Latest News

Safety Beach Sailing Club NEWS 31st January 2024

New Members

The Executive Committee and members would like to welcome the following new members to Safety Beach SC. We look forward to meeting you at the club or on the water in the very near future.

Warwick Pearson and family
Jane Metlikovec and family
Craig Garmston
Andrew Griffiths and family

On The Beach News

Howdy Gang.

Well, after another blowout on Friday following the same the Sunday before, I was going to change my title to ‘On The Beach Captain’ as that seemed to be where we spend all our time. But then came Sunday with a little bit of breeze and a whole lot of sunshine and things didn’t seem so bad after all. Geoff set a short course with the intention of getting three races in, but with the wind dying to a zephyr, we just managed to get the second race in before it was time to head home.

What also made for an interesting weekend was the arrival of a bunch of Flying Dutchmen as mentioned in last weeks blurb. These are a fairly old boat and as such have beautiful old world lines and a grace about them that you just don’t see in modern designs. Pretty much like the sailors themselves! These guys intended to sail Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday but with a lack of wind Thursday and too much on Friday, it boiled down to a big day on Saturday morning/afternoon. Three of us,( Bill M, Duncan Mc and myself ) took advantage of there being patrol boats on the water and joined in the afternoon session. Simon Dryden, who was the driving force behind this visit and was RO or crew on all days, was kind enough to give us our own start, and with Mono and Jamie F in the rhib shifting two top marks to suit the wind, we managed to get five or six single lap windward/return races in. Lots of start practice, good wind and waves to surf ; awesome ! Being on the start line three minutes behind the FD’s was pretty cool too. Once they got away from the line they looked like a fleet of keelboats with their big mains and overlapping headsails. They hit the water again Sunday morning and got the best of the wind for the day and speaking to some of them afterward, they all agreed it was a great weekend and had nothing but praise for SBSC and the helpers that put up their hands to assist Simon on pretty short notice. Simon is going to do a report with some pictures, so keep your eyes out for that.

Once again, I want to thank all the race crews that helped on the weekend. Mono and Aurelia on Thursday, all the Lazzar's plus friend on Friday ( my apologies for pressuring you all to head out in that slop only to wisely pull the pin. I was getting desperate !). Andrew Clarky C, Mono, Jamie F and Simon D on Saturday and Bill M with Sally Wemyss ( like Dreams ) Sunday morning and Geoff, Deidre, Rob C Simon D, Emma and Campbell Martin Sunday afternoon. As you can see, that’s an awful lot of people needed to help out so it’s good to see better fleet numbers hitting the water. We had 23 starters Sunday afternoon and that’s with most of the 420’s still away.

This Sunday the Rostered RHIB crews are Rob Fleming, Mark Lawrence, Steve Daniels and Greg Weston, and the weather will be perfect. So see you out there.

Cheers, Pete Chippy

Duty Update

Just a quick shout out to Campbell and Emma Martin who did a sterling job on Woodsy last weekend. Campbell mentioned it may have been first time in a little while he managed to do all the boat driving which was a really good outcome for him, (well done Campbell!!) and ably assisted by Emma had all their marks taken care of in good time. Thanks folks!

Safety Reminder

Woodsy suffered a broke bilge pump over the weekend they are brittle and not exactly precision engineered so thanks for letting me know and for Chippa who I understand has fixed it. Please try and take care when moving around the bilge pumps to avoid breakage.

Additionally, the bailer / bucket on Woodsy seems to have disappeared. It may have been “lost” or worse still fallen overboard PLEASE keep an eye on this type of thing. It’s law to have the bailer so without that OR the bilge pump there was no way of removing water from the boat for that brief period which is not good. Please ensure all / any safety gear remains on each boat and is checked periodically.

Items can’t be swapped with each other and if something goes missing please inform me.

Thanks Rob C

Green Fleet Sail Training

The club is looking for 'expressions of interest' in starting a Green Fleet Program for junior sailors. If you have any youth aged 8-17 years, please feel free to come down to the meet the trainers this Sunday 4th February 9.30am for an informal introduction to green fleet. Non members will be required to complete a Sail Pass for the session. Participants will need to bring appropriate attire to get wet in, change of clothes (if they get wet), hat & towel. Once we gain an idea of the interest levels, a formal program will be put together. Head Trainer Nick Meijer will be there with his team to welcome you.

Tasar Worlds Report - From January 3rd - 9th

The Tasar Worlds were held at the Sandringham Yacht Club. A total of 107 Tasars from 7 countries including USA, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, Britain and France entered the regatta and 85 entered the pre worlds Australian National Titles from December 29th - 31st. Safety Beach Sailing Club had 4 boats entered being: - Mark and Oliver Bulka - Campbell and Emma Martin - Andrew and Aurelia Martin - Jonathan Ross and Jacquie Bange The fleet that entered the worlds was one of the most highly credentialed fleets that had ever assembled for a Tasar World Championship, including 7 past World Tasar Champions, an Olympic Gold medalist, multiple world champions and multiple National and State champions over many different classes. At least 12 crews had embarked on serious olympic campaigns, so to say that getting into the top 30 would be easy is very much understating the talent converging on a 700m start line!

