July happenings, now for August

August 5, 2013 Leave a comment

001Over the last couple of weeks there’s been a bit on. I’ve been back out on the water with the last few races of the MHYC Winter series and with the start of the CYCA Gold Coast race. The race to Southport on the Gold Coast was one of the slowest starts, with some boats taking nearly 2 hours to clear North Head. The fleet certainly had one of the slowest races with quite a few retiring citing time restraints as their reason. There were those who had to be in Brisbane for the next leg of the racing north during winter to Yeppoon and there were those who just had to be back at work and had hoped for a quick race.

I also had the opportunity to drop by Hunters Hill sailing Club early on a Sunday morning to have a look at the Sabot training. DeckHardware are supporting the 50th National Titles this summer on the reaches of the upper harbour. It was good to get out and have a look at them and what the Sabot fleet are up to in general.

Next on the trip list is Western Australia, I’m off to Perth this Sunday for the week 011with a case of new products and catalogues. It will be good to catch up with everyone over there. With all these interstate sales trips over  the years, many of those I’ve seen have become good friends as well. I look forward to catching up with those such as Paul, Rachael and Jay.

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Sydneys Winter of late

July 19, 2013 Leave a comment

There’s been plenty in the news on the current weather in Sydney, we’ve had the hottest week in something like 80 years, with five days over 20c. This weekend however things are looking to change with the next cold front coming through.

I dropped down to Middle Harbour Yacht Club to meet up with Australian Sailing Team member Tom Burton to discuss his Liros rope requirements and whilst there took this photo. With a little more breeze in the afternoon it was a great day and a little envious of the ISAF number one ranked Laser sailor going out.

This weekend is the last of the MHYC Winter Series with the following weekend the start of the CYCA Gold Coast race. For a change, I’ll be on the pin end of the line watching the start. We’ll have a couple of our regular team on board including Melissa and Phil who are integral to our Hobart start team. With some favourable weather, we wish the competitors a good trip north. Leading the charge will be Hobart record holder Wild OatsXI with the other super maxis Wild Thing and Lahana and the Volvo70s Black Jack and Southern Excellence. The handicap contender is wide open this year with no clear favourites. We’ll have to wait till closer to the 27th for a better idea.

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Wet wet wet

July 2, 2013 Leave a comment

With apologies to those who went out let alone sailing last Saturday in Sydney, it was wet. As one friend mentioned, it was probably the wettest day on the harbour in quite some time. I think it was the eighth day in a row of rain in Sydney, wettest June for 6 years.

I was once more out on The Sound, this time my first for some time at Middle Harbour Yacht Clubs Winter Series. With a handfull of intrepid sailors, our regular team attempted to stay dry however with a few more anchor winch issues, not quite. The breeze did co-operate however and we had a reasonably steady 10knots for most of the day and they all got around the full course.

Hopefully the coming weeks will improve.019044

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June update

June 16, 2013 1 Comment

Over the June Queens Birthday weekend, I was again out on the water running the Optimist East Coast Championships at MHYC. Whilst we were blessed with nice fine days, the wind gods neglected us. Both days were affected by fickle winds early in the piece. With over 70 competitors in the two Optimist fleets and a couple of Cadets and a few 420s to round out the fleet, there were plenty waiting for a a course to be set, especially on Sunday with a 3 hour delay. Once again I was fortunate to have Melissa  backing me up and Robin Tames and Phil Clinton also aboard the start boat. With a team that starts everything from the annual Rolex Sydney Hobart Race down to the aspiring sailors in the Optimists, it’s good to have the experience aboard. Some competitors came up from Victoria to add to those from around Sydney, hopefully they all enjoyed the experience.

With two fleets sailing different courses, we had three teams finishing them. Phil was inside the cabin with a scribe, Mel was outside with a couple of scribes and I was upstairs on the flybridge. With the competitors coming across the finish line down wind, seeing the sail numbers was a little difficult with their booms straight out from us. I was able to have the view from above and a little easier. How Mel kept up I don’t know, let alone the scribes. Some how we were able to collate the results! The tape recorders got a work out too.

What was nice was the number of the junior competitors saying ‘Thank you’ to the start boat as they finished the last race of the event. That’s always appreciated and I hope they continue to thank the volunteers through out their sailing career.

Yesterday I spent the day at DeckHardware with our 16′ Skiff Ambassadors Fire Stopping. Owner James Bury [white cap] has decided to refit the multiple Australian Champion with an all new fitout of Allen Brothers fittings. All of the old cleats, blocks and systems were replaced with new parts. Along with forward hand Rob Napper, James had arranged professional sailor Mitch White to assist. By bringing the skiff to DeckHardware, the three of them were able to swap and change fittings, whilst I tried to keep a record of those used. With the added use of Schaefer Marine Low friction rings and Liros 1.5mm Dyneema, many of the systems have been tidied up hopefully making the boat easier to sail and therefore faster. Time will tell when James and Mitch return to Sydney at the beginning of the season after competing in Team Transfusion at the Farr40 World Championships in New York.  To have a look at the range of DeckHardware products available you can find them on our website www.deckhardware.com.au

Today was back to Middle Harbour Yacht Club, but this time with another hat, that of one of the clubs Safety Auditors. As the Principal Race Officer, it’s also a chance to hop aboard some of the boats and look at their layout. Something not possible when you are out early and back late. Credit to those who I saw, there’s always some thing you pick up on, from not having the current ISAF 3013-16 Rule book aboard to not having the yachts sail number on the stern. These were minor compared when talking to some of the other auditors.

