Off The Beach News
Howdy OTB Gang.
Well not a lot to report this week I’m afraid. After missing the last few weeks due to bad weather and the long weekend, we were all looking forward to a good days sailing on Sunday. The day was beautiful and with a small zephyr of breeze near the beach things looked just a tiny bit promising. But B`gosh!and Begorrah!, old St Pat had other ideas. Out on the course there was bugger all wind and owing to an on water start for the keelboats, the course was a looong way out. Geoff had no choice other than delaying the 1.00 KB start by nearly an hour just to get them away, which made our start similarly late. Some of the fleet took to the water early to at least get some sail time as it wasn’t looking good for an afternoon race.
So after a long, slow sail out to where the patrol boats were, it actually seemed pretty good. About 18 boats lined up for a single start and everyone got away okay. But sure enough, not ten minutes into the race , St Pat said “You lot would be much better off back at the Club enjoying a nice pint of Guinness”, and he promptly turned off the wind! Race abandoned, head for shore. And then we saw that he really is a benevolent Saint, as he sent forth a lovely breeze to hasten us back to the Guinness. Job done, that was all she wrote, and not a snake to be seen!
Thanks to the race team for trying their best to give us a race, especially as they had to be on the water an hour early for the KB start. We had Geoff and Super D, t`be sure, t`be sure, in the start boat, Greg W and Finn M in Woodsy and Zack L and Drew M ( filling in for Fiona M, who was filling in for Duncan Mc ). Thanks also to James A ( that man is everywhere! ) for heading out the back and launching all three boats.
One more sail next week prior to Easter and the mass exodus to Lake Boga, so lets try to get a heap of sailors on the water. That just about sums it up for this week, I’ll try and get some reports re: the various titles that many of our sailors went to over the long weekend, it has to be better than my rubbish.
See you next Sunday, and if you get a chance, how about a quick prayer to AEOLUS, the Greek God of Wind, for something nice for a change. I’m sure he has stopped listening to me.
Cheers, Pete Chippy
Green Fleet Sail Training
Junior sail training has been blessed with some really wonderful weather, and this Sunday's forecast is looking like a great day for our last training session. If you haven't come down to witness all the smiles and fun times, I recommend you get down to the club, grab a Snooks coffee and witness our last official session for the season.
Nick and his team will have many other activities planned for the morning, including a sausage sizzle and Easter Egg Hunt. It's never too late to bring a friend along, so remember to spread the word about junior sailing. The training time is 9.30am – 11.30am. See you there.
Junior Keelboat Evening - Friday 22nd 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 !!! In conjunction with this week’s Twilight Race, the club will be running our inaugural “Ciaran’s Cup” Annual Race. This race is new to the program and has been introduced to the club as a special Junior Keelboat Award.
All boats participating in the twilight race must have junior crew onboard to be in contention for this award, which has been named in honour of the event creator Ciaran Snooks. Ciaran’s Cup is a perpetual award and will be presented to the winning skippers and their junior crew by Ciaran on Friday night. Fiona Lowe has been organising junior crew for the night and has gathered up 13 juniors, who have now been placed on 6 different boats for the race. Make sure you welcome our juniors and if you have any photos that you’d like to share from the night, please email them to Fiona for e-news and socials fThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Keelboat News
Results this week:
Friday Twilight Race
|
1st Twilight Pursuit |
Tumi |
Jenny Thomson |
|
1st Friday AMS |
Patriot |
Jason Close |
Sunday Club Championship
|
1st PHS |
Scamp |
Peter Voigt |
|
1st AMS |
Vamonos |
Fiona Jones |
|
1st ORCc |
Scamp |
Peter Voigt |
All the results can be found at 2023-2024 Keelboat Results
Thank you to the weekend tower teams of Dianne Jackson and duty boat Ghost (Friday night) and Till Brauckmann, Dawn Clark and Elaine Nicholas (Sunday).
Rescheduled Junior Crews Night - Friday 22nd March:
As the Junior Crews Night was postponed last Friday night, the inaugural 'Ciaran's Cup' annual race will be held this Friday. Thanks to all the skippers who are taking junior crew onboard. See you all back at club for presentations.
ORCV News
- 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
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
Fiona Lowe with Ciaran Snooks, who is holding our newest perpetual trophy "Ciaran's Cup", to be presented to the winning skipper of Junior Keelboat Night Friday 22nd March.
Submission's
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