SE Queensland part 2

June 5, 2013 Leave a comment

Yet another trip north covering 3015 kms this trip. After dropping by those from Hervey Bay to Bribie Island last time, this trip was to coincide with the annual Sanctuary Cove International Boatshow, then following up with those in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.

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I spent day one driving north with a detour to Tea Gardens, one of those little out of the way places that you mean to get to sometime.  This time I did, great little spot that would be full of life in Summer. However as has been the case lately, I took the rain with me. I’ll make a note to drop by when it’s warmer. The following day was meant to be spent seeing all those in the Port Macquarie area, however after 155mm of rain overnight, I decided to continue on to Coffs Harbour. Yep more rain, this time only 147mm. 300mm in 48 hours was enough! Time to keep going north.

This time with more luck, the Sanctuary Cove International Boatshow weekend was dry, I must have left it all down south. Spending the weekend wandering around the show talking to others in the marine industry was a little different. The marina was probably half the size of previous years however the main hall/tent area seemed to be  full as usual. It was a great opportunity to spend some time talking to others when they had the chance.

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One of the things about visiting this area is that I get to stay with my Fathers sister Cynthia and her husband Geoff at Hollywell.Waking up to this view is fantastic [when it’s not raining] until the jetskiers start up. Having them banned from Sydney Harbour means I don’t see too much of them, but it was like the neighbours starting up the lawn mower at 0600, you didn’t need an alarm clock.

I had planned to spend the next 5 days with two in Brisbane and the rest on the Gold Coast, visiting clubs, chandleries, builders and others in the marine industry. I was able to visit some great people. One of these was a fellow who was on the phone to Melissa in the office asking about product – ‘Do you have anyone in the area?’ With a little drive down to the Tweed River Sailing Club, I was able to show the range of DeckHardware products and give Bill a chance to touch and feel. He came away with a lot more knowledge on ropes, blocks and some of the other products we offer.

Then it was up to Brisbane, this time to catch up with those at Manly, firstly at Muir Marine, then at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron [RQ]. With a range of people, I was there the entire morning. Yes, it rained! Sitting in the back of the van with Adrian Finglas the RQ coach showing rope and fittings wasn’t the easiest, but at least we were dry. I thought I’d escape back up to the the Sunshine Coast away from the wet and see a couple of others including builder Jon Sayer, it rained.

Thursday was clear – nearly but enough to not need umbrellas or a jacket. I was able to see a few more, not all on the list but it was good to meet up with those who had started ordering from us in person. Always good to put a name to a face and then show some new and exciting products.

Then the rain came..Friday morning waking up to rain, I’d had enough, time to go home. Yep, it rained Saturday afternoon and Sunday in Sydney. Pool’s full, Dams full and the Wakehurst Parkway is flooded. Anyone need rain, just invite me to stay.

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South East Queensland Part one

May 19, 2013 Leave a comment

This time it was trip to South East Queenland,  I started at Hervey Bay and worked my way south to Bribie Island just north of Brisbane.

As is the case with many of these trips, its seeing who is still there and who is not. The first photo is from the Mary River Marina at Maryborough. As can be seen by the debris on the downpipe, they have had an issue with floods in the last few years. The area where you can see through used to house the chandlery in pic2. Bill and his team had had enough of the floods and made the move to Urangan at Hervey Bay It’s a sad state at the Marina, but you can understand why he made the choice to leave. Should you have the opportunity to go to Hervey Bay, drop by and see Bill, he’s walking distance from the marina.

Pic3 show’s one of the great Aussie wonders – a Big Thing. I’m yet to work out what relevance Bushranger Ned Kelly has in Maryborough, he did most if not all of his thieving down in Northern Victoria.

Pic4 shows the boat ramp at Tin Can Bay, the Southern end of Fraser Island – Urangan being the Northern tip. As can be seen by the photo, it’s a fair hike out to the moorings at low tide. It would be at least a mile or so, a bit of planning would be needed going to and fro.