The start line consisted of a 350m port and starboard line either side of the Start/ Finish boat. Luckily you only needed to sight up on 350m of line rather than the entire length, because working out transits on 350m is hard enough. Such was the experience and talent on the start boat, the lines set were such that there was an even spread across the entire length of both lines. That was not to say that there still weren’t shenanigans at the start, particularly the pin end of the port line where multiple boats were black flagged, 16 being the number in race 6. 12 were identified at the start with a further 4 identified post race on the video. The weather conditions were a mix of 10 - 20knt southerlies and westerlies over the entire regatta. Only one day was blown out due to a large sea state and a persistent 22-25knt breeze from the west. Anyone that has sailed at Sandringham will know that the sea state can be short and steep, providing exhilarating reaches and challenging upwind conditions that requires enough power to punch through the chop.

The eventual winners were from the Seattle Yacht Club. They were Olympic Gold Medalist Jonathan McKee and his exceptionally talented wife Libby. Jonathan and Libby are now 5 times world champions in the class. Second were the talented up and comers in Harrison Sly and Zara Challis. Harry and Zara also managed to win the Pre-World Australian National Titles, which is an exceptional effort. Former World Champions from 2015 in Busselton were Chris Dance and Peter Hackett finishing in 3rd.

As for our own sailors, a hearty congratulations to Mark and Oliver Bulka in finishing an impressive 7th overall, Mono and Aurelia finishing 41st, Jonathan and Jacquie in 66th, Campbell and Emma in 89th. Sandringham Yacht Club is a professional club that delivered a truly professional regatta that was one of the best I have competed in. We were indeed fortunate enough to be able to host the event there. The feedback from competitors was outstanding. The next Worlds will be in Kunigami in Japan in 2026. Click Kunigami link and be prepared to be blown away by this venue. There are already quite a few of us locked into going to this event Congratulations also to Mark Bulka for not only organising but also winning the Contender National Championships at the Gippsland Yacht Club. Is there nothing that man can’t sail well?

Mono

Keelboat News

Results - Schnapper Point Race

A small fleet enjoyed the annual Australia Day race up to Schnapper Point. A brisk 20-25kts W-SW ensured a quick race for all, so everyone was back early to enjoy the festivities and club birthday celebrations.

Congratulations to Lumiere (Winner on PHS) and Shimmer (AMS). Thank you to Elaine Nicholas (RO) and Tom McCullough for their time in the tower on the public holiday.

This Week's Races

Friday 2nd February - Twilight Pursuit Series 2 – Race 3 & Mustang Sally Anniversary Race

The Mustang Sally Anniversary Trophy Race is on this Friday 2nd Feb, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to get your name on this trophy. The Mustang Sally trophy was first presented on the 7th February 2020, which represented the 10th Anniversary of Keelboat racing at Safety Beach Sailing Club. The trophy is a half model of the yacht Mustang Sally (SB1), which was the first boat on the keelboat register at Safety Beach.

First Warning Signal:	17.25H Pursuit Start
	Race Officer:	Dianne Jackson
	Tower Assist:	Judy Champion and Lynlee Coutts
	Set Up & Results:	Dianne

Please note that there will be a pink marker buoy placed at 25 to replace the virtual marker this week. The bot mark still needs to complete his man overboard training and Cat 5 audit!

Sunday 4th February - Club Championship Series –Race 7

First Warning Signal:	12.55H Boat Start
	Race Officer:	Judy Champion
	Duty Boat:	Summer Breeze
	Set Up & Results:	Judy

MYC Navigators’ Trophy Race

The Mornington Yacht Club’s Navigator’s Race is coming up on Saturday 10 February 2024 and all SBSC yachts are welcome to enter. This is one of the classic races on Port Phillip and is a must for anyone that likes a bit of a challenge or just enjoys a great sail around the southern part of Port Phillip Bay. If you are interested, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. A link to the Special Sailing Instructions will be posted once available.

bendigo branch manager

Sail Peninsula 2024 (23-25 February)

Now that 2023 and the Christmas season is behind us, it’s time to start preparing for Sail Peninsula 2024. We look forward to seeing great support of our club’s annual regatta from the SBSC fleet.

To Enter please CLICK HERE and the Notice of Race is available HERE sail pen crittenden estate logo

Crittenden Estate has been a proud sponsor of Sail Peninsula for a number of years and more specifically the Margaret Crittenden Challenge Race that is held on the Sunday morning of the regatta.

Being one of our very local wineries that is literally just around the corner at 25 Harrisons Road in Dromana it is definitely worth a visit to the wine centre or restaurant.

For more information please go to https://www.crittendenwines.com.au/

Club Merchandise

Get you order in now to ensure that you are decked out in the latest Club Merchandise for he start of the 2023-2024 season Contact Marg Fleming on her email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to discuss your options. Taking orders now for youth t-shirts with names on the back.

