Wow are we busy this week all because of this weekends Mid Winter Youth Cup as you might guess there,s a lot goes on behind the scenes with setting these regatta,s up not only is there heaps to do for the sailing but there is just as much on shore with setting up including canteen menu,s and stocking the canteen , luckily we have a great bunch of girls who work behind the scenes making it all come together . If anyone would like to volunteer in any aspect even for an hour or so just give us a call or even turn up on either day amnd I am sure we can find you a job . Speaking of the girls behind the scenes you may notice our facebook page is much more active and yes its not me its the girls again making it look much more professional.
8.30 am Sunday Juniors :
Well as usual we had our keen winter group of sailors turn up and were soon rigging Teras and Bic,s and with me slightly out of action ( back injury) Charlie was in control again and soon had everyone rigged and ready and boats on the beach . I accidentally let the cat out of the bag by telling harvey where the wind was coming from before the briefing so he was the keenest hes ever been in answering the wind direction question . We even had a new sailor up the front who is looking at becoming an Instructor in Taylah and despite being very nervous she at least gave it a go ! As I mentioned the wind was basically out of the west at around 4/6 knots and occassionally gusting 10 , Jason set up over towards the ephriam side as the wind had some south in it and despite the odd capsize Tristan ? and Alex and his brother everyone handled the varying conditions well . Charlie was out on the white boat as back up and some coaching as everyone coped with the changing conditions so all in all a good session.
10.30 Youth Training :
As part of our preparations for next weekends midwinter cup we had designated this session as race start training day and although it was mainly for the green fleet we added the open fleet as well. After a briefing about green fleet rules and start procedures we set up a of the breeze start with two marks so it was basically a straigth out and back to finish , well it was what we thought was a straight out and back course but with the usual lack of listening it soon turned into what is known as a shambles start . I personally having done this a few times new it would end up this way as most of the boys and girls have never done starts so there were boats going everywhere instructors yelling advice and no one going the right way well except for Jade . Charlie being relatively new to this was starting to sound like me and Iam sorry but I just couldnt help but laugh at his coments and pacing up and down the pontoon . Everyone finally got it right in the end probably due to charlie jumping in the white boat and corralling everyone behind the line and yes still yelling but at least everyone was away so lets see how the go this weekend as charlie is in charge of green fleet racing.

Hi Everyone , Well we are just about half way through the year and xmas seems just around the corner again not only that but the Mid Winter Youth Cup is nine days away and the following week is Youth week at Manly for some of our youth sailors in Taylah Ross Abby ( lasers ) and Jade and Daniel in Bic,s and yes they are all a bit nervous as expected but Iam sure they will do their club proud heck Iam already proud of the for just competing . With the midwinter cup fast approaching yes we will be looking for volunteers on water and on land even juniors are invited as it will be a great learning experience for all our future Youth team sailors to come along and see how its done and to cheer their fellow club sailors on .
8.30 am Sunday Juniors 
What a great morning with blue skies light winds and it wasnt even that cold no really I was down to three layers by 8.00 am apparently it wasnt that cold as Daniel and Taylah turned up bare foot yes barefoot ? We started the day without Charlie who broke a contact lens so he had to wait for specsavers to open to get a replacement so it was up to Daniel , Taylah , Jade and Abby to help set everything up and Jason and Guy to launch Sarah c . Everyone soon had either their Bic 0r Tera rigged and on the beach ready to sail. Luckily there was some wind coming in from the west at around 4 knots which slowly turned n/w but the guys were right on it moving the marks . Once Charlie arrived the guys picked him up to help coach the sailors around the track with both tacking and gybing allowed . Daniel and I took two new sailors in Will and Bryden into the shallows to teach them tacking and steering straight and with some early practice we soon had them sailing around the marks so well done boys . 
10.30 Youth Training
Well this group of sailors are getting more and more skilled at their sailing especially Daniel and Lincoln or latest Bic sailors these boys cant catch Jade yet but they are determined to at least get close but so far she is just too good on the up winds . The conditions were only light so we went south to find more wind to try and beat the outgoing current and with the winds now coming in from the north at around 4 knots the really performed well even if they did run into the sand bank at the bottom of ephriam . Ross,s roll tacks are just spot on while Abbys up winds and Taylahs are just getting faster especially Taylahs boat speed against the radials her boat was just flying in the light conditions . In the bic,s Lincoln just needs to let his sail out more on the down winds and Daniel just needs to pull his sail on more on the up winds  and then there is Jade who just makes it look easy and her tacking angles are just spot on .
1.30 pm Open Racing 
It was a bit strange setting up for racing as we didnt have Greg wandering around at 11.30 because he took his wife away for a week on a long deserved holiday . We had a chat with a few of the guys in regards to the light conditions ( 3/6 knots ) from the west / south west / north west so yes it was all over the shop.
We decided on three short races starting down near runners with the top mark near the canal . The starts were good especially amongst the lasers with Ross and Taylah right up there at the line . Steve nailed the starts and from there won every race but not by much as Matt , John and Adrian werent far behind . Ross hwo sailed a radial had two fourths and a third being first radial over in each race while Taylah in the 4.7 was right in the mix as well . The Bic sailors in Daniel and Lincoln really struggled with the light winds and strong outgoing current , you cant beat waterline lenght especially in the light stuff. Race two was their most difficult as the wind just dropped out to 1/3 knots at time so the current just got too much even though they sailed outside the channel it was just too strong for the bics so we let them go in after two races all be it slowly but well done boys .

