Sail Peninsula 2024
That’s a Wrap!
The Marina Martha Cove/Berwick Land Rover Sail Peninsula 2024 regatta had it all, producing the full gamut of testing winds.
Friday evening’s McLardy McShane Twilight Stern Chaser was, simply put, hard yards with a solid 20-25knts and gusts over 30. Many of the smaller, lighter boats wisely decided to stay shore-side and avoid becoming aquatic tumbleweed heading to Williamstown. Meanwhile, for those that managed to resurface and blink salt from their eyes after a long beat to 25, there was a furious-fast-is-fun ride back to the beach, especially if you had a sports boat underneath you – here’s looking at Rush and Morning Mist etc, jamming their speedos in the teens.
Due to the weather on Friday night and some quick thinking followed by quick action, our onshore event was pivoted inside upstairs to everyone’s relief. An Italian style buffet from Snooks Catering was enjoyed by all and Ron & Collin from “The Ron Kingston Duo” kept the night rolling with their classic tunes. What great voices and talented musicians. Night finished up around 9.30-10pm which was much appreciated by the sailors – that meant for some well-earned shut-eye so that those attending could rest up and regain their stamina again for Day 2 of racing.
Saturday dawned better for our marque race. Gentle breezes from that ever-reliable southerly direction for the Berwick Land Rover Passage Race to Blairgowrie and back. Hang on, reliable? – nuh nuh, Arthurs Seat is in the way. Unlike Friday, there was nothing solid about the Saturday’s wind – shifts and holes littered the course and was making the bunkers and roughs/golf option look good. Long day on the gunwales, but at least it was flat, warm and dryer!
As the song goes “Oh what a night”….. Thankfully the weather put it on for us on Saturday night ….. the buffet was simply delicious – David and his team excelled yet again with the red emperor being a crowd favourite. “Disco Inferno” was absolutely A-mazing, kudos to all who were literally on the dance floor from the moment that the band started playing – certainly not for the faint hearted!! Clearly the song list took many on a trip back down memory lane. A few well known “non-dancers” couldn’t even resist the temptation and were seen strutting their stuff! The comradery and fun was real. Huge thank you to everyone that came along and supported the night and some who also managed to score themselves a bargain with our auction items. Nicely done!
Sunday’s forecast for the Margaret Crittenden Memorial Challenge/Team Race, sponsored by Crittenden Wines was for even quieter winds. But an enticing carrot was dangled early with perfect sailing conditions to the top mark, then a nice run to 25 with the bigger boats getting through the gate and on to R1 before it slowed to NOTHING. Everybody seemed stuck wherever they were, except if lucky enough to be under Martha’s Point. Unsolicited 360 turns on the spot were popping up. But, like a lunch break, after an hour we all got going again and were back at it – desperately trying to beat the time limits. Very tough for Tiger who missed it – only 50m short of the line. Thanks to all competitors for making the effort and coming along to our Event. Congratulations to all the divisional winners and podium placers – it was great to see so many back at the club for Sunday’s presentation, especially those who still had to sail home to Mornington. Here’s the list (with full results available here):
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PHS |
AMS |
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Div 1 |
1st Rush (MYC) 2nd Ginan (MYC) 3rd Unprecedented (MYC) |
1st Rush (MYC) 2nd Ginan (MYC) 3rd Javelin (MYC) |
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Div 2 |
1st Mainstay (RYCV) 2nd La Mer (SYC) 3rd Executive Decision (RYCV) |
1st Mainstay (RYCV) 2nd Executive Decision (RYCV) 3rd La Mer (SYC) |
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Div 3 |
1st Anthea (SBSC) 2nd Razzle Dazzle (SYC) 3rd Le Tardis (SBSC) |
1st Himalayan Women (MYC) 2nd Anthea (SBSC) 3rd E’toile (MCYS) |
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Div 4 |
1st Tiger (HYC) 2nd Crowded House (SBSC) |
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Adams 10 |
1st 2Xtreme (SBSC) 2nd Executive Decision (RYCV) 3rd Bo Derek (BYS) |
1st Executive Decision (RYCV) 2nd 2Xtreme (SBSC) 3rd Vamonos (SBSC) |
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Margaret Crittenden Memorial Team Race |
1st Mornington Yacht Club |
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Thanks to our major sponsors Marina Martha Cove and Berwick Land Rover… Nothing much would happen without the support, both financial and in-kind, from these companies and the extensive long list of additional sponsors & supporters – please make sure you check out their acknowledgement following on after this article.
We still have SP polos available for purchase in both the light blue colour (SP24 - $50) & white (SP23 - $40). If anyone would like to purchase, please send Deirdre a message on 0417373679 with your order (name, size/colour) and she will be in touch.
Also make sure you ‘like’ and have a look at the Sail Peninsula Facebook Page to check out all of last weekend’s action and festivities.
Finally, and you simply cannot say this too any times, a BIG THANK YOU to all our volunteers (see below). There is a lot of them and they make it happen. Many are repeat masochists (there must be a better word I know, but nothing comes to mind) who simply keep putting their hand up each year to make Sail Peninsula one of the premier sailing events on The Bay.
See you all in 2025! Lock in the dates – 21-23 February 2024.
