Author: TVSC

Sunday was our last race day for the summer championship season, with Class Championships in the Lasers, NS14s, Corsairs and Impulses all running simultaneously.

Spectators lined (a very small part of) the shore while an 18-knot breeze was probably experienced elsewhere in Australia, but certainly not on the mighty Tweed!

Lasers

With Kate Yeomans, the clear winner in the Laser Division, Lex Branch, Debbie Jones, and Monique Smith were on a mission to secure 2nd and 3rd placings overall, as this was the final race.

Gerry Donohue, sailing a standard rig, blitzed the rest of the lasers and fought hard against Peter Fell, who was sailing his Impulse.  In the first race, Gerry won overall, with Peter hot on his stern.

Amongst the rest of the Laser Radial fleet, Monique surprisingly came 2nd, Lex placed 3rd, Debbie 4th, and Maddie came 5th.  

In the 2nd race, Peter dropped Gerry and cruised to a comfortable 1st place overall.  Lex went into overdrive and placed  2nd comfortably, with Debbie catching Monique.  With the change of tide and very little wind, same with everyone who was further back, getting over the finish line needed a heck of a lot of “patience”.  Monique eventually placed 3rd, and Debbie a close 4th.  Maddie struggled with the outgoing tide and little wind and called it a day.  

A great day was had, and the competitiveness was enjoyed with a laugh and beverage afterwards.  

PS thanks Matt for the beverage!

Impulses

The first race saw a tight battle between Gerry in the Full Rig Laser against Dave and Peter in Impulses. Gerry and Peter traded tacks for most of the race before Gerry was able to pull away for a decent lead, with Dave in Matchbox working hard to close the distance between him and the leaders. Peter was able to make up most of the gap to Gerry on the final run and tack to the line, but Gerry won the race by a short half head in horse-racing terms.

The second race saw both Impulses get a good start at the favoured pin end while Gerry was caught in traffic on the line and then had a bad tack to fall behind. Dave sailing his possibly last race in Matchbox kept Peter on his toes throughout the race but had to settle for second, although both were able to finish before the wind dropped right out and made finishing a real problem for most of the fleet in the swift running tide.

NS14s

After only completing two race days in the Summer season, Pure Vida and No Sweat were neck and neck on even points scores. The No Sweat crew underwent intensive preparation to battle it out on the final day of racing in their pursuit of championship glory. Only to be left disappointed by being the only boat in the class to make an appearance on the day, feeling like they were jilted at the altar.

There was only one option: to put in their best performance to demonstrate that they were worthy of any points awarded. True to usual form, No Sweat’s starts were a little on the conservative side, but the crew sailed well in the light breeze, keeping an appearance at the front end of the fleet ever-present.

The first race was sailed in a reasonable breeze to get around the track without any major problems. The second race proved a battle of will, with time being everyone’s greatest enemy. As the clock ticked away, the breeze decided to head elsewhere, evaporating in strength, and the tide made its presence felt, growing in strength the longer you stayed out. The diminishing water level in the river meant the NS started finding the sand with its long daggerboard, limiting the options for hunting down some breeze.

By the end, No Sweat finished in a respectable position in the fleet ^{(and first in class!?!)} and completed the biggest challenge of returning to the harbour against the tide under their own steam. Hopefully, we will see more competitors in this great class in the future.

Corsairs

Four Corsairs competed in two races on a beautiful day on the Tweed with a light ESE breeze and a tide that threatened to turn and head back to the ocean at any moment.

The start of the first race saw Mark and his crew in Keenas and Monopoly get away to good starts. Mark however picked the first shift after the start and took what was to become an unbeatable lead and went on to take the race win.  Craig “what danger mark” Foley and Monopoly had some tight crosses up the first beat and some kid-friendly words were exchanged.

The boys on Squirtle were also in the mix and the three trailing boats came around the first top mark with only seconds between them. As downwind specialist, Posie Henry took the helm on Monopoly Mia and Aidan looked after things as upwind helmsman Matt climbed the mast to retrieve a lost spinnaker halyard. During this time, Monopoly squeezed past Gidget and Squirtle and this was the order the boats finished after two laps.

