Hi Everyone , Its going to be a short news letter this week because you guessed it the weather was not our friend again last weekend but fingers crossed this weekend not only will we have better weather but the water is finally loosing that brown colour . Plus dont forget its the official opening of our sailing annex at Varsity Lakes this saturday at 10 am if you have the time come along and check out another sailing venue and meet some potential new sailors and members of the club should be awesome fun.
8.30 am Sunday Juniors
Well the morning started well with light winds  and patchy skies and with 18 sailors signed up for the session things were going well for a great morning so off we all went and started rigging boats and you guessed a squall came from the south with 18 knot winds and rain so we all retired inside t5o the white board to firstly discuss the days activities and a bit of general boat knowledge which I have to admit was a surpriser to me as there were some good answers and questions . We used up half an hour inside and the squall looked to have passed so we sent everyone back out to take their boats to the beach but you guessed it another squall came in stronger than the first and that was it for the morning . As everyone had already paid for the session they get to sail next weekend for free !!not a bad policy right .
10.30 am Training
Cancelled 20 knots and rain 

1.30 pm Racing
We werent sure we would race up until 11.30 am as the weather was absolutely crap with rain squalls and very gusty winds but mother nature is a very fickle thing and conditions dropped back to around 10/12 knots s/e and just the odd spot of rain We had four keen sailors turn up for racing and were keen to give it a go so with charlie practicing PRO duties we set a start in the channel between ephriam and soverign with a mark dead east and a top mark up the top of soverign and a bottom mark below ephriam . We did have one issue when A mark disappeared south toward runners so we had to bring it back to the course ( yes the tide was running that fast ) With great wind and a tough upwind it was a good start with everyone battling upwind to A . Steve and greg soon broke away with Ben seeming to have the hand brake on and Trish on his tail . Things were going well for Greg and Steve that is until on the last lap Steve got caught out in a tack and capsized but that was enough to allow Ben to catch up and ultimately beat Steve over the line just !!!

Upcoming Events 
Varsity Lakes open day saturday 2rth of February starting at 10.am

CU on the water
J Murphy

Hi Everyone , With the weather finally clearing and what hopefully is the slowing down of the rain systems Sunday turned out bright and sunny , the only draw back on the day was the colour of the water which was a dirty looking brown but despite that the conditions were otherwise perfect for Junior sailing .
8.30 am Juniors 
With a few newbies as usual thrown in we ended up with 18 juniors rigging boats and getting ready to sail . Winds were perfect coming from the east ? at around 4 knots so we set up a course over towards the bridge and back to the club which soon became too easy for some sailors so I dropped another buoy more upwind heading south so people like Aithan and Jade ( Open Bic ) could have a bit more of a challenge with them both completeing very smooth tacks and Gybes which soon had a few more boats following them around the same course .Despite as I said before about the water conditions they were pretty ordinary but you guessed it everyone was soon asking when they could capsize ??? so we finally relented and let everyone have ten minutes at the end to fall out of their boats .
10.30 Training 
With people like Abby , Edwina and Jackso now racing the were given the option of not training but apparently the want to do the training session prior to racing so we will have them all back on the water next weekend but we still had a few out getting around the course . Mason is coming to gripps in the laser in the light conditions and all we have to do is getting him like everyone else to hike out further and he will be able to handle stronger winds , even Blake needs to hike a bit more and keep an even closer eye on the luff especially upwind . Jade did the second session as well and sailed well now all we have to do is convince her to race at 1.35  in the afternoon as her skills are good enough to give it a try . Jackson decided  to train before racing and generally cruised around the course and just need s to get that mainsheet tighter on the upwinds . Thinking about the session I have to say everyone is really improving with people like Mason somewhat surprising me with how quickly he is adapting to the laser 4.7 so well done Mason.
1.30 Pm Open Race ;
Withe the winds swinging east the a bit south we set a start down at the canal with at over on the eastern side near runners then a run up to the top of ephriam and accross the split between sovering and ephriam then back out into the main channel. Wind were arond 6/8 knots from the south / east and an incoming tide so good starting conditions . Unfortunately the wind turned back more east so it was a port favoured start but because we had Youth sailors right after the open we just went for it so everyone had a fast start . It got somewhat hectic inside the blue peter with people like steve and tom really early and having to go back as the rest of the fleet moved up to the line where there was some pushing , bumping and general mayhem which created a few issues as the flag dropped which caused people like tom to come back and people to do penalty turns and with a bit of confusion at the finish ihad to quote some rules to people which by the way arent my rules but australian sailings rules but luckily everything was sorted out and we moved on . The positive side was Roger coming home first and everyone congratulating him on his success and it was also nice to see Simone back in her laser after doing some two up sailing with her youngest son.
1.35 pm Youth Racing;
With Edwina not able to make racing today it was up to Abby and Jackson to give it a go and with a pre race discussing about were they should position their boats pre start and a bit of coaxing from the start crew they both had much better starts then last week with abby at the pin end just waiting after the p flag dropped and even Jackson up high if still a little bit behind the line . Abby had a good jump at the start and set of to do ABof the adult course and despite being a bit behind abby jackson who was just a bit faster ofthe breeze did make up ground but not enough to catch Abby but it was less than a minute separateing them at the finish . Abby did the usual yahoo after finishing first and Jackson did his usual back flip after going over the line second . Well dione guys !!!