Photo Of The Week

Scamp on Friday 19th January. Photo taken by junior member Mika, who was onboard Anthea for the evening.

scamp

Submission's

If you wish to contribute anything to the Enews, please submit your content to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Tuesday 8pm each week to make the deadline. Please note submissions may need to pass through Executive Committee for approval from time to time. Love photography? Submit your Photo Of The Week toThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in high res, (and it does not have to be about sailing). Follow us on our socials: Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok

Latest News

Safety Beach Sailing Club NEWS 24th January 2024

Off The Beach News

Howdy Gang.

My apologies first up. As we had no enews last week due to an internet issue and no sailing last Sunday due to howling wind, I’ve taken the easy road and reused the report from last week. I know, terribly lazy sorry. Next week will be better after the Australia Day / SBSC Birthday bash for as well as our regular Australia Day / Sunday sail, we are also hosting a mini regatta for a bunch of Flying Dutchmen (I’m not referring to Erik Meijer and his brothers!). These boats are going to join in our races on Friday / Sunday as well as have their own races on Thursday / Saturday. If you would like to help out on any of those days please give Ross Martin a call.

Now for the cheats bit...........
Welcome back to the beach after our long break for Chrissy. Some of us (not me), had no break from sailing at all with the various regattas going on. SBSC hosted the B14, Javelin, Musto Skiff Nationals with great success as you would have read from Paul Fleming’s report last week. I would just like to give a huge thank you to everyone that helped out with the organizing and running of this event. It was a big effort by a lot of people.

Thanks also to Duncan Mc for his report on the Sabre Nationals. Sounds like they all had a bit of fun. I’ll endeavor to get a few more regatta reports from some of the sailors involved , I’m especially interested to hear about the Tasar Worlds.
But it was back to our regular OTB sailing last week (14th January) with round two of the Foundation series. And what a cracker of a day we had. With the lousy weather we’ve had so far this season, it was nice to see some sunshine as well as good wind to push us along. Averaging around 15 knots with some gusts above 20 and lots of swings made for some great tactical battles with positions changing constantly. Twenty one boats of all divisions hit the water, which wasn’t bad considering all of the 420’s were away as well as most of the A Class guys at their respective Nationals. It’s good to see some decent numbers of Sabres back again, especially the long awaited return of “The Maestro” Rick Potter. Rick has had over a year off sailing and on his first race back wiped the floor with us! I’m thinking this is why Gingerbread Bill M has changed to an Impulse. Speaking of Impulses, with Tim B and Doc T joining him and also Duncan Mc jumping across, that gives us a reasonable fleet and more competition with the 420s, bring it on! Thanks as always to the Race team on the day. Geoff and Deirdre for setting a great course, Phil W and Andrew “Doc” T in Woodsy and Paul Fleming with his daughters in Sutherland. Much appreciated.

This Friday for Australia Day we have on duty Ewan C, Glen and Grace L. Sunday rostered on is Campbell and Emma Martin with Rockin’ Rob Campbell Don’t forget, it’s a 10.57 first warning on Friday and no prisoners will be taken, so don’t be late for the start line. FYI, it’s Glenn’s birthday on Aus Day so give him grief as you sail past!

Finally for this week is a request from RO Geoff. If you have changed boats or have just joined in the racing, could you please email Geoff with your boat details by Thursday at the latest so he can alter the register before racing, rather than sailing past yelling “ Hey Geoff, I’ve got a new boat! Oh, and what course are we sailing?”He just loves that !! His email address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cheers for now, see you Friday, Pete Chippy

Keelboat News

Results

Friday Twilight (Series 2 Race 2)

Margaret Hollamby Female Helm Series (Race 3)

Sunday Summer Series (Race 5)

The Friday night fleet is growing in Series 2, with 22 boats racing in the second race, and eight in the Margaret Hollamby Female Helm series. Congratulations to Andrew McGrath and the Unprecedented crew on a clean sweep in the Pursuit, AMS, Female Helm (Liz Keep) AND another win on Sunday. Honourable mention to Fiona and Nick Jones on Vamonos who placed 2nd in the Pursuit, Female Helm and Sunday Summer Series!

Click HERE for full results.

Many thanks to the following SBSC members who ran the tower over the weekend; Mark Lawrence (RO) on Friday night, assisted by Crowded House and Dianne Jackson, and Judy Champion (RO) and Dianne on Sunday morning

This Week's Races

Friday 19th January - Schnapper Point Race

First Warning Signal:	09.55H Tower Start
	Race Officer:	Elaine Nicholas
	Tower Assist:	Tom McCulloch
	Set Up & Results:	Elaine

The Australia Day race on Friday 26 January is the annual race to Schnapper Point (Course 33). Get your crew together for a great race up to Mornington, and then back to the club for an afternoon on the deck to celebrate Australia Day and SBSC’s 57th birthday, with buckets of prawns, grazing plates and live music! If your yacht has not been automatically entered and you would like to race, please enter via Sailsys before 4.00pm Thursday. Any questions, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. See Sailing Instructions for course details.

