Dates for the Diary

Whats on @ SBSC

Sunday Sounds

A wet and wintry Sunday afternoon did not stop the crowds from gathering at SBSC for the monthly Sunday Sounds afternoon.
Around 50 members and guests danced and sang along to Dave Campbell’s toe tapping tunes. Watch the diary and e-news for the next Sunday Sounds Event.
Linda Clarkson was the lucky winner of the raffle prize of two bottles of wine kindly donated by Jonathon at Wine Lovers Warehouse in Dromana.

OTB Report

Not a lot to report this week. After a week of beautiful weather, perfect for just about anything, the weekend turned out an absolute crapper! Coldest days for ages, gale force winds, rain and hail; good for one thing only, a practice run for an Antarctic expedition! Never mind, this week will be the best day of sailing you’ve ever had- guaranteed(ish). While the weather is growing cooler, we still have quite a few weeks of sailing still left in the summer season. So put your winter woollies on and make the most it.

Speaking of winter, now is probably a good time to mention the upcoming winter series slated to start a couple of weeks after the end of our regular season. The club is proposing to run this in conjunction with the keel boat Brass Monkey season, with an 11.00am start (10.57 first warning). The course will be windward -  return to simplify course setting and minimizing the number of support boats required. There will be eagle eyed duty people in the tower and the course will be set closer to the beach, so we are planning on just having one rib on the water as well as the start boat (unless numbers get up around 12 boats, then we will be looking at two ribs). As with regular sailing, Safety is paramount, so the weather will play a key role on the day. With all that in mind, remember, we do have some of our best sailing conditions late autumn/early winter and with the 11.00am start, you’ll be back on the beach by 1.30pm or so, ready for a bowl of hot chips and a glass of red (Phaedrus of course!).

I’ve attached a schedule of races (which will also be posted onto the club website). The proposed season will start June 6th through to August 29th with sailing roughly every second week. Sounds like a bit of fun so why not give it a crack. We’ll be canvassing interest over the next few weeks, so if you have any ideas let myself or Ross Martin know.

That’s all for now, see you Sunday for that perfect sail!

Pete Chippy
OTB Captain

Keelboat & Tower News

All Skippers and Crew, please attend the meeting this Sunday the 18th April @ 10:00am. There are major changes planned for next season’s racing and your attendance and input is important.  There will be changes to the current courses and there will be two divisions racing so if you want to know how the divisions are going to be set up and which division you’re in then it will be very worthwhile for you to attend.

It will be too late when the season starts to have a whinge so this is your chance to have a say and input on how we set this up. So I urge you to attend.

Cheers
Mal

Last week's results

Unfortunately this race was cancelled as a Gale Warning has issued by the BOM for Port Phillip Bay.  This was the last of the scheduled races in the combined MYC & SBSC series for 2020-21 summer season - for the results please go to the MYC results page at MYC & SBSC Combined Series Results. 

Well done to Rogue who scored as 3rd overall in PHD for this series and to all those SBSC boats that participated.

This week's program

For all the 2020-21 Summer Season Results please go to 2020-21 Results

My First Time @ Boga

As soon as I arrived at Boga, there is a sense of excitement. The club was buzzing with anticipation for a great event after missing out last year due to a pandemic. Lake Boga Yacht Club’s hospitality was amazing, with fresh apples handed to you at registration, a cheese & wine tasting before Saturday night’s roast dinner, cooked breakfast and standard lunch fare made by the lovely volunteers, they sure did make you feel at home.

As the competitors rolled in during Thursday, old regatta friendships pick up where they left off, and most conversations involved a chat about the filthy roadworks we all drove though to get to Boga. Thankfully the mud vanished as soon as the boats hit the water.

The weather was hot! It was 30 degrees’ plus every day and 35 on Saturday. The wind could have been a bit stronger, but you can’t win them all. However, Mono tried really hard to win them all, and took a huge gamble in challenging conditions, which ended badly, resulting in Imogen’s face saying “Don’t speak to dad just yet, he’s fuming!!” as they got to shore.

Ross Martin used his nice guy reputation and some good old fashioned charm over the weekend to his advantage. He scored a twilight lake cruise on a party boat with his family, and two scenic flights over the lake. Also scoring over the weekend was Drew and the Meijer Family, both winning separate meat raffles at the pub.

