Off The Beach News 

Kon-ni-chi-wa Gang. I'm back from the land of the Rising Sun, where among other places, I visited the site of the 2021 Olympic sailing venue, Enoshima. And guess what? Glass - not a ripple! Just goes to show, my wind predicting skills are not just confined to Safety Beach.

Having said that, last Sunday was one out of the box. Sandwiched between a wild Saturday and a torrential Monday, we had an absolutely cracking sailing day. 21 plus boats hit the water under the watchful eye of RO Rick Potter and Asst RO Mono M. The RHIB crews of Doc Taylor, Simon Haslett, James Thorne and Mark Lawrence had it about as easy as you could possibly get with a steady 8-12 knot breeze that never wavered more than 5 degrees from dead North all day.

With a nicely mixed fleet of Lasers, Sabres, Tasars, Quests, A Cats and a few others, including Alan, a visitor from Lysterfield, in his beautiful hand-built, classic timber Moth (not the foiling kind!), we all lined up for our respective starts. All that is except the Lasers, who played follow the leader and headed off with the Div 2 boats, knuckle heads!

For race one, the smart money suggested going straight up the middle, and with only a few minor shifts and gusts to play with, that held pretty true. One trick I learned to slow yourself down is to not cleat your halyard in properly. This works extremely well to lower not only your sail, but also your boom to the extent that it is really hard to get under during a tack. I'm constantly working on these methods of moving myself further back in the fleet to maintain conversations with the other skippers as they streak past. I didn't see Fiona M or Di J in her newly acquired Sabre as they hit the front and stayed there, leaving the rest of the div 2 boats, including Glen L and Wayne J in one Quest and Jamieson F and Dad Jamie in the other Quest to swap around and finally have a dead heat across the finish line.

Race two had the breeze a bit less so that same smart money said, " Head for the cliff!". Anybody that went out to sea soon realised they were in a no win situation as the wind coming over the hill gave more pressure and a lift as well to push the cliff dwellers up to the top mark while the rest just sat and watched.

After swapping the lead several times with Ross M in race one, Bill M had to pull out of race two, leaving Duncan M (what's with all the M's?) to chase Ross around the course in the Impulses. All of the Lasers and a couple of the Div 6 cats retired as well, so race two was a much smaller field, but that didn't diminish the memorable feat of (drumroll please), A Class Anthony taking out his first ever win!!! Look out Stu and Dave, Tony is coming for ya!! A nice little increase in the wind right at the finish gave us tail enders some excitement for the last few hundred metres, with Keith B holding on through the finish only to go for a swim right after the line, then having to be informed that he hadn't rounded the bottom mark, sigh.

Last but not least, lots of people kept asking "what's course 3 look like, where can I find it?" Well, it has been sent to you. It's on the Sailor app under documents/sailing instructions, same for the roster. You can find it on the SBSC web site under 'On Water OTB course diagrams'. It is also normally on the notice board next to the sign in desk, but they seem to have gone walkabout. They will be found and put back. It's early in the season and I'm sure we will all find our sea legs soon, so in the meantime, patience people and keep asking those questions. Off The Beach Homepage

Club Championship this Sunday 9th Nov. Geoff and Super D on Start, Doc Taylor and Nadine Huels on Sutherland and I'm still chasing replacements for Mal W and Catherine S who won't be joining us this season. Don't worry Geoff, I'll find someone.

 

Keelboats 

Results

This Week’s Racing - Keelboats

Change to the Keelboat SI’s

• Change to Keelboat Sailing Instructions #1
• Keelboat Sailing Instructions 2025-2026 Updated 27th October

Petersville Regatta, 27–30 December 

Junior Sail Training 

Places are filling for our first sessions, CLICK HERE TO REGISTER! 

The Rudder Cup Report (Melbourne to Devonport Race)

ORCV

 

Community Bank Southern Peninsula 

 

Green Thumbs Required

Yard Storage 

Committee Structure Season 2025 / 2026 

For Sale

Rick Potter has been diligently preparing "El Toro" for sale. This Sabre was built by long time SBSC member Drew Mattingley, who recently passed away. Drew was very generous in donating both of the Sabres to the club to help pay for our Junior Sailing Program. This boat still has a lot of adventures in it. It would be great if it stayed at the club.

Submissions 

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 to This 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