Howdy OTB Gang.

 

Well, disappointment disappointment disappointment. Firstly with the lack of wind on the course that necessitated changing the marks before we even started. Then waiting for enough wind to even get a start. Finally it picked up to a staggering 4 knots so off we went to try and get a race in for the 26 boats that showed up. Very light and shifty all over the course, just the way Fiona M likes it. Not her day though as she was sitting near the back of the pack; more disappointment. Then as the wind fluctuated up and down, a judgement call was made to abandon the race as it seemed at the time that only Division 2 was going to finish in the 70 minute limit. I really felt for Duncan Mc as he was approaching the finish line for his first win, (I felt so bad that I gave Gingerbread Bill back the fiddy he slipped me to get the race stopped if Duncan got ahead of him).

 

Whether stopping the race was the right call or not is a matter of opinion and as there were apparently more boats that could have finished than we thought, maybe it wasn’t. And this is where the biggest disappointment of the day for me comes in. The volunteers were on the water doing their best to run a race for the sailors. Simon H is not even a sailor but he drove all the way from Hawthorne to man a rhib with Rob C, also not a sailor and not rostered on but put up his hand so others could have some practice. Erik M and myself would have preferred to sail, but hey, someone has to do it, right? And then there’s Geoff and Deirdre who are there EVERY WEEK running the race so the sailors can sail. So when I heard that some people actually sailed past the start boat and gave them a verbal spray for calling off the race prematurely, I was not my normal happy self !
   

I’m the first to put up my hand to admit that I know bugger all about the intricacies of running a race and shortening courses etc, so the way I saw the day was that it was a beautiful sunny morning with light wind and lots of boats got a good sail in, and the ones that could have finished know where they were in relation to the other boats in their division so take that as a result. And to any of the people who aren’t happy, I’d be more than grateful if they could give me a call so l can slot them in as RO so Geoff can have a well earned rest. SBSC has a zero tolerance to this sort of thing and it really does not happen often, so if you recognize yourself here please have the cojones to apologize to Geoff and Deirdre. I really enjoy writing the OTB report, but I haven’t enjoyed writing this at all and I apologize for being a downer, but I don’t apologize for standing up in defense of all the volunteers who run and make this such a great club to be a member of. To quote the great Mono Martin, “ Don’t come to us with problems, come to us with solutions.”
 

Anyways, on to brighter things. For those that stayed on for the Christmas festivities, we were treated to some truly fine seasonal fare and what a beautiful day to spend on the deck with good friends and family and surprisingly few jet skis on the water. Thanks again to David and Deirdre ( there she is again) and all of their staff for the fabulous job they do week after week.
 

Good luck to everyone that is heading off to regattas around the country, especially those in the Tasar Worlds. Do us proud. And if you are staying local, don’t forget SBSC is running the B14, Javelin and Musto Skif Nationals and I’m sure Geoff (there he is again) would love some help on the water.
 

OK, that’s definitely enough. Have a fun and safe Chrissy everyone and we’ll see you all on the 14th for a perfect day’s sailing.
 

Cheers, Peter Chippy

Big thank you to the tower volunteers Friday night – Amanda Malin and duty boat New Morning II – it ended up being a busy finish line! And to RO Tim Bardon (Cirrus) on Sunday… after a slow start, it was great to see the first boat cross the line before the 3 hour time limit! For full results please click HERE

For the final twilight of 2023, we have a Fun Friday Twilight with Spinnaker Option.

All boats that have entered the Friday Twilight Series 1 will automatically be entered into the Fun Friday Twilight Series. A boat’s PHS will be the same as the PHS it finished the Twilight Series 1 with.

As per current SI’s, boats that wish to use a spinnaker in the Fun Twilight races must add 3’ to the published start time on SailSys.

KB Captain’s Update:

Christmas is almost here and we’re finishing up with a Fun Twilight on Friday – complete with spinnakers.

Some great racing over the past 11 weeks despite three abandoned races – luckily spread with one each over the three series, so no great impact to points.

SailSys seems to have bedded itself in ok with most skippers. It’s giving some close finishes that will only get better with the growing database of results. It is certainly proving easy to use for the RO/tower crew.

Virtual Marks: Somewhat ‘less than ok’ is the VMs for 25, 23, 21, 19 marks. Lots of bar room chatter about these. The KB committee is looking at our options in conjunction with Vic Ports, and mindful of what other Bay Clubs have done in their response to this new regulation. We will have to live with them for a little while yet, but work continues behind the scenes.

