Safety Beach Sailing Club NEWS 14th January 2026
Off The Beach News
G'day gang.
Well, what a great way to return after Christmas. As it wasn't part of an official series, more of a welcome back day, we decided to have a bit of fun and mix things up a bit. After due deliberation (about 5 minutes), we chose a bunch of short, one lap races with the emphasis on pushing the start line. Sound good? Was good! RO Bill M with Unca Dunc Mc set a nice short triangle for the monos and opted for two windward/ return laps for the cats and fast monos. We had two of those, Luke M in his Moth and Mat W and Greg in a 49er. Unfortunately, they didn't make it to the start line. A shame as that would have really made things interesting on the short course.
The breeze was up around 15 knots-ish from the South West, straight over the hill, and with the course close to shore, those gusts and bullets would play merry hell with your tactics. The only mistake Bill made was letting the cat out of the bag that there would be no general recalls for breaking the start. Rock and roll everybody! With a single start for all the monos(17 of them), it was game on for the first race, with more argey bargey than a Myer's door buster sale! (Ask your Mum kids). And yes, those gusts did come into play- a lot. Take your pick, left or right, it made no difference, you were bound to get lifted, knocked, left in a hole or shot past your nearest rival at some stage. But the good thing? it didn't matter. As the races only lasted about 10 minutes, scratch the bad one or put the good one in the bag and line up for the next.
By the time we got to race three everyone had calmed down a bit, so Bill confused us all by changing the start order, moving the cats to second as they were a bit quick. Ewan was having a field day in his A Class, leading A Class Anthony all day. I think Mark L in his Windrush did as well( stick to the course Tony!). Likewise, James E and Erik M in the Tasar had the scoop on Scot and Ryan in the other Tasar. But hey, they are only going to get better.
As for the rest of us, we were battling it out with a different result every time, with all nine Sabres swapping places every race. I think everybody beat everybody else at some point (I even beat Rick P once!!). The 420s and the Laser of Grace L chased each other around with mixed results and Glen L and Wayne J did a lot of complaining about not being able to get past the Sabres on a reach, no sympathy there I tells ya! Six races (yes SIX) and around came Ross M and Simon H in the RHIB to say "One more race, and this one is two laps". Ripper way to finish!
Seven races down, back to the beach. Great weather, great wind- perfect days sailing. To all those that were there, especially our four heros on the race crew, thank you for making this one to remember. All agreed that this was a good format to throw in now and then for a bit of fun as well as great start practice. And for those that weren't there? Sucks to be you!
Next week we are back to regular racing with the start of the Lions Club series. RO Rick P will be on the job with Super D on Start, Katrina M with somebody TBA on Woodsy and James E with our favorite bald guy, Rob C in Sutherland. 1.57 first warning, be there or be square
Cheers for now, Pete Chippy
