Weekend on Lake Macquarie

October 20, 2015 Leave a comment

I have just spent an enjoyable couple of days at Toronto with the NSW Sabot State titles. With just on 50 competitors, some just starting out, it was great to see these young sailors out on the water. The breeze co-operated too with pleasant southerlies on both days of around 10-12 knots, perfect conditions for the younger ones.

The village of Toronto was also holding its annual fair so there was plenty of buzz around, with rides and food stalls as well to keep everyone entertained on the Saturday. The sailing started out with a ‘Dash for Cash’ event up the foreshore showcasing the class and the enthusiasm of the junior sailors. Plenty jumped the gun, as I couldn’t see the other end of the line at the start! All in fun though and having some fun is what it’s about out on the water.

With two races each day, a triangle followed by a windward return, Jed Fatches from nearby Wangi lead the leader board with 2,2,1,and 1. We’ve been following Jeds sailing for a couple of years now and we look forward to seeing more of this young sailor. I’m sure there’ll be plenty more to catch our eye as well in the following rounds.

The support from the association and the members of Toronto Amateur Sailing Club was fantastic and I commend them on the success of the event.

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Back out on the harbour

September 21, 2015 Leave a comment

It’s almost like a homecoming, returning to the start boat at Middle Harbour Yacht Club on Saturdays. We’ve now had two races in to the 2015/2016 season.

The first race of the season got away finally in a nice Nor Nor Easter with windward/leeward courses for all divisions. There was no breeze on most of the harbour, however there was a nice vein from North head to Obelisk Bay. Those who sailed said it was a great first day. Last Saturday’s  racing was split in to two fleets. The larger Open division combined with the Fleet from Sydney Amateur Sailing Club further down the harbour, whilst I ran the rest of the fleet on a similar track to the previous week. The wind however didn’t quite go to plan staying a little right, the course ending up with a slight bias that way. Those I spoke to later said they enjoyed the downhills however with the Adams10s doing up to 15knots at times.

Saturdays racing was a combined event with Barts Bash for the Adams10s. Barts Bash is a world wide event raising funds for the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation. Andrew tragically died at the age of 36 in an accident onboard the Artemis AC72 yacht in San Francisco Bay in 2013. With Anthony [Nocka] Nossiter, a prominent A10 sailor and one of Andrew’s closest friends, his friends set up the event in his honour. In return Anthony’s mates from MHYC combined to support the event, donating to the cause.

Sunday I went to Woollahra Sailing Club for their Barts Bash. They held part of their event in Optimist dinghies in two divisions. The first off were the Green fleet Tackers, the second off were the guest skippers. On this occasion champion NACRA17 crew Lisa Darmanin sailing an Opti for the first time lead 49er sailor Harry Price home.

Congratulations to all those who took part. It’s interesting though, looking at the videos from around the world at the various events, all had light conditions. I think my fleet had the best on the day.

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It’s here

September 7, 2015 Leave a comment

The 2015-6 Sailing Season has started in Sydney. Last Sunday I went to Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron for the opening of the Junior sailing season. There’s a good fleet of around 30 each of Optimists and Lasers at the club. Open day was organised around having all the boats checked off, paddles etc for the Opti’s, Lifejackets, rack/storage positioning and so on. They also had a number of coaches arranged for the day to get everyone started. The Opti families came and had their boats checked and most left even though it was a great day. The Lasers were split up in to groups with the coaches and they were going to head out when I left at lunchtime.

On Saturday it was Middle Harbour Yacht Clubs turn. Over the last few weeks, the yachts have all had their Category 7 Safeties done and it was time for the Annual Opening Day festivities. The start team regulars, myself, Steve and Toby spent the morning going over HughSGeorge, MHYC’s primary startboat. We cleaned, vacuumed and as we went filled a big garbage bin full of no longer required bits, especially paperwork so we are ready for the regular racing to start next weekend. As such we didn’t get involved in some of the festivities with the exception of the Sailpast. As is the norm, we lead the fleet past the end of the jetty saluting the clubs flags and notable guests and as is our wanting, we blast them with the horns. These are quite loud as you could imagine! Makes them jump!