BotMark: Our new robotic mark buoy is now in transit from Sydney and will be here for Xmas. This will add much flexibility to our courses to better suit the wind direction, allow windward/leeward courses more readily, and sometimes replace VM’s. More to come in the new year.

Performance Handicap System (PHS): A kindly reminder that a boat’s PHS rating is based on the boat’s performance over a period. The SailSys algorithm looks at nothing else when it works out next week’s start times. But the SailSys team is watching our weekly results closely to pick up any outliers at either the front or back of fleet, and will manually adjust if persistent and as they see needed for close competition.

Shark Bay Holiday Series: This series kicked off last Sunday and picks up again next Wednesday, 27 December through to Sunday 7 January, with the marquee Race to the Middle on Wednesday 3 January. The Race to the Middle will have the usual prize money kindly donated by Clarky. It’s a great opportunity to get some money out of Clarky and we encourage you all to go for it!

Regattas: We have a number of SBSC boats entered in the Cock of the Bay (2xtreme, Christela, Marrakesh) and Petersville (Etoile, Mr Bojangles, Vamonos, Vincitore) – best of luck to you all for some great racing.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the KB team. Keep safe

 

For all boats planning to head to Geelong for the FOS 2024 please get on board with the Passage Race from Mornington YC. 

This is part of the Festival of Sails Entry and sounds like a great fun way to get your boat and crew to Geelong.  To enter CLICK Here and select the ‘Mornington Peninsula Series’

 

 

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. 

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

Howdy Gang.

I hope you’ve all had a good week so far coping with the crazy weather. After the last two Saturdays being completely awful, our Sundays have turned out OK with last week being pretty good, although the breeze was a bit light and being offshore there were bugger all waves to surf. Being a Club Championship day for the keelboats as well as for OTB meant an early start for the race team and they were on to it. By the time we all left the beach there was a nice course ready and waiting for the 25 or so boats plus a couple of Contenders that sailed up from McCrae (where were you Neil W? You could have given the old girl a last run).

 

Race One was course 1, triangles, and everyone headed off in different directions as they do, and most met up at the top mark, as they do. With one exception at least. Fiona M went all he way right and absolutely blitzed it, picking the favoured side and playing the shifts beautifully. Mark L and Rob F were having a good tussle in their Windrush's but Rob seems to have the edge so far. Perhaps Mark needs to tip that Pussy Power over and give it’s bottom a good polishing. The Tasar fleet seems to be bunching up nicely and with Mono on a rhib to give Abbey and Mat some practice time before the Nationals , that left the gate open for Greg and James to sneak up the rankings a bit. The A Class guys were doing what they do and even A Class Anthony managed to get both races done. We had three Lasers in div 3 and one in div 2 (although someone told Jamieson F to follow the other Lasers which made for a long day for him)
Jamieson is coming out each week, even in the heavy weather which is great to see. He’s fairly new to sailing and is keen as mustard, so if you see him out there, give him some encouragement and some words of wisdom and before you know it you will be looking at his transom rather than the other way round. James A in his Laser was happier with the lighter wind and managed to keep his mast pointing in the right direction for the whole day, a far cry from the previous weeks.
 

Race Two was course 2, sausages (I hate those things!) and a wind shift meant more work for the rhib crews which they got done in quick time and we were off again, with the same result for Fiona. She said afterward that light and shifty is just how she likes it. I don’t know if that’s any reflection on Ross, but hey, whatever floats yer boat. Andrew ‘Doc’ Taylor came out briefly in his new-ish Impulse but I think he was waiting for Tim B and Gingerbread Bill to take possession of their Impulses next week to help him muscle out those 420’s on the start line.
 

This week is the SBSC Chrissy lunch, so racing starts early, 10.27 first warning, so get your bums in the yard pronto and don’t keep Geoff waiting on the start line. He’s planning on getting completely blotto and wants to be first in line at the buffet!
 

Speaking of the race crews, thanks again to Fiona L, Hamish M and his Girlfriend Kelly (way to show a girl a good time Ham!)as well as Rick P who was there to mentor Mono as it turned out. Matilda was there in the small rhib giving some valuable coaching to the 420 fleet prior to their Nationals , and of course, Super D and Wonder Geoff on Start. Fiona L managed to take some great photos of both the OTB and Keelboat fleets so check them out on the SBSC Facebook page.
 

Last but not least, there won’t be any official sailing for a few weeks as Boxing Day and New Years Day are Sundays and they are followed by the Club hosting the B14, Javelin and Musto Nationals the first week of January. Speaking of which, we are still short a couple of rhib crew for Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th so if you are free on those days (keelboat people would be welcomed with open arms) please contact Geoff or myself, or even someone at the bar and they will put you in contact with us.
 

