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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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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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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South of the border

December 1, 2012 1 Comment

003 I’m now south of the border in Melbourne. I’m here to help officiate at Sail Melbourne an ISAF World Cup event and the first after the London 2012 Olympics. The photo shows the van pretty full and this was without my gear!

After an early start and an 11hr drive [with stops], first stop was to Anchor marine a long time chandlery here in Melbourne to drop off more stock.  I then spent the afternoon at Sandringham Yacht Club, the host club for a lot of sailing events here in Victoria.

After unloading Krystal Weir’s Laser and her sailing gear, I caught up with Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin who recently visited DeckHardware and purchased some of the TBS Speedgrip non skid. We made a few changes to the setup and hopefully it will all suit their Viper Catamaran. I’ll be able to have a look after each days sail, on the spot reporting!

 

The club has a range of services including a chandlery run by Ian Marr -The Yacht Shop. I was able to assist Ian in answering a few questions on the DeckHardware range of products that he hadn’t seen, so that some of the 300 odd competitors who visit his shop will hopefully get the right answers and of course buy some DeckHardware. I also caught up with another chandlery owner, Gavin Reitman from OTB Marine who is sailing with his daughter in the Viper catamaran class and was able to remind him of the products available.

As I was about to leave, I saw our Olympic Gold medalist Mat Belcher and his new crew Will Ryan and coach Victor, good to see some familiar faces. In the coming months, I’ll also be involved in further regattas for the 470 class.

Final stop for the day, was to my hosts for the week, Leonie and Peter Coleman. As with a lot of the interstate trips that I do, we have to thank those who host me and in the New Year, Melissa when she goes to Tasmania. The support given is greatly appreciated by Robyn, Mel and I.

I’ll have photos tomorrow as most of those I saw today were working on boat preparation, hopefully also a trip out along the marina to have a look at what’s new.

 

 

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