17 Mar Sailing Newsletter – March 2021
Vale John Anderson
One of our long-standing sailing members, John Anderson, recently passed away, and I would like to send our condolences to John’s family and friends. John was a great assistance to me personally in my role as Rear Commodore and a valued member of the Sailing and Course Committees. I will miss John’s wise counsel.
Crew Declarations
Contact tracing is a very important part of managing the spread of COVID-19. 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.
She Sails Program
We are planning to have a She Sails event in our 2021/22 sailing program. The Friday Twilight Lady Skippers Series will be extended to six races (with one drop) in the 2021/22 sailing season. The program for 2021/22 is currently being prepared and will be distributed later this year.
Flare practice – 10am Saturday 2oth March
The Cruising Division will be hosting flare practice on Saturday March 20th, commencing at 10:00 am. What better time to learn how these essential safety items work – much better than in the middle of the night during some disaster!
This exercise is highly recommended for all skippers and crew members who have never ignited a flare. Flares are an essential (and required) safety feature on all boats and if you really need them its best not to be fumbling around trying to read their instructions at the time (in the dark, can’t find your glasses, crew are panicking!!!). Learn how to use them safely and effectively in a controlled situation.
A NSW Maritime education officer will also be attending to give a presentation on how to conduct the mandatory annual service check of inflatable PFDs. Bring along one of your PFDs and learn how to conduct this service check correctly.
Sailing in Hot weather or Poor Air Quality
Following a very hot day in November, where many sailors experienced heat exhaustion symptoms, the Sailing Committee has decided to adopt the Australian Sailing and Sports Medicine Australia Hot Weather and Poor Air Quality Guidelines. These guidelines are a practical guide to assist sailing clubs in managing their events. The guidelines will now be converted into a policy and distributed to all boat owners when approved by the Sailing Committee.
Course Review
The Course Committee (Bruce Dobinson, Noel Jenkins and Ross Ahrens) are currently reviewing all courses that we sail. The area of most concern is the current RKR courses. The RKR Courses were taken from a combined LMYC/RMYC series a few years ago and do not incorporate any Wangi marks. The Course Committee is trying to develop courses where all divisions sail a common course and 1st Division undertake an extra leg (similar to the RKR). If we can achieve this for all courses, then it will assist fleet handicapping and allow us to introduce a Club Championship (similar to the RKR Shield) where all boats compete for this trophy based on the common course.
Boat Owners Survey and Meeting
Shortly, we will be issuing a survey to all boat owners. The survey will be a great opportunity for all boats to provide feedback to the Sailing Committee. The survey will be open for two weeks, and we encourage all boat owners to respond. We will convene a Boat Owners meeting in May to review the results, get some more feedback and discuss some ideas for the 2021/22 season.
Presentation Night
The Annual Presentation night will be held on Saturday 1 May, and tickets are now on sale at the Club. On this night, we will be also be presenting the trophies for the 2019/20 season, which we have not been able to do due to COVID restrictions.
Friday Twilights
Friday twilights are almost done for this season. Twilight sailing is a great way to introduce friends to sailing in a relaxed race around the bay. It’s also a great way to finish the working week and start the weekend. Why not have a sail and then stay for a few drinks and dinner at the club.
Racing results
Wednesday
Summer Series 2 is now in full swing with 10 races completed. In Division 1 Dreadnaught (Ed Hillier) is leading on 21 points from Excess (Bruse Dobinson) on 23 points and Excessive (David Nichols) on 27 points. In Division 2, Another Promise (Jeff Quirk) is leading on 28 points from Mirage (David Kelty) on 32 points and Scaramouche (John Skillicorn) on 34 points.
Good luck to all boats for the remainder of the Summer Series 2.
Saturday – Summer Series
We are now 11 races into the summer series and the racing is very close.
In 1st Division, The Raging Bull (Andrew Turner) is leading on 46.5 from Anger Management (Richard Arnall) on 51 points and SoFarr (Dale Sharp) on 53 points.
In 2nd Division, Excess (Bruce Dobinson) is leading on 50 points from Stampede (Michael McDonald) on 53 points and Pogue Mahone (Scott Hamilton) on 55 points.
In 3rd Division, The Shed (Roger Parker) is leading on 38 points from Mirage (David Kelty) on 39 points and Even Keel (Peter Shaddock) on 40 points.
Saturday – Annual Pointscore
We are now 24 races into the annual pointscore and the racing is each division is very close. Note the results below are after three drops.
In 1st Division, So Farr (Dale Sharp) is leading on 94 points from Excessive (David Nichols) on 94.5 points and Ignition (Ian Bower) on 98 points.
In 2nd Division, Excess (Bruce Dobinson) is leading of 101 points from Santana (Michael Graham) on 107 points and Pogue Mahone (Scott Hamilton) on 107.5 points.
In 3rd Division, Wedgewood (Roger Geary) is leading on 82 points from Mirage (David Kelty) on 83 points and Topaz (Greg Nolan) also on 83 points.
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