It was a full week on the road seeing just over 40 of DeckHardware’s customers, both old and new. It was good to catch up with a few of the builders and retailers and see what everyone was up to. With two new 60′ Multihulls in build near Noosa and a 45′ center cockpit cruiser being built near Mooloolaba, it’s good to see Australian tradesmen hard at it. I had the opportunity to show a range of product, with nearly 10,000 now across 18 suppliers there’s always something that someone hasn’t seen.

In the coming weeks, it’s back up to Queensland to see those in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast. I’ll also drop by Sanctuary Cove and see how the boat show stacks up this year.

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Easter in Canberra

April 23, 2013 Leave a comment

026On one of my trips down south, I dropped by and saw Matt Owen, the CEO of Canberra Yacht Club. After running through a range of DeckHardware products, some of which Matt took on the day, we got talking about race management. He noted that the upcoming Asia Pacific Access and Skud18 Championships were to be held at the club over Easter. Would I be interested in being the Principal race Officer? Having been involved in the 2012 Access World Championships at my home club Middle Harbour Yacht Club, I had little hesitation in agreeing as they were a great bunch of people to be involved with. Robyn and I drove down for a meeting with Terry Peek the Sunday before Easter to see how the organising was going, 8 hours in the car for 1.5 hours talking, at least it was a nice day.

I drove down again the following Thursday for the regatta, this time in the DeckHardware van with a few ‘bits and pieces’. The day was spent making sure the competitors and those helping out were ready to roll. Friday was a practice race, it was much needed for the team on the water, as much as I had raced on Lake Burley Griffin, I’d never run anything. It was good to get my eye in.

Racing was competed in the Skud18s, Access, Access303s single and double handed and the Libertys. Across the five divisions, they had multiple races each day. Luckily we had good sailing and were able to get in some good racing across the Easter weekend as you can see by the attached photos. The winning Skud18 from London 2012 was sailed by 420 sailor Rob Crawford and his father Peter upfront after the sudden withdrawal of Paralympic Gold Medalist Dan Fitzgibbon due to illness, Peter enjoyed his time crewing for his son and having some time on the water. Other London2012 sailors included Liesl Tesch, Dan’s London2012 crew and Stephen Churm from the Aussie Sonar team.

With competitors from nearly all Australian states, New Zealand and Japan it was a good mix and from what I saw, some great racing for the spectators on the shoreline. Next years event is proposed to be held down in Adelaide, either on the river or even perhaps down at Goolwa on the Murray River.

Results available here: http://www.canberrayachtclub.com.au/results/2012-2013/Access_Class_2013_CHampionships.pdf

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That was February

March 1, 2013 Leave a comment

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February started off with the Adams 10m titles once again at Middle Harbour. The weather over the January Australia Day long weekend brought decent wind out of the Noreast for the first and last day, the Sunday was a writeoff as we only got the one race in.

The series was always going to be hard fought between Tim Gallego steering Jim Curtis’s Another Dilemma [MH26] and Ben Nossiter’s Sirius [MH118]. Tim is a long time Adams 10 sailor and since his move to England some years ago, makes the trip out each January for a sail. Ben has for many years – some say too many, ruled the scratch pointscore at MHYC. On this occasion, Tim was able to just make the break at the starts on most occasions and hold off Ben for the 2013 Title.

Chris Williams aboard Coconut Telegraph was the third placed boat and the winner of the DeckHardware donated Pat Carroll Memorial Trophy for the best placed timber seated version.

I then took off on a small overnight drive down to Canberra and across to Eden on the south coast for a DeckHardware sales trip. These places are just a little too far to do in a day from Sydney but an overnighter makes it easer to see the customers down south. I was able to check on the progress of a yacht being fitted with Man Ship Marine hatches, ports and sliding companionway hatches. They look good, however the owner builder has had some down time due to other issues and the launch is some time off.