The club’s youth made the most of their Boga experience, most having never been before, were happy to take the lead from the Martin twins. Aurelia showed us that it is possible to “turtle” a boat at Boga, even if it was the smallest boat at the regatta (Zac’s Open Bic). Steph proved that you can accidentally capsize in minimal wind, less than 5 knots. Abbey and Riley set themselves a challenge in the Pacer, taking turns to sail it single handed with all three sails up. Aim high guys! Sylvie showed us all another side of her, and she was hilarious. The kids really enjoyed swimming, walking to the park with ”Uncle Greg” and chatting around the campfire at night.

The non-sailors enjoyed mooching around the shore all day long, swimming, eating and chatting with other like-minded people while waiting for our sailors to return from a hard day on the water (cough cough). And having super-hot weather made our days more fun, as we could start re-hydrating earlier. Speaking of getting on it, I think Mono would have been pretty thirsty in the evenings, as he only had one glass of wine per night, you’ll have to ask him why?

Boga is a great place to do some tyre kicking, and dream about your next boat, as there are so many options on show. It’s also great to get sound advice on anything and everything after a few drinks around the fire. The camping area was comparable to any high end camping grass that I’ve stayed on, however the amenities were pretty basic at the public toilet end of camp. The option to shower at the club was a great alternative. Swimming, snoozing, drinking, eating, chatting by the fire, and outstanding sunrises were all the things that made “Boga” a regatta not to miss, oh and sailing, yes of course sailing!!!!!

Would I go again, ABSOLUTELY. 

Please go to the Lake Boga Yacht Club Link Facebook Page for plenty more great photos 

ORCV News

Short Handed Sailing – Double and 4+ Auto-helm with a non-spinnaker class. Have some fun on the bay with the Carnival of Short Handed Sailing this coming 8th May. It’s a new course with longer legs. Ideal for those thinking of sailing longer distances short handed Carnival of Short Handed Sailing Page

ORCV ‘Rip Tour’ has been rescheduled to Sunday 18th April and now on the 115 ft ‘Peninsula Princess’ ferry.

During the ‘Rip Tour’ experienced offshore navigators provide commentary on safely navigating the entrance to Port Phillip Bay. This makes for an informative and enjoyable day for boaties, fishermen, historians, beach walkers, surfers and holiday makers alike, so come along and get set to enjoy a memorable day out on Port Phillip Bay. To Book  CLICK HERE.

Some say the last race of the ocean series is the best.  Sail in company on the Great Ocean Road Sail to Apollo Bay.  A Category 3 race, May 22^nd which starts in daylight.  Stay and enjoy Apollo Bay.  Enter HERE.

Dates for the Diary

Whats on @ SBSC

There is plenty of stuff happening at the club so make sure you mark these down in the diary.  We have also included a few shots from the St Pat's Day Celebrations at the club last Friday.  Make sure you get down there this Friday for the last Twilight Sail for this season.

Keelboat & Tower Report

The Single Malt crew would like to thank everyone who helped out with our jib halyard issue after the race on Friday night.  We’re especially grateful to Patriot for sticking by on the water to get us back into the marina safely, New Morning II for their wonderful support from the tower, and the crews from Rells and Renaissance for all their help on the dock in the fading light.  Special shout out to John from BI who kept Agi Ko relaxed as she experienced the bosuns chair for the first time! A great learning experience for us girls on what to do when things go pear-shaped, and a reminder (not that we need it) of what an awesome club we belong to.

Last Week's Results 

Well it was definitely a brisk evening for the last of the Friday Twilight Pursuit Series Races for 2021 and unfortunately a few torn head sails were seen on the windward leg back to the club.  We still have one more Friday Twilight Race to go which is the FUN Friday Pursuit with the option of running a spinnaker - see below for more details

Thank you to the tower team of R.O. Ross and the crew from New Morning II who were very envious of those boats that were on the other side of the glass.  Thanks also to Commodore Peter for helping out with the results.  Jason who was in the tower on Friday took some great shots of the boats and have included a few to wet the appetite but if you would like to see more please go to the link at Friday Photos.