Melissa also came along and experimented with a live feed of the event on Periscope. This was something new and she had viewers from all around the world commenting on how nice a day it was on Sydney’s Middle Harbour. Periscope is something that I may have a look at using in the lead up to some of the regattas. Obviously whilst we are in sequence I’ll have a bit on – trial and error.

So I’m ready for the season, is everyone else? Bring on Summer.

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Just a few more clicks

September 3, 2015 Leave a comment

Another Road trip to South Australia and then on to Victoria getting out on the road to see the DeckHardware Customers. This trip started on Friday afternoon and Sunday late I was in Coffin Bay west of Port Lincoln.  I nearly didn’t make it after receiving a call on Saturday to say the sewer had blocked at home.  Nothing I could do if I returned home so the girls called in the plumber and dealt with the cleanup!

I had debated going the high road through Broken Hill or the regular road through Hay.  After some input from friends I decided to go my normal route maybe next time I will go through Broken Hill. There’s only an hours difference in the drive time according to the GPS, not much when you consider the drive is 2 1/2 days.

It’s always good to see DeckHardware customers and the responses to the new products available from the various suppliers and this trip was no exception.

Once through the hills east of Adelaide,  I headed north and around the Gulf it is a really nice drive, all 100kph and plenty of laybys to have a short break.   I use a website Freecamping Australia  and an App called Toiletmap to help find out of the way places to stop.   One thing that I’ve found myself doing on these longer stretches is estimating the length of the straight ahead. Looking at the odometer at the start and again at the end. There are the 20km ones just east of the SA/NSW border, but there’s a few long ones heading to Port Lincoln too. The difference being that the NSW straights are just that, pretty flat too. The SA straights are up and down and you can see the road way ahead by the cutting in the vegetation. Something a little different to think about I know, but it wiles away the time.

I know I get to see a great deal of the Australian Outback on these roads trips and some of the changes I’ve seen are for the better, especially the roadworks.  It’s always interesting to see the changes in towns in between trips as none of the outlets I visit move premises, I know how to get to the greater majority by memory. The Mornington peninsula is a great example. The new Freeway south from Melbourne CBD to Sorrento and the roads that have sprung out from it are an example. Melbourne is going to be huge in the decades ahead. Rather like the Gold Coast creeping closer to Brisbane. Sydney is bounded by the mountains to the west and national parks to the north and south so land here is at a premium.

Like all of the trips I do, there’s always something new to check out. It’s amazing the places that boats pop up in, one’s that have seemingly disappeared. Recently I mentioned finding Defiance the Yacht in northern Brisbane, this time it’s an old 9m winged sportboat that David Lambourne and then Peter Sorrenson sailed sometime back – Margaret L. A boat builder in Victoria has picked it up for himself after the previous owner broke the mast. Pete will have fun with this one I’m sure.

Bit of time to be spent in Sydney and then off to Perth later in the year.  The Sailing Season is here with my home club’s Open Day this Saturday where I will be onboard the Hugh George leading the way for the Sail Past.

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Road trip time

July 31, 2015 Leave a comment

This time last week I was finishing up a week of seeing everyone in Southern Queensland. The previous trip at the end of May had a few issues and therefore the trip was a few days shorter, hence a return was required.

I left home on Sunday morning and first stop was the Nabiac Caravan Camping & Boat Show. Just about the middle of the NSW coast but it was a reasonable sized event, certainly plenty of locals. There were plenty of vans with a scattering of everything else around the town exhibition grounds. Monday Morning after a night in Coffs, it was Yamba seeing a few DeckHardware customers there, then Ballina followed by a drive up to the Sunshine Coast. When will the road works be finished on the north coast of NSW? Who knows, but it’ll be great when it is, especially the Ballina north section. It’s pretty peace meal at the moment starting at Nambucca Heads.