Back home and it was back in to race management mode, this time the next heat of the NSW Kiteboarding Association titles.034 Kiteboarding attracted a range of competitors. There were those who sailed and those who surfed, rather like the introduction decades ago of the Windsurfer. On this day we only had a handfull of the 38 entrants turn up as the conditions for this form of sailing are rather specific. Most sailors can sail in anything up to 25-30 knots with out major issues. Kites on the other hand require a minimum of 10 knots just to get out on the water. This raises all sorts of issues when planning ahead for course racing.

It is a good experience however and I look forward to next season and hopefully better weather and more competitors.

The following weeks saw me up at Pittwater helping run the Pittwater High Schools District teams sailing event. This was a new one for me as I hadn’t been involved in any teams racing management before. With Melissa as one of the umpires, I was able to get my head around running 60 odd races in one day. It made for some interesting discussions between us on the radio. I wanted to start a race, however I couldn’t because there were no umpires on the startline. More things to think of other than wind/tide and course construction that I usually watch out for. Again it was an experience watching some of the sailors teams racing and making calls to their team mates on who to cover etc.

We have just had the JJ Giltinan World 18’er Championship on the harbour and amongst the competitors was a staff member of Allen Brothers in England. DeckHardware distributes the Allen product range and this was a great opportunity to spend some time with Tristan Hutt and the crew of Pica who made the trip ‘Downunder’. 032The photo shows the CTech team from NZ making the perfect porthand start. They were able to continue this break and lead the whole way around the track. The bow on port behind CTech is The Kitchen Maker skippered by dual Olympic Gold Medalist Mal Page, unfortunately he had to take the sterns on most of the fleet and wasn’t able to recover, finishing mid fleet.

Melissa was able later in the week on the layday to take the Pica team on a tour of the Northern Beaches taking in some of the sights of Home and Away’s Summer Bay. The TV show is seen by more in England than here, so they were pleased to have the opportunity.

The English sailors were more than happy to spend some time away from the English Winter, we think they will be back.

This coming weekend we have the 420/470 States at MHYC and the following weekend in the Sydney Harbour Regatta featuring the Sydney38 Championships, both events I’ll be running as RO. Hopefully we get some of the nice weather as seen in the 18’er photo, but given the battering that the East Coast of Australia has been having of late, I don’t think so.

With the south east of Queensland and norther New South Wales being affected by floods recently, several of my sales trips have had to be changed, hopefully after Easter I can get up north and show off the new DeckHardware products. Our thoughts go out to those who have suffered losses due to these floods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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January Tasmanian trip

