This is going to be a big week for news as I have to make up for last week when I hadn’t the time to update everyone.
I have to start things off with the official notification from the Pan Pac Master people that we have been accepted as the host sailing venue for the 2014 Pan/Pac masters. This Event will commence on Friday the 31st of October and run until the 9th of November. As part of this exciting news the club is looking for people to either help at the actual event and we are also looking for people to help out with the sailing committee, to not only help with this major event but to also help with our expanding Junior racing program. If you are interested send us an email with you preferences and we will catch up and have a chat (don’t call as I will probably forget).
Club News:
Despite some ordinary weather the clubs numbers in Juniors is steadily increasing which is great to see as sailing is a sport for life.We have also just completed 5 days of sailing with Benowa state high school and what a great bunch they were, there was a lot of capsizing, swimming, drifting, collisions. But in amongst all that there emerged some potential sailors which we have invited back for our Try Sailing Fundraiser on the 15th if December. With Try Sailing I believe that David (web guru) has posted the flyer so where possible can you pass it on to your schools and general community.
Don't forget the parent and child races they should be fun!
The Club will be operating up until Sunday the 22nd of December and Re opening on Saturday the 4th January 2014
Sunday Juniors:
With ever increasing numbers in our early class and great weather last Sunday we had around 20 children attending with nearly half of them having their first try , I have to thank Charlie, Dylan, Harrison and Sienna who all came down early and either helped on the beach or took people sailing, thats what its all about kids helping others! I was very proud of you all.
The previous Sunday was affected by early windy conditions which forced me to cancel sailing for a great proportion of new sailors at 8.30 but those who we thought could handle the changeable conditions went out and had a fast sail and some crashes and capsizes.
Sunday Juniors 10.30:
With weather conditions settling on Sunday week and 9 juniors turning up for the session we had some initial training followed by off the beach racing which was a great spectacle from the shore with everyone trying hard to out do everyone else for speed and control. There were some interesting returns to the beach after each race as people were keen to get the best start position for the next race so they forgot about pointing into the wind to stop (right Nick) resulting in some crashes. Last Sunday we only had 6 starters and the conditions were light so there was a lot of jockeying at the start line and with Sienna not being able to race in the BIC's due to party commitments taking part and showing the rest of the fleet how to time the starts (we wont mention the 1 boat length over in one race !!!) I believe also that young Jonah had his first race win as well although he still needs to look at the luff more (right dad?)
Open Bic Racing:
Each week we getting consistent numbers with some of the Junior racers having to use the club Tera as we only have four BIC's and around 8 sailors who want to race. On both weekends the racing has been pretty intense but with that same old problem rearing its head when people try to get around a mark and not taking into account the tide and also wind (remember guys and girls NO SAIL ZONE AND MOST IMPORTANT BOAT SPEED). Aidan said you all finally got it but it took a lot of talking and showing between races on the beach to get you there.
This Sunday past I took everyone out with starts at the club pontoon E/N/E wind with everyone finding the conditions light and shifty so looking at the sail was imperative as was evident by people either pulling their sails on too far or not enough. There was a great deal of instruction front the pontoon about these issues with everyone starting to get it towards the end, again guys and girls BOAT SPEED IS IMPORTANT IN LIGHT CONDITIONS. There were a few minor collisions mainly due to people (Luka) not looking before they turn and also drifting into each other. I did see though some encouraging signs in regards to Dylan and Charlie with both of them when focused understanding the conditions and what was needed to keep their boats going. I will be starting a separate training session for both these boys as part of their lead up to The National titles in January, hopefully I will have some time soon which will include team sailing, sail trim, boat trim and rigging. Let me know if there is anyone else interested.
Open Race:
Sunday week saw a small fleet on the Broadwater with good winds but a screaming outgoing tide, the racing went on for two hours yes two hours with only 4 seconds separating Pieter Verstoep and Andrew Todd at the end, now thats what I call great racing in tough conditions. The only problem on the day was the influx of both boat and jetski drivers? who didn’t seem to have a clue where the channel was or the give way rules. Last Sunday saw the return of Maurie, Chris James, John P and Trish and the inclusion of Jason and Justin to the fleet and with two races on the day it was an interesting race especially with the brewing storms which saw Ted shorten the second race due to lightning strikes. The wind was light and variable but you could see the change coming so it was safety first which I heard no complaints about, it only lasted half an hour then the sun came back out but by that time everyone was in relax mode.
Results
Race 1 Chris C, Peter F, John P
Race 2 Jason, Chris C, James b
Holiday Camps: The Christmas School Holiday Camps and Training days begin on Monday 16th Dec and run through to Friday 24th January 2014 check the website for details. We now also have a Facebook page and Twitter page attached to our website so feel free to use it .
Catch U on the water next weekend !
Late news it has been rumoured that George Morton has brought a laser now we will see some speed !!!
John Murphy
President/Sailing manager
Paradise Point Sailing Club
Gold Coast Qld 4216
Mob 0407 145397