Blog Archives

Sunday May 22nd, 2016

30/5/2016

Hi Everyone, well just another fantastic weather weekend for sailing at Paradise Point Sailing Club. Last Sunday we expected around 15 entries for the early class but ended up with 25 budding junior sailors. Who said sailing was slowing down as a sport ! With great wind conditions and clear water it was a perfect start to Sunday sailing.

8.30am Sunday Juniors

As I said above, conditions were perfect for both our minimum experienced sailors, but also for our new sailors. With the wind around 5/7 knots from the S/E, it was perfect for a reaching course across the Broadwater with people practicing both tacking and gybing around the marks. Everyone out there is going so well with their willingness to learn and participate, and with our assistant Instructors help and a few of our 10.30 sailors now putting their hand up to teach others its always a great morning . For those who weren't sure, yes you did see Mary out there sailing around the buoys on her own. Great work Mary !

10.30am Sunday Juniors

With the winds now up around 7/9 knots, it was perfect for the boys and girls to hone their skills, especially the Bic sailors who are getting ever closer to actual racing. I have to say everyone is improving out of sight with the likes of Cody and Lewin really starting to show their sailing skills, maybe its the thoughts of winning prizes at the up coming Tera race day in June that's helping with the motivation. After much thought, I have to say that Lewin stood out the most on the day with his willingness to learn more about the Open Bic and how to sail it at its best. Well done everyone its a great sight to see you all out there enjoying your sailing .

Open Bic Racing

With a congested start line it was a hectic for the Bic fleet starting with the Adults, but once the Lasers cleared the boys settled down to a hard upwind slog to the top mark with Jonah clearing out and Alec then Daniel and Charlie who got the worst start ! Unfortunately, Jonah went the wrong way around A mark which allowed Alec into the lead which he never gave up. Over the line it was Alec, Charlie, Jonah and Daniel. Yes it was Alec's first ever win, so congratulations Alec !

Open Race

With 18 boats at the start and a bit of port start bias (it wasn't me), there was a bit of yelling as everyone jockeyed for the best start position, but it soon settled down into some serious racing. With a fairly long course it was again a close finish with Greg first, with Andrew 40 seconds behind him and Peter just 6 seconds behind him . The total race time was 1hr 44minutes with the first boat home in 1hr 20 min 30 sec. Who won the 4.7s, Casey, with Sienna 2nd, Pat 3rd and Dallas who lost his rudder 4th.

Additional Notes

Upcoming Events

Bendigo Bank Youth Cup 25th / 26th June
PanPacific Masters Games 4th /13th November

Yes we are looking for volunteer boat drivers , crews and beach support people so if you think you would like to help either speak to the canteen staff on Sundays or check with the sailing office .

CU on the water
John Murphy

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Sunday May 15th, 2016

26/5/2016

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Hi Everyone , another great week for sailing, especially for our young sailors with blue blue skies and mild winds . The sea life is definitely active with our local dugong hanging around on Saturday right in front of the club followed by turtles popping their heads up checking out the scenery .

8.30am Sunday Juniors

With light conditions early and an outgoing tide, our group of 20 learner sailors ventured out in variable wind conditions which definitely proved a challenge . With both safety boats very busy towing people back up to the club as the wind tried to settle into the north, some people with a bit of coaching actually managed to sail their boats, and not just the assistant instructors even Mary and Tilley, who sailed the whole session without being towed, great work girls. Marie who has a reputation for falling out of her boat, even managed to fall out of the rescue boat when they were righting her boat after capsize. Generally everyone had a great morning despite the light conditions.

10.30am Sunday Juniors

Luckily by the time this session started the wind had come up and settled in the n/e so we could get a reasonable course set with tacking and gybing on the cards. Cody's session on Saturday morning while Dad was fixing the lights at the club definitely worked as I noticed a definite improvement in his general sailing on Sunday. We rounded the session off with a couple of races starting on the Ephraim side which in the Bic were dominated by Ollie, even if he was standing up he just seemed to get it on the day, even Dad was smiling at his efforts .