January 17, 2013 Leave a comment

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This trip was arranged to coincide with the Australian Youth Sailing Championships held at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania [RYCT] which were sponsoring. As it turned out there were several other regattas on in the area around the same time. These included The International Cadet Dinghy World Championships, the 420 Australian Championships and the Optimist Australian Championships. Then there was the finish of the Rolex Sydney Hobart for which I have been the Race Official on the Southern Line for the last 6 years. The Farr40s also held their Championships with three Sydney boats making the trip down to Hobart. The Derwent River was the place to be in January.
In recent years I have been flying down, however with all that was happening, it was an opportunity to pack the van and do the trip on the ferry, Spirit of Tasmania with plenty of product. I also had a couple of tables and a marque for the youth champs, so the DeckHardware van was pretty full.
The first week was spent at the Derwent Sailing Club [DSS] supporting the 420s with the DeckHardware van. It was as it turned out, to be quite a busy week due to the conditions. For the greater majority of the time spent in Tasmania, it blew. More often than not over 30 knots! Whilst the competitors were on the water for the 420s, I was able to get around visiting the other events and seeing the chandleries in Hobart, Kettering and Franklin. Then it was back to the DSS in the afternoon to help the competitors with various bits and pieces. It made for some long days as I generally arrived at the club around 0730 and didn’t leave till 1800; this was to be the pattern for the two weeks there. I only had the opportunity to get out on the water to spectate on two occasions, my hosts in Hobart Roy and Dianne have a Jeaneau and were able to host me and a couple of the parents that are old friends and crew mates.
With the excellent support of Allen Brothers in England, DeckHardware were sponsors of the Youth Sailing Championships next door at the RYCT. All the skippers received an Allen backpack and DeckHardware stickers to apply to their booms upon registering at the RYCT. Several parents were noticed wearing the bags, they liked them so much. During the week, it was interesting to see the bags scattered beside the boat covers and dollies on the rigging grass, I think they were well received and put straight in to use. Allen also supplied a range of product to be presented along with the trophies at the presentation dinner, which DeckHardware added to with a range of other products including JDC, Liros, TBS and Protect tape.
Once again it was full days helping the competitors, I also had those from the Cadets come and see me as well, once the word was spread around that the DeckHardware van had a range of product available to suit.
Once the regattas were over it was the drive back to the north of Tasmania, where before returning home I saw another major Tasmanian chandlery in Launceston. Unfortunately the sparmaker next door was away on holidays at the time.
123It was a full couple of weeks and I took the time to do my first trip to the top of Mt Wellington [1270m/4000’] which dominates the skyline to the south west of Hobart. Many of my friends have told me that it can be cold and windy at the summit and windy it was. Once I got over the vertigo of the drive the view was spectacular. I was glad to do the drive up in summer as a couple of days later several others in town for the regattas went to the summit and just about froze as there was a little frost and ice! Some may have seen reports of the fires in Australia, Tasmania was not spared and a large area of the state was destroyed. Many of these fires were visible from the Hobart waterfront. I experienced the extremes of Hobart’s summer weather; I can claim to have been in Hobart on the hottest EVER day in history – 43.8c and then there was the day when the temperature didn’t rise much over 16c.
My thanks go to Roy and Dianne Barkas for hosting me for the couple of weeks in Hobart. As with all of my interstate trips, it was great to have the support of our friends.

 

I have posted photos of the events on the DeckHardware facebook page and in the coming weeks gradually add more.

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Been a big few days down south

January 3, 2013 Leave a comment

I’ve been in Hobart for a few days now and it’s been pretty much non stop. I’ve been between several regatttas, the International Cadet Worlds and the 420 and Laser Nationals and then there’s the finish of the other race that I started on Boxing Day, the Rolex Sydney Hobart. I’ve helped competitors re rig and rebuild their boats, on one day re splicing three jib halyards.

I’ve seen the Governor of Tasmania preside over 2 prizegivings, someone should however told him not to repeat the same line each time, I’m sure there are a few others who heard the same comments about the Volvo race being a festival as is the feeling in Hobart at this time of year.

I’ve also had the chance to catch up with old friends and made some new ones, one Launceston Hobart competitor made note last night – “you’re that Phil!” I had to remind him that should he come to MHYC, there’s four Phils to choose from. Hobart at this time of year is a festival with the Taste of Tassie food halls on the waterfront a big part of it. I’m yet to have a Scallop pie, one of the local delicacies, but there’s still time. It’s been good catching up with the likes of Ian and David Ross and Andrew Hunn, all of whom I’ve known for over 35 years.

In the coming days there’s the completion of the 420s and Cadets and then the Australian Youth Championships start. Also on this weekend is another round of the Australian Farr40 circuit with several Sydney boats in town including Estate Master and Transfusion. I’ll drop over the other side of the Derwent River to Bellerive to catch up with these guys in the coming days.

I’m in Hobart for another week or so and the way things are, I’ll need it. Normally a trip down here is around 4 days to see all the builders and chandleries, I’ve only had the chance to see two of those.

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Near the end of 2012

December 27, 2012 Leave a comment

As we approach the end of 2012, yes I’m off again interstate. This time putting the DeckHardware van on the ferry to Tasmania.