That’s all for now Folks. Have a fun and safe Chrissy and good luck to everyone heading off to Nationals and especially the Tasar Gang at the Worlds. We are looking forward to seeing the silverware..
 

Cheers for now, Pete Chippy

 

Thank you to everyone that helped on Sunday; the tower team of Andrew Clark (RO), 2Xtreme, and Di Jackson, as well as the on-water start boat crew and OTB rhib volunteers. For full results please click HERE 

All boats that are already entered in for Sunday sailing will automatically be entered into the Holiday Series. Any new boats, please get your entries in ASAP and no later than Friday. Click Here to enter!

For the final twilight of 2023, we have a Fun Friday Twilight with Spinnaker Option.

All boats that have entered the Friday Twilight Series 1 will automatically be entered into the Fun Friday Twilight Series.  A boat’s PHS will be the same as the PHS it finished the Twilight Series 1 with.

As per current SI’s, boats that wish to use a spinnaker in the Fun Twilight races must add 3’ to the published start time on SailSys.

Note:  All boats that entered the Friday Twilight Series 1 will automatically be entered into the Friday Twilight Series 2.  The starting PHS for Series 2 will be the same as the final PHS of Series 1.

 

 

 

For all boats planning to head to Geelong for the FOS 2024 please get on board with the Passage Race from Mornington YC. 

This is part of the Festival of Sails Entry and sounds like a great fun way to get your boat and crew to Geelong.  To enter CLICK Here and select the ‘Mornington Peninsula Series’

Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron is pleased to announce entries are open for the 2023 Petersville Regatta, December 27-30 sailed in the pristine waters off Blairgowrie and surrounds. Join us for four days of fun, on and off the water.

Free marina berthing for the event with option to stay on.

Limited to 39 visiting boats and filling fast.

NoR, entries and more info at petersvilleregatta.com.au. or call Race Director Phil Beattie on 0408 502 698

 

This year’s Cock of the Bay is expected to draw boats from around the bay who enjoy that festive sail from Melbourne to Mornington.  Bring your friends and family and join us as we aim for 100 boats enjoying fun in the sun.  Early bird entries close on Saturday, December 2.  https://www.orcv.org.au/cock-of-the-bay

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. 

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

The Executive Committee and members would like to welcome the following new members to Safety Beach SC. We look forward to meeting you at the club or on the water in the very near future.

Howdy OTB Gang and anyone else along for the ride, we are a fully inclusive club after all.

Well, after many weeks of patiently waiting, the Sailing Gods finally saw fit to bestow a perfect day for us! All week we were expecting fairly light winds around the 5-10 knot range, but come Sunday lunchtime we had a steady 10-15 offshore, flat-ish water and sunshine, lovely sunshine. After Saturday’s weather, I didn’t think we’d ever see the sun again! People must have read the omens because we had 30 SBSC starters plus a couple of visitors and it made for an awesome sight with everyone milling around the start line.

 

As we were still down a few races in the Red Dolphin series, Geoff made the call early to get three races in. And to keep things moving we had just three starts, with Div 3 going off first, Div 6 last and everyone else on one start in the middle. I gotta tell ya, it was quite daunting in a little old Sabre being surrounded by all the go fast boats jostling for front row. They take no prisoners that’s for sure!
 

As the day wore on, the breeze kept on building, with plenty of shifts and gusts to keep you working hard to gain a spot or two, or even just to keep out of the way of those A Class rockets! And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, it did!
The wind took it up a notch for race three which had us all flying, with the reaches screaming (with delight, not with terror like the week before!) I saw Matt W and Abbey E flying up to the top mark in race three and I’m sure I saw clear air underneath them for most of the way. The only thing brighter than the sunshine was their ear to ear grins!
 

All too soon it was over but everyone took advantage of the ride home to eke out the most of the day for some last minute reaches back to the beach. Where else would you want to be? It was definitely the best day’s sail we’ve had this season and at the risk of being told off for not being inclusive - If you weren’t there, well it sucks to be you! Even the Giant Evil Clown behaved himself, well except for race one when he reached up and grabbed Murray M right on the start line. Murray said afterward that he’s used to being grabbed on the start line so he wasn’t fazed too much.

 

All in all, a great day was had by all and many thanks to the race team of Geoff and Deirdre (fabulous course guys) , the Three Musketeers Rob C, Simon H and Jamie F in Woodsy and Katrina M who was ably helped out by son Charlie , filling in for Alister in Sutherland.
 

