SAILING NEWSLETTER – July 2021

07 Jul SAILING NEWSLETTER – July 2021

Posted at 10:22h in Sailing News by

Thank You

Thank you to the members for voting me in for my 2nd term as Rear Commodore.  I appreciate the ongoing support of the members, and I am honoured to serve another term.  We still have much to do, and with the help of the Sailing Committee and the sailors, I am sure that we will continue to improve the racing at LMYC

Boat Owners Survey Meeting

Following the recent Boat Owners Survey, we held a Boat Owners meeting in early May to review the results, get some more feedback and discuss some ideas for the 2021/22 season.  As always, there was a lively debate, and we received excellent feedback from those who attended. All of the items discussed at the meeting were discussed in the Sailing Committee, and progress has been made on several issues –

  • Drops for regattas – the Sailing Committee is developing guidelines
  • RKR Courses – new courses have been designed and will be implemented for the next season
  • Common course for LMYC – no definable support for concept so no further action.
  • Junior sailing – More research/discussion required before LMYC would go down that route. Sailing Committee agree that we will concentrate on keel boats rather than off the beach classes. The 16 footers have better infrastructure to support off the beach classes.
  • Lady skipper series and Lady sailing program – Both events are on the Saling Schedule for 2021/22.
  • GPS position of Club marks in Whitebook. Ross checked the positions two year ago and found Channel mark was only mark in incorrect position and this was rectified. Ross will do a check during winter again and have marks moved if they are in the wrong position.
  • Wednesday series results included in the end of season presentation night – Wednesday series will be included in 2022 Annual Presentation.
  • LMYC Coal Point mark has still not got a red stripe on it after a number of skippers have reported it. Boats getting confused with RMYC Mayo mark. Ross to follow up.
  • LMYC marks are very hard to see – we are governed by RMS, but we will take up the matter again.
  • Courses – we need to stay I the eastern part of Belmont bay when possible. Course committee are reviewing courses
  • Two divisions for Wednesday Winter series suggested – Can’t do for Winter series 1 as this series has commenced, but for a minimum of 5 boats we could include in Winter Series 2 – Ross and Phil Blanch to advise.
  • Suggestions from the members for increasing the number of boats in fleet
    • Invite cruising division boats to participate in passage races in a separate division – to be actioned
    • Target Wednesday and Friday boats that currently don’t compete in Saturday racing – to be actioned
    • Provide a tender service on Wednesday – under consideration
    • Provide free night on the Marina in Friday night – already included in Sailing Membership
    • Provide marina fee discount for Saturday race boats – cannot be supported
    • Survey non-race boats on our list as to why they don’t race – to be actioned
    • Greater use of social media to engage with potential sailors – several initiatives being developed to be implemented for next season. An external resource to be appointed to manage social media posts re sailing activities.

Crew Declarations

As everyone is aware, contact tracing is a very important part of managing the spread of Covid-19. While QR Codes are used to track people coming into the club, Crew declarations are our means of keeping track of who is sailing. Health officials can call these records in the event of a Covid outbreak involving one of our sailors.

Since we started the 20-21 season, we have received tremendous support from many skippers and crews, and many have supplied all of their crew declarations. However, we have not received Crew Declarations from every boat in every race. Please ensure Crew Declarations are submitted for every race.

In January 2022, the new Rule 46 will apply, and all crew must be a member of an affiliated sailing club. Crew Declarations will be mandatory from January 2022, so getting in the habit of supplying these for every race can only help you when they become mandatory.

Presentation Night Apology

I want to apologise for not presenting the Wal Russell trophy at the recent club presentation. This was an oversight by the organisers of the night, and as Rear Commodore, I take full responsibility for the oversight.

There was some confusion regarding who won the Wal Russell trophy for the 2019 Sydney to Hobart race. So I asked Ross Ahrens and Mark Norden to advise the criteria for the trophy. Both Mark and Ross spoke with some older members who recalled when the trophy was first presented and they looked back at previous winners.

The matter was also discussed at the recent Board Meeting, and based on the information provided by Mark and Ross and past practice, it was agreed that the Wal Russell Trophy is presented to the first LMYC boat to Hobart (ie: the first LMYC boat to cross the line). In the 2019 race, She’s the Culprit finished in 3 days 18 hours 30 minutes and 31 seconds (3:18:30:31) and Santana finished in 4 days 19 minutes and 20 seconds (4:00:19:20). Based on the criteria,  She’s The Culprit is awarded the 2019 Wal Russell Trophy.

However, during the investigation, it was discovered there was another trophy called the Bosuns Trophy for the LMYC Boat that was 1st on Handicap in the Sydney to Hobart race. In 2019 results,  Santana was in the IRC division but She’s the Culprit was not.  Conversely, She’s the Culprit was in the PHS division and Santana was not. Given the overall winner of the Sydney to Hobart (Tattersalls cup) is based on IRC results, the boat with the best corrected time in the Tattersalls cup will be presented the Bosuns trophy. In the event that no LMYC boats race in the Tattersals cup then the winner will be the best placed LMYC boat on corrected time in the PHS Division. Based on this criteria,  Santana is awarded the 2019 Bosuns Trophy.

Congratulation to the skippers and crew of She’s The Culprit and Santana. We will get both trophies engraved and find a suitable time to undertake the presentation in the coming months.

Australian Sailing Courses

Australian Sailing is conducting a Regional Judge (formerly known as State Judge) course at Gosford Sailing Club, 14 August 2021. Details here https://www.sailing.org.au/events/103820/

It’s not specifically a RRS presentation, although the rules do form part of it. It’s more about playing the role of judge as part of a protest committee/jury.

Sailing Rules Decisions

Recent appeals decisions sometimes make for interesting reading as well as give clarity to some of the rules. There’s been a mix of appeals concerning boat v boat and race management issues throughout the summer season that may be of interest to some. https://www.sailingresources.org.au/class-assoc/protest-appeals/ 

Racing Results

Wednesday

The Winter Series 1 was recently completed.

The winner was Pugsley (Len Lavers) on 29 points from Invictus (Ross Dawson) on 41 points and Dee One (Chris Wilson) on 42 points.

The Winter Series 2 has commenced and in race 1, The Apple (Warren Hodgkins) was 1st from Mirage (David Kelty) and Dee One (Chris Wilson).

We looked at running two divisions in Winter. However, historically we did not have an average of at least five division 1 boats each week so having two divisions every week could not be justified.  We will continue to monitor the numbers are review for the 2022 Winter.

Contributions Welcome

We are always looking for stories for the Newsletter.  If you have a contribution, please forward it to me, and I will include it in the next Newsletter

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