Big congratulations for Rob Rainsford and the crew from Y Knot who won the Friday Pursuit Series for 2021 and Pauline Cleaver and the crew from Mr Bojangles for winning the AMS Friday Series for 2021.  Presentations for these Series Winners and more will be made at the SBSC Presentation Event - details to be advised in the not too distant future.

Unfortunately due to the condition's this race was Cancelled.  Mornington Yacht Club are looking at possible options for re-scheduling this race and we will do out best to fit this into our program.  Will advise accordingly.

For all the season results please go to:2020-2021 Keelboat Results

This week's program

This Friday we have the last of the Friday evening races and to finish off the season we have a FUN Friday Pursuit Race with Optional Extras. 

If you are intending to use a Spinnaker, Code 0 or any extra sails please let the Safety Beach Tower know when you are Signing On for the race and add 3-minutes to your nominated Start Time.  The Start sheet is available at Fun Friday Start Sheet 26-3.

This Sunday we have a Pursuit Race with Optional Extras (Spinnaker's, Code 0 etc) which is a great opportunity to try out that Spinnaker, that has been hiding away in that locker, without the stress of a combined start line. 

If you are intending on running a spinnaker etc please notify the Safety Beach Tower when Signing On for the race and add 4-minutes to your nominated Start Time.  The Start Sheet is available at Summer Series Pursuit 2 Start Sheet

Cruisers Corner 

We had another very enjoyable gathering at the club last Thursday evening with plenty of good information and cruising tips being shared around. 

The story to date is that Time Out has made it to Lakes Entrance.  Tumi are continuing their circumnavigation of Tasmania before heading north and last report were sheltering in Triabunna waiting for some improvement in the weather before heading up to spend some time in the Furneaux Group.  We have a number of yachts heading off on their 2021 cruising adventures over the next few months including 2Gether II, Lady Cassandra, Whiskers, Summer Lovin', Y Knot and LunaSea.  If I have missed anyone please let me know.

We have set up a SBSC Cruisers Facebook page so if you are interested get on board at SBSC Cruisers Facebook Page

Pauline from Mr Bojangles & Mamba'lu has got some fabulous products from their family business Niugini Organics which are perfect to take on board or use at home. You can shower using minimal water because it suds up in salt water and you can be sure it is not polluting the water as it is 100% organic coconut oil and essential oil. No chemicals. No nasty stuff at all and definitely no palm oil. And it makes you feel great!

Their coconut oil and soap are manufactured in PNG using wild harvest and single origin coconuts, directly benefiting local village communities.
If you are interested check out the full range at their online shop www.niuginiorganics.com/shop or message Pauline directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and sure she will be happy to assist. 

Junior News

Sunday was a little bit windy and there was not much sailing (actually I don’t think there was any.)
But I would just like to mention that some of my friends and I still showed up to the club and had a fun day which just proves that SBSC will give so much more than just sailing.  Ill try make the report a little longer next week.

Owen
Junior Captain

OTB Report

The latest version of OTB Program & Roster for the rest of the summer season has just been posted and can be viewed HERE.

Well folks, let’s just be glad we’re not in NSW! We might have had too much wind to safely run our race (the Keelboat gang had to bail out Saturday) but at least we can go back next week for another crack. One advantage of our club is that it affords a fabulous view of that wild white capped water from the comfort of a nice chair with a calming beverage and a bowl of the best chips around - it could be worse!
I’ve included a pic taken from Ian and Jan Woods’ front yard in not so sunny Port Stephens! Our thoughts and good wishes go out to them and all our Northern neighbors.
Speaking of next week, our regular Race Officers Geoff and Deirdre are off on other duties this week. Geoff to Royal Melbourne for the inter school championships and Big D for Grainnie’s 20th birthday, they grow up so quickly, sigh. So that means we have two celebrity stand ins this week in Messrs Stuart Scott and Dave Brewer of 'A' Class Cat fame, so be prepared to go up and back a lot and don’t leave the beach until five minutes before the first warning! All jokes aside, Stu and Dave have RO’d many times and will run a great race, so don’t miss it.
That’s pretty much it for this week I’m afraid, so we’ll see you on Sunday.

Pete Chippy
OTB Captain

Sponsor of the week

Graeme Ainslie and his crew had the horrible experience of turning up to X to Sea one fine Friday evening only to find that the engine wouldn't start due to flat batteries!  The next morning Graeme contacted Battery World Mornington and before you know it Brad had been down to size up the batteries and have new ones fitted all with a smiling face and you can even have a chat about yachts and boating at the same time.

