Howdy Gang.

 

What a weekend we just had! Our inaugural OTB entrance in Sail Peninsula was a great success, albeit with less entrants than we hoped for. Fifteen boats entered including three 420s from outside our club. We were extremely grateful to these three, for if you don't have boats from other clubs it's not a regatta, it's just another club race. That said, the entries we did have all enjoyed some great sailing on both days.

 

Saturday dawned bright and shiny but with not a hint of wind at all. With the Keelboats due to start at 10.30 and nothing but glass, the old AP flag went up for a bit. Eventually enough breeze filled in to get them away and then it was our turn. RO Lou Hutton set a nice short course into the southerly wind that soon turned northeast, then west, dropped out, picked up, swung the other way, did a little jig and finally fizzed to about 3 knots. Lou and Super D jumped into one of the RHIBs, shot over to the bottom mark and shortened the race to there. Even in the light wind, the A Class cats still managed to get up on foils, amazing. The result in Div 2, Di J by a whole leg. She said it was luck.... sure it was.

 

Plenty of action for the RHIB crews as the wind swung all the way to the west for a complete course change. Race two set off with the cats going first and with only three Divs, all boats were fairly bunched up as the cats came around for their second lap, the Sabres near the top mark and the 420s/ Impulse not far behind. Everyone was moving, with lots of shifts to pick. Then... with Di/Sabre, Luke M/ Impulse and Stu S/ A Class just tucked around the mark, phhht, the wind on the starboard side died, completely. I was sitting there going sideways, backwards, anyway but forward. Dave B in his cat, was beside me doing slow circles caught in an eddy, and some 420s were camped on the mark, so it wasn't just me. All this while watching Di and Co sliding serenely down to the wing mark. By the time the rest of us got going, they were at the bottom and coming back. The wind steadied enough to let us all finish, and the result? Di, Luke and Stu, over a lap in front of their next rivals. Luck again? I don't think so, we could have all picked those shifts.

 

Race three gave us another 180-degree shift and a course change, no problem for his crack team. The wind was light but steady and probably the best race of the day with everyone fairly close. Katrina M and Keith B were slightly ahead in Div 2 and it warmed my heart to see that they had both obviously read and taken heed of my lesson last week on 'How to completely bugger things up at a mark rounding 101'. As they neared the mark on port, both tacked too early, hit the mark and let Di slip around the outside, again! Keith even demonstrated his mastery of the lesson plan with another attack on the hapless mark as I came through. If anyone would like a refresher on this move, just keep an eye on me as I'm sure to repeat it at some stage. The result, Di 1st again, although not by much. Then a lovely little sail back to the beach with time to plan the next day.

 

Sunday arrived overcast and stormy with a strong wind warning for the whole bay. Somehow that message didn't come through to SBSC, as we had not a zephyr at race time. Up went the AP again, although not for long. As the Keelboats got away, we hit the water and by the time we made it to the course just off the Dromana pier, the wind was blowing northerly around 15/20 knots with some really big swell rolling through. No time to mess around, course set and away. Out to port seemed to be favoured, but you were sailing square into those big waves which tended to stop you dead in your tracks. I reckon an old plywood boat would have  had it's bum belted all the way in to the top deck! 

 

These different conditions separated the divisions completely and we barely saw each other except at the bottom mark where there was some spirited shouts for "Bouy Room" as some boats were running to the finish and others were reaching to go upwind again! Katrina M, the heavy weather specialist, came out on top while poor Di, neck to neck with Joe V, decided not to gybe and took a tumble right before the finish,  drifted behind the start boat and had a massive job to get back in and make her way back to the finish line. All this only to find out later that she had actually crossed the line as she went over!

 

Race two saw the A Class guys head for home rather than break things, but for the rest of us this was just great fun! Once you had gotten past the pounding upwind leg, the runs and reaches were just sensational. No time for picking wind shifts, this was just catch a wave and hang on! If you managed to catch three or four in a row, you just flew past your neighbors with your shout of ,"see ya later sucker!" lost in the wind (probably for the best). The result, Katrina M for two 1sts in Div 1 and in Div 3, visiting 420 team, Will/Stu Rose with two 1sts( to go with their two 1sts and a 3rd on Saturday). Back to the beach (it didn't take long) and on to the celebrations.

   

I won't go on too much about the presentations (I was robbed I tells ya!), except to say a huge thank you to all the behind the scenes people who put in such a huge amount of work to get this show up and running including all the extra work Linda W, Geoff E and Super D put in to include the OTB sailors this year, organizing hats and prizes at very short notice. I think if we are to be included again we will work harder to be more inclusive of all boats and advertise further afield, but it still comes down to our own sailors joining in. This was the first time and hopefully we can grow bigger and better. 

 

Thanks too to our on water crew, RO Lou H, Super D and John B on Start (with PRO Geoff E up in the tower), Ross M and Greggy L in Sutherland, Simon H, Doc T and Keith B in Woodsy, Simon D and friend in another boat kindly loaned by Mornington YC and don't forget the amazing Fiona L who spent the entire three days roaring around in the blue RHIB, chauffeuring the photographer and then taking more shots herself once the photographer had gone ashore, check out the Facebook page.

 

Now onto something completely different. This Sunday, as you are all aware is our turn to sail (or trailer) round to Mount Martha YC for our annual SBSC/MMYC challenge visit. This is an awesome day and one of the highlights of the season. The sail around is spectacular with a view of the cliffs and fancy real estate normally reserved for the keelboats. It takes around 30-40 minutes (10 for an A Class) and is not to be missed. An SBSC RHIB will be leaving the beach about 10.00 to escort our boats around and will stay on to assist with the race, then escort our boats home. That gets you there in plenty of time to sign on, grab a free tea or coffee (food at the village), then hit the water for a 1.00 start. If you decide to sail around closer to start time, you can sign on at the start boat, but make sure you give them plenty of time as they are trying to run a race remember. They use different divisions than us so make sure to find out yours so we don't miss out on our points. Don't be deceived, this IS for sheep stations! The forecast for Sunday is looking good, with a 10 knot north easterly in the afternoon, just perfect to bring you home, hopefully with the converted trophy in hand!

 

Other things of note last week was our great showing at the Sabre States at Westernport, where three of our sailors, Fiona M, James T and Bill M did us proud with all three finishing in the top half of the 54 strong fleet. James's 19th, Fiona 23rd and Bill 24th. More on this next week. 

 

That's way too much sorry. Cheers, Pete Chippy

 

If you would like to participate in the Female Helm Series and haven’t yet entered, please get your entry in prior to 5pm on Thursday evening and make sure that the name of your female helm is listed in your SailSys Entry. 

If you would still like to sail on Friday evening but do not have a female helm there is also a Pursuit Race being held at the same time.  Please get your entry in now if you are planning to sail.

 

Race Start Time	09.55H Tower Start
Race Officer	Till Braukmann
Duty Boat	11;11
Set Up/Results	Melissa Kelly

For those focused on preparedness and safety, our Safety & Sea Survival Course returns on Sunday 1 March. Delivered by highly experienced offshore sailors and aligned with Australian Sailing standards, this course is ideal for sailors planning offshore races or coastal passages. 

 

ORCV’s very popular annual Port Phillip Heads and Rip Tour will be held on Sunday 22 March, departing Queenscliff at 12 noon. During the tour, a highly experienced navigator provides expert commentary on navigating this gateway, where underwater reefs limit the navigable entrance to just 0.6 nautical miles.