Festival of Sails – Geelong

Best of luck to all the SBSC competitors racing in Geelong over the long weekend, including the Passage Race from Mornington. SBSC yachts entered are; Easy Day, Etoile, Scamp, Unprecedented, Vincitore and Yknot.

bendigo branch manager

Sail Peninsula 2024 (23-25 February)

To Enter please CLICK HERE and the Notice of Race is available HERE sail pen

Social Committee

The Social Committee would like to thank the members that responded to our recent survey. Over 60 people took the opportunity to let us know what social activities they enjoyed at the club and to make suggestions for the future.

We will add these ideas to our planned activities and remind members that they can always contact the Social Committee at any time if they have any great suggestions.

We look forwards to seeing you all at the Club Birthday on Australia Day with the fabulous Dave Campbell playing!

Kind regards

Ann Matheson

Club Merchandise

Photo Of The Week

Here's a photo of me (Fiona Lowe), relaxing in my favorite place, with one of my favorite kangaroo's in Pambula NSW. Was there really no internet last week, or was I cuddling the kangaroo's for too long? You may never know!! Greg and I will still be away and miss the Australia Day festivities. See you all soon. Fiona xx

kangaroo

Submission's

Latest News

Safety Beach Sailing Club NEWS 10th January 2024

Happy New Year Members

On behalf of the Executive Committee I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. 2024 is starting out to be a great sailing year. Just this weekend we had the combined Skiffs, B14, Musto and Javelin titles which were a fantastic success. In February we welcome boats from around the bay to sail in Sail Peninsula.

In the meantime a lot has happened in the SBSC. Our roof is now adorned with solar panels, we have a new OTB training boat, our new BotMark is about to arrive so we can comply with AMSA and the Port of Melbourne Authority and discontinue using channel markers as rounding marks in keel boat races.

Later in the year we hope to finalise plans, Council approvals and funding for a refurbishment of the change rooms further adding to the facilities to attract more State, National and World titles. In the meantime we are working on some sound insulation for the dining room.

The Executive Committee and Sub Committees are all staffed by volunteers who care deeply about the good governance and running of the Club. Our AGM will be coming up later in the year and it will give members an opportunity to nominate to join both the EC and Sub Committees. You do not need experience to join a committee, you just need to be able to dedicate some time, outside of sailing, to help run the Club with the guidance of experienced members. If you are interested in getting involved, please do not wait for the AGM, let one of the EC members know, our emails are on the website and we will be in touch.

Happy sailing everyone.

Tony

Membership Update

The Executive Committee and members would like to welcome the following new members to Safety Beach SC. We look forward to meeting you at the club or on the water in the very near future.

Robert and Emma Zonta and Family
Kevin Schafer
Nigel Harse
Amy Nicholas
Ray Collins

The current membership of the club totals 490 members. Of these, we have the following membership breakdown:

Males make up 58% of the club and females 41% with one member identifying as non-binary.
Overall membership numbers are approximately 25 less than the past 3 year average. Given the economic times the community face currently, this slight decrease is understandable as a membership at SBSC must be considered discretionary expenditure.

Members by age breakdown:

Age Group	#'s
0 to 9	19
10 to 19	52
20 to 29	40
30 to 39	10
40 to 49	42
50 to 59	100
60 to 69	158
70 and over	69

Notable points are that 258 of our 490 members fall into the 50-69 age group (52.6%)
If we include the 70 and over age group, 327 of the clubs 490 members are 50+ in age (66.7%)

John Di Martino

Membership Secretary

Off The Beach News

45th Sabre National Championships 2023/24

On the 28th of December four intrepid SBSCSS (SBSC Sabre Sailors) ventured about 10 minutes south to McCrae to take on the best Sabre sailors of the nation, well those that chose to travel to Victoria. The invitational race was first up and SBSC had its best result of the championship that day with Bill Manning scoring a valiant ninth place, Fiona Martin -38th, Duncan McColl – 42nd and Keith Bayliss our newest Sabre sailor an unfortunate DNF due to a shackle pin coming loose on the port stay and the mast coming down. Just to provide some context the SBSC results of that day may have been enhanced by the belief of many top sailors that it is bad luck to win or do well in the invitational race, with about 15 boats slowly peeling off from the front of the fleet as the finish drew near.