If you are looking to replace any of you batteries in the boat, car, caravan etc then make sure you give Brad at Battery World Mornington a call on 5925 6130 for wonderful service and product advice.

Big day at SBSC on the 17th April!

Dates for the Diary

Sunday Sounds

This Sunday afternoon we have our very own Dave Campbell performing at the club.  Timing couldn't be better for our Keelboat sailors as our race this weekend is the combined race with MYC which is scheduled for Saturday leaving your Sunday free to come on down and listen to some great music and enjoy a fun afternoon at SBSC.

Whats on @ SBSC

Lake Boga Report

What a huge turn out this year at the Lake Boga Yacht Club Easter Regatta.  Around 30 competitors from SBSC made the journey to “Boga”, sailing in as many as seven different classes of boat! With light winds all weekend, our representation has had a lot of time to study the course from the shoreline. The sunrise’s have been amazing! The weather has been very warm! The nights have been full of stories by the campfire. 

Congratulations to Ross & Natasha Martin - 2nd Overall in the Tasar Class and Bill Manning - 2nd Overall in the Sabre Class. Well done to all the SBSC competitors, looking forward to next year already!

Keelboat & Tower News

This year we are very keen promote and foster the ORCclub measurement system that is being utilised more and more at yacht clubs across Port Phillip Bay.  The aim is to have enough boats measured so that we will be in a good position to introduce and publish results for this new system in the 2021-22 Summer Season.

Clarky recently went through the process of getting an ORCclub measurement certificate for 2Xtreme and was kind enough to put together this short article on how to go about it - CLICK HERE.  If you need any further assistance please drop us a line at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will do our best to assist

This week's program

For more news please click on the red READ MORE tab at the bottom of the email

Dates for the Diary

This week @ SBSC

St Patrick's Day Celebrations

We are celebrating St. Patrick's Day  at the Club this Friday.
Live music and Irish Style Menu. FEATURING - Guinness on tap !!!

Sunday Sounds @ SBSC

Around 60 members and guests enjoyed the fabulous blues and jazz played by entertainer Rob Papp at the last Sunday's session of Sunday Sounds.  The sun shone, the drinks flowed and the clubhouse rocked. Congratulations to Lana England who won the raffle of a bottle of red and bottle of bubbles, kindly donated by Snooks Catering.

The next Sunday Sounds is SUNDAY 11TH APRIL WITH DAVE CAMPBELL. PUT IT IN YOUR DIARY NOW! and don’t miss another Sunday afternoon of great tunes and camaraderie.

Lisa
Social Committee

Footie is back!

Love or hate football there is nothing better than getting involved in the SBSC Football Tipping Competition

To enter is free and to register is easy just CLICK HERE

OTB Report

Junior News

Today was a really good day for the Juniors, we just did some races, thanks to Tash and Fiona in the morning and I think all of my friends really enjoyed it.
We were also very lucky to have coaching from Paul Fleming, really big thanks to him. All of the juniors were very glad that he helped us out and we all got a bit of coaching from him.  There was a range of boats this morning such as 29er's and 420's, also the Bic's and Tera's.

In the second half of the day some of my friends went out and raced which was great and I’m really glad that we are becoming more involved in the afternoon as well.  I hope all have a great week and see you next Sunday.

Owen
Junior Captain

OTB News

Sorry Folks, I have failed you big time this week. I was lured to the dark side (they had cookies!) and went out with John Wemyss on Anthea to see how the keelboat folks play. And wadah ya know, they play just the same as OTB, just a little further from the water! John has said a couple of times now that if any of the juniors want to give keelboating a try, he is more than happy to take them out on a Friday night for a spin. And don’t be concerned about lack of skill, John is a really patient guy. I mean, if he can put up with me without throwing me overboard, anyone will be OK.
Actually, being out a bit further than normal was an prime vantage point to view the OTB fleet. With the wind at about ten knots, it was interesting to see the speed differences between the different types of boats, those 'A' Class guys really make the rest of us look like we are going backwards !