I spent a couple of days on the Sunshine Coast seeing everyone and looking at various boats under construction, it’s good to see Aussie boat builders working on new boats. The Schionning Catamaran shown is fitted with Forespar Marelon plumbing. Wednesday and Thursday morning around Brisbane, again showing a range of DeckHardware products. Now that we are distributing all of the Schaefer Marine range, I have to make sure all the riggers and sailmakers are aware of the Tuff Luff range.

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Thursday afternoon and in to Friday, it was down to the Gold Coast with more of the same, doing the rounds and making sure all of the outlets are fully aware of what products DeckHardware has to offer. It’s especially good to have some place orders as well, both for stock in the van as well as from the warehouse.

After nearly a week of non stop drizzle, it was good to head south again. Saturday was the start of the Sydney Gold Coast Race and whilst not involved this year, I took out the MHYC startboat with a couple of others to watch the event. Once again it was a drift out the heads. All except for the 100’er Perpetual Loyal. They got a westerly gust at South Head and just took off, those only boat lengths behind could only watch and listen to the groans as the carbon super maxi took off. Everyone else had breeze from all points, Hero to Zero in these conditions, some doing well and others not so. For those looking up Loyals mast, yes that’s a crew member. His role in not only finding the wind, was to kick the main sail battens across in each gybe, so light were the conditions. On one gybe it too 6 attempts to pop them.

Next up is my long drive down to Port Lincoln in South Australia. From there, I’ll work back anti -clockwise around the coast in to Melbourne. This trip takes two weeks, plenty of road time but plenty to see.

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Away again

June 19, 2015 Leave a comment

Those that follow my movements will know that recently I was away in Southern Queensland. Every thing was planned and going well, I filled up with fuel just off the Gateway Motorway in Brisbane on the Sunday afternoon following a nice drive up from Sydney. As I waited to turn right back on to the motorway, no gears. Bugger! 1400 on a Sunday afternoon too. So I called for a tow truck and also let Robyn know what had happened. I was able to get the van to a VW dealer and lock it up in order to return first thing Monday morning. Next call was to an old mate who has helped out now and again with DeckHardware – Mark Grey. Mark’s moved up from Surfers to Brisbane in order to be closer to his business building campers and trailers. I was able to stay with Mark whilst the van was off the road for two days. As it turned out, the drive shaft had worn and needed replacement, so two days were lost doing the rounds. I did however spend some time helping out at Aussie Campers & Trailers, always something new to learn, in this case servicing wheel bearings. Thanks again to Mark and Jules for the hospitality. To add to the bad day, I also found out that Ben Nossiter had just passed away. Ben has been an Adams10 sailor for many decades and no one at Middle Harbour Yacht Club has come near his record of 18 club championships. I had visited him the previous Thursday in Hospital and we agreed to have a rum at the club upon my return. Unfortunately this was not to be and Ben will be missed greatly. Following discussions with Robyn, it was decided that I return for the funeral, therefore cutting the trip short. With all of these issues, another trip is planned back in a few weeks time to see those I missed out on. I did however get to see a few customers and whilst at Scarborough, I came across a yacht I thought I’d never see again. This particular yacht was owned by Robyn’s father John Dibble when we first started dating and was sold after our wedding to step up to a Farr 1104. Defiance is the original IOR MK3 S&S Half Tonner, built by Doug Brooker and was the plug for the mould that Savages in Williamstown ended up making how many versions of. Many adventures were had aboard Defiance, MHYC Club racing, Offshore’s, Two Handers, RSYS cruises to Lake Macquarie. Broke the boom on one cruise and as the ladies race was the following day, a replacement had to be made ASAP, Done. Plenty of memories. I hope that the current owner will look after her and have as much fun as we did.

For something different, last Saturday I took the DeckHardware van up to Wangi. At this time of year they have a regatta for a variety of classes and once again I was able to help keep the sailors out on the water. Wangi is the home of many top sailors and with the expanses of Lake Macquarie, it’s pretty easy to see why many overseas teams like Oracle come to train there. And it’s close enough for a day trip. It was a great Winters day, however the conditions weren’t too nice on the Race Committee and the sailors, as most got a tow home due to lack of any breeze. One of the rare occasions, I’m glad not to be out there, frustrating to say the least.

