Sail Peninsula Media
Keelboats
The entrants in the Margaret Hollamby Female Helm competed in a three-race series with the first race unfortunately abandoned as the fleet languished near SB1in zero wind listening to Till playing his guitar. The entrants in the series were Lori Wilson, Gwen McAuliffe, Sally Wemyss, Fiona Jones, Jacquie Bange, Gail Perry, Julie Lewis-Mathias, Andrea Catling, Veronica Pizer, Jacqui Piko, Noelene Copeland, Vanessa Collings, Helen Lovett, Dee Mason, Katrina Mackie, Kate Hyde, Glenys Hitchen, Karen Baumanis and entrants on Black Swan and Balance.
The third and final race was sailed on Friday with six women finishing an enjoyable sail in fair winds. Sally Wemyss won with considerable helming skill but had to forego the first prize bottle of wine, being a little too young. Second was the slightly older Fiona Jones on Perception and third Gwen McAuliffe helming Seaclusion. Lori Wilson, having started the race in first place in the progressive scores(she won heat 2) was fourth, so who was going to win the series? Well, Lori. On countback from Gwen, with Sally in third.
Congratulations to Lori, Gwen and Sally, but to all who competed. Biggest Female Helm on the Bay. This year the Female Helm was organized as distinct from the normal Friday twilight pursuit. We should evaluate how it went and develop an ongoing policy for the event going forward.
Sunday. The BOM forecast steady breezes from the northeast at about 10 knots. Planet Earth defeated them. The fleet must have known, as only four boats turned out to play: Perception, Mr Bojangles, Summer Breeze and Ninjo. And Ninjo doesn’t have a fridge! There were three races within the race. The first was the downwind to SB2. In a moderate but fair breeze Perception, Mr Bojangles and Ninjo had an enjoyable tactical battle. Perception and Mr Bojangles flew their symmetrical spinnakers while Ninjo chose wider angles, crisscrossing the course with her blue and yellow assy. At the end of the 3.7 nautical mile run these three yachts arrived at the SB2 mark so close together they rounded on each other’s transom (they really did!), Mr Bojangles, followed by Ninjo then Perception. That was yacht racing!
The next leg out to R1 was a different story. The wind died to a whisper. Mr Bojangles and Perception tacked over to a light shore breeze while Ninjo stayed on the rhum line further out, hoping for the new breeze promised by the BOM. Unfortunate call Ninjo, who watched Perception round R1 in the distance while Mr Bojangles also rode a line of breeze to arrive in the vicinity of R1. However, Perception had been followed by a vacuum. Ninjo watched Mr Bojangles tack to and fro trying to reach the mark. Meanwhile Ninjo launched her gennaker to add power. It worked, and Ninjo got closer and closer to the hapless Mr Bojangles. They eventually retired, leaving Ninjo to tack inexorably closer to the mark for about an hour, rounded, then promptly retired. Summer Breeze then retired.
That left the race to the finish line, a race of one well sailed by Perception, two-up by Fiona and Nick, who as usual did a brilliant job.
Many thanks to Till for his patient work as race officer. One complaint – Ninjo had ordered Big Macs and Coke to be sent out to us during the leg from SB2 to R1. He failed to deliver.
This Week’s Results - Keelboats
| 1st | Anthea | Sally Weymss |
| 2nd | Perception | Fiona Jones |
| 3rd | Seaclussion | Gwen McAuliffe |
| 1st | Perception | Fiona Jones |
| 2nd | ||
| 3rd |
This Week’s Racing - Keelboats
| Race Start Time | 17.50H Pursuit start |
| Race Officer | Amanda |
| Duty Boat | The Office |
| Set Up/Results | Amanda |
Sunday 8th March – NO RACING (LONG WEEKEND)
Amity Ahoy
Ciaran's Cup
The club will be running the “Ciaran’s Cup” Annual Race on 27th March 2026, in conjunction with the Friday Twilight Pursuit Series 2 - Race 8. All boats participating in the twilight race must have junior crew onboard to be in contention for this award, which has been named in honour of the event creator Ciaran Snooks.
Ciaran’s Cup is a perpetual award and will be presented to the winning skippers and their junior crew by Ciaran on the Friday night after racing. Fiona Lowe will be organising junior crew and would like to start a list of all interested skippers wanting to host juniors and their families. If you have space on your boat, please contact Fiona by email
ORCV
ORCV’s popular annual Rip Tour of Port Phillip Heads 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. Held only once a year, the Rip Tour aims to increase local water knowledge.
Sail in company on the 73rd Apollo Bay Race. The perfect race to come and try ocean sailing. This 52nm Category 3 race features a 6am start and daylight run along the Great Ocean Road, finishing at Apollo Bay, perfect for sailors building offshore experience or stepping beyond the bay. The race often decides the ORCV Coastal Championship and is an ideal race for those new to ocean racing with its shorter length and proximity to the coast.
The West Offshore Coastal Sprint 3 the last in the series, a race which has been designed as short-distance ocean sprints to provide a crew development pathway for longer ocean races and as a stand-alone coastal racing program. This Category 3 race is roughly 15-35nm and aims to have skippers and crew home Saturday evening.
Juniors Adventures
Photo of the Week
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