Hi Everyone , It was nice last Sunday to be back to normal with all our budding young sailors many showing up early just so they could get on the water after a two week break and with perfect weather it was a perfect start to the day . TRY SAILING DAY is on Sunday the 9th of December so dont forget to invite all your friends along as all it costs is a minimum gold coin donation which we donate to the Gold Coast University Hospital  who do  fantastic job in our community..
8.30 am Sunday Juniors ; 
With Sunday starting with blue skies and clear water we were expecting a good roll up of sailors and we werent disappointed with 19 sailors signing on which included seven first time sailors who were keen to give it a go.. With the wind n/w around 4/6 knots it was perfect for a reaching course in front of the club and once everyone remembered how to do it after a two week break everyone seemed to sailing around the course in nearly straight lines even Cianna and her crew after some early circles were off and running. Torin was in charge of a club laser with three new sailors on board and with gentle conditions he managed to show them how to steer and tack well kind of? Eddy was also in a laser with a couple of our new sailors showing them how its done and just basically just cruising around the course.Now the water is warming up you guessed it nearly everyone wanted to capsize at the end so once they signal was given the normal capsize chaos began with lots of laughing and smiling faces which to me is one of the best parts of the morning.
10.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
With the winds shifting more towards the north but still not very strong we decided to split the group with Casey taking both Eddy and Addy of on a training run while the boys were given a triangle course in front of the club which certainly proved a challenge especially with the upwind section which Charlie made a challenge setting the rounding buoy just on the edge of no sail zone . After watching everyone for a while I singled out both Tain and Alex for some coaching around the gybe mark . Tain was still facing backwards so we practiced some static gybes just to get the footwork right then he was back on the course and with some scrambling managed after a few laps to start facing the front and nailing the gybe . With Alex who,s sailing is improving each session we worked on sheet on in the gybe to improve gybe speed and with Alex all ears listening we soon had the gybes smoother and quicker . With the girls all I know from Eddy was that Casey was teaching them how to catch waves other than that we will have to ask Casey about the sessions outcomes which Iam sure would have been very informative to the girls because she has always been a good listener with her coach!
1.30pm Open Racing;
With the winds swinging more towards the N/E by lunch time and settling in around 8/14 knots it was a perfect afternoon for some exciting sailing . Tom was looking very racey before the start cruising past the start boat , Casey was just glad to be on the water racing and Ben was tuning up his rig with all the new skills he picked up at the Masters Games . As we counted down inside the 1 minute Tom decided to cut behind Kate to get the perfect start but there was a slight miscalculation on his part with the wind which resulted in a high side capsize you guessed it right in front of the fleet ! After everyone stopped giving comment to Tom and the laughter subsided off everyone went with Tom bringing up the rear , Casey and Kate had their usual tussle swapping places throughout the race Simone and Charlie were going well until the both tried a bit of dredging along the edge of the sand bank while Ben surged to the front . Tom told me later that he worked his guts out and slowly came from last to second just behind Ben for the run to the line , it was a close call but Toms full rig one the day against Bens radial with Tom cruising over the line first followed by Ben then Casey and Kate , the rest were some way back after their dredging efforts but all in all it was good racing. I mustnt forget our lone Bic sailor on the day Ollie who really struggled with the tide just to make the start line and despite doing a good upwind into the current pulled out before the end but a good effort anyway Ol .

Club Xmas Closure dates ; closed from 24th December 2018 re-open 3rd of January 2019

Christmas Party : This years party is to be held at the sailing club on Sunday the 16th of December starting at 1.00pm after 10.30 sailing , Cost ; Adult $15.00 Children $10.00 a christmas lunch and a free drink for everyone plus hopefully a lot of fun so to book your place either check our website or ask at the sailing office .

CU on the water
John Murphy

Hi Everyone , Yes the news letter is back after a break where we were the host club for sailing at the Pan Pacific Masters Games 2018 . Although its a long event ( 10 days ) its great to have sailors from other clubs , interstate and overseas coming to compete at our club showcasing their sailing skills no matter what their age ( oldest competitor 82 ) or sail boat preference .  Mother nature was generally very good with winds from 2 knots to 20 knots throughout the event giving everyone a full range of sailing conditions on the Broadwater and of course the odd swim but all in all everyone just had FUN !
  
8.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
Well you guessed it after such great weather for the masters mother nature decided to make it difficult for our first Sunday Juniors and came up with strong winds and choppy water . We still had the group rig a couple of boats and then derig just for the practice . With a large part of the group being newbies we decided that we would give everyone a go with Casey on a club laser as conditions were around 18 knots from the s/e so we sent them off in groups of two for some great reaching action and yes it included a capsize a POB ( person overboard ) and of course some giggling from a couple of our regular juniors who thought the speed was fun which of course we always say it is . Once everyone had a turn with Casey they then jumped on our safety boat for a birds eye on water view of the on water action . Thanks to Casey's efforts all the juniors had a great experience with Casey's skills showing everyone how its done .
10.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
By 10.30 the conditions were around 15/20 knots s/e so we didn't expect many starters as it was a bit rough but despite the testing conditions Abby , Tom and Tain were keen to give it a try in tera,s so we rigged a couple of boats and let them go out for as they called it fun . Tom and Tain are really starting to work well as a team and despite the odd capsize sailed the boat well which included a lot of yahoos and giggling especially when the really hooked the boat up on the fast reaches so we are now thinking of putting them in the two sail Taz just to see how it goes . Abbey just cruised around the reaching course and at times just flew past the boys in the gusty bits and just to be safe she just stuck to tacking which meant she avoided any swims . Jonah turned up with his Bic for some practice as well as he is off to the worlds in New Zealand soon so the conditions were great and he was soon out their nailing some spectacular gybes and even sharper tacks , looks like the coaching sessions are really working there !
  
1.30 pm Open Race ;
With Tom back from NZ and Casey , Jonah and Steve keen to give the conditions a try ( gusting 28 knots ) we set a course in our channel with a basic upwind downwind starting and finishing in the middle of the course  .
The start was of course a bit hectic with the conditions but Tom and Steve were soon out in front with Casey struggling with the power of the radial that she had decided to have a go with despite her coach advising not to it was definitely a learning day for her . Jonah at times got caught in irons when tacking and towards the end had a couple of swims but I have to say he just got the boat back up each time and continued on. Casey also had the same in irons problem but just like Jonah she just kept getting the boat back up and going again after several capsizes . Tom and Steve were have a good run but the conditions finally got Steve as well and try as he might he just couldn't successfully get his boat up and it finally blew away from him , we were watching from the safety boat but then we realised we couldn't see him at his boat so off we went and as we got near we saw that Tom had stopped and picked him up as he was swimming to shore so we put him on Sarah and Charlie sailed his boat back to the club as he was buggered .Our difficulty in seeing Steve in the water came from his dark clothing so we have suggested he add a bit of colour to his sailing gear as even Tom had trouble from a distance seeing him . So yes all in all it was a busy afternoon on the water .

Upcoming ; 
Gold Coast University Hospital Fund raising Try Sailing day 9th December starting at 8.30 am . This is an annual event at our club where we put a big effort in raising much needed funds for our local hospital so don't forget to invite all your friends along for what is always a fun day .
Annual Club Christmas Party Sunday the 16th of December starting at 1.00 pm ( after juniors )
This year we are going back to holding the event at the sailing club so no dress up required and instead of a barbeque we are going with catered food on site so it should be a lot of fun and included in the afternoon we will be announcing the 2018 Youth and Senior club champions so that more people can meet and cheer their success over the past year . Check our website for details !

CU on the water
John Murphy