SAILING NEWSLETTER - AUGUST 2021 - Lake Macquarie Yacht Club

13 Aug SAILING NEWSLETTER – AUGUST 2021

Posted at 11:39h in Sailing News by LMYC

Covid update

Firstly, I hope this newsletter finds you and your family well.

Covid-19 has struck again, and as of last Thursday, we are in lockdown. The immediate impact has seen the closure of the Club and the cancellation of all racing until further notice. At this stage, the lockdown has been extended to 19 August, and there is a significant risk that the lockdown will impact the start of the Sailing Season on 4 September. While we are planning to start the season on time, this is out of our control, and we endeavor to restart racing as soon as we can.

Australian Sailing continues to do an excellent job in keeping us informed about the ever-changing Covid-19 restrictions. Under the current restrictions, we are not able to undertake racing. However, sailing is classed as exercise, and you can sail so long as you comply with strict requirements of the health order. Boating is now permitted as outdoor recreation, provided the vessel remains within 10km of the persons home. Vessels outside Greater Sydney are not permitted to enter Greater Sydney for recreational purposes.

Here is a link to the Australian Sailing COVID-19 Information page – https://www.sailingresources.org.au/covid-19/nsw/

Please also see the official pages for the most up to date information –

I will endeavour to keep all members informed as the situation changes.

2021/22 Season

The 2021/22 Sailing Season is fast approaching, and we have another great season planned. Subject to the Covid restrictions, the new season will commence on Saturday, 4 September, and we are planning to have our normal sail past starting at 12:00 midday with prizes for the best-dressed boat and the best-dressed crew. The Covid restrictions on the Club will determine what we can do for sailors post race. However, the traditional hot roast meat roll after sailing will probably not be an option.

Usually, we would require Cat 7 Audits to be undertaken prior to racing. However, under the current lockdown we cannot complete these audits. With the potential extension of the lockdown past 19 August, it might not be practically possible to get any audits done, even if we can start the season on time. We have consulted with Australian Sailing, and they advised that we can extend the date on the current Cat 7 Audits. Consequently, all Cat 7 Audits that expired on 30 June 2021 will be extended for three months until 30 September 2021. We will review this in light of the Covid restrictions. For new boats to the Club that don’t have a Cat 7 Audit, the boat owner can submit a self-check audit which will be in place until Cat 7 Audits can be undertaken.

Earlier this year we surveyed our boat owners and received responses from over forty people. The survey was very supportive of most of the changes we made last year to the sailing program. Consequently, we have not made any major changes for the 2021/22 sailing season. We are pleased that RMYC Toronto boats will again be joining us for a combined Pulbah Series over four races. We have scheduled twenty six races with six RK Robertson races, six Windward Leeward (combined with WASC and RMYC), four Pulbah races (with RMYC), five Pursuit races and five Bay races.

Boat owners and Skippers need to be aware of and comply with the LMYC Covid-19 Safety Plan. Skippers or owners of boats that are new to the Club must sign a declaration acknowledging the guidelines and will abide with the requirements of the LMYC COVID-19 Safety Plan. This declaration only needs to be signed once and those boats that have signed this declaration previously will not be required to provide another declaration. One of the important parts of the Safety Plan is that all skippers must provide a crew list prior to each race. The crew list will enable tracking in the case of a Covid-19 outbreak at the Club. Most competitors in the last 12 months have used a crew declaration facility on Top Yacht, and we would encourage all skippers to use this. The Sailing Instructions have been amended to include the Covid-19 requirements.

The entry fees for the 2019/20 season have been increased in line with cost increases. We will again have a multi-tiered structure for LMYC Sailing members and members of other yacht clubs who are members of Australian Sailing. Non-LMYC members will pay additional fees. We are also trying to encourage the early submission of entries, and a discounted entry fee will apply for entries received before Friday 20 August. Boats entered after 21 August will pay higher fees. If the season is impacted by Covid 19 restrictions we will adjust the fees accordingly.

For the 2021/22 Sailing Season, we will be continuing with the following rules that were introduced last year –

All boats nominating to race by Friday 20 August must declare if they wish to sail with or without a spinnaker and the handicapper will determine a starting TCF.
The Sailing Committee will determine the preliminary Divisional allocation, and the TCF and preliminary divisional allocation of all boats will be advised to all boat owners by Wednesday 25 August.
A boat may request a change of TCF based on a change from Spinnaker to non-Spinnaker or vice versa by Friday 27 August. The Sailing Committee will ask the handicapper to review the TCF. Taking into consideration the information provided by the handicapper, and the principles above, the Sailing Committee will advise the boat owner the results of the review by Wednesday 1 September. The decision of the Sailing Committee will be final.
If a boat owner feels that they have allocated to the wrong division, then they can appeal in writing to the Sailing Committee by Friday 27 August with reasons why the divisional allocation should be changed. The Sailing Committee will review the appeal, taking into consideration the information provided by the boat owner, the handicapper, and the principles above. The decision of the Sailing Committee will be final and advised to the boat owner by Wednesday 1 September .
The Sailing Committee will advise all boat owners by Wednesday 1 September of all boats starting TCF and Divisional allocation.
All boats nominating after Friday 20 August will be allocated to a Division based on their TCF, and this allocation will be final.

Thanks to Our Sponsors

I would like to make special mention of our sponsors for the upcoming season. These people support sailing, and if you can support them as well, that would be appreciated.

Marmong Point Marina (Wednesday Series/Corporate Sponsor)
Buy’a’Boat (Bay Series)
Crusoe’s on the Lake (Pursuit Series)
Stephen Pearson Electrical (Twilight Series)
Hillier’s Advisors (She Sails Series)
Fever Tree (She Sails Series)
Lake Macquarie Moorings (Winter Series)
JR Marine (RKR Series)
Whitworths (RKR Series)
Newcastle Skin Check (Pulbah Series)
Coastal Shipwright Services (Combined Windward Leeward Series)
Gerry Wubbel’s Automatics (Club Supporter)
Bella Group Services (Club Supporter)
Adam’s Family Meats (Club Supporter)
Sticky Digital (Club Supporter)
Cutcher & Neale (Club Supporter)

RACING RESULTS

Wednesday – Winter Series 2

After six scheduled races and two abandoned due to weather and Covid, Dreadnaught (Ed Hillier) is leading of 25 points from Scaramouche (John Skilicorn) on 29 points and Dee One (Chris Watson) on 30 points.

Winter Series

After eleven scheduled races and one abandoned due to weather, Bindarooo (Simon Zinader) was 1^st on 21 points from Beat to Quarters (Eddie O’Donnell) on 28 points and Jam (Brett Lewis )on 45 points. A special mentiion for the all female crew on Excessive (Antonia Paterson) who finished 5^th on 55 points.

All the best and please stay safe,

Steven Ford
Rear Commodore LMYC
E: rearcommodore@lmyc.com.au

SAILING NEWSLETTER – AUGUST 2021