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A weekend on the water, for a change.

May 12, 2015 Leave a comment

This last weekend, before I’m heading north, I spent once again out on MHYCs start boat running a few races. Saturday was race two of the Winter series and the weather was just nice for the small but competitive fleet. We had a nice WSW breeze of about 15 knots maximum. All the boats managed to sail the whole course without shortening, as is the case some weeks when the breeze drops off, but that’s winter in Sydney with the prevailing Westerlies. Nothing too exciting apart from the dolphins herding fish in to Balmoral where we were anchored for the finish, too far away for any photos.005003

Saturday night was the annual Summer season prize giving where all the divisions, Saturdays, Wednesday afternoons and Thursday night fleets are acknowledged and trophies are handed out to those who excelled. Always a good night where everyone catches up. Unfortunately, Ben Nossiter who has regularly featured on the wall for the Adams10s for over 20 years wasn’t able to attend due to ill health and everyone wished him all the best. Jim Nixon, his long time mainsheet hand accepted and spoke on behalf of the crew.

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Sunday and back out on the water for the Annual Waitangi Cup. This is a teams event the Adams10s hold between New South Wales and Victoria, unfortunately this year the Victorians could only field two crews, so it was 2 on 2. Easy for race management and scoring purposes! Again with the Westerly slowly shifting right all day and gusting from 9-20knots, all four boats had to be on the game with headsail choices varying between #2 and #3s. NSW however in the first two races finished with a 1, 2, so the third race was a bit of a dead rubber. It’s always interesting this event, as to make it a little more even, there is a boat draw the day before. No one is allowed to sail their own boat and there’s always plenty who can’t find the halyard or control line where they are used to it. NSW retained the Cup, 11 points to 19. Bring on next year, the Victorians are planning on taking to Cup back, they’ll be holding it down at Blairgowrie on the same waters as the recent Moth Worlds. Shallow water and tidal conditions will make it interesting.

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Next weekend I’m on the road north for a couple of weeks in the DeckHardware van ‘doing the rounds’.

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Another summer over

April 29, 2015 Leave a comment

Yes, that’s another Australian Summer over and with it another season of sailing and race management for me. In the last nine months or so I’ve been to every state either as a race management volunteer or driving the DeckHardware van to regattas for support or to visit the various outlets Australia wide.  I’ve seen some great racing, from Dinghies and Multihulls through to the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart race and the spectacle of the five 100’ers on Sydney Harbour.

I’m often asked which are the good events to attend by some of the off the beach sailors we see. There’s a couple that I keep going back to. These are the smaller volunteer run/family run events like the Big River Sailing Club regatta at Harwood in northern New South Wales and the Snowy Mountains Regatta at Jindabyne. Both of these attract a range of entries,monos, multis and trailerables. The conditions for both are completely different to most other venues around the country. At Harwood everyone camps next to the club and their boats, even the locals to save the drive home. Competitors come down from Queensland and up from as far south as Lake Macquarie to sail on the river with all it’s tidal issues.

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On the other hand is the open expanse of the freshwater Lake Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains of southern New South Wales. Here we sail on a lake almost the size of Lake Macquarie, no need to take bottled water out with you. Just lean over the side and gulp, that’s where the town water comes from too. Again the camaraderie between those down from Sydney, Canberra and the locals is fantastic. Each time I’ve been to both clubs, I keep running in to sailors I haven’t seen in a couple of decades and as you could imagine the stories get broader. If you have the chance to go to either next season, I hope to see you there.

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I also had the opportunity to see the Bi-Annual Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart. Hobart really knows how to put it on for the visitors, those who are at Constitution Dock for the end of the Rolex Sydney Hobart race will know what I mean. This was no different with all the boats, market places and entertainment. Again, if you have the chance..On the ferry to Devonport from Melbourne I kept running in to all sorts of people heading to the event.