So, back to the proper OTB report, brought to you this week through the keen eyes of Katrina Mackie and Bill Manning.
The day started well for round 3 & 4 of the Club Championship series with good breeze that was supposed to ease off but didn’t until quite late. About 20 boats made it out to the line, with a few new faces braving the choppy water. Good to see Phil Wooley on his Windrush with those fancy new green sails. And welcome also to Scott Pizzey on patrol boat Sutherland with Rob Campbell, talk about trial by fire !
The stronger breeze and chop proved a bit much for some, so there were a couple of retirements and even Fearless Bill was holding on so tight that he pulled his tiller extension off and ended up in the drink wherein he threw said extension further into the distance allowing the rest of Division 2 to slip past - even Doc Taylor! Short lived it was though, as showing what a bast..... good sailor he is , he quickly recovered and overhauled a large chunk of the fleet.

Jason Hague also found out that having an extra crew member on his Tasar wasn’t actually an advantage, when he was outvoted 2 to 1 and retired to the beach!
Great to see the club Quests being used by many of the juniors to venture out in the afternoon races. Obviously using the motto “safety in numbers” by getting as many people as possible in one boat.

Speaking of the Juniors, it really is terrific to see a great bunch of kids having fun and learning some real life skills on the way. Which brings us to this weeks shout out, going to Xavier Graham, who was seen going out of his way to help all the other sailors launching and retrieving boats in the waves and fetching trolleys, making life easier for everyone. Good job 👍
That’s all for now. Don't forget those items for “And now a word for our sponsors “, we have one this week from Andrew ‘ Mono’ Martin who shows us that he’s a much better sailor than a pest controller !

 Pete Chippy
OTB Captain

Keelboat & Tower Report

This Friday the 19th March we have the last race in the Twilight Pursuit Series for 2021 however, don't despair as the final Twilight Race for the 2020-21 Summer Season will be a "FUN" Twilight Race with Spinnaker Option on the 26th March.

It has been noted over the last few Friday Pursuit Race that a number of boats have been crossing and loitering around the start line when they are not preparing to start.  We ask that all yachts keep clear of the start line once the start sequence has commenced if it is not your turn to start .  Please make a big effort to do this as it can be very unfair to those yachts on approach to the start.  

Cruisers Corner Gathering

For those that are interested please join our Cruisers Corner gathering this Thursday 18th March.  We are gathering in the small meeting room at 18:30 for drinks and dinner.   Please book directly with David Snooks on 0439 314 179 and when booking let him know that you are with the Cruiser Corner Group.  It would also be appreciated if you could drop me a quick line to let you know that you will be joining in so that we know who to expect.

Last Week's Results 

It was great to see 30 boats out for a lovely balmy Friday evening sail.with at least 17 of our budding junior sailors on the water.  The wind was very light at the start and it wasn't looking that good to get the race completed before sunset however, the wind eventually filled in and we were lucky enough to get the majority of the fleet home by the 19:45H time limit.   

Thank you to the tower team of R.O. Amanda who was ably assisted by David and Gail from Rogue.

Big thank you to our KB Captain Mal and the team from Rells for manning the tower.  Thanks also to Geoff and Deirdre on the start boat.

For all this season's results please go to  KB Summer Season Results 2020-21

This week's program

Start sheet is available at Friday 19th March Start Sheet

This week we have a Combined MYC & SBSC Race in conjunction with our Club Championship Series Race. 

This race is to be run in the vicinity of Mt Martha and will be an On Water Start with the first warning signal at 13:55H.
Please make sure you allow plenty of time to get out to the start line.

The SSI’s for Visiting Yachts which apply to this race can be viewed HERE or on the club website under Keelboat Race Documents. Please take note of the Sign On and Sign Off Requirements.

If you are looking for crew please drop us a line as there may be some OTB sailors that are keen to crew for this race.

We would like to thank Mornington Yacht Club for kindly hosting this series and in particular this race which requires a lot of on-water man power and resources.

We look forward to seeing lots of SBSC boats heading up to the start on Saturday..   