Building Extensions : 
We are in the final stages with GCCC regarding and extension of the club funded by council and organised by CR Cameron Caldwell , just a few more forms to sign and the builder can begin.
Mid Winter Cup 27 / 28 June followed by Youth week at RQ 

CU on the water
J Murphy

Hi Everyone , well we are already into february and sailing is definitely under way at P.P.S.C. with our after school training back from next week on tuesdays and thursdays and our first school group for the year starting on the following week . This weekend we are also starting our first Adult Introduction to sailing course and saturday afternoon skilled practice is also back for the year  We are on the last leg of our building upgrade application with council as well which will see an extension on our caged area allowing us to move some of our boats outside so as to make more space inside for teaching , its been a long drawn out process but we are looking good with our efforts at moving the club forward .
8.30 am Sunday Juniors :
Sunday started with the usual blue skies and the standard humidity so we were a bit slow unpacking the club but we soon had to pick up the pace as all our keen junior sailors started turning up at 8.00 am ready to sign on for the morning session we even roped some of the parents in to help with getting the boats of racks and set up , One of our first sailors was Elizabeth how despite not being able to sail was still keen to help Charlie on the safety boat plus our two resident Bic sailors were keen to get started arriving at 8.15 . With a few running repairs also taking place we soon had everyone in the briefing area for our usual chat and welcome to some of our new sailors . Condiotions were perfect with n/n/w winds around 4/7 knots so while everyone was out sailing and Abby was showing the newbies sailing with her mainsheet person Willow Edwina and I took two new sailors at a time and showed them how to tack and steer in the shallows near the beach . Its amazing how this simple teaching program works with both the teams managing to sail around a buoy and return to us ok with the occassional capsize thrown in!
10.30 am Training :
With Abby , Edwina and Jackson not entered because of their 1.30 race commitments we still had a good group out in what was now around 6/9 knots n/n/e winds . Mason had his first run in a laser which of course was a bit of a hand full for him first time but he still managed to get around the course . Jade was just zipping around but she had a dodgy gybe at one stage and pulled her shoulder badly but after a few minutes on the beach she was soon back out there . Blake was having one of those days by just over pointing while Zac kept winding himself up to windward with too much mainsheet on but he kept working on it for the whole session . His brother Alex is really coming to grips with the Taz and sailed it really well especially when they were sailing to the second gree his upwinds are definitely improving . We also had the return of one of our juniors in Lewin who despite a long gap from sailing was soon getting around the course in a Bic with the odd bit of scrambling and the normal capsize on the downwind it looked like he was having a lot of fun .
1.30 Open Racing :
With the conditions changing with choppy conditions building and the winds turning n/n/e at around 15 knots and everyone sailing radials it was always going to be a tough race and with a course set with a start line in our channel and a mark near the club and c down at runners it looked a good course . Well it didnt saty that way as the start countdown began the winds moved e/n/e up to 18 knots so it was a fast start with everyone cracking the line right on time . Everyone was really into it early with a few position shangs but it soon turned into a battle between Tom and Greg with Steve after an ordinary start battling his way into third in front of Casey Charlie and Ben . Steve eventually overcookeed on the downwind with just too much outhaul off which did make the boat go quicker but the bullets down the bottom end ( 20/30 knots ) high sided him for a massive capsize which resulted in some rudder damage . Ben then settled into a good third and Casey overcame her early struggles controlling the radial ( more pies !) to finish in fourth the Charlie and Russell with Matt unfortunately missing a buoy and disqualifying himself . Finally the best move of the day was Charlie who while hiking out hard got a knock and completely went under but stayed there and next minute he popped back up and was off again , it looked really good from the start boat impressing myself and Chris .
1.40 Youth Racing:
By the time Abby , Edwina and Jackson started to line up for their start conditions were a bit of a challenge with the winds at the start line now around 15/18 knots e/n/e and increasing waves . Abby came up to tyhe line a bit early and had to hang around a bit ( now she knows why we were practicing stopping in training ) while Edwina sat up high behind the line and Jackson just went too far back . As the flag dropped Edwina came in near the start boat and had a good start while Abby was a bit low so she had to fight her way back up while Jackson was about a minute late so all the work was in front of him . Edwina and Abby were having a really good race until firstly Edwina,s centreboard got stuck up ( club boat ) on the downwind and Abby went past before the bottom mark but on tacking she touched the buoy so had to do a penalty turn so they were boath back together again once Eddy got her board down , Jackson was hanging in there but was struggling with the gusts . Finally on rounding the top mark ( gybe ) Abby clocked herself with the boom and pulled out while Edwina went on to finish first with Jackson second .

What a exciting start to the season plenty of good sailing and excitement .

Upcoming : Try Sailing Opening Day at Varsity Lakes Sailing on Saturday the 29th of february from 10.00 am until 2.00 pm

CU on the water
J Murphy