Upcoming : 2021 Mid Winter Cup so no juniors on the 27th of June

CU on the water
J Murphy

Hi Everyone , Well I have been mentioning how cold it was for a whikle now but now its really cold even my nose is cold sitting in the club office so look out this weekend and definitely bring spare warm clothes to sailing this weekend . I would just like to thank everyone for making my birthday last Sunday such a memorable day from Andrew cooking sausages in the carpark so I wouldnt see him to all the assistant instructors and junior sailors who had me totally oblivious to the fact that they were setting up for a party and yes it was a shock when I first walked in to see cake and candles and everyone standing there to wish me a happy birthday so again thanks everyone for an awesome day . Dont forget everyone who is entering the Midwinter cup that sunday the 20th will be race start training at 10.30 am
​8.30 am Sunday Juniors :
With light winds from around n/w it was a perfect day for sailing and towing practice which Jason and Guy had plenty of practice at as did Charlie and Casey who had a rare day off from work . While they were out on the water I was in the water and yes it was cold teaching Alex how to steer which he did manage to master even in the light conditions . We even had one of our newer sailors in ella with her girlfriend give it a go but it was a bit of a struggle for them as it was truly light and shifty and even Jade couldnt get them going luckily the sand banks stopped them from drifting too far south . The Bics did managed to sail in the conditions but the tera,s struggled especially the one that leaks which I keep forgetting about fixing but no fear I will send it away soon !
I have to say it was a hard day on the water with the light wind constantly shifting and the current getting stronger so any lapse of concentration and you were drifting south and then getting towed back by the guys in sarah.
10 30 am Youth Training :
We were a bit late starting because of surprise birthday parties including sausages and cake but to my surprise all the training group were soon out there rigging boats . The conditions had changed only slightly from 8.30 class with the wind turning s/e at around 2/4 knots so we sailed away down to the canal to grab whatever wind there was . In the bics jade and daniel were soon away as was Maddison and Linc although they both struggled a little with the light winds but in general went well with good tacks and gybes . The lasers all listeded and really cruised around the course with excelent boats speed and some really good roll tacks and gybes especially from Ross who really nailed some . This group each week shows better understanding now all we have to do is get them to read their telltales more .
1.30 pm Open Racing :
By the time we went out to set a course the wind had turned slightly north of east so with an incoming tide we set a course down near runners with an upwind over to the edge of the bank in fron of crab then a third mark up behind the yellow x mark to create a triangle . With the wind around 1/3 knots I thought this would take an average of 1 hr which would be enough for everyone considering the conditions .
So you know what happened yep as we started the race the wind filled in to a staedy 3/5 knots so the course I set was too short and we had boats finishing in 25 minutes so with everyones ok we decided to do a second race . With race two ( non points ) everyone were soon circling around the start line but they picked the pin end with an incoming tide so with ten seconds to go and at least 4 boats over and greg running into the start boat we had to call a restart . The second time everyone remembered the current and we had a clean start well except for jade who hooked our anchor while daniel sailed away but thanks to Charlies enchouragement she took of behinf Daniel and slowly caught him and then sailed away so remember Jade never give in even Ross learnt tha lesson after starting last in race one due to a undone clew strat but he still managed to catch the bics and a couple of lasers before the end .
Finally who won the points race well greg did the skinny bugger but he did come from behind to do it.

