not as tropical as you prefer, you still must be read and prepared to sail otherwise you would be letting your friends down.

That still leaves room for making an informed choice to sail rather than do something else. Like most of us regulars I imaging that we derive some pleasure out of sailing. I enjoy that sense of being in the moment that sailing gives you, starting from the time of the warning signal until crossing the finish line. There is also a nice sense of community that being a member of a club and contributing to its running can give you. I even like the putting the boat together bits before you even hit the water. This time provides another opportunity to debrief with your friends, find out how they are and what they have been up to. So for these reasons I chose to go sailing.  

Even though I chose to sail because of the good things I perceive I get out of doing it, sailing can still present you with challenges that upset me like making mistakes. You are probably thinking that that Trevor is always under control, always organised and able to make logical decisions. After all he is one of the more mature members of the club. It may surprise you then that, for example, I take a losing tack or, I don’t concentrate on steering the best way to make hoisting or lowering the spinnaker easier, I can get upset. Given that sailing should be fun, not getting upset should be a fundamental rule, and given that we all make mistakes recovering from errors quickly should be one of the fundamental skills. So even though there are moments when sailing can upset me I think I am getting better at focusing on the recovery and not worrying too much about the mistakes.  Sailing teaches you to be resilient, to learn from your mistakes and then get on with it.

Just as well I have very forgiving and tolerant crew members though. And today was no exception.  I was lucky enough to share my sailing experience with Andy Blakeley and Stephen Sullivan, two very tolerant human beings. It was the first time Frou Frou had sailed this season and the first time Stephen had crewed with Andy and me. I was a little apprehensive about how well Stephen would go sailing on a TY. Most of my conversations with Stephen about sailing to date gave me the impression he had limited sailing experience and didn’t know much about it. His deeds and actions aboard Frou Frou prove this to be a false impression and in my opinion he had grossly understated his sailing talents. His expertise were a wonderful asset aboard Frou Frou and contributed to our collective enjoyment and success on the water today.  

It would be remiss of me not to mention the other sailors starting today. Rosstered Off with Jim, Richard Dave and Shaun aboard, and a big welcome back to Serenity with Wayne McKinnon and Richard Lech aboard. Hopefully we will get so see more of Wayne and Serenity this season.
I have to admit that Rosstered Off and her experienced and wiley crew kick our butts today. The 8 knots of North Easterly fading to 5 should have been perfect conditions for the smaller and lighter Serenity and Frou Frou. Alas, as the results contest, Rosstered Off beat us both by more than 6 minutes on CBH.

Position                      Boat Name           Time in Minutes CBH (PBH)
First                              Rosstered Off         85.12 (86.56)
Second                         Frou Frou               91.48 (91.48)
Third                             Serenity                  105.39 (97.97)

 Very Important New Events:
After extensive consultation with club members, I have a few other dates of significant importance for TY sailors. Thanks to Brad for the suggestion by the way.
Let’s call them the TY Stay-cation events. We have room on our calendar for three of TY Stay-cation events to be scheduled, possibly on Sundays so it does not interfere with other sailing activities and with an around the lake race format. The TY Stay-cation events are intended to be inclusive, to provide an opportunity for having fun with family friends and new to sailing colleagues. We can make it what we want, perhaps even spending Saturday night at the club. We would like to encourage participation and fun. 
The suggested TY Stay –cation dates are Sunday 4 December, Saturday 14 or Sunday 15 January 2017 and Saturday 8 or Sunday 9 April.  Please have a think about this initiative and let me know your thoughts and preferences in person or by email.
Hope to see you all on our next scheduled sailing Saturday 8 October
The end Trev