The next day all was on in earnest, with almost the full fleet of 65 hitting the water for a 10am start in a 12knot SSW. Many were keen to get started that day and with a long start line and feeble starting horn there were a number of general recalls for the two races that day and a fair bit of biff and barge at some of the marks. The end of day 1 saw Krystal Weir, yes Olympic sailor leading the fleet with 2 seconds for the day, and Victorian’s filling the first 4 places. The race committee listened to the mutterings of many in the yard and decided that day 2 would start at the slightly more respectable time of 11.30am, the extra sleep in was much needed with the WSW wind averaging 21knots apparently, felt more like 31knots to me, and waves that had our little Sabres bouncing and crashing all over the place. The conditions deterred about a dozen sailors who huddled behind the glass of the first story of the clubrooms to watch the brave or foolhardy take to the sea. All four SBSCSS ventured out, not sure if we were the brave or foolhardy, with only Bill and Fiona finishing the first race of the day, Duncan was upside-down as Bill finished with his best result of 11th, and Keith declared that he wasn’t that foolhardy and headed for the beach. As if the conditions weren’t hard enough on the fleet the race committee decided, for the only time in the regatta, to have a 3 lap race for the second of the day. The conditions had already reduced the fleet before the start and the day took a further toll with only 44 making it to the finish line of race 2, some of us (Duncan and Fiona) were timed out, but an appeal to the race committee saw points awarded to everyone that crossed the finish line, they almost deserved a medal for braving the conditions. After the tiring day and the thanks of the yard for the late start the race committee made a permanent change to the SIs for 12pm and 1pm starts for the remainder of the regatta and boy did we need that extra rest after day 2! The positions after the day changed towards youth and skill, with Gus McIntyre of Blairgowrie YS a member of the Australian Youth sailing team now heading the leader board, with another BYS sailor having recently moved to Senior ranks in second and Krystal in third.

The last day of 2023 saw day 3 of the regatta and a rather more pleasant 10 knot southerly wind for the day, though with lighter breezes coming off the land it was a shifty day that required all to be on ball. The shifty light breeze in combination with the tides and some itchy feet of those that suffered the day before saw a number of general recalls, postponements and the appearance of the U then black flags. Race 5 of the regatta, the first of day 3 saw eleven unfortunate soles incur the dreaded BFD against their names, one of those being Bill who from where I was sitting looked to be a third of the way to the first mark. These disqualifications assisted Keith (56) and Duncan (34) to their best race results of the regatta, and Fiona to score a 26th. The second race of day 3, saw the fleet back to its original size and after a couple of recalls the races was away but a large windshift saw the pin end favoured by 200m and the race was over for many of us, though Fiona must have been in the right spot and recorded her best result of the regatta with a 15th.

The scheduled lay day on New Years day was a welcome relief and gave the fleet a well-earned rest, and I for one didn’t realise how tired I was until I finally got off the couch at 4pm. Regatta day 4, 2 January was a bit of a letdown, the weather gods were not with us. It was an eery day with 2-4 knots of breeze coming from anywhere between SW and NE, with grey skies to the north west and forecast of possible thunderstorms. The fleet bumped around the yard wondering if we would get of the beach, whilst the start boat left the shore to go and sniff out any consistent breeze. Then with about 30 minutes to the scheduled start people started leaving the beach heading towards what felt like Portsea, but that could have been because of the leisurely 2 knots we were travelling, that could have even been the tide going out. Eventually at the start line things looked positive, a course was set, flags were flying (maybe sagged in a direction) and horns sounded. Then the breeze shifted and the AP went up, then it we went down and we repeated the process, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute to start, but again a wind change and AP. It felt like this process happened half a dozen times. Then finally we got a start, the wind dropped out and there were boats pointing in every direction, where was the wind coming from, then you guessed it AP and the call back to the beach there is a squall and thunderstorm warning. To the beach we slowly bobbed, to pack everything away, get dressed and sit at the bar awaiting the apocalypse, that eventually arrived a couple of hours later with a whimper of wind and a couple of thunder claps. Come back tomorrow was the call, with some trepidation that the forecast was for similar.

The last day, 3 January and the sky looked pretty ominous as we uncovered boats and thought of raising sails was delayed with a glassy sea as far as could be seen and AP on the pole. The noon start time came and went, then 1pm came and went, with no warning after 3.30pm would we get in any racing? Then all of a sudden some wind appeared, the AP came down and a slightly diminished fleet took to the water, things looked good when we neared the start boat, we lined up to start, going through the motions then AP again with a shift of wind. The RO looked to reset the directions but the wind then shifted back. Horns sounded and the Sabre flag was raised, then the black, then down and we were away, just as the wind shifted to the right about 20 degrees, but there was no stopping us, the fleet was away and those toward the pin were blessed with the lift all the way to the lay line, tack and lay the mark with Fiona just ahead and insight as she got to the mark there were boats coming from starboard, the wind dropped and the tide took hold. Four boats tangled up together with the mark and Fiona in amongst them, little did she know that her good start and position had caught the eye of the RO who decided BFD for Fiona. The first reach became a run, the second reach was almost as shallow as the sea near Rosebud Pier, rounding the mark we got the call, change of course. The next beat upwind was about 40 degrees different to the first, the rounding of this mark made interesting right through the fleet with wind dropping out, boats all close together and the tide throwing a curve ball for many. Around the mark and a run to the finish line of the race and regatta, as there was not enough time or wind for one last race.

The end result was some tired but happy sailors. Gus McIntyre the youth from Blairgowrie taking the chocolates both overall and youth, with Krystal Weir second (first female) and Hamish Cowell of BYS third. The first six places were filled with different divisions, youth, female, senior, veteran and grand master, just shows the diversity of the Sabre fleet. How did the SBSCSS fare you ask, Bill’s 13th in the last race lifted him to 18th overall, Fiona ended in 41st overall, that BFD probably cost her a spot inside the top 40, Keith felt the last race was his best (actually equal with race 5) and came 61st overall but commented on how much he learned. Then there was me, with a 42nd in the last race (the second of those for the regatta) leaving me in 52nd overall, which feels about right. Presentations and dinner capped of the event and much thanks goes to the volunteers and race committee from McCrae for an enjoyable and tiring regatta.

