Hi Everyone , The most important Item is that I will be on Holidays from the 1/9/24 until the 17/9/24 as I will be travelling around England and during that time Charlie will be running all the sunday activities on the 8/9/24 .
The club will be closed on saturday the 7/9/24 and also saturday the 14/9/24 plus Sunday the 15/9/24 as Charlie will be away at Keppel Bay Sailing Club at the all boats Regatta .
We ae currently looking at sunday the 15th of december for the club christmas party using the same format as last year with the event held at the club , Iam just waiting for feedback from the committee on their thoughts before advertising the event .
You will have seen Sarah Cooper on the water again on Sunday after she broke down at the end of june and with plenty of help from Mike latter we managed to sort the no start problem out so she is nearly there just have to replace some switches on the dash , she even got a bottom clean again thanks to Mike I wasnt allowed to help due to having stitches but their out now just in time for my trip.
Charlie and Mike are both working at Keppel Bay and are taking the yellow boat up as we were asked if we could help with extra safety boats so have a safe and great trip guys .

8.30 am Sunday Juniors 
With blue skies and mild weather to start the day we finally started getting more sailors at the 8.30 session and more booked in for next weekend so yes summer is coming .
Quinn needed little help in rigging her boat ( open skiff ) and Bowen turned up with a captains hat on , very funny bowen!
With 4 other beginners we soon had them sorted out with our mentor group taking one each even I took one as she has a slight disability which just needed some extra knowledge with her first effort at sailing on how to adapt and yes she did .
The winds were roughly westerly around 4/7 knots so everyone soon got the hang of it and with help from our mentors were soon tacking around the buoys while quinn and bowen were tacking gybing and bearing away enjoying the conditions . With more booked in next sunday we are looking at a busier sunday so lets hope the weather is good .

10.30 Youth Training
With ten boats rigging on the lawn and the winds slowly increasing from the north to around 8/10 knots everyone was really keen to find out what was happening training wise so after a brief discussion Charlie gave out instructions which were mainly that they were sailing to the yellow x mark down at runners as a group then back to the green near the club as a exercise sailing in a group so meaning if you got to far ahead you turned around and reconnected with the group and also if the whistle was heard you had to gybe which caused an occassional capsize but generally everyone kept in the group. I had work to do on shore but when I came out and looked south the whole group was tacking as a group and it looked awesome , it may have taken 6 months to get their and involved lots of frustration along the way but with a bit of mentoring by me with Charlie he has learnt the fruits of perseverance as they all certainly looked good .
This group races every first and third sunday  which we started after the Open Skiff Regatta in June and it will finish on the 24 of november with a presentation at the december christmas party.

Upcoming
Keppel Regatta 16/9/24
Sailing Camp 23/24 sept
Club Closed from the 12 to 17 september

CU on the water
J Murphy

​PS there,s a rumour that two coaches might even start sailing on sunday afternoons !!!

Hi Everyone , Just a reminder to everyone that the club will be closed the wekend of the 14/15 september due to both charlie and I being away . with me being back from the 18/9 and charlie being back on the 23/9 . We seem to be building a good fleet with our youth group especially for racing and with possibly teams racing with our two pacers hopefully happening as well its surely going to be busy over summer.
As you might have seen on facebook we finally have had time to do a trailer swap with buzzmonty from a rusty steel one to a newly built aluminium one and its looking pretty snazzy . Thanks to charlie and Mike for doing most of the physiccal work as I over did it a bit on sunday and stretched my stitches which caused some infection in the wound but thanks to the guys its healing back up again so hopefully stitches out on friday .Once this project is over I will be returning to australian sailing paperwork so that we can start doing their courses , I have done around 20 pages so far with probably 40 pages to go yes thats 60 pages so lets hope we are successful.. We are looking for parents who might be able to spare two hours on sunday to help Nicola in the canteen , its all pretty easy and you even get a free coffee !