Open Bic Racing

With Charlie being a very late withdrawal ( nose bleed ), it was up to Jonah and Daniel to hold the flag for the Bics. Despite me having to tow Daniel to the start due to changing winds conditions the boys had a good race especially as the wind started to increase, and despite going the wrong way at one stage Jonah still managed to beat Daniel over the line but not by much . We hope to have our new batch of Bic sailors out there soon to help bolster the fleet .

Laser 4.7 Racing

Finally Pat won a race, yes Pat won a race, he sailed the best I have ever seen him sail and he never gave Casey or Dallas a chance, great work mate !

Open Racing

With winds around 8 knots at the start we thought the race would take around an hour and a bit, but not long after the start (check Facebook page), the winds just started picking up, so we offered everyone a second race as they were all home in around 50 minutes. A couple pulled out but the rest lined up back down at Runners for one lap which after a bit of confusion as to which top mark they were supposed to go to everyone took off with some screaming reaches for everyone to have some fun. All in all a great day to be on the water.

John

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May 25th, 2016

26/5/2016

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Sunday May 8th, 2016

16/5/2016

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Hi Everyone , with Mothers day on the Sunday we expected a quiet weekend but with Sunny skies and good winds it turned out a perfect weekend for sailing at all levels .

8.30am Sunday Juniors

This introduction to sailing class still attracts a good crowd of beginners, with 16 juniors turning up on Sunday morning after giving Mum a big hug, ready to enter the water in winds around 6 knots from the south creating the perfect conditions for everyone to work on their sailing skills. As part of this class now we have introduced the Open Bic for those who want to give the race boat a try, but they have to be at level three to be eligible as the boats are a bit testing. With everyone sailing well it is getting harder to pick out the best sailor on the day, but I did pick out young Mary who finally conquered her fears and steered her boat all the way around the long course for the first time.

A special thanks goes to Cody Reid for coaching her in the boat and Tianna for giving her the encouragement .

10.30am Sunday Juniors

Again we had a good turnout in this class with 8 boats on the water initially practicing their tacks and Gybes, but with winds now around 6/8 knots we decided to practice racing by firstly setting a reaching course and then adding the third buoy and racing triangles. The triangles did challenge a few especially on the downwind with a couple of capsizes but generally everyone had a lot of fun .

This practice should come in handy as we are looking at having some races on the Sunday of the Bendigo Bank Youth Cup on the 25/26 of June .

Open Bic Racing

With this class slowly rebuilding with people moving on to lasers, we only had Jonah , Charlie and Alec out there in very testing conditions (tide). It was good racing, but in each race it was Jonah with experience and least weight who came home first with Charlie second and Alec third .

Open Racing

With winds around 8/10 knots from the s/s/e, we decided on two races for the day as the tide seemed a bit fast ? Yes, that is an understatement, with race one taking nearly an hour to complete three laps of windward leeward racing, but the finish was fantastic with Tom crossing the line one second in front of Greg . Race two was shortened to one lap, which everyone was happy with, but still the finish was again fantastic with both Greg and Peter in a dead heat over the line as both Peter and I on the finish line couldn't separate them . Casey finished first in 4.7, and Dallas would have finished second if he hadn't fallen out of his boat twenty metres from the finish line allowing Sienna to come home third. Yep he fell out !

Additional Notes

Don't forget the Bendigo Bank Youth Cup is on 25th & 26th June, and the Masters Games from 4th to 13th November.

cu on the water
John Murphy

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Sunday May 1st, 2016

9/5/2016

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Hi Everyone , with our strange weather continuing all week starting with strong winds and ending with rain by Sunday, it was a case of cancellations rather than sailing over the whole week starting with Robina High School on Tuesday whose lesson had to be cancelled because of winds over 25 knots by nine am .
Anyway here's what happened over the weekend

8.30am Sunday Juniors

Despite firstly overcast conditions while we were setting up and very light winds, by 8.30 am we had already 12 junior sailors signed on and we ended up with 16 very keen young sailors .
Unfortunately, by that time the rain had started so naturally the wind virtually stopped, but despite the very slow conditions all the juniors were still keen to get out there and have a go .
It was perfect for the inexperienced future captains to have a go, and despite a few people ending up at the houseboat and having to be towed back they still looked to be having fun even when the rain level started increasing .