Recently we had the Sydney Sailboat Expo at North Head / Manly. This inaugural  two day event organised by my daughter Melissa with assistance from my wife Robyn was fantastic. The weather co-operated on both days with clear skies for the over 50 exhibitors. There was a range of boating products, not only from DeckHardware, but also names like Harken, Ronstan, Musto and sailmakers Norths and Doyles to compliment the classes on display. I know of one builder who took a deposit for a new boat and there were plenty of other sales as well. There were classes / tutorials also on a range of topics like splicing, tuning, first aid and even media for clubs and I noticed some of the visitors to the Expo from as far as Geelong and Brisbane. Many there said they’ll be back and bringing their friends as well, so hopefully we’ll see it grow even bigger for 2016. As you will see in the photos, the range of boats from the Etchells down and even the all conquering 18′ skiff Gotta Love It 7 , there was something for everyone in the small boat market place.

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The next couple of months will see me heading north to Queensland [I prefer palm trees over snow],  doing the rounds showing off yet more new products available from DeckHardware, before heading west to South Australia and then back east through Victoria. I’ll also be getting out and about locally as well. Then there’s more races to run and more race officer courses as well, hopefully bringing more volunteers to the administration side of the sport of Sailing.

If you want to have the DeckHardware van at your event as support for the sailors or if you need help in running an event, drop me a line. I’m sure there’s more to see and do in the Australian Sailing Scene and if we can assist let us know.

 

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A busy month, nearly over for the year.

April 4, 2015 Leave a comment

As the Australian sailing season winds down, I’ve spent four weekends in a row out on the water both days running events.

The first event was the Snowy Mountains Regatta down at Jindabyne, around 6 hours drive south of Sydney. This was the second year at Jindabyne and again the locals looked after me. We had a mixed fleet of dinghies, catamarans and trailer yachts including a good fleet of  19 Lasers, some of whom had driven down from Canberra for the weekend.014 017

Friday evenings twilight race was held in a nice 5-8 North Wester around the laid club marks and everyone finished which was nice after last years evening storm. Saturday we had a good Easterly and ran several races, good stuff. Sunday had the forecast 18-20knots Easterly and brought with it a short sharp chop on the fresh water Lake Jindabyne which made laying marks and holding anchor on the start boat difficult. The lake was made last century for the Snowy Hydro power scheme, drowning the original town so there’s a few no go areas as far as sailing and putting marks go. You may hook something harder than mud.

As the last competitors were finishing the last last, there was one young girl sailing a Laser on the last leg. She’d capsized multiple times and the last set was just short of the finish line. The rescue boat was off attending to a sinking Hobie16, so I asked the markboat to stand by her. Once the time limit expired, we came alongside to assist, she’d had enough and was starting to get cold, so we got her aboard. The only option was to jump in the water and right the Laser myself. The last time I’d sailed a Laser was a looooong time ago. After working out the vang and mainsheet were cleated off and releasing them, I had a pleasant 3 km sail back to the club. at least it was all one leg and no tacking! That’s one thing ticked off for a while, at least the water was fresh!

The next week end was the annual MHYC Sydney Harbour Regatta, so back to home base and running the Adams10m and the NSW State titles for the J70 Class. Saturday brought clear skies and finally a pleasant seabreeze of around 10knots. The main issue however was the runout tide, it was a big one. With the start boat laying across the tide and beam on the the breeze, it was a nasty day out rolling around all day.  014 015 036 054We had all sorts of issues trying to get a square start line. Sunday was far far better, the SouEaster of around 15knots was fantastic, still with a bit of tide but hey the startboat team were comfortable at least! Adams10s had their usual close racing and the J70s were shown around by my old Laser sparring mate Tony [Sir Arthur] Barnes. Sir Arthur was having his first hitout in the class on the demo boat and certainly hasn’t lost his touch on the helm.