Mid Winter Cup 26th / 27th 
Manly Youth Week 2nd / 5th July 

CU on the water
J Murphy

 Hi Everyone , Its getting to a busy time  for our youth sailing year with the annual Mid Winter Cup just around the corner and then a few of our laser sailors and Bic Skiff sailors will be off to Manly for queensland youth week so all in all a very busy time for our young sailors who have been practicing hard for both these events .
Booking for the midwinter cup will open this weekend and with only two club Bics left to lease its time to hurry up and grab a boat . I should also mention the awesome job Kelly and her team are doing in the canteen the coffee is great and I even had a hot chocolate on sunday and it was perfect , the girls also have big plans for midwinter cup as well so its sounds like we will be well looked after over that weekend .
8.30 am Sunday Juniors :
Even though it was predicted to be cold on sunday morning it was actually quite mild and with a good bunch of junior sailors signing on and yes we had another first timer in Ella who was lucky enough to have Jade help her out through the morning so thanks Jade for your efforts . Once everyone was rigged and heading for the beach we launched Charlie in Sarah cooper and then watched as he got some paddling practice while drifting under the bridge why ? well I had been working on the fuel system on friday and turned the fuel off so yep he ran out of fuel about which he became very vocal but as I said the person driving the boat is responsible for checking the boat and it was very funny watching him paddling! Tristan in the bic made a bet with charlie as well that he would not look at his rudder when tacking and at first he was going well even his dad Jason was getting excited but old habits die hard and we were soon back to capsize practice so keep working on it Tristian . Ben brought a friend along for his first try at sailing and he did well showing the ropes Iam not sure if they capsized or not but they looked very wet at the end and finally Jason was kept busy on sarah c dragging boats back from under the bridge right Finn !
10.30 am Youth Training :
This group of sailors in bics and Lasers are really rising to the challenge and are at times even listening to the coaches even in the classroom where all the curly questions are asked like if my outside telltales are curling toward the mast on a reach what does it mean and how can I fix it ? If you would like to know the answer maybe ask one of them on the weekend should be an interesting exercise and hopefully the right answer .
The conditions were good with winds around 6 knots from the south so we started with a bit of mark rounding then a sail south upwind then bearaway roundings nearly like charlie showed them the week before and generally we had some pretty good results . We even had Maddy sailing better around the marks rather than miss the marks and hiking out more and looking comfortable . With no Ross as had had a sore throat which none of us wanted it was a bit quieter than normal but he was back on wednesday afternoon for coaching and definitely was over the sore throat . I know I have said this before but this group of Youth sailors are really starting to surprise both Charlie and I and work well as a team which will be invaluable in the Mid Winter Cup , Manly Youth week and the Yepoon so well done everyone on you awesome efforts .
​1.30 PM OPEN RACING :
 The days racing was a non championship race and after consultation with Greg we decided on a series of short races from in front of the club to a turning buoy just short of the yellow x in the middle of the channel so basically a dead upwind and then virtually a dead downwind back to the finish line . The wind was around 5/8 knots from the s/s/e so just perfect for starting practice and upwind and downwind, The start line was hotly contested each start with the Youth group really mixing it with the adults no yelling but a lot of close racing and the occassional bump but the surprise package was Jade who nailed one start in her Bic and was first over the start line yep in front of the lasers and just took off upwind great work Jade . Greg Tom Steve and JB had some really good tussles with some really close finishes but I did have a quick word with Tom afterwards when he asked if he was pumping and rocking too much and I said he should include hooching ??? yep look it up it actually exists and yes he was making it too obvious . Another Bic sailor who is improving week to week is Daniel who is out there every sunday from helping juniors to training and racing so Charlie in race four coached him upwind and then downwind and instead of being 100 metres behind Jade at the finish he was about five metres so dont forget what Charlie showed you next weekend he was a really good Bic sailor when he was little emphasis on little !

Mid Winter Cup 26/27 June bookings open this weekend
Manly Youth week early July check their website for details 

CU on the water
J Murphy