Duncan McColl

Skiff Fest 24 - Musto, B14 & Javelin National Championships

It’s a rare opportunity where SBSC crews get to compete at a National Championships on home turf. Misha and Ewan Campbell, Paul Fleming and Craig Garmston, Leigh Dunstan and Brent Frankcombe (Mount Martha) got the special opportunity to do just that and showcase our club.

The B14, Musto Skiff and Javelin classes all made their way from 4 different states to SBSC for their respective 2023/24 Australian Championships between 3rd and 7th January. The weather threw everything at our esteemed race management and volunteers lead by Geoff and Lou. Despite losing day 1, they did not flinch and got us back on track to get a full series in. What a team we have!

The racing was tight with Leigh and Brent (AUS 378) jumping out of the blocks to lead the series after day 2 by 2 points. Day 3 saw Paul and Craig (AUS 375) claw back 1 point and after Day 4 hit the lead by 1 point. It was all to play for on the last and 5th day with both teams going toe to toe as both boats appeared to be a bungy cord not giving an inch. Race 9 finish was epic with Leigh and Brent making a huge comeback from deep in the fleet to finish mere centimetres behind Paul and Craig. With stress levels high race 10 would decide the regatta. Paul and Craig defended whist Leigh and Brent threw everything at them. Leigh and Brent split early whist Paul and Craig could only watch unable to get across to defend. But as luck would have it a tiny left shift gave Paul and Craig just enough to edge in front by the top mark managing to hold on to the finish. Misha and Ewan (AUS 158) had a great series regularly featuring in the top 5 boats at different stages of races with their best result a 6th.

Our fantastic juniors showed what a great club we have, giving up their school holidays to raise money for the junior program by cooking BBQ’s everyday for the sailors, families and volunteers.

A huge thank you to the club, the regatta was a huge success with so many sailors commenting what a well-run regatta we held. Congratulations to all involved.

Paul Fleming

Keelboat News

Sydney to Hobart 2023

Patriot SM133, Winners IRC Div 3 - and another 9th overall on corrected time in the 2023 Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race!
This year was both a grueling physical battle and an extreme mental challenge; this race described as a "navigators nightmare". A challenge of extremes with long periods of no wind and three days of upwind heavy weather sailing. As always a massive thanks to Jason Close for putting together a well oiled program, a brilliantly prepared boat. Thanks also to the whole crew for the 110% effort we put in! Sailing around Tasman island was among some of the worst weather I've experienced at sea and we got though in good shape.

Greg Coutts

patriot

Results - Shark Bay Holiday Series

Race 5

It was a small but enthusiastic fleet that took to the water on Friday morning for a lovely sail to the Mt Martha Mussel Farm and back to the club. The conditions were lovely for a sail with lots of sun and a light to moderate SE breeze that saw the fleet home in time for lunch.

Congratulations to:

PHS: Lumiere

AMS: Mr Bojangles and Shimmer who were equal first

ORCc: Shimmer

Race 6

The forecast was for big things with a Strong Wind Warning issued, but instead we kicked off the day with a light NE breeze that built during the morning to see all yachts finish in a tidy fashion. Course 20 was selected in order to have both a nice sail and also keep clear of the National Titles who had their last day of racing scheduled for Sunday morning.

Congratulations to:

PHS: Lumiere

AMS: Shimmer

ORCc: 2Xtreme

Overall Series Winners

PHS: Scamp

AMS: 2Xtreme

ORCc: 2Xtreme

Unfortunately our Div. 2 yachts have been a bit shy on Sunday’s, so Till from 11.11 has been kind enough to set up a WhatsApp group to hopefully grow the attendance and co-ordinate sailing days. The race committee are very keen to see Div. 2 thrive and grow so we look forward to seeing more of you out there for the second part of the season.

Thank you to all the volunteers who assisted over the summer break with tower race management of the Shark Bay Holiday Series

This Week's Races

Series 2 of the Twilight Pursuit starts this Friday!

All boats that entered Friday Twilight Series 1 will automatically be entered into Series 2. The starting PHS for Series 2 will be the same as the final PHS of Series 1. For new entrants, please enter Series 2 through Sailsys before 4pm this Thursday.

Friday 12 January - Twilight Pursuit Series 2 – Race 1

First Warning Signal:	17:25H Pursuit Start
	Race Officer:	Ross Martin
	Duty Boat:	Scamp
	Tower Set Up & Results:	Amanda Malin

Sunday 14 January - Club Championship Series –Race 6

First Warning Signal:	12.55H Boat Start
	Race Officer:	David Donaldson
	Duty Boat:	Renaissance
	Tower Set Up & Results:	Dianne Jackson

bendigo branch manager

Sail Peninsula 2024 (23-25 February)

To Enter please CLICK HERE and the Notice of Race is available HERE sail pen

Festival of Sails

For all boats planning to head to Geelong for the FOS 2024 please get on board with the Passage Race from Mornington YC.

