Category: Sailing Reports

Race 6 of the winter series required a mixed group of boats, including corsairs, NS14s, Lasers, Pacers and a catamaran, to challenge the notion that sailing requires wind. A fitful breeze coupled with an adverse ebbing tide made even getting across the start line hard
work at times, with one intrepid sailor advising that they had downgraded their original goal of completing the race to a new goal of simply crossing the starting line.

Michael Grace and crew on Exhale managed to find some breeze and got off well in the pursuit start, but getting to the windward mark proved challenging for many of the fleet, with the mangrove region on the Northern bank becoming a Bermuda triangle for some.

Craig Foley on his new paper tiger catamaran, Soggy Frog, and Guy Forrester and crew on their corsair, Squirtle, proved to be the exceptions to the rule, with Soggy Frog first around the windward mark on lap 1 , closely followed by Squirtle. Adam Hurt and Kate Yeomans on Flight 24, also negotiated the conditions well, being the next boat to round the windward mark.

The current helped to pick up the pace on the downward leg with Squirtle overtaking Soggy Frog, before the lead changed again on the northern bank leg, followed by Flight 24. Flying Dragon, Dreadnought, No Sweat, Rolling Stone and Exhale made up the next group to round the green buoy.

The northern bank leg then provided some interesting sights with boats locked at 45 degree plus angles to the white marker buoy, as they attempted to compensate for little wind and an ebbing tide pushing them down river – two hulls must have helped here as Craig seemed to negotiate this leg better than most.

However, with the breeze dropping further during the second lap it became difficult for boats to get to the final mark. The race to the finish line then became a slow motion battle between Soggy Frog and Squirtle. Craig rounded the last mark first closely followed by Guy, before both became becalmed on the last leg. The water police then decided to join the contest by stopping their boat nearby, but it was hard to tell whether their wake was helping or hindering proceedings. With Squirtle closing in, Soggy Frog crossed the line first, with Squirtle second and Flight 24 coming through a few minutes later for third.

With Brennan increasingly busy on the safety boat helping becalmed boats back to the harbour it was decided to then stop the race. Congratulations to all who competed in difficult conditions. A special mention for Pancho for showing great perseverance and resolve in one of his first races.

Words by Peter Ross

Race 2 Winter Handicap Series

With race day approaching, the social media pages started to light up Saturday evening, all eyes were on the forecast which was predicted to be wet and windy. Come Sunday morning, a few sailors were coming up with all sorts of excuses to avoid the day and stay dry under blankets wearing their Ugg boots and sipping green tea. Those who showed up were pleasantly surprised, a steady ESE breeze with no rain. Though the rigging lawn was extremely damp and muddy in places. One unsuspecting driver decided to go 4WDing and needed some assistance after becoming slightly bogged.

A total of seven boats were all prepped and ready to go so the decision was made to start racing early. One race of three laps on our usual Southerly course, a handicapped beach start with 31 minutes between the first and last boat. Lex and Julie led the fleet out in the still-unnamed Pacer and Peter Fell as tail-end Charlie had his work cut out to chase down the pack. By the time Pete left the harbour, Lex had already completed the first lap. On the second lap Mon in her trusty Laser “Rolling Stone”, was about to mow down Lex when she performed an unscheduled dry capsize walk over. This all looked very impressive, without getting wet but cost enough time to allow Mark in “Keenas” and Kate in “Bluey” to pass her and battle for second position. Guy sailed nice and steady in “Squitle” opting not to fly the kite today. Peter was making ground quickly at the end of the second lap running his full rig Laser when the wobbles got the better of him sending him for a swim.

The final lap was going to be the decider with the handicap coming into effect, compressing the fleet. With the majority of boats beating upwind to the top mark, the conditions started to find top gear and turn ugly as a squall came over. The wind gusts became very shifty, heading towards the 20knot mark. This appeared to cost Lex his strong lead and sent Mon for a Tweed River temperature check. Around this time, another boat was spotted upside down Miss Jane, up towards the top mark. Due to the distance, the shore crew could not make out which craft it was. Until it was righted, and they recognised the easily recognisable sail. (More on this later)

By the time most were at the bottom of the course on the last lap the wind started to behave itself allowing for an easy finish. “Bluey” in first, closely followed by “Keenas” and “Rolling Stone” third, all receiving applause from the shore. Mon enjoyed her sail so much she could be heard talking it up all the way to the ramp. The final boat crossed 9 minutes after the first, which isn’t bad for a 90-minute race, well done, Kate for crunching the numbers. Also, a big shout out to Bryan for manning the safety boat in miserable conditions at times, if you weren’t sailing that is.

Post-race and pack up, results and prizes were shared along with excuses and stories.

Now in the words of the skipper from the mystery capsize, “it would’ve been hard to believe that it was me that had gone over”. The crew of “Gidget” were blaming the skipper; the skipper was blaming the crew. This would require further investigation and has been sent to the video ref. via social media, if you haven’t seen the video, do yourself a favour and make up your own mind. Another fun day had by all. Back in 2 weeks with sunshine guaranteed.

Words by Adam Andrewartha

In the middle of May in Mooloolaba, a team from Tweed took on the best of the best at the Mooloolaba Yacht Club Women’s Keelboat Regatta. Maddie Lyons, Emily Johnson, Debbie Jones and Catherine Davies (RQYS) battled teams from Townsville to Newcastle as well as unseasonably wet weather and a flooded river over 2 days of all-female, short course river racing. TVSC sailor, Phoebe Reedman also competed but helped make up another team.

The format features windward / leeward racing close to shore with crowds lining the river adding a gladiatorial vibe to the sailors as they race. Each race is usually about 10 minutes duration and features 4 boats at a time.

On Saturday a mixed fleet faced 20 knots of squally windy cold conditions, but the racing was red hot. Spinnakers were banned and the mains were reefed but the sailors who could best manage the flooding tide and bullet gusts better tended to find themselves in front.

Sunday saw a change in the weather with wet tropical still moist air and about 3 knots finding crews stripping out of wet gear and sailing under a blue sky in t-shirts and shorts. The fleet was split into Gold and Silver fleets to better match the competition. The Sunday racing often came down to who could pick the shifts downwind the best.

The Tweed team finished 8th for the regatta, but that result undersold their performance. Having often led races at times they showed that they are a future force to be reckoned with. Tweed also showed the way by including Emily Johnson, who at 13 years of age was the youngest competitor in the fleet.

After a very disrupted summer sailing season due to almost every possible reason known, the TVSC looked forward to commencing our Winter handicap racing season with much enthusiasm. Although the forecast was doubtful and constantly changing in the week leading up to, and a clash with Mother’s Day, a dedicated fleet of 13 boats took to the water.

The river was certainly looking a lot nicer as the Tweed returns to its former glory post-flooding. Due to the harbour being relatively quiet, the decision was made for a beach start of Race 1, being two laps in a steady 12knot SSW breeze. Starting times were calculated by Kate Y using a complex system of mathematical algorithms from past results. Starting at various minute intervals, the aim being that all boats should cross the finish line at the same time.

Whilst some were strategic in their departure plan, others took a more scenic route of the harbour before entering the fresh breeze out on the river. Once out on the water, the fