Howdy Gang.

Well, another ripper day on the water last Sunday. Again, the weather wasn't supposed to be great, with 20 knots plus down at South Channel, it was a bit iffy. As it turned out, the big hill gave us some shelter and the rain held off nicely, so with nice flat water, low cloud to keep the sun out of your eyes and 10 to 15 knots offshore, it was a near perfect SBSC sailing day. 

   

After an on water start for the Keelboats, RO Dave Brewer, ably assisted by Super D in Start, Andrew 'Stocksey' Stocks, Stu Scott, Paul Martin and Bruce Mansfield in the RHIBs reset the course for us just inside the mussel farm. A brief moment of panic ensued before we left the sand when Ross M informed us that they intended to run a starboard course to keep it close to the beach ala Glen Lazzar style. This turned out to be a complete furphy, which I put down to Ross waging some psychological warfare against Bill M in the Impulses. Some people will stoop to any level!

   

All up we had 23 boats head out including 10 Sabres. That's numbers we haven't seen for quite a while. As well as 3 Impulses, 2 420s, 4 Cats and a Quest, we also had Dave and son Luke venture out in their Nacra 5.9. They were planning to just go for a sail but were having such a good time that they decided to join in the race, great job.

   

Race one had the experienced one's head left to the beach as normally that's where the lifts are. Not today though, as some stray gusts and knocks left them way behind, even 'The Maestro' Rick P ended up way back (even behind me !!!). Mark L cleaned up as the only boat in Div 5, as did Greg and James in Div 4. Ross led Bill and Duncan a merry dance in the Impulses with a couple of 420s and Jameson F in his Laser ( with a bigger sail he has jumped up a class). The 2 'A' Class cats of Ewan C and 'A' Class Anthony were chasing or being chased by Nick B in his Taipan, not necessarily in that order! Meanwhile, Wayne J and Andrew 'Doc' Taylor were cruising around in the Quest with Doc looking very comfortable at the helm. I didn't see the headphones or coffee, but I'm sure they were there at some stage,

   

Race two saw the wind pick up a bit, and with those same shifty conditions, the places changed around quite a lot. Rick found his groove and left all of Div 2 in his wake far behind. Talking to him afterwards, I asked if he was playing 'possum' in race one. He said "No, I just picked some good shifts in race two and wondered why no one else cottoned on". That's Rickspeak for, "So long Suckers!". He also said, "In Race one I couldn't pick a shift and didn't know where I was going wrong ". That's Petespeak for, "I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time!".

 

Race two also saw Bill pip Ross (sweet revenge), Katrina M take advantage of the heavier wind to grab third from Fiona M and a few boats pull out and live to sail another day, including the 2 'A' Class guys, leaving Nick to take out both races. As usual, some of the best sailing was getting back to the beach with some great reaching and then the offshore wind giving that nice calm landing, right when you need it after a hard slog.

 

All up, a great day's fun with only one casualty. Poor Luke M broke his mast mount just before race one started. A real shame as it would have been great conditions for his Moth, as opposed to the other weeks where he spent a lot of time ploughing into the back of some big waves. As he said, that probably contributed to the breakage. 

 

Great to see Norm K out on the water even though it didn't meet his 20 knot and 20-degree rule, and John W stepping off his Keelboat and into his Sabre for a change of pace.

 

Thanks again to the Race Team for a sterling job as usual. Next week we have Stu Scott as RO again, with Super D assisting (we all know she runs the show), Simon H, Norm K, Ben Griffin and as it's another on water start for the Keelboats, we have Brett from 'Summer Breeze' on the RHIBs. 11.15 at the dock guys and gals.

 

That's all for this week. Cheer, Pete Chippy 

We love the sea and think we can tame her, yet she can kill us when she wishes. We love her winds; we love her waves; we love her currents and tides. Yet sometimes, like a worthy dog, she will agree to play tricks at our command.

So she did on Friday, giving us a brisk and playful southeasterly and a tide that gave us plenty of water around Pier. She had played her old trick on us by taking away R1 but we responded with Course 8, the wind strong enough to suck down the mountain and blast Pier mark, and a perfect windward return between Pier and SB1.

We waited patiently in the Tower for the last starter, Running Bare. We were rewarded by a spume of spray from her leeward hull almost as high as her mast, clearly seen by Scotty Chambers , Dave and Elaine from a mile away. O wonder! And the video of the Happy Days skiff! Who cares what trials we underwent during our work week; what arguments we had with our spouses; this was Friday!

Then there was Sunday. A damp and dreary start to the day. Time for Race 2 of the COMMUNITY BANK SOUTHERN PENINSULA Club Championship. Eight boats out. That’s better.

Till in the Tower, accompanied by duty boat Fransiska, gave us Course 9, a windward return between Pier and the Ghost Mark starting at the Mussel Farm. Many thanks to the start boat and course layers for getting us underway. Aolus gave us a jolly breeze starting as a southeasterly that backed a little after the first sausage. So a fair run from the Mussel Farm to the Ghost Mark after the initial and exuberant battle for the laid mark, then a beat up to Pier. The second run was a bit offset, with the pole forward for a close reach. (For Vincitore, that’s called the ‘spinnaker pole’.) So, after the second rounding of the Ghost Mark it was pretty much on the nose back to the Mussel Farm. It was a speed test for windward sailing and was great fun. Little Ninjo enjoyed it. She was following Perception round the Yellow Pile when out popped their spinnaker for the reach for home. Gutsy.

Back to the Club for presentations and the 1st and 2nd PHS prizes went back up to the Tower. Someone will enjoy that wine at a later date. The results:

1st	Tumi	Jenny Thompson
2nd	Happy Days	Paul Copeland
3rd	Unprecedented	Andrew McGrath

There were 26 seconds under corrected time between 2^nd and 5^th place.

1st	Perception	Fiona Jones
2nd	Empara	Peter Jones
3rd	Ninjo	David Phillips

1st	Rawhide	Camo & Graeme
2nd	Perception	Fiona Jones
3rd	Mr Bojangles	Pauline Cleaver

Race Start Time (AEDT)	17:30H Pursuit Start
Race Officer	John Gordon
Duty Boat	Etoile
Set Up/Results	Di Jackson

Make sure you get back to the club for the post-race presentations as a member of your crew MUST be there to collect your prize – no substitutes will be accepted!  

Race Start Time (AEDT)	12.55H Boat Start
Race Officer	Elaine Nicholas
Duty Boat	Summer Breeze
Set Up/Results	Dawn

NOTE: SUMMER BREEZE MUST PROVIDE ONE CREW MEMBER ON THE WATER. BE AT THE BOAT RAMP BY 11:00

Celebrate the end of the year with four unforgettable days of sailing, sunshine and summer fun at the 2025 Petersville Regatta. Hosted by Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron, the event brings together competitive sportsboats, cruising yachts and plenty of good times both on and off the water. With scenic passage races, lively twilight sails, and nightly entertainment, it’s the perfect way to wrap up the sailing year.

Enter now: www.petersvilleregatta.com.au

Full calendar of events can be found here: www.orcv.org.au/calendar 

Join us for this popular trio of short sprints out Port Phillip Heads and home in time for dinner. Designed as short-distance ocean sprints to provide a crew development pathway for longer ocean races, and as a stand-alone coastal racing program, each Coastal Sprint race is 15-35 NM. 

Click here for race information. Entries close on Wednesday 19 November for Race 2.

 

Confidently support your skipper and other crew members by gaining a deeper understanding of safety and survival. Slots are quickly filling up, so reserve your place for the Full Course or the Refresher Course today.