This is part of the Festival of Sails Entry and sounds like a great fun way to get your boat and crew to Geelong. To enter CLICK Here and select the ‘Mornington Peninsula Series’

Club Merchandise

Photo Of The Week

Well done to our junior members, Finn, Artie, Matt, Zac & Jamieson for welcoming the very hungry skiff sailors after their regatta last week.

Lead by Junior Club Captain Matt Whitaker, the juniors were at the grill for the entire regatta and raised over $700 to go towards future idea's for the junior sailing cohort.

Submission's

Latest News

Safety Beach Sailing Club NEWS 20th December 2023

Off The Beach

Howdy OTB Gang.

Well, disappointment disappointment disappointment. Firstly with the lack of wind on the course that necessitated changing the marks before we even started. Then waiting for enough wind to even get a start. Finally it picked up to a staggering 4 knots so off we went to try and get a race in for the 26 boats that showed up. Very light and shifty all over the course, just the way Fiona M likes it. Not her day though as she was sitting near the back of the pack; more disappointment. Then as the wind fluctuated up and down, a judgement call was made to abandon the race as it seemed at the time that only Division 2 was going to finish in the 70 minute limit. I really felt for Duncan Mc as he was approaching the finish line for his first win, (I felt so bad that I gave Gingerbread Bill back the fiddy he slipped me to get the race stopped if Duncan got ahead of him).

Whether stopping the race was the right call or not is a matter of opinion and as there were apparently more boats that could have finished than we thought, maybe it wasn’t. And this is where the biggest disappointment of the day for me comes in. The volunteers were on the water doing their best to run a race for the sailors. Simon H is not even a sailor but he drove all the way from Hawthorne to man a rhib with Rob C, also not a sailor and not rostered on but put up his hand so others could have some practice. Erik M and myself would have preferred to sail, but hey, someone has to do it, right? And then there’s Geoff and Deirdre who are there EVERY WEEK running the race so the sailors can sail. So when I heard that some people actually sailed past the start boat and gave them a verbal spray for calling off the race prematurely, I was not my normal happy self !

I’m the first to put up my hand to admit that I know bugger all about the intricacies of running a race and shortening courses etc, so the way I saw the day was that it was a beautiful sunny morning with light wind and lots of boats got a good sail in, and the ones that could have finished know where they were in relation to the other boats in their division so take that as a result. And to any of the people who aren’t happy, I’d be more than grateful if they could give me a call so l can slot them in as RO so Geoff can have a well earned rest. SBSC has a zero tolerance to this sort of thing and it really does not happen often, so if you recognize yourself here please have the cojones to apologize to Geoff and Deirdre. I really enjoy writing the OTB report, but I haven’t enjoyed writing this at all and I apologize for being a downer, but I don’t apologize for standing up in defense of all the volunteers who run and make this such a great club to be a member of. To quote the great Mono Martin, “ Don’t come to us with problems, come to us with solutions.”

Anyways, on to brighter things. For those that stayed on for the Christmas festivities, we were treated to some truly fine seasonal fare and what a beautiful day to spend on the deck with good friends and family and surprisingly few jet skis on the water. Thanks again to David and Deirdre ( there she is again) and all of their staff for the fabulous job they do week after week.

Good luck to everyone that is heading off to regattas around the country, especially those in the Tasar Worlds. Do us proud. And if you are staying local, don’t forget SBSC is running the B14, Javelin and Musto Skif Nationals and I’m sure Geoff (there he is again) would love some help on the water.

OK, that’s definitely enough. Have a fun and safe Chrissy everyone and we’ll see you all on the 14th for a perfect day’s sailing.

Cheers, Peter Chippy

Keelboat News

Results

Friday Twilight Series 1 – Race 11

1st Pursuit	Amity	David Mason
1st AM	2Xtreme	Andrew Clark

Series 1 Overall (Pursuit)

1st	Marrakes	Neil Hawker
2nd	11.11	Till Brauckmann
3rd	2Xtrem	Andrew Clark

Series 1 Overall (AMS)

1st	Marrakes	Neil Hawker
2nd	2Xtreme	Andrew Clark
3rd	Yknot	Rob Rainsford

See you all on back for Twilight Series 2 – starting Friday 12 January 2024!

Note: All boats that entered Friday Twilight Series 1 will automatically be entered into Friday Twilight Series 2. The starting PHS for Series 2 will be the same as the final PHS of Series 1.

Shark Bay Holiday Series – Race 1 - Div 1:

1^st – Div 1 PHS	Scamp	Peter Voigt
1^st – Div 1 AMS	Anthea	John Wemyss
1^st – Div 1 ORC	Anthea	John Wemyss

Big thank you to the tower volunteers Friday night – Amanda Malin and duty boat New Morning II – it ended up being a busy finish line! And to RO Tim Bardon (Cirrus) on Sunday… after a slow start, it was great to see the first boat cross the line before the 3 hour time limit! For full results please click HERE

This Week's Races

Friday 22 December:

Fun Twilight Pursuit Race with Spinnaker

First Warning Signal:	17:25H Pursuit Start
	Race Officer:	Dianne Jackson
	Duty Boat:	Layla Rose
	Tower Set Up & Results:	Dianne

For the final twilight of 2023, we have a Fun Friday Twilight with Spinnaker Option.