Sponsor of the week

Don’t disturb a wasp nest (a cautionary tale)
After sailing on the Friday twilight Race at Sail Peninsula, I arrived home to our beach house at around 11.30pm after enjoying a few beverages at the club (I Ubered home of course). On opening the front door of the house I noticed something wasn’t right and heard a strange low hum. On closer inspection I saw a dozen wasps sitting above the window sill in the kitchen and thought they must have come in under the front door given the large gap underneath. In my infinite wisdom I thought I’d give those wasps a spray of something possibly quite old and ineffective from the back of the cupboard. Those happy and contented dozen wasps, quickly became 100 very angry wasps with no end in sight as to how many might appear to seek out their intruder. Efficiently and swiftly, I exited the way I had entered and waited until the disturbance had died down. This took some 20 minutes. Cautiously I re-entered and realised the spray I had used was in fact quite effective, as there were now many wasps writhing about in various corners of the house.
We clearly had a nest of wasps, which was strange, given two weeks earlier, we didn’t have a nest. Armed with this information and resigned to the fact I’d be sleeping in a house with a wasp infestation, I thought the best course of action was inaction and settled onto the couch to watch some TV and wind down, only to sit back onto our comfy couch and be stung in the middle of the back by one of those writhing dying wasps. Ouch! After a bit of cursing and I decided to sleep on it and deal with the nest the next morning. I remembered the club has a great sponsor in “The Pest Brigade”. All I can say is that they answered my call and while I was out sailing the next day, they came and dealt with the nest and put my mind at rest. So, If you experience a wasp infestation, please don’t call me, call the Pest Brigade, they’re experts, I’m not. By the way they deal with all other types of nasties that most of us don’t want to touch.
Cheers!
Mono

Big day at SBSC on the17th April!

Dates for the Diary

Whats on @ SBSC

Sunday Sounds

Special Visit 

It was great to see one of our past Commodore’s Ed Synnott visit the club last Sunday with his daughter Bronwyn and son in law Murray.
The Synnot’s were very keen Sabre sailors and were members for many years. It was great to be able to help facilitate the visit with Ed’s daughter, Bronwyn, who has been trying desperately to get Ed down to the club, but due to COVID restrictions, has had to wait many months for this opportunity. Rear Commodore Ross Martin presented Ed with a Safety Beach Sailing Club cap. Ed was proudly wearing his old club jumper and badge on his cap.  We were subsequently informed that Ed felt very special indeed and had a lovely outing.

Keelboat & Tower News

With the light and balmy winds no yachts managed to get around the course before the sunset time limit for our FUN Friday Pursuit race but it was a lovely evening to be out on the water and it was great to see plenty of boats flying spinnakers. 

It was very pleasing to see so many boat crews back at the club after sailing enjoying our recently renovated clubhouse, excellent food and and plenty of good company.  Thank you to Peter Bulka and the crew from Patriot for manning the tower.  

We had a bit more luck getting the boats around for the Sunday Morning Pursuit Race with a pleasant 15-20kts westerly blowing.  Course 9 was selected which took our sailors from the start, in front of the club, down to channel mark 23 then to 19 and back to the club.  

For all the season results please go to:2020-2021 Keelboat Results

This week's program

NO SAILING at SBSC over the Easter Weekend

On Saturday the 10th April we have a Combined Race with Mornington Yacht Club which is the 28NM Coastal Race which uses many of the MYC fixed marks so will definitely keep everyone on their toes.  We hope to see plenty of Safety Beach boats heading down for the start of this race..

The Special Sailing Instructions can be found on the club website under Keelboat / Race Documents of by CLICKING HERE.   MYC have kindly provided an overview of the course which has also been posted on the website or can be viewed at Coastal Race Data Page.  

Junior News

Victorian Schools Team Racing Championship

Last weekend we had three of our junior members compete in the Victorian Team Racing Championships at the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria in Williamstown.
Stephanie Koutsimpiris, Imogen and Aurelia Martin, represented St Leonard's College and finished 1st in Division 3. A great result for some fairly inexperienced sailors, particularly in this format of racing. The girls learnt a lot about the rules racing, but also the tactics employed to benefit the team in teams racing, mark traps etc….Unfortunately Kristen Koutsimpiris fell ill the day before the event and was unable to participate. Well done girls.

Our own Geoff Eldridge was assisting on water during the event, keeping an eye out for the girls.  Special thanks to Maria Koutsimpiris for getting g the girls to and from the event.