By the start of the second race the tide had turned, and the breeze was threatening to lighten off. Squirtle took a good lead into the first downwind but again Down wind helmsperson Posie insisted on keeping the spinnaker up for the reaching leg across to the bottom mark and Monopoly made some big gains.

After working up the western shore in an effort to stay out of the tide, Monopoly made their way past Squirtle and went on to win the race by the narrowest of margins. Keenas and Gidget (now sporting a new helmsperson) were last seen battling an outgoing tide and next to no wind battling their way to the finish. Their whereabouts are still unknown.

Thanks to all at the club who make the racing possible and to those who keep the club going by donating time and resources.

_{Words by Monique, Peter, Adam and Matt respectively.}

Racing is on this coming Sunday, with a briefing at midday. (Skippers registration link) 

This is our last race day and last championship day for the summer season. Second place in the Corsairs and Laser divisions is up for grabs between a couple of boats, while the Impulse winner could be up for grabs.

In the Corsairs, Aidan and Mia look to be taking the chocolates with their dad, Matt, in support…but the second place could be a nail-biter with Mark and Guy both very much in contention with one point between them.

For the Lasers, occasional champion Kate seems to have locked in a season win, but again, second place is between Lex, Monique and Debbie, all within two points of each other!

As for the Impulses, there could be a few surprises, depending on who gets over the line first…but current leader Peter Fell also does the race results…so…we may need some finish line photography.

Current second place Impulse sailor, Dave is selling his boat, Matchbox. If you’re interested in his boat, then perhaps get in touch before Sunday, as if he wins the championship, then the boat’s value will go up! (Contact Dave on 0417 631 292)

We expect a larger than typical spectator fleet enjoying the competition. There should be plenty of space on the river bank for shorebound spectators. No bookings are necessary, but come early to save a decent viewing spot!

Please fill in this form for Sunday if you’d be interested in crewing (no experience necessary). A skipper may get in touch with you. Or come along on the day (the earlier, the better) to see if you can find a ride. Details on what to bring are here. Skippers, your list of the available crew is here.

Other Upcoming Important Dates:

• The summer Presentation date is TBA.
• Registrations are open for the Cleveland Yacht Club’s 52nd Peel Island marathon. Six TVSC boats have been entered so far. (Sunday, 23rd of April)
• Our winter season begins on the 30th of April.
• We are running the BBQ at Tweed Bunnings on Saturday, the 20th of May. We’ll need everyone’s help for what is always a great fundraising opportunity for the club.
• A tentative date of our Annual Tumbulgum Passage Race has been set for the 13th of August, so mark your calendars! Here’s a write-up from a prior year.

See you Sunday!

Please note that our next race day is on the 12th of March. We have skipped a week to return to the favoured tides for racing.

See you then!

What promised to be a steady east 10knots didn’t eventuate for Championship Race. A wise call to amend the course to suit the light winds and strong outgoing tide sets a precedent for avoiding our dreaded green marker (Yay, I hear the skippers say).

A short start line appeared to be a reaching start with a light SE wind; however, with the strong outgoing tide dominating the wind, it was a work over the line.

Great start from Kate on Bluey with Debie on Flying Dragon doing a lap around the start boat. Monique on Rolling Stone, getting caught up with Lex and Guy on the line, saw the fleet away. The pacers avoided the crush.

The fleet bunched up for the first two legs, and a drop in pressure on the third leg against the tide split the fleet in two. Seamed like hugging the shore did not pay off this time, with a little more pressure favouring the fleet east of the cardinal marker.

Once around the upstream marker, what appeared to be a downwind leg turned to a shy reach with the speed of the outgoing tide impacting the apparent wind. Certainly challenging conditions. Matt and Family on Monopoly and Kate on Bluey lead the fleet.

Pacers P6 (Adam and Gail) and Fletcher stayed much the same distance apart all race with a great leg three from Fletcher.

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Five Corsairs were amongst the fleet on Sunday the 19th of February on a very challenging day on the Tweed River. A boat ramp and car park that was not dissimilar to a state of origin night at Lang park and a light easterly breeze a run-out tide and a heap of fresh water still running towards the ocean after Tuesday’s big rain tested everybodys skill set.

