Off The Beach News 

Howdy troops,

Another ripper day on the beach at SBSC last Sunday. Unfortunately, not so good if you wanted to go sailing. The forecast, (who can ever believe that) said ten to fifteen knots all day, and sure enough we got that in the morning. It was so good in fact that the junior training program had 18 participants, all out on the water having an absolute blast. This has been such a success story this year, with great numbers turning up and a credit to Fi, James, Nick and the Gang for keeping them active and enthusiastic when the conditions haven't been conducive to being on the water. So, it was fantastic to see them finally getting in the boats for a proper sail. 

Then the sun went past the yardarm and wouldn't ya know, it took the wind with it! Between 12.00 and 1.00 the breeze dropped from that steady 10 plus down to under 5 knots. And if you were a bit late leaving the beach, well let's just say I was glad of the postponement flag. Once out on the course things were moving slowly, too slowly, and swinging around to the North as the race progressed. If you went toward the cliff like poor old James T in his Sabre, and Glen L and Doc T in the Quest, well it was goodnight nurse, see you tomorrow. 

 The fading breeze (down to 2 to 3 knots) favored the light wind specialists like Di J and Fiona M (and one other hangeronerer) who managed to stretch their lead to over a leg in Div two. Ross M was having a ding dong battle with Mark Bulka in the Impulses with Bill M hanging in there too. Nick B in his Taipan, Mark L in the Windrush, Dave and Luke in their Nacra rounded out the the cats. Throw in a couple of 420s, a Terra and Matt W with Zack L in a 49er and we had quite a nice fleet. Unfortunately, the wind dropped to the point where the RO declared no boats would finish in the time limit and the dreaded 'Abandonment' flag went up, bugger!

After waiting around for a while, it became evident that the wind was dropping right out and those hardy souls that had hung around hoping for a start, were given their marching orders. Back to the beach, pack up, change into your drinking clothes, and rue the day you ever took up sailing! Really? No, not really, SBSC is still a great place to be even if there is no wind. 

Thanks of course to Geoff and Super D on Start, Joe V and Keith B in Woodsy and Dave B and Jamieson F in Sutherland. Even though we didn't get a race in, they still had to set up, launch, set the course, clear the course and pack it all away as we were all sitting up on the deck soaking in the rays. 

Thanks also to everyone that replied to my text asking for a volunteer on the RHIB. One was the actual number, and that was someone apologizing for not being able to help. This week I'm looking for TWO extra people. It's the SBSC Christmas party after racing, so the first warning is 10.27 for a 10.30 start. At this stage the weather looks good with a 15 knot Westerly (if you can believe it!) Race crew will need to be at the dock at 9.00.

That's enough for now. Cheers, Pete Chippy

This Week’s Racing - OTB

Keelboats 

On Sunday Little Ninjo did a Rawhide – 1^st under PHS, AMS and ORCc, all in the same race. Heat 3 of the Summer Sunday Series. Course 25. But with respect to her adversaries Vincitore, Lumiere and Summer Breeze, it was hardly a massive fleet. Where were you all? We had a beat out to SB2 in beautiful sailing conditions 10-15 knots, spinnaker to Pier with some surfing then shy kite back to Yellow via Pier, then another beat from Green to SB1 before spinnaker to Yellow and home. It was glorious sailing, some of it even in sunshine! Thanks to Empara and Di for putting up with the tension.

But back to the Friday Twilight. Also glorious, with Fiona zooming about the fleet in a RIB taking photos. I was enjoying a conference at Monash when a message from Tim arrived that Neil W had offered to mark the site of the Ghost Mark with an orange buoy. Excellent idea! That allowed Elaine and Ghost to set Course 15 in a jolly breeze. Little Ninjo loved it!  The breeze started out medium, giving the smaller boats an advantage as they reached hull speed earlier, but when Aolus pulled his finger out the bigger boats got up to their hull speeds and we were toast. For the beat from R1 to home we had elected to go into the Mount Martha cliffs but master strategist Pete Morrison took Fransiska even further in and we spent the leg watching her edge past between us and the cliff. Christela, Seaclusion and Amity managed to hold off the bigger boats but Happy Days blasted past as we reached Yellow. Boats finished thick and fast with 10 minutes between the triumphant Fransiska and the last boat home.

Thanks to Neil and Fiona for letting us have such fun. Happy Days was awarded Best Start with zero seconds late so received the bottle of bubbly.

Boat of the Week awarded to Fransiska.

Next Sunday will be Heat 4 of the COMMUNITY BANK SOUTHERN PENINSULA Club Championship, PHS and AMS. Last Championship race of the year. Readers of last week’s report will have seen that, although it’s early days, the competition is looking quite interesting. There are 9 boats entered in the series and it would be nice to see us all out there. It will be a morning start (boat start) so that we can finish in time for the Club’s Christmas Celebrations, starting at 1400. It’d be suitably celebratory if it were warm and sunny. 

Results

This Week’s Racing - Keelboats

Keelboat Program & Roster Part 2 - UPDATED

Holiday Series

Petersville Regatta, 27–30 December 

VISITOR SIGN IN

As we all know, the Safety Beach Sailing Club is becoming a very popular place to visit, and with the busy season already in full swing, the Executive Committee have decided to implement a Visitor Sign In Register for ALL GUESTS when they visit the club. This easy-to-use digital sign in will assist with adhering to the club's liquor licence guidelines and also capture the information needed to help grow the club. If you wish to bring visitors to the club, please have them sign is by using the QR Code that will be displayed around the club. Guests may be asked to provide evidence of their sign in by Davd and his team. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated as we transition into this new version of sign ins. 

ORCV

 

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