OTB Report

Hi folks. Well that was a pleasant little sail on Sunday wasn’t it! The day started out blowing a gale where it was almost a necessity to have a helper to get off the beach, and Taipan Tony Rogers was seen heading for those rocks again! The sail out to the course was quite a challenge, with some big waves and the promise of some really fun surfing downwind. The downside of the heavier wind was that some of less aggressive (i.e. smarter?) sailors opted to stay on the beach. Which was a pity because just as race one was about to start, you guessed it, the wind dropped right off and the waves disappeared in an instant. A quick adjustment of the marks by our able bodied race team of Tim, Eric, Scott T and Scott P saw the race start with minimal delay, albeit in very light wind. The sensible ones went left off the line, where the better breeze normally is, while the cunning ones, and those that follow the cunning ones went right. And low and behold, when the shift blew in those cunning ones, and those that follow the cunning ones were in the box seat and left the others way behind. Ha Ha suckers!

Race two was sailed in light but steady wind with the sun out. This made for a bit of a procession with not a lot of chances for overtaking, unless someone in front of you happened to capsize! (Sorry about that Hamish).  It was great to see Greg Clark out in his Olympic Finn, what a massive sail with such a low boom. No wonder he wears a helmet! We also had Graham visiting from McCrae with his Aero, who was impressed with our hospitality.  All in all, it was a good day. Many thanks to Dave Brewer and Stuart Scott for ROing for the day. Hmm, that’s three Scott's on the race team, almost a bagpipe band. It would be nice to have a change of tune from Squealing Ross. Sorry Ross, that was low even for me!

It’s Easter this week so NO OTB sailing this Sunday, but it seems that most of the club is heading up to Lake Boga for their famous Easter Regatta. Good luck everyone going up there, it sounds like you’re in for some fine weather. I’m looking forward to hearing some tall tales when you get back. Remember, never let he truth get in the way of a good story!

Finally, just some advice if you are planning to stand up your mast against the wind. Don’t do it with half the club nearby to watch you drop it toward their collective heads. And if you do, make sure there is a nice soft rib parked next to you to cushion the fall. Again, sorry about that!
That’s all for now, see you in a couple of weeks. Have a happy Easter and stay safe.

Pete Chippy
OTB Captain

ORCV News

We're coming to the end of our summer ocean racing when we see Apollo Bay come onto the calendar. No doubt, it will be popular and attract some interest with the members. This weekend we have the Race and Rally down to Port Fairy and have Summer Lovin' and crew participating in the rally. We wish them a safe and comfortable trip.

The Safety and Sea Survival is booking fast so get your bookings in now if interested.  There may also be some of our members interested in joining the Rip Tour of Port Phillip Heads next weekend. ORCV have just secured a larger boat to clear the huge wait-list and so there are a few more places possible still.  See all the details below.

April 11th - Rip Tour of Port Phillip Heads

Tour of Port Phillip Heads on board the ferry boat Peninsula Princess. Enjoy an afternoon out on the water whilst learning about the navigation guides, tides and other points of interest. We've upgraded to a larger boat. More information and bookings go to RIP TOUR.

April 24th - West Offshore Products Coastal Sprint 3

These Category 3 races start in daylight at Queenscliff and are just over 50nm aimed at having you and your crew home that night. A great way to experience sailing outside the heads. Enter the race at Coastal Sprint Series.

May 22nd - Apollo Bay Race / Sail in Company

For 68 years, the ORCV has sailed in company on the Great Ocean Road "Sail" to Apollo Bay. The last ocean and coastal race in the 2020/21 season. This Category 3, 52nm race is sure to be popular. Entries have just opened at APOLLO BAY RACE

June 5th & 6th - Safety and Sea Survival Course

2 day full or 1 day refresher SSS course. 50% of crew 4+autopilot and fully crewed boats and 100% on double-handed require SSS certification With the Australian Sailing extension due to expire on June 30th it's time to review you and your crew needs.  Go to SSSC Course.

Big day at SBSC on the 17th April!

Dates for the Diary

New Members

The Committee and Members of Safety Beach Sailing Club would like to extend a warm welcome to the following new and returning members.  We look forward to meeting you at the club or seeing you out on the water very soon. 