There was a very unusual sight out there and that was Tianna kind of sailing a Bic, yes a Bic, and even though we tried to help her capsize she managed to get it going and have a bit of fun with the kids . The Bics are definitely not made for adults as I believe the photos show.

10.30am Sunday Juniors

With conditions getting worse, it was only Abbey and Rowin who went out in the Bics, and with Andrew on Sarah Cooper keeping an eye on them we huddled under the awning and gave instruction via the radio . The girls tried their best but the rain and then wind finally forced them back to shore .

Open Racing

Tom , Maurie and Russell turned up, but with no wind and constant rain everyone decided to cancel racing as truthfully it was just dismal conditions by 12 o'clock.

It was then up to all the assistant instructors to help myself and Tianna pack up all the mornings boats, followed by of course a game of soccer in the rain resulting in lots of laughter and fun .

Lets hope we are back to good sailing conditions next weekend .

CU on the water

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Sunday April 24th, 2016

1/5/2016

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Hi Everyone , with some very wild weather conditions starting on Saturday our general sailing calendar was shortened up considerably . With wind speeds reaching in excess of thirty knots and sea conditions in front of the club the choppiest I have seen in years it forced the abandonment of both the 10.30 class and Club Racing .

8.30am Sunday Juniors

After receiving some early parent enquiries regarding whether early juniors were on, especially for the little ones, and saying no especially for those who live a fair distance from the club, we still managed to have over a dozen juniors turn up to give it a try . To play it safe we had three lasers and only three Teras out with Casey Dallas and Tianna in the lasers and the rest in Teras . Kyle set a short course out the front with a reach the best option . There were plenty of capsizes and occasionally we had to get Cody and Daniel out there to help some of the kids with steering in conditions around 12/15 knots so it was certainly fast .
All in all everyone had a great time especially the ones on the lasers who relished the strong conditions .

10.30am Sunday Juniors

With some of our senior assistant Instructors chomping at the bit to give the conditions a go, and the normal 10.30 kids also keen, we let them have a go, but everyone had to sail two up mainly for weight safety . There were some absolutely screaming rides out there, with both Teras and Lasers absolutely covered in spray and planing across the top . There was the occasional capsize, but with both Aidan and Kyle and their crews out there everyone was back up and running in no time .
The was also a reported sighting of the Sarah Cooper ( Kyle ) driver sailing around in a 4.7 and yes even with the 4.7 he was flying despite falling out a couple of times ! Oh and by then the wind speed was in the mid twenties.

Open Bic and Adult Racing

It was decided by everyone there that the conditions by 12.45 were just a bit to wild to race especially when they started recording over thirty knots at the seaway .

It took until today for the winds to finally blow out I even had to cancel Robina State High School on Tuesday with winds again over 25 knots .

Its looking much better for next weekend so cu there

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Sunday May 22nd, 2016

8.30am Sunday Juniors

10.30am Sunday Juniors

Open Bic Racing

Open Race

Additional Notes

Sunday May 15th, 2016

8.30am Sunday Juniors

10.30am Sunday Juniors

Open Bic Racing

Laser 4.7 Racing

Open Racing

May 25th, 2016

Sunday May 8th, 2016

8.30am Sunday Juniors

10.30am Sunday Juniors

Open Bic Racing

Open Racing

Additional Notes

Sunday May 1st, 2016

8.30am Sunday Juniors

10.30am Sunday Juniors

Open Racing

Sunday April 24th, 2016

8.30am Sunday Juniors

10.30am Sunday Juniors

Open Bic and Adult Racing

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