Off The Beach News
Howdy gang.
Wow, what a fantastic weekend of sailing we all had Sunday and Monday. With near perfect weather on both days and good wind too, I'm taking that as redemption for all the crappy predictions we've had lately. Sunday started out with a yard full of boats( about 22) but the strong-ish breeze saw a few stay put. With Doc Taylor stepping into the Quest with Wayne J while Glenno L was off doing birthday stuff, Campbell M decided to try out Doc's Impulse with the idea of purchasing one. More on that outing later. Meanwhile the rest of us meandered out to the start line, to find that once there that wind was quite strong and the waves, while not big, were coming from a difficult angle and the shifts were coming thick and fast! 20 boats, including Luke M in his Moth and 9 Sabres lined up for the fun. And fun we had!
Right from the outset we could tell there would be some swimming involved and most of the fleet either tipped in or had a close call. Even Dave Padfield, on his maiden RHIB duty with son Luke, was sent into the drink by Erik M to assist when a Taser was having trouble getting back up. Poor Dave was also in the thick of it later when they had to chase down and wrangle the runaway Windrush of Mark L. Mark fell off the back and couldn't quite keep his grip on that wild cat. I'm told the old 'Pussy Power' felt her freedom and took off in a dead straight line for over 400 m, flying a hull for most of the way, including scraping over the rear end of James T's Sabre at full speed! The RHIB picked up Mark and had to use full power to catch her whereupon Dave had to reach over and hang on to a side stay to bring her under control. General consensus is that Mark should try this ploy more often as no one can remember seeing the Puss go that fast or straight ever!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the rest of us were enjoying some extremely fast reaches mixed in with some wild shifts just waiting to tip you in, just ask Rick, Di, Wayne/Doc, Norm, Scott/Luke and a plethora of others including the aforementioned Campbell M. Campbell took a tumble in Doc's Impulse and peeled his knee open to the tune of 6 stitches! Doc said later that he couldn't work it out as there was nothing sharp in the boat- including the driver!
RO Ewan C shifted and shortened the course and gave us two more races, with the wind picking up a notch or two in the last. Coming around the last mark for the reach to finish, I felt like I could have towed a skier in the Moomba Masters, only to see Di in front of me going even faster, good fun! Then back to the beach. Another wild ride with those angled waves making the transition from water to sand another tricky proposition. Di got into difficulties near the rock wall and was offered assistance by -wait for it - a jet ski!! They're not all bad after all.
Sunday done, home for a good sleep then back again Monday morning for round two with RO Glenno L. The wind was a lot calmer on Monday, for the OTBs anyway. Speaking to some of the Keelboaters later, they said their race to Schnapper Point was wild, with gusts in the high 20's and some boats getting knocked almost flat! Luckily for us in our nice little cove it was pure joy. 17 boats today including Ewan C and A Class Anthony in their "A" Cats and Dave and Luke P in the Nacra. Although the wind was milder, there was still plenty of action, with Ewan slipping off the back of his Cat and trying without success to emulate Mark's maneuver from the day before. Those highly strung "A"s are not quite ready to slip the reins apparently.
Doc T was set to join us but after rigging up and hitting the water, a lack of match fitness sent him back to the beach to reassess. Not to waste all that rigging time, another Martin, Mono this time, jumped aboard to try his luck. No blood this time but I did see the underside at one point. Perhaps 'Item 2' just doesn't like Martins!
James T, after three convincing wins on Sunday, wasn't having as good a day on Monday. After a 5th in the first race, he was looking good in the second, when metres from the finish, he suffered the notorious 'Sabre downwind backward tip in'. He also scored a crack to the noggin from his boom as he watched the rest of us sail serenely past. Not to be outdone, he came back and cleaned us all up in the third race. The Sabre fleet is growing again with a consistent 7-8 boats each week with the fleet close enough that the lead swaps around regularly and is fairly close over a whole race. One race on Sunday had three boats cross the line with less than half a metre separating them, that's good fun.
Much easier getting back to the beach this time too, with hardly any jet skis (I think they might be scared of Fiona Lowe after her fantastic efforts in the newspapers and on TV. Check out the link below). Then upstairs for the Aus Day celebrations and SBSC's 59th birthday bash. I can't remember seeing that many people for a long while. The bar queue was out the door, and the food was flying out of the kitchen. Thanks to everyone who made this a great celebration and congratulations to Dave Brewer for being the latest inductee to the 50 Years Continuous Membership honour board, well done.
Thanks also to all the on-water team this week, you were awesome. Sunday- RO Ewan C and Super D on start, Erik M, Dave and Luke P, Simon H and Fiona M in the RHIBs. Monday, we had RO Glenno L, Super D in Start with Simon H, Wayne J, Bruce M, Mikka R and Ben G in the RHIBs. Legends all!
Next week RO is Greggy L with Super D and James E on Start, Matt W, Abbey E and some other people in the RHIBs. It'll be a hoot! Don't forget, it's an on water start for the keel boats so around the back at 11.30 please.
Phew, nearly done! Three weeks to go until Sail Peninsula. Remember OTB is included this year. Saturday and Sunday racing, $50 entry and you get a beaut hat per boat (not a tee shirt as I said last week, sorry). Entry details are on the website, and I'll bet there is a link below as well.
That's about it folks. Cheers, Pete Chippy
Post script re: Campbell. Not to let it get the better of him, he's bought Doc's impulse and is determined to tame her
Re: James' head knock. The Club reached out to him during the week to make sure he's OK (he is). Never underestimate a knock to the head please.
