News from the club house

Hi Everyone another two weeks on and off the water with plenty happening in general with cancellations two weeks ago due to extreme wind conditions which made it a no brainer cancelling everything on the Sunday and even a couple of things during the week including afternoon junior training. This last week was much better with at least a few sailing days happening.

Sunday Juniors 8.30 am class: 

Despite sailing being cancelled two Sundays ago it was great to see the keenness of the juniors with 10 kids turning up and several phone enquiries only to be told that we had cancelled and seeing the disappointment in their faces. Last Sunday was totally opposite with winds around 6 knots and with the usual help from Dallas and George we had a dozen budding sailors out there practicing their new found sporting skills. As usual there were the normal crashes and capsizes but with sunny skies and warm water it was just fun to be out there . Forte even brought a friend along who we warned that she would definitely be getting wet as Forte has a habit of rolling the boat over while laughing. A special thanks to Pieter Verstoep (club secretary) for crewing the safety boat, Pieter has been off with a back injury so its good to see him back at it and even talking about resuming racing.

Sunday Juniors 10.30 am class: 

As usual we had a great turnout with this class with both the boys and girls keen to get out there in around 6/8 knots winds and firstly practice and then compete against each other. It was a perfect day to stand in the water at the gybe mark and work everyone through the technique of a successful gybe which includes not sitting on the tiller extension (Jasmine?) looking at the boom coming (Alex?) and generally not crashing into each other in the gybe. After watching everyones performance I spoke with a few parents and weather permitting next weekend we might try a full race away from the club just to see how they all go!

Open Bic 1.30 pm: 

Open BIC racing had a new starter on Sunday with Dallas moving up from 10.30 class to have his first go at racing and like most new sailors to this level he found it a steep learning curve especially the upwinds, even the experienced people had some trouble with the upwind except Charlie who just bolted in race one and then in race two he and Dylan went around the wrong mark while leading which resulted in a 3rd and 4th instead of 1st and 2nd. I was even rumoured that Patrick had a few swims and a couple of taps with the boom on the upwinds as well but all in all everyone never ceases to amaze me in the ever improving skill level and willingness to get out there and learn. Finally I wish Dallas, Dylan and Charlie good sailing as they are travelling up to Oxley on Saturday to compete in the Brisbane River against the kids from Oxley, there should be some interesting stories after sailing in such challenging conditions .

Open Racing 1.30 pm: 

Although the fleet was small due to events happening elsewhere we still had 9 boats out racing in 10 to 15 knots with a good upwind leg and some great reaching up to Sovereign and back, the guys and girls to around one hr to complete the course with Peter F and Andrew T finishing within 10 seconds at the end. Peter said later that he thought Andrew was going to run him down at any moment so he had to keep on the ball all the way and lets not forget third place going to Michelle who was close enough behind to pounce if the two up front got into a battle.

It was also great to see Michael and Jack out there in 4.7 trying their skills against the likes of George with Michael finishing and Jack having to pull out after he forgot to duck several times, maybe a helmet next time Jack ? Finally George Morton wants to thank Roger for capsizing right in front of the finish line so he could finish in front of Roger.

Bunnings: 

We are still looking for people to volunteer a couple of hours to help us with raising funds for the club at both our Bunnings barbys in March (15th) and Easter Saturday, these days raise much needed funds to keep your club going forward  in its efforts to offer sailing at a low cost to everyone involved so if you can spare at least two hours just let us know on the weekend or email me at the club. WE NEED PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY ESPECIALLY!

Volunteers; 

Due to our major events calendar this year we are also looking for people will to volunteer some time to both the Midwinter Cup (4th/6th July) and the big one the Pan Pacific Masters Games (31st oct/9th Nov). To help everyone understand what happens at these events we will be holding a race officer course conducted by Yachting Queensland  and also on water power boat handling and rescue techniques conducted by the club training officer so if you are interested in learning these skills just let us know and we will put your name on the list. I should mention these activities are open to both Adult and Junior sailors and family.

Finally apparently you should be careful what bait you use on the Broadwater because you may land some very exotic species just ask David Caban he knows what bait is best, see Sylvia I told you I find a way of getting his experience in the news .

CU ALL on the water

John Murphy

President/Sailing manager

Paradise Point Sailing Club

Gold Coast Qld 4216

Mob 0407 145397