• Jennifer & Peter Bruce
• Denise & Peter Budd
• Andreas Marx
• Trystin, Mick, Evie & Goldie Wells
• Steve Young
• Graham Sprigg and Pamela MacAllister 
• Sonja Marks

What's on at SBSC

Sunday Sounds @ SBSC

OTB Report

Well folks, that was a big weekend of sailing - a really BIG weekend! As well as SBSC hosting the Hobie Cat State Titles, lots of our sailors, big and small, headed off to other clubs to compete in various other titles also. I see that as a testament to the depth of variety and skill of our members that we can compete at so many different regattas with confidence.  I’m acknowledging the input of some of our other members this week to help bring you a picture of what went on. I know that there were more of us out at different events, so if I missed you, I’m sorry, and please let me know so l can include you next week.
 
So starting off with the Hobies at SBSC, its ironic that we only have one home competitor! That didn’t stop the incredible team running a very professional regatta for the Hobie Association, from the helpers in the yard welcoming boats, the rescue boat teams, the start boat crew, Linda Wooley & Deirdre Snooks taking photos to post on the big screen and the catering, which highly impressed the competitors, who are normally treated to a can of baked beans with a campfire on the beach! Geoff and Deirdre were assisted on the start boat by John Eastment, a visiting RO from Vincentia Sailing Club in Jervis Bay, much appreciated! From what Deirdre Snooks has told me, these Hobie folks are a pretty casual bunch and it took a fair bit of persuasion to get them to the start line on time. I’ll bet that went down well with Mr Eldridge! Once one the course though the sailing was top notch, with all levels represented. Five races were completed over three days as we as their traditional beach trolley bench press event on Saturday night. Great job everybody !
 
Next we have Abbey Everett and Steph Koutsimpiris who ventured to Somers Sailing Club for the Pacer Titles and from James Everett’s account, the girls had a cracker! Coming 3rd in the Juniors and 15th Overall with a 3rd place outright in one race. And all that after a 30 minute training session on  spinnaker use just before the first race! From all accounts, everyone had a great time and the girls are extremely happy with their new bling and are looking forward to accessorizing with some new sailing gear! Fantastic outcome Abbey and Steph!

The biggest group from Safety Beach headed down to McCrae for the Sabre and Taser States where we had eight Sabres and four Tasers entered. Saturday didn’t promise much wind, but true to form, you can’t believe the weather report and we ended up with around 15 knots and both groups completed three races on different courses (very good race management). Sunday had much lighter wind and although the Sabres managed two races, sometimes with the tide running faster than the wind was blowing - in the opposite direction.  The Tasers had to wait until Monday to get the rest of their series finished. It was quite a spectacle with 63 Sabres and 35 Tasers lined up ready to go.
Our best finishers in the Tasers were Natasha and “Squealing” Ross Martin, who came in with a 10th place. While in the Sabres, fearless Bill Manning placed 20th Overall and 2nd in the Masters Division. Not to be outshone, Rampaging Rick Potter and Dauntless Drew Mattingly brought home some glassware in Divisions Two and Three. And in a class of boat where they give out so many trophies that you can get one just for getting your shoes on the right foot, I still came away empty handed! Next time I won’t put them on whilst looking in the mirror - there’s always next year!
 
The next report is from Nick Meijer. He and Owen Thompson went hob knobbing up to Royal Brighton Yacht Squadron. Nick has written such a great report that I didn’t want to bugger it up with my usual waffling, so here it is verbatim, enjoy.

2021 Victorian Open 420 State Titles at Royal Brighton Yacht Squadron by Nick Meijer.
Owen Thompson and I (Nick Meijer) competed in the Victorian Open 420 State Champion Titles. We knew it would be challenging as we were up against future Olympic hopefuls. On day one, the expectation of sailing in less than 5 knots blew out to 19 knots. 
As our total crew weight was on the lighter side, the days sailing was not ideal. Day two again provided stronger wind than we preferred. However, we finished all four races, overcoming some challenges including somehow holding onto the spinnaker whilst on trapeze. Day three contrasted with hardly any wind. We began well in the 1st race, up with the top three boats! Unfortunately our finish didn’t reflect our great start. We bobbed around for two hours before the final race.
Overall we achieved 12th place in the 420 Victorian State Titles. We were happy not to come last and had a great weekend of sailing.
Nick Meijer(Red Spinnaker )
That’s all for this week, normal sailing this Sunday can you believe it

Pete Chippy
OTB Captain

Keelboat & Tower Report