All boats that have entered the Friday Twilight Series 1 will automatically be entered into the Fun Friday Twilight Series. A boat’s PHS will be the same as the PHS it finished the Twilight Series 1 with.

As per current SI’s, boats that wish to use a spinnaker in the Fun Twilight races must add 3’ to the published start time on SailSys.

KB Captain’s Update:

Christmas is almost here and we’re finishing up with a Fun Twilight on Friday – complete with spinnakers.

Some great racing over the past 11 weeks despite three abandoned races – luckily spread with one each over the three series, so no great impact to points.

SailSys seems to have bedded itself in ok with most skippers. It’s giving some close finishes that will only get better with the growing database of results. It is certainly proving easy to use for the RO/tower crew.

Virtual Marks: Somewhat ‘less than ok’ is the VMs for 25, 23, 21, 19 marks. Lots of bar room chatter about these. The KB committee is looking at our options in conjunction with Vic Ports, and mindful of what other Bay Clubs have done in their response to this new regulation. We will have to live with them for a little while yet, but work continues behind the scenes.

BotMark: Our new robotic mark buoy is now in transit from Sydney and will be here for Xmas. This will add much flexibility to our courses to better suit the wind direction, allow windward/leeward courses more readily, and sometimes replace VM’s. More to come in the new year.

Performance Handicap System (PHS): A kindly reminder that a boat’s PHS rating is based on the boat’s performance over a period. The SailSys algorithm looks at nothing else when it works out next week’s start times. But the SailSys team is watching our weekly results closely to pick up any outliers at either the front or back of fleet, and will manually adjust if persistent and as they see needed for close competition.

Shark Bay Holiday Series: This series kicked off last Sunday and picks up again next Wednesday, 27 December through to Sunday 7 January, with the marquee Race to the Middle on Wednesday 3 January. The Race to the Middle will have the usual prize money kindly donated by Clarky. It’s a great opportunity to get some money out of Clarky and we encourage you all to go for it!

Regattas: We have a number of SBSC boats entered in the Cock of the Bay (2xtreme, Christela, Marrakesh) and Petersville (Etoile, Mr Bojangles, Vamonos, Vincitore) – best of luck to you all for some great racing.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the KB team. Keep safe

xmas opening 2023

donation thanks

Festival of Sails

For all boats planning to head to Geelong for the FOS 2024 please get on board with the Passage Race from Mornington YC.

This is part of the Festival of Sails Entry and sounds like a great fun way to get your boat and crew to Geelong. To enter CLICK Here and select the ‘Mornington Peninsula Series’

Club Merchandise

Photo Of The Week

I'm giving this a re-run to remind you about how hard Geoff and Deirdre work to allow OTB races to happen each week.

Rain, hail or shine, these two always turn up and get it done!

Thank you Geoff and Deirdre for your commitment to the club!

Latest Club News

New Members

On The Beach News

Duty Update

Safety Reminder

Green Fleet Sail Training

Tasar Worlds Report - From January 3rd - 9th

Keelboat News

Results - Schnapper Point Race

This Week's Races

Friday 2nd February - Twilight Pursuit Series 2 – Race 3 & Mustang Sally Anniversary Race

Sunday 4th February - Club Championship Series –Race 7

MYC Navigators’ Trophy Race

Sail Peninsula 2024 (23-25 February)

Club Merchandise

Photo Of The Week

Submission's

Off The Beach News

Keelboat News

Results

This Week's Races

Friday 19th January - Schnapper Point Race

Festival of Sails – Geelong

Sail Peninsula 2024 (23-25 February)

Social Committee

Club Merchandise

Photo Of The Week

Submission's

Happy New Year Members

Membership Update

Off The Beach News

45th Sabre National Championships 2023/24

Skiff Fest 24 - Musto, B14 & Javelin National Championships

Keelboat News

Sydney to Hobart 2023

Results - Shark Bay Holiday Series

Race 5

Race 6

Overall Series Winners

This Week's Races

Series 2 of the Twilight Pursuit starts this Friday!

Friday 12 January - Twilight Pursuit Series 2 – Race 1

Sunday 14 January - Club Championship Series –Race 6

Sail Peninsula 2024 (23-25 February)

Festival of Sails

Club Merchandise

Photo Of The Week

Submission's

Off The Beach

Keelboat News

Results

Friday Twilight Series 1 – Race 11

Series 1 Overall (Pursuit)

Series 1 Overall (AMS)

Shark Bay Holiday Series – Race 1 - Div 1:

This Week's Races

Friday 22 December:

KB Captain’s Update:

Festival of Sails

Club Merchandise

Photo Of The Week

Submission's

Club Sponsors

Club Partners