8.30 am Sunday Juniors 
With numbers still small we just had our two keen sailors in Quinn and Bowen rocking up and keen to get their boats rigged and ready.
We even had sarah back in action after both Mike and I chased down its electrical problem which included a fair bit of head scratching but at least she is running.
The weather was a challenge with the wind from basically the west and gusting up to 12 knots so I had a good chat with bowen and Quinn on the beach in regards to which buoy to sail too and how much wind to expect so they wouldnt capsize so you know what happened yes the both capsized and they both then struggled a bit so Gemma jumped in Quinn,s boat and Max jumped in Bowens boat and showed them how to cope with the conditions and to their credit they both jumped back in and slowly conquered the conditions  so well done guys
​.
11.30 Youth Racing.
With even another signing up in a laser we as I said earlier had a good group for the race , everyone was even at the start line area so the group start was pretty conjested but they were soon all off on a reach ? done to A mark . Downwind was not to bad just a bit gusty but the close reach back to b mark was tricky mainly because of the gusts and of course the dead spots making the upwind a bit of a challenge . I finally managed to get Halle to hike out and guess what she actually lost no ground on the upwind so came in third in the skiffs . The most unlucky sailor was our new bic sailor in Libby who was leading the race to A mark which was a gybe but half way through the gybe the main slipped out of her hand and the boom flew out all the way and of course disconnected and the goose neck and the rapped itself around the mast and by the time we untangled she was last but with determination and some really good upwind sailing she came in second yes second behind Gemma . The whole group is really improving every week so especially next year we should have a very competitive group of young sailors .

Upcoming
Yeppoon Regatta 16/9/24
Holiday Camp 23/24 /9
Adult Learn to Sail 21/9/24 ( nearly full)

CU on the water
J Murphy
President

Hi Everyone Iam a day late this week with the news letter as the weather was so bad yesterday I didnt really want to drive in the conditions but luckily today the rain has really slowed down .
We are looking at an added program with our junior volunteers by starting a mentoring group mainly because most of our current helpers are under the age of 12 and because of the australian sailing rule that assistants have to be 12yrs or above we decided that a mentoring program would be a great alternative so keep listening as we sort out the details which will include a club shirt with the mentor logo affixed . In regards to new club shirts we are currently obtaining quotes as unfortunately our previous supplier has gone out of business so we are currently checking prices . There will be a sign up sheet which will include pricing available this weekend so that people can order shirt number and sizes .
In regards to membership please remember that membership is now 6 weeks overdue and only those people who have returned their forms are currently registered with australian sailing ,so time is running out.

8.30 am Juniors :
with numbers still low it was a easy session for charlie to oversee as I was away helping friends as a judge for a guinness world record attempt.
With only quinn signing on we set her off in the bic which she found to be a bit of a challenge in the 12 knot gusty winds but with help from Max and Jack they managed to get her comfortable out there but not exactly sailing with confidence . Charlie decided that the boys needed some instruction in getting the right moves for Quinn so he jumped on board to not only help quinn but the boys as well and apparently buy the end of the session they soon had them suing better teaching technique so not only did quinn improve but the boys hopefully learnt some valuable lesson on instructing .
10.30 am youth training .
With the conditions increasing in wind strength ( 12-18 k) and turning more s/s/e charlie decided to just run a short course in front of the club tacking only and at first the most experienced sailors did well but for some unknown reason once some of the less experienced sailors had to be towed the rest of the group started doing the same as the beginners which was not pulling sails on and slowly getting blown toward the bridge so towing became a priority . Conditions degenerated to an extent that we stopped the session especially when TJ tore his sail on the bic yes the second one in two weeks although the first one was done on the beach due to general wear and tear . 
lets hope the conditions are better for this weekends race !

Upcoming 
John on holidays from the 1st sept 
CLUB CLOSED 15/9/2024
Yeppoon  16/9/2024 
Holiday camp 23/24 sept

CU on the water
J Murphy

Hi everyone , Firstly just a reminder that the club will be closed on Sunday the 15th of September due to me being in england and Chatlie on his way to Yeppoon but everything will be as normal the following weekend .. Charlie is coaching up at the keppel Bay Sailing Club State Regatta  which is looking like the biggest ever with over 250 competitors already signed up we are even lending them a boat in the yellow inflatible as they sent a request out to all clubs due to the amount of competitors coming . Last sunday I was on my own as charlie was away again at an australian sailing seminar so a special thanks to all our assistants for helping out with 8.30 juniors. We will only be running one camp in the september holidays due to charlie and I being away but we will be running one on the second week and yes booking is essential. We even this week said safe travels to geoff and wendy the caretakers as the were heading for spain to their sons wedding then off to Italy before heading back to australia towards the end of august , definitely sounds like fun to me.