But first; yesterday was the start of the 68th annual Rolex Sydney Hobart race. For the sixth consecutive year, I was the Race Officer on the southern line. Due to the nature of the start in Sydney Harbour, the line has for many years been split in two. The larger boats on the front and the smaller and PHS fleet on the second. As a result I end up with boats such as the 80′ Brindabella and the three Volvo 60s, down to boats such as the Sydney 38s and 36s. A wide variety.

The day started off with dropping Melissa off at Tania Park overlooking the harbour at Balgowlah. The Sailing Chix [www.sailingchix.org] had received council permission to broadcast the start live on Northern Beaches Radio from this prime viewing spot. They had lined themselves up with a full five hours of on air time and interviews with all the leading contenders. I returned at 0900 to collect Mel as she was also to help me out on the startboat. Unfortunately due to the internet going down, many will have missed the last couple of hours. They have assured me that the repeat will go online shortly for those wanting to catchup with all the gossip.

Back out on the harbour and after calling two boats over the line last year and broadcasting for the leading 30minutes that I wanted a clean start, it was fantastic to see the fleet get away under reaching headsails and spinnakers in the 18-20knot southeaster. Unfortunately there was one boat OCS on the front line and there has been plenty of media coverage about it, so I won’t go in to the nuts and bolts as it didn’t concern my team. Our team did a great job on the water and all enjoyed the chance to get up close, those who were there for the first time especially excited. Photos have been placed on the DeckHardware page on Facebook.

With a day in the office to pack the DeckHardware van, I’m off in the morning driving to Melbourne to make tomorrow nights ferry to Devonport. There’s a fair bit on down south in the next couple of weeks. The International Cadets have their World Championships, the Laser Class have the Nationals, the Australian Youth Championships are on and the Farr40 class have a regatta organised. Not to mention the finish of the Hobart race!

As I’m not officiating for a change, I hope to keep everyone up to date with all the happennings, watch this space.

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It’s been a big week

December 9, 2012 Leave a comment

I’ve been down in Sandringham Victoria helping officiate at the ISAF World Cup of Sailing at Sandringham Yacht Club. In order to keep up my accreditation as a National Race Official, I volunteered my time to help out on the water. I was the RO in charge of laying the marks on Alpha Course with the able assistance of Dennis and John from Black Rock Yacht Club, who also have many years of experience. We looked after the 470s, 420s, Finns and later in the week the OKs. On the final day we also had the Libertys, Skuds, Laser 4.7s and 29ers.

The conditions early in the week were quite rough on Port Phillip Bay with strong southerlies, later in the week we had 5-7knots for a couple of days and on the final day a gusty Northerly to 25knots. All courses bar the Kiteboarding lost Tuesday and the 49ers and 29ers also lost Wednesday.016

I hung around Tuesday till 1500, then took the decision to say nothing will happen and dropped down the Sport Phillip Marine at Mornington one of many chandleries I wanted to see whilst in Melbourne.

As a result the sailing instructions were changed from 2 races per day to 3 on most courses in order to catch up. Most classes were able to sail the full complement with our race track finishing off those who didn’t.

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It was also a great challenge to those employed at Sandringham having to work around the 300 odd competitors. The slipway wotrkers and delivery drivers all had challenges in going about their jobs, it was a credit to all that it seemed to all work seemlessly.

Daily we had several meeting prior to going out on the water, a RO meeting and then just before leaving, a meeting of all those on Alpha with the plans for the day. Whilst at times it seemed to be a bit of overkill, it is a neccessary evil, covering all bases as event organisers. None of this was new, but rather an insight in to the way others work.

I did however have some time early each day to look after the requirements of the competitors by opening the DeckHardware van with those products I brought down. Requests for Liros rope being the prime and others from shackles up, I was able to help all except one competitor who wanted his Laser vang spliced as well. That I didn’t have time for as I was running late for the boat.