That’s all for now, see you all next week for more of the same. I can’t promise it will be as good as last week but we can always hope!
Cheers, Pete Chippy

Do you have a junior person that would love to learn how to sail? Why not come and see what all the fun is about. Come down to the club on Sunday morning from 9.30am with a spirit for adventure, a towel and a change of clothes and we’ll do the rest.

 

Your junior person will be welcomed by our team of trained sailors and matched up to the appropriate skill level. We have many classes of training boats available to try including Opti’s, RS Tera’s, and RS Quest’s!

 

Trying new things can be overwhelming for juniors. That’s why this program is a flexible learning environment with no pressure on your junior, we also encourages junior members to bring a friend, so it can be even more fun. Parents or guardians of the participants are required to stay in attendance for the duration of the program and may be asked to help move and wash boats with their juniors at the end.

 

Time: 9.30am - 11am weather depending

Dates: 10th (more dates to follow)

Age: 8yrs and above (must be able to swim)

Price: Free

Registration: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

We are saddened to advise members that Tony passed away on Sunday 3 December.

Tony has been an active member of the keelboat fraternity since the early days of racing at SBSC.  He crewed on many of our fleet over the years including After Midnight, Aphrodite, Bushranger, E’toile, Jaslyn, L’etoile, Mr Bojangles, Tardis, Therapy, ToniK, Yknot and Tumi.

Tony had a love of sailing and our Club.  We were very proud to honour Tony and his passion for Friday twilight racing with the inaugural Tony Lohman Perpetual Trophy Race on 13 October 2023.  The trophy takes pride of place in the SBSC trophy cabinet and will be awarded annually to the winner of the opening Friday Twilight Pursuit race… ‘Tony’s Race’.

On behalf of all the members of SBSC, we pass on our sincere condolences to Tony’s family and friends.

 

 

1st – Pursuit	Tumi	Jenny Thomson
1st – AMS	Unprecedented	Andrew McGrath

Sunday Summer Series - Race 4

Thanks to everyone who did tower duty over the weekend, including Di Jackson and crew from Happy Days on Friday night, and John Wemyss, Elaine Nicholas and Judy Champion on Sunday.  For full results please click HERE

Could you please get your entries in ASAP and no later than 15 December, as they need to processed before the first race on Sunday 17 December 2023. Click Here to enter!

 

The Shark Bay Holiday Series are all morning races (10.00am). The race date for the series are:

For all boats planning to head to Geelong for the FOS 2024 please get on board with the Passage Race from Mornington YC. 

This is part of the Festival of Sails Entry and sounds like a great fun way to get your boat and crew to Geelong.  To enter CLICK Here and select the ‘Mornington Peninsula Series’

Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron is pleased to announce entries are open for the 2023 Petersville Regatta, December 27-30 sailed in the pristine waters off Blairgowrie and surrounds. Join us for four days of fun, on and off the water.

Free marina berthing for the event with option to stay on.

Limited to 39 visiting boats and filling fast.

NoR, entries and more info at petersvilleregatta.com.au. or call Race Director Phil Beattie on 0408 502 698

 

This year’s Cock of the Bay is expected to draw boats from around the bay who enjoy that festive sail from Melbourne to Mornington.  Bring your friends and family and join us as we aim for 100 boats enjoying fun in the sun.  Early bird entries close on Saturday, December 2.  https://www.orcv.org.au/cock-of-the-bay

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. The youth t-shirts (with names on them) will have another order put in soon, so if you missed out on first round orders, please contact Marg to make sure you get one in the next batch, which will be processed by end of March. These t-shirts have been a hit with the juniors and will be great to wear to regatta's etc. 

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

The Executive Committee and members would like to welcome the following new members to Safety Beach SC. We look forward to meeting you at the club or on the water in the very near future.

A group of new members enjoyed drinks and nibbles at the Club on Sunday afternoon while watching the OTB sailors battle the wind and waves to actually get "off the beach". They were welcomed to the Club by Ann Matheson and Chris Allan from the Social Committee and Fiona Lowe from the Executive Committee. The new members were keen to learn how to get involved with sailing or to become a volunteer and many stayed on to watch the keelboats race to the finish line. This was followed by Sunday Sounds with Blair Manie and Erin Cornell. Thanks to everyone who helped make the afternoon a success.

Howdy OTB Gang.