Crossing the line at what appeared to be the favoured pin end was Mark in Keenas and Craig in the Gidget, and both looked to be off and running from the start, while a bunch of Lasers and Pacers were exchanging blows and fibreglass at the boat end of the start. The kids on Monopoly declared that they didn’t want any part of that and suggested to start a little after the gun had fired would be sensible.  These proved to be wise words for such youngsters, and Monopoly led the fleet at the first mark.

Up the first long work, the crew of Gidget rewrote the rule book and sailed inside the danger mark near the golf course, declaring later, “I didn’t want to tack”, meanwhile  Monopoly was able to get to the top mark first and once they had turned with the tide established an unassailable lead and were never crossed in a gruelling two lap Race.

The sporadic appearance of Gidget this season means that Guy and his crew on Squirtle and the always keen crew on Keenas are locked in a very close tussle overall for second place in the Club championship with only one race to sail before the trophys are handed out.

Gidget hung on to second place while Squirtle closed the gap overall to Keenas by finishing third with Keenas and the team on Exhale coming in fourth and fith respectively.

A special thanks to Dave Robinson who bravely went where no man had gone before and laid a course that allowed the sailors to sail inside the infamous Green mark.

Words by Dave Robinson and Matt Andrews

Racing is on this coming Sunday, with a briefing at midday. (Skippers registration link)  This is a championship day, with one long race.

We need a safety/start boat driver for Sunday. Please get in touch with Kate on 0400 016 634 if you can help.

The summer season roster is here (Everyone, please help out the day if you have time)

Please fill in this form for Sunday if you’d be interested in crewing (no experience necessary). A skipper may get in touch with you. Or come along on the day (the earlier, the better) to see if you can find a ride. Details on what to bring are here. Skippers, your list of the available crew is here.

See you Sunday!

A glorious blue sky and big outgoing tide greeted the 14 boats who contested the three shortcourse (ish) races on Sunday the 5^th of February.

We had 5 Corsairs, 5 Lasers, 2 Impulses, a Pacer and a visiting NS14 who all attempted to be like King Canute and turn back the tide.

The start was downriver nearer to the heads than usual, with a directive from Race Office Craig Foley to not go inside the area of moored keelboats before working across the shallows to the upwind mark and then a quick tide-assisted run back to the start and another work to the finish buoy which was tantalisingly placed well into the tide to test the tactical sailing of the skippers. Most found out through the course of the races that a big tack to the west way past the finish buoy was the best way to ride the tide across the river and then wheel around the finish.

The first race saw everyone a bit late to the line due to the pressure of the tide, with the lasers of Kate and Lex, and the Impulses of Dave and Adam making good early progress. Close tactical battles between the fleet of corsairs ensued, along with Adam (Impulse), Gerry (Laser) and Robert (NS14) fighting it out for the lead. The bulk of the lasers were using smaller 4.7 sails and fought their own battles throughout the races.

The second start saw some of the singlehanders lurking at the pin end of the line while the bulk of the corsairs all came in at speed around the start boat and attempted to get above the line before tacking onto port. Adam was seen trying a daredevil entry to the line on port before seeing the foolhardiness of such a move with the fleet bearing down on him on starboard. Lex had a slight encounter with Guy in his corsair Squirtle on the upwind leg before beaching his laser to effect running repairs on his outhaul. The corsairs all set spinnakers for a colourful run back down the course before the second upwind leg.

The third start saw many more boats up on the line which had been rejigged to get it somewhat squarer to the wind, but still probably still too short for the number of boats. So many boats on the line saw some confusion and traffic jams at the pin end of the line while Adam (Impulse) and Justin (corsair) showed their experience by starting around the start boat and getting a clear starboard tack while the traffic jam was being unjammed.

Final results saw Robert in his NS14, Gerry in his fullrig Laser and Adam in his Impulse take the top 3 places on scratch times, but with Adam taking home the chocolates with 2 1^sts and a 2^nd on yardstick while Gerry had a 1^st and two 3^rds.

Championship racing will be on the 19^th of February with many boats making the trek to Harwood for their annual regatta the next week.

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^{Words by Peter Fell}