It was a great week and I hope that all the competitors we looked after were happy with the decisions we made out on the water. I certainly enjoyed the time working with the guys from Black Rock as daily we agreed on our thoughts on the course as distinct from those made by the startboat. If I have the chance I’d like to work with them again, Dennis and John [who flew down from the Gold Coast] were a joy to spend over 8 hours a day with. We also had Tracey over from Adelaide, Sylvia from Brisbane and Robyn how had last helped me at the NSW Youth Champs helping the locals.

As for the sailing? The fleets were down in size being the first event after the London 2012 Olympics bar the Kiteboards who had the biggest fleet. It was good to see the Sydney guys whose races i have been running, all come down. It was also good to see many others who I catch up with from time to time, some unfortunately, a fleeting quick chat and then off to the next briefing or de-brief.

Next up is the Southern Line for the Rolex Sydney Hobart race on Boxing Day, it’ll be good to be back with my own Middle Harbour Yacht Club team again and on a larger and dryer boat!

 

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Summer in Melbourne

December 5, 2012 Leave a comment

Yeah right, try telling that to the 400 odd competitors at Sail Melbourne.020 The temperature when I arrived at Sandringham was 14c! Summer?

Yesterday all but the Kiteboarders were cancelled due to the adverse conditions. At this mornings de-brief even some of the more exerienced Kiters said it was at the top end of what they could sail at.

Today all sailed bar the Libertys, Skuds, 49ers and the 49er FX as again the conditions were not too good. Whilst I’m out on Alpha course I don’t get to see to much if any of the others sailing, but what we had would have been pretty much the same across all fleets. The breeze was in the 20s for the majority of the 3 races held today, one gust we saw 26knots on our JDC Eole. You know it’s windy when you see a 470 going to windward sailing up a wave and going totally airborne. One of those classic shots, that you wish you took rather than watching happen. All I could think of was the landing, but these guys are amongst the best and handled it with ease.

In the first photo it looks pretty good, but…as you can see from the second click, there’s no mark! The seas on Port Phillip Bay are all wind driven and after 48hours they were around the 2m mark. Not really the best for a small runabout carrying the marks for the day. Mind you coming back in was a good ride. 022

 

It’s been a hard few days for us on the mark boat. Monday we had a few issues with water in the fuel and alarms going off. We ended up returning to Sandringham and having the mechanic have a quick look, then heading out again. Tuesday was a hurry up and wait, nothing happenned till the PRO pulled the pin after 1500.

 

Today, it all happenned pretty quick, the start boat went out and checked the conditions and returned to the club. I literally had time to go back to the van, get changed, grab my RO gear and head out. The RO signaled a windward return, hooray, only one mark to lay and retrieve out of the mud. Denis Finn from Black Rock is our driver and did an excellent job trying to keep us dry. Mind you the fore hatch needs some Gaffa tape!

 

Tomorrow? Who knows, but knowing our luck it’ll be left over seas and no wind.

 

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Final preparation day

December 2, 2012 Leave a comment

Today was the final preparation day before ISAF World Cup of Sailing at Sail Melbourne both for the officials and for those competing,

I had an early start, down to Sandringham before 0800 in order to get a good parking spot for the DeckHardware van. Hopefully I can jig the same spot each day. The routine for today was  – set up shop, attend briefing, set up shop, attend briefing, set up shop and final briefing. The first meeting was introducing the teams on each course, as this is my first Sail Melbourne aside from the PRO, I know no one. The second meeting was out on the marina seeing the boat I’m on and the equipment provided. The third meeting was the officials welcome drinks with the local mayor followed by the competitors official briefing.

There are plenty of officials with experience from the Olympics down, on each boat I think the minimum is a state race official. the are plenty of nationals like myself just helping out. The guys I’m partnered with from Black Rock have over a decade each in running races on Port Phillip Bay.

I think I’m in good hands, just need the weather to co-operate.

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