8.30 am Sunday Juniors 
With a bit of a wind chill but blue skies it was looking like a great day for sailing and although the numbers were low it was nearly perfect conditions with n/w winds at around 4/6 knots so perfect for some gybing practice and general sailing.. I had a new crew on the yellow boat in Max, Leila and Halle and i even had Leila driving and we all survived her very interesting driving style 
Bowen had some trouble at first with the gybe and our latest Bic sailor in quinn also had the occasional issue with gybes and yes you all know the relevant issue ? just have to hold the steering through the gybe right guys !
As the numbers were low we even had time for some on shore technique practice now all we need to do is see how remembers next weekend .
10.30 Youth Training
With a good group of sailors signing on for the training session it took a while to get everyone rigged and ready especially as I was on my own but we got it there in the end . As part of the training for this group I decided to set up an unofficial race course involving an upwind mark and a set of gates downwind . The start was only one minute so it really made everyone hang around the start line and in general everyone had a good start heading for A . The wind was around 4/5 n/n/w and the tide was incoming so it favoured a certain gate and surprisingly it only took two laps for a few of the sailors to realise which one as the other mark meant tacking to the mark. Max sailed well in the laser with Zach not too far behind over the full course and Gemma was first in the Bic,s and again everyone wasnt too far behind , so now we will see how everyone goes racing next weekend ?
As charlie was away the pressure was to pack up and I have to say everyone did well and even most of the sand was washed off the boats for a change .

Upcoming
Yeppoon Race week 16/9/24
Club closed sunday 15/9/24
Adult Sailing Course starts 21/9/2024
Sailing Camp 23/24 sept

CU on the water
J Murphy

Hi Everyone , yes we are back with the news letter after a few weeks off with the queensland open bic skiff state champs and then last week I was away in sydney so its just been busy since the Regatta .
The Regatta was a great success and even the weather was kind this year with three good days of wind and for a change no rain . There were 36 competitors spread out between green.silver and gold fleets with courses set from the club area ( green fleet ) to silver and gold sailing out in the main channel Many thanks to all the volunteers from far and wide as without you people donating your valuable time we would not had such a successful event . 

​8.30 am sunday juniors 
With a good group of 10 sailors attending and cool but good sailing conditions we soon had enough boats rigged well we thought so 1 short? so a mad rush to rigg another tera we finally had enough boats for everyone .
Max who is a recent member of the club asked to have a go at doing a briefing and as is club policy the answer was sure give it a try and he did well setting out the days activities and answering a few questions .
Charlie was beach control and Halle , Leila and I were safety boat which we were kept busy at with people accidentally sailing away from the bouys , running over the buoys and running into each other in the shifty westerly winds . It did at times get a bit windy with some stiff bullets coming through but everyone survived and had lots of fun . Hayden was on his final task for transferring to 10.30 youth and looked pretty happy with himself at the end of the session having received both charlie and my approval so next week he starts Youth Training.. Also thanks to our ai,s for helping with the juniors as you people not only help with the new sailors but also it gives you all valuable experience .
11.30 am Youth Racing 
Racing is back on every second and fourth sunday after originally cancelling early this year to focus on training for the Bic Skiff States in June but we are now back to racing.
So as CHARLIE wanted to sail so I was left in charge and I setwhat looked like a nice broad reach down and a close reach back from a buoy set beyond the canal but everyone forgot it was a westerly with bullets so the upwind was a definite challenge  . We had some new sailors start and even a young guy from NZ who just killed it in the club laser and as he said the conditions were much easier than NZ as the winds there reach 35 plus knots and we only had gusts  of 15 knots . Ther were some early dramas with one of the new sailors capsizing before the start and the rudder fell off ( no snail clip ?) but once we got him to shore he fixed the problem and was back out there  . In the bics libby was first over the line with Leila second and jack third Max and his crew actually finished behind libby which was awesome as he was two up in a Tera and everyone else was close behind so all in all a good race .

CU on the water
J Murphy
P.P.S.C.