John Wemyss
KB Captain
COMMITTEE & VOLUNTEERS
SP24 COMMITTEE
Veronica Psaila (Chairperson) , Geoff Eldridge, Di Jackson, Deirdre Snooks, John Wemyss Linda Wooley, Chris Parks, Keith Bayliss
ON WATER TEAM
Lou Hutton (Assist. R.O.) Drew Mattingley, Deirdre Snooks, Ross Martin, Greg Lowe, Phil Wooley, James Everitt, Andrew Taylor, Ewan Campbell,
TOWER TEAM
Geoff Eldridge (P.R.O), Lou Hutton (R.O), Di Jackson, Amanda Malin, Elaine Nicholas,
JURY & PROTEST COMMITTEE
Mal Eaton, Mikayla Thompson , Glenys Hitchen, Luke Tupper, Ben Fels (on standby)
SP24 GRAPHICS DESIGN, PRINT & VISUALS
Ciaran Snooks
PHOTOGRAPHY & MEDIA
Chris Parks from “Effective Working Image”
PRIZES / SKIPPER BAG & MERCHANDISE ORGANISATION
Di Jackson, Linda Wooley, Deirdre Snooks, Veronica Psaila, Jann Wilson
REGATTA ADMIN. OFFICE
Robin Weymss, Kathy Hudson, Deirdre Snooks
WELCOME OFFICIAL
Ann Matheson
CATERING & EVENT MANAGEMENT
David Snooks & his Team of Chefs & Staff.
OTHER
Andrew Stocks – All electrical work & lighting Andrew Clarke – Behind the scenes assistance with Regatta, MC’ ing & along with his staff - help with set-up. Pete Morrison, Campbell Martin – assistance with set up Mark Lawrence – MC on Friday night
Thanks again to all of our wonderful Sail Peninsula Sponsors as listed below:
Off The Beach News
Mount Martha Challenge
This Sunday 3rd of March is our turn to host Mt Martha in our annual Round the Hill Challenge. We used to win this unopposed but the last few years they have cleaned us up big time! This is mainly due to them having more boats on the water. We out sail them in most divisions but come up short on numbers. So this year I’d like every able bodied sailor to not only sail themselves but also bring your friends, bring your enemies, I don't care as long as they sail for us and not MMSC! Remember that racing starts at 1.00 not 2.00 and ramming is allowed ( as long as nobody sees you ).
Jokes aside, this is a really fun event and the Mt Marthans are a great crowd who enjoy coming around to SBSC as much as we enjoy going to them. It would just be nice to grab that trophy back again !
Cheers, Pete Chippy
Green Fleet Sail Training
We are coming up to our last two sessions of junior sail training and the wind is forecast to blow a little bit stronger than the past weeks. Fear not, Nick and his team will have many other activities planned for the morning if we cannot get onto the water. It's never too late to bring a friend along, so remember to spread the word about junior sailing. The training program will continue for the next two weeks 9.30am – 11.30am every Sunday of the following dates:
- Sunday 17th March
- Sunday 24th March
Junior Keelboat Evening - Friday 15th March
Each year our Keelboat division invite all junior members to experience sailing on a big boat. This night is always a special treat and guarantees much rivalry between boats, as all skippers and their junior crew will be sailing for sheep stations, bragging rights, and all other expressive terms you can think of !!!
The date is set for Friday 15th March, which is also St Patrick's Day! Boats usually leave the marina by approx 4.45pm, so you would need to be available from that time. If your junior would like to participate in this evening please send us an email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Tuesday 12th March so that we can organise boats. Parents and guardians are most welcome and encouraged to accompany their juniors on this evening. The club have a great night planned for St Patricks Day, so consider booking dinner once you finish sailing.
Keelboat News
Calling all skippers and boats wishing to help our with Junior Keelboat Night, please email
ORCV News
- Melbourne to King Island. Entries are now closed for King Island with 32 yachts from around the bay joining the race on the March long weekend.
- 24th March The annual trip tour of Port Phillip Heads, departing Queenscliff at 10.00 am. The tour provides for well-planned and executed transits of the Heads, with an emphasis on doing so in low-powered vessels (like yachts), and provides information to participants on the numerous navigational aids and strict procedures required for safe passage through. For more information and to book. https://www.orcv.org.au/training/rip-tour-of-port-phillip-heads
- March 29th – Port Fairy Race starts just after midday on Good Friday and is category 2. Crews will enjoy the hospitality of the Port Fairy Yacht club, and boats up to 2.8m draft will mooring in the Moyne River. Entries are open here https://www.orcv.org.au/port-fairy
- April 20th – Enjoy some category 3 races with the short format West Offshore Products Coastal Sprints. A daylight start and short course which is planned to have crews back home that night. Come try ocean sailing and join the fleet here https://www.orcv.org.au/coastal-sprints
- For all other events, please check out the Calendar - ORCV
Sail Peninsula Photo Dump
Sail Peninsula Facebook Page has quite a few photos for you to check out. Here is a small sample of them......
Club Merchandise
Get you order in now to ensure that you are decked out in the latest Club Merchandise for he start of the 2023-2024 season Contact Marg Fleming on her email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to discuss your options. Taking orders now for youth t-shirts with names on the back.
Photo Of The Week
Martha Cove by moonlight. Taken by Fiona Lowe 8.50pm Saturday 15th Feb
Submission's
If you wish to contribute anything to the Enews, please submit your content to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Tuesday 8pm each week to make the deadline. Please note submissions may need to pass through Executive Committee for approval from time to time. Love photography? Submit your Photo Of The Week toThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in high res, (and it does not have to be about sailing). Follow us on our socials: Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok