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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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Australian Combined High Schools Sailing Championships at Belmont NSW

April 24, 2013 1 Comment

051Last week saw me up at the Combined High Schools Sailing Championship at Belmont on the shores of Lake Macquarie. Known as the CHS, it’s an institution amongst all teenagers to grab a boat, any boat and compete. Over the years many well know Australian sailors have competed in a variety of classes. I can remember a young Nathan Outteridge sailing a 505, Nathan and Sarah Wilmot sailed in borrowed Magic25s and my daughter Melissa sailed a Europe dinghy one year. This year was no exception with  Melges20, VXone and even a Nacra5.8 sailed by 29er sailor Harry Price. As with many of these events over the years, it’s great to watch the boat handling skills of the next generation of Aussie sailors, many no doubt spurred on by the successes of their compatriots in the last couple of years overseas.

Weather wise we had everything, from sunny drifters to blown out races due to too much wind and driving rain on the last day which saw some pack up and leave early. With over 140 entries spread across some 35 different classes in 5 different divisions, it was quite difficult to keep track of most other than the few you knew. This was one event I was glad to be ashore at. I was however kept quite busy at the DeckHardware regatta support van, both first thing in the morning and even during racing. In several instances, I had sailors come ashore with something broken, a quick repair and they were out again hopefully not missing too much.

The results showed quite a mixture across the fleet, with the leading boat a 16′ skiff, followed by a Maricat and the leading Flying Eleven. http://www.topyacht.net.au/results/2013/chs/combinedhs/SGrp2.htm

On the Thursday night Melissa spent some time organising an evening with Gold Medalist Liesl Tesch, multiple Olympian Karyn Gojnich, Laser sailor and coach James Burman, Americas Cup and maxi boatbuilder Lindsay Stead and the Sailing Chix [Nix, Nic and Mel]. Nix compared the evening with each speaker giving a short Bio and then questions from the floor were asked. It was interesting those who asked and the type of questions. “What do you do with crews who don’t listen?” “How do you deal with breakages?” Many of those there were delighted to see Liesl’s Olympic medals [she has the full set from wheelchair basketball and sailing] and have photos taken with her.

DeckHardware again provided some products as prizes and we look forward to continuing supporting the youth sailing in the future.

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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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2013 Sydney Harbour Regatta

March 11, 2013 Leave a comment

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This weekend saw Sydney Harbour and the waters offshore crowded with racing yachts competing in the annual Middle Harbour Yacht Club Sydney Harbour Regatta. With over 220 competitors ranging in size from the Historical 18’ers and Ynglings up to Grant Warringtons 100′ Maxi Wild Thing out on the ocean passage course.

All the major clubs on the harbour and with assistance from RPAYC on Pittwater and this year NCYC from Newcastle it’s quite an undertaking organising enough officials, startboats and course layers for the nineteen divisions.

In previous events I have looked after Course area E with the Adams10s, Flying Tigers and on occasions, the Farr40s and Sportsboats. This was in the part of the harbour known as the Sound, an area where MHYC has most of it’s racing.

This year however, I had a change of scenery moving to Course area I as RO. As part of the event, the Sydney38 class also had their championships, but with 10 races over three days instead. Fridays racing was held inshore in mainly light conditions, giving all the competitors and officials alike the chance to settle in. On Saturday and Sunday we went offshore to the Manly Cirlce and had some great sailing in a typical summer Nor’Easter. The weekends fleet also included two IRC handicap divisions. Racing was close in all three divisions and watching the fleet round the bottom gate from the startboat was enjoyable, both in the handling and the closeness of the racing.

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It also gave me the opportunity of working with another team of race officials and course boats, in this case the team from the CYCA. All of their team were great to work with and I look forward to the next time.

Back on the beach at MHYC, the sailors were entertained by their favourite band, the Wolverines. Drummer John Clinton had a busy weekend as he was sailing his own boat Holy Cow inshore.

Next up is the Asia Pacific Access Championships in Canberra over Easter. I haven’t been there for a few years, so I’m looking forward to it.

 

More photos are here, http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151295595641721.1073741828.130146381720&type=1

 

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Conditions on the harbour last weekend

March 6, 2013 Leave a comment

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Last weekend I was the PRO for the NSW 420 and 470 class State Championships at MHYC, conditions for the fleet on Saturday were miserable to say the least.

On Saturday with the breeze out of the east and a large swell running in the Sound of Sydney Harbour, the decision was made to move the fleets inshore to the relatively calmer reaches of Middle Harbour. Whilst the wind direction varied through 50 degrees, the strength also varied a great deal from around a nice 15knots to gusts in the mid 20s. This made for trying conditions for the competitors and race officials. On Sunday the conditions abaited a little and we were able to sail the remaining heats with all the competitors enjoying the downhill surfing.

Xavier Winston Smith and Mat Belcher won the 420 and 470 classes quite convincingly. Xavier in one race capsized just before the start and came through to finish second in that race.  For images and video go to our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/deckhardware.


This weekend sees the annual Middle Harbour Yacht Club  Sydney Harbour regatta once again. With the support of the CYCA, RANSA, SASC, RSYS, RPAYC, MYC and this year Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club, there are multiple course both inshore and offshore with competitors ranging from the 100’er Wild Thing down to a fleet of Ynglings. I will be running the Sydney38 class, with 4 races inshore on Friday and 3 each day over the weekend on the Manly Circle.  Entertainment after sailing is once again the popular Aussie band The Wolverines – always a crowd favourite with the sailors. Drummer John Clinton owns the Beneteau ‘Holy Cow’ with distinctive markings on the sails and topsides.

Further information is available on the regatta website, http://www.shr.mhyc.com.au

Hopefully the conditions we have had of late will improve to provide some great sailing.

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