Hi Everyone , The most important matter this week is that the club is hosting the open bic skiff queensland titles this weekend so our normal sunday juniors and youth sailing will not take lace on sunday the 30/6/2024 but will be back the following weekend the 7/7/24 . The event this weekend will briong open bic sailors from all over the state to compete against each other in gold,silver and green fleet . Its going to be a busy weekend with over 30 boats already registered so it will be a perfect time to bring the kids along and check out what sailing competition is all about . We have some of our sailors in both green fleet and silver fleet with the green fleet sailors very nervous  this being their first ever state event .
Theses boys and girls have been training every sunday since february so this will be the perfect platform to show what they have learned , both charlie and I are very excited form them to go out and experience the fun of competition and meeting new people .
Parking will be limited at the club so everyone will have to utilise the back street but hopefully everyone should fit in .
If you would like to help out any day just drop in and Iam sure we can find a job for you .
We are only holding one school holiday sailing camp these school holidays with the dates being the 2/3 of july that is the tuesday and wednesday as we will need the monday to re organise the club after the weekend regatta , if you want to book in just email the club for the enrolment form as there are a few spaces left in the camp at this time ...
I dont want to jinx us but it looks like we will even get reasonable winds for the event unlike some past years where the wind didnt come in until around lunch time but hopefully this year the wind gods will be on our side ,

CU on the water this weekend.
J Murphy

Hi Everyone Well its 10 days to go until the 2024 Open Bic Skiff Queensland State Titles and with 30 boats already registered its looking like  its going to be a great event , we are still looking for a few volunteers to help out so if you can spare a day just let us know what you would like to do and we will find a spot for you . As the weekend of the 29/30 of june is taken up with the state titles there will be no Sunday Juniors or Youth Training on that weekend but it will be back the following weekend .
Also because of the state titles we are only running one school holiday sailing camp and instead of our normal mon/tue we will be changing to tue2 and wed3 of july same times just different days .
Membership is due from the 1/7/24 and if you didnt receive a renewal form via email pleas just let us know or drop into the sailing office and pick up a copy to complete and return. All membership and storage prices are the same as last year and the fees can be paid by card or direct debit , dont forget no membership no Australian Sailing Insurance ?

8.30 AM SUNDAY MORNING JUNIORS
We had a few of the regulars back with quinn and hayden in early and we even had a new sailor in Levi giving it a go . As usual the assistants were here as well and we even had Halle up in front of the class for the first time showing the days course .
Charlie was in charge on water and the AI,s were in charge on the beach so I had the chance to not get wet for once and I took it as yes its getting cold .
Conditions were great with a light westerly blowing probably around 4 knots so everyone had a perfect chance to practice tacking and gybing and generally cruising around . Quinn was practicing her roll tacks which help the battens pop on the bic while Hayden in the Tera wanted to start the process of advancing to 10.30 youth training . He found it difficult at first as we set him a upwind challenge which he did struggle with at first but after a few tips from charlie he started to sail the right angle to the wind , we will have to see what the conditions are like next weekend to give him a go at correct course to the wind sounds easy but especially not in a westerly.!
Everyone had a great morning and we even ran a bit over time just to give everyone the best experience .

10.30 am Youth Training
We had a new sailor join the group who already sails bic and her name is Libby and yes she is a good sailor , she looked a little bit lost at the briefing but soon had it down pat once she hit the water . Charlie and Mike decided to do some pumping practice and trigger pulls ? if you dont know what trigger pulls are you should drop done on sundays around 11am and watch the team practice . Suffice to say its to do with start lines and getting a good start in the middle of a fleet. The pumping section which in certain circumstances is illegal is also good for practicing boat skills in general and as the breeze went from 6 knots to zero just like that it was helpful in getting everyone back to shore well except for Jack who went for a drift under the bridge but charlie went down and coached him back through and yes pumping was involved . Once the Open Bic States is complete this group will start racing every second weekend rather than every fourth weekend and we hopefully will also have a couple of 4.7 lasers out there as well to keep Zach company .

