Our big changes are starting this weekend with the removal of all our boats and gear in the cage to inside the club and some out the front so that the builders can turn up on monday to demolish the old cage frame which shouldnt take much considering the amount of rust in the old frame . We are looking for people to help us on sunday at around 1.30 pm to help remove all the boats so if you can spare an hour just come down and give a hand it will be much appreciated . The new cage should be up by the following friday but I wont start asking for helpers to put it all back until we know its finished just in case something goes wrong!!!
A special thanks to Gold Coast City Council and our division 4 representative Shelly Curtis for all their support for this project.
8.30 am Sunday Juniors
After being a bit iffy weather wise on saturday it actually turned out a great morning for sailing especially for beginners . We even had Charlie who was originally going to be away at Manly with TSS but he got a leave pass so he rocked up at 8.00am which certainly made life easier .
As usual Hayden was the first here and was itching to start rigging but charlie made him wait to most of the group had signed on . We soon had all the boats rigged and for a change I did the briefing and I even got the wind direction right as usually I forget to look . The winds were out of the s/e at around 4/6 knots so charlie and reece set a nice reaching course which some people even managed to sail mostly despite the odd capsize and collision because despite being told at the briefing to tack away from capsized boats they just sailed right into them so charlie had his hands full trying to push masts out of the mud while avoiding boats behind sarah c.
I had lucy sofia and charlotte who did have a bit of trouble with steering but we swapped skippers and charlotte gave it a go and managed to go straight !! even if the tacks were a bit iffy anyway well done girls.
10.30 am Youth Sailing
With the winds picking up to a good 6/8 knots from the e/s/e everyone soon had their boats rigged well the thought so right Jack ( mainsheet ) and Hallie ( twisted mainsheet ) anyway everything was soon rectified by beach control ( me ) and the full team was out there practicing starts again . I can really see the difference in everyone,s boat control with everyone holding station just at the line then taking off at the whistle . Hallie had a brilliant start on one go as did Zach , Harvey , Leila and Reece with TJ AND Jack right there as well much better that three weeks ago when no one was at the line so I have to say great perseverance Charlie as coach getting them up to this level . Charlie even let everyone go for a bit of a sail as conditions were perfect . Now we will see next sunday how everyone goes in a real racie when charlie is not there to yell at them yep he will be at manly..
1.30 pm Open Racing
The wind was solid at 8 plus knots from the e/s/e so we set a line south of the canal with a triangle course for everyone down towards runners . Charlie set the start to slightly favour a pin end ( starboard ) start and with only four lasers signed on plus one Bic ( Harvey ) it was looking good . Claire and Reece came along to see how it goes and we soon had the five minute flag up and the count down under way . As it came down to inside one minute harvey pulled up near the pin with Nic there as well but Harvey kept him out all the way to the start but the surprise was greg who came through on port and absolutely creamed the start . Heading up the inside he soon had a good lead and although Nic tried his best he just couldnt overtake greg all the way around the course even after greg caught his main sheet around his tiller from a sloppy gybe . Harvey had his own race with two very big triangles so a bit shorter than the lasers who also had windward leeward legs but he showed great boat speed around the course so Iam sure he will be back .
Final positions were 1 Greg 2 Nic 3 Steve 4 Roger .
Upcoming
Club cage replacement 25 to 29 mch
Aus Open Skiff 28-30 june 2024
CU on the water
J Murphy