The next Friday was the Annual Property Industry Sailing Event, this huge fund raiser attracted over 90 entries in 6 divisions. With a solid 20knots and drizzle at the start, I sent the boats off on the longer of the two options. Ragamuffin100 sailed around the harbour course in under 2 hours! Unfortunately with the last boats needing to sail from Middle head to Shark Island and back the the finish in 90mins, the wind dropped out completely, nothing, nada, zip. We ended up with only half the fleet finishing, which no one could have predicted. Those I spoke to after, were also surprised at the conditions collapsing. The non sailors however enjoyed the day and that’s one of the main things.

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The following day was a joint club race with the RSYS big boats coming around to MHYC for the day. Whilst it was a nice day weather wise, the only option wind wise was to set a windward leeward course. The smaller boats had it easy, however David Kellett aboard Sydney60 much preferred the longer legs than sprints. We got in two races in a nice seabreeze and I think most were happy with the day. Those who sailed the day before at least had a chance to dry out.038 058

Last of the full on weekends was running the NSW States for the 420s and 470s. With numbers well down due to clashes with other events both locally and overseas, the planned trapezoid courses were substituted for basic windward returns, which made it a lot easier on the volunteer [420 parents] mark laying teams. We got in all the races with time to spare, some made the comment that the races could have been a bit longer, but with only a handfull of each class, they were closer on the shorter courses. Spreading them out on longer courses would have seen a few of them sailing on their own most of the time.

Last Saturday was the last club race for me this 2014/2015 Summer Season at MHYC. With the Combined High Schools sailing at Belmont16s after Easter and then the inaugural Sydney Sailboat Expo following, that’s it for the summer. I’ll be back on the road taking the DeckHardware van to Queensland, South Australia then Victoria in the coming months showing off an ever increasing range of products.

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Headed south, far south.

February 23, 2015 Leave a comment

It’s been a while since I last went to Tasmania, last time was for the Australian Youth Sailing Championships. This time however I had the chance to head down to Hobart and take in the Australian Wooden Boat Festival. This is a Bi-Annual event that has grown over the years. In co-operation with Brierley Marine who have outlets in Hobart and Launceston, DeckHardware had a range of products on display in the hall. Teaming up with Ben King who has assisted DeckHardware with a few shows on the mainland and is now at Brierley Launceston, we had a different range on display with a focus on the Wooden Boat market. The show is a massive undertaking and the locals have really put their support behind it. With free entry, there was talk of over 400,000 visitors. many of these were from the mainland, I seemed to be running in to them every couple of minutes! On the ferry over from Melbourne it seemed like everyone was headed that way. The great factor was that the weather was fantastic with clear skies and temperatures in the high 20s each day. Melissa flew down for the Sunday, luckily, as Saturday was the hottest and busiest. A cruise ship arrived early Saturday morning and the comment was – ‘there’s another 5000 visitors!’. The show eclipsed Sydney and certainly Sanctuary Cove, I don’t think I’ve run into so many people that I haven’t seen for a long time. If you have the chance, book accommodation now for the next one in 2017 because I think most will be back and with their friends too. It’s well worth the effort.

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Then I headed north for the last round of the Manly Junior State Titles at Point Wolstoncroft on Lake Macquarie. I think this is just about the only place on the lake I haven’t been to before. Held at the NSW Sport and Recreation Centre, this was a great facility for a kids regatta. Plenty of area to run around ashore, pool, tennis court and cabin and tent accommodation, as well as plenty of rigging area on the foreshore. The sailing area of course being Lake Macquarie is excellent. Having attended three previous Manly Junior events this season as sponsor it was good to catch up with all of them again. It was another great weekend, the Noreaster came in around lunchtime, a little late but consistent when it came. Congratulations to all involved, parents, regatta officials and competitors.

For something different, I’m off again this weekend. South again. I’m running the second edition of the Snowy Mountains Regatta at Jindabyne in southern New South Wales. If it’s like last year with clear skies and 8-10 knot winds we’ll all be happy.

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