Upcoming
Open Bic Skiff States 28-30 june 
Gold Coast Marathon 6/7/24

CU on the water
J Murphy

Hi Everyone , Only 16 days to go to our first Open Bic Skiff Queensland State titles so dont forget that the club will be closed for our normal junior and youth sailing sessions but if you would like to be involved we are looking for volunteers both on land and on the water so no real experience is required just a willingness to help over the two days . If you would like to help just contact the sailing office and we will write your name in as a volunteer either saturday or sunday which ever suits . The last I heard there were 25 boats signed up for the event and Iam sure there will be a few more as the date gets closer .
Membership renewal is nearly due and everyone will soon be receiving a membership renewal form via email , the new membership year starts on the 1/7/2024 . To renew your membership just complete the attached form on the emails and return it to the club for processing with australian sailing .
8.30 am Sunday Juniors 
I couldnt believe it on sunday morning as the conditions were perfect with westerly winds around 4-6 knots an incoming tide and bright blue skies but we only had two sailors sign on for the session ? When this happens these keen young sailors are lucky enough to have virtually a private coaching session and with charlie on the water with jack originally they had the perfect chance under charlie,s guidance to work on their skills . Charlie soon had Bowen just cruising with smooth tacks and good general boat speed and we wont even mention the capsize ! Mitch also did really well and if anything he was just that little bit faster than Bowen in general boat speed so all in all the boys really upped their game and thanks to charlie and the crew for their on water support .Instructing
With the low numbers it was a perfect day for an assistant instructor to stand up in front of the class for the first time so after some convincing we managed to get Leila up there to give it a go and despite some nervousness she did really well for her first time with clear and precise instruction so well done Leila.
10.30 am Youth Training 
With the perfect conditions just getting better with the westerly increasing to around 6-8 knots we decided to do a proper practice race and set a course down at the canal . We set a triangle course with the start over near ephriam island consisting of two laps per race and three minute starts . Race one was definitely a learning curve with most everyone except max finding the no sail zone early before finally getting going . Most everyone went up the north side of the course while Leila went the south side in clear air and would have nailed it except she was sitting too far forward loosing boat speed . Max came back first over the line in a bic with zach second ( laser ) and Leila a close third so in Bic she came second . Race two was a little bit more organised with max again breaking away and after a talk with Leila between races she sat further back and really had some boat speed . Most everyone else either didnt hike out or lost concentration at times especially at mark roundings but hopefully they have all learned some valuable lessons for the states !

Upcoming
Queensland Open Bic Skiff State Titles 28-30 june 
Gold Coast Marathon sat/sun the 6/7 july ( only affecting P.P.S.C. ON SATURDAY )

CU on the water
J Murphy

Hi Everyone , Well its june so the open bic skiff states are getting close and its looking like its going to be a great weekend with 22 competitors already signed on and a few more pending . there will be three divisions starting with green fleet then silver fleet then gold fleet so all levels of sailing will be catered for now all we need is some wind to make it a successful weekend .
Once the states have been completed we will be changing our youth group sailing so that instead of three weekends of training it will be two weeks of training and two weeks of racing open to bic,s, lasers , optis and sabots but you must be a member of australian sailing to compete . We are hoping for some good competition amongst the young sailors but also have fun!
8.30 am Sunday Juniors 
Well as usual Hayden was in early just so he can learn more as he wants to move up to youth training so he has taken the list home so that he can brush up on what he needs to achieve to move up . Conditions were perfect on sunday morning with a westerly wind blowing at around 4 knots and blue skies . Charlie and Leils set a long reach out the front near the middle of the channel so that they could get the true wind away from the buildings and trees . With a consistant wind everuyone was soon sailing mark to mark and tacking well and a few people even tried some gybes which the pulled off well . 
We had a few assistants go out first on a few boats but as the session went on the slowly jumped on to the start boat as they werent needed as everyone was just cruising so thanks to halle Jack zach and Tj for your efforts .
10.30 Youth Training
With all boats rigged and with the queensland states only a month away everyone came in for a briefing but not before Charlie asked everyone what they learnt from racing the previous weekend and suffice to say without getting into it it was an interesting session I think our crew is finally ready to hit the competition on the 29th of june  the days lesson was sailing backwards but not only that but also doing turns while sailing backwards then sailing backwards without a centreboard all in the aid of boat skills and sure a few people struggled at first but with some individual coaching from the safety boat  they all nailed it in the end and even attracted an audience on shore , lets hope they dont need that skill at the states fingers crossed.

Queensland Open Bic Skiff State Titles 28/30 june

cu on the water
J Murphy