Wow, what a day we had on Sunday. Forget about the fairy tales, this one was straight out of the Stephen King play book! Like watching one of his movies, it was both exciting and terrifying at the same time and just after the start you were wondering if it was really the right place to be. I know I spent a lot of time with my eyes shut and chills running down my spine, but that was just some of those huge waves breaking down the back of my wetsuit! There was also lots of screaming, and that was not only on the reaches, man were they fast! And just to complete the picture, in the third race, (yes, three races!) Duncan Mc was bearing down on Fiona M in one of those said reaches, when a giant, evil clown reached up out of the sea, grabbed him and dragged him under! Well that’s what it looked like to me anyway.
 

With a lot of our regular sailors away at the annual Cairn Curran Regatta, especially the 420’s, our numbers were way down on the week before’s thirty or so boats. Of the 12 that started, 9 were there at the end, and of those I think the gutsy award goes to Zac L and Glenn L in the Lasers, a really tough day at the office for those little round bottomed beasts (the boats people, the boats). I heard Glenn say he hadn’t worked that hard in 35 years! Another Stephen K mind bender was seeing Gingerbread Bill M roaring around in a Tasar, what is the world coming to? And just like coming out of one of those movies, once we were back on dry land and realised that the clown wasn’t coming after us, it was grins all round and a lot of back slapping for having made it through. What a brave bunch!
 

Apart from the ones that didn’t come out (for good reasons), the people I felt sorry for the most were Ross and Natasha M, who crewed on the RHIBs for the day and had to watch close hand all the action when I’m sure they would have loved those conditions and would have done nearly anything to swap places. Come to think of it, I think I might have seen a bit of red and white makeup on Ross back at the Club rooms. As a consolation prize, Ross and Greg Weston, one of our new RHIB drivers, did manage to rescue one of the keelboats that was in trouble with a down motor and taking on water, so some action for them after all.
 

Also on the RHIBs was Never Say No Norm K, who filled in at the last moment as he so often does. I know I say it over and over, but without these volunteers putting in each week, especially Wonder Geoff and Super Deirdre , who go out every week, way before the sailors do, sometimes to wait and wait in bad weather only to have to come back in without laying a mark. Please, please let them know how grateful you are.
  

Lastly this week, there has been a change in the Sailing Instructions to reflect the dodgy start to the season we’ve had. A lot of the weeks the weather has been unsuitable in the afternoon but sailable in the morning but the old SI’s didn’t allow a change of start times after 18.00 hrs Wednesday . As of now the new SI’s allow a change up until 12.00 hrs Friday. This will only be used if the Sailing Committee feels that if we keep the start at 2.00 pm we won’t get a sail in at all. It is not intended to get extra races in. This might not suit everyone that have other morning commitments ( like a well deserved sleep in )but we will endeavor to give at least 24 hrs notice and only after much consideration.
 

That’s enough for now, see you all this Sunday for perfect wind and clear skies. And Duncan, don’t forget to check under the bed for that clown. He’s a fat bugger but he can sail ,( the clown people, the clown )!
 

Cheers, Pete Chippy

Well done to the 16 boats that attempted to race on Friday night in 0.5kts wind and drizzly rain, before all retiring.  And thanks to Amanda Malin and Mr Bojangles crew for running the tower – at last you stayed dry!

Sunday Club Championship Race 4

Thank you Judy Champion (RO) and Ross Churcher for your time in the tower on Sunday, as well as Geoff Eldridge and Deirdre Snook who got the race underway from the start boat.

For all boats planning to head to Geelong for the FOS 2024 please get on board with the Passage Race from Mornington YC. 

This is part of the Festival of Sails Entry and sounds like a great fun way to get your boat and crew to Geelong.  To enter CLICK Here and select the ‘Mornington Peninsula Series’

Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron is pleased to announce entries are open for the 2023 Petersville Regatta, December 27-30 sailed in the pristine waters off Blairgowrie and surrounds. Join us for four days of fun, on and off the water.

Free marina berthing for the event with option to stay on.

Limited to 39 visiting boats and filling fast.

NoR, entries and more info at petersvilleregatta.com.au. or call Race Director Phil Beattie on 0408 502 698

 

This year’s Cock of the Bay is expected to draw boats from around the bay who enjoy that festive sail from Melbourne to Mornington.  Bring your friends and family and join us as we aim for 100 boats enjoying fun in the sun.  Early bird entries close on Saturday, December 2.  https://www.orcv.org.au/cock-of-the-bay

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. The youth t-shirts (with names on them) will have another order put in soon, so if you missed out on first round orders, please contact Marg to make sure you get one in the next batch, which will be processed by end of March. These t-shirts have been a hit with the juniors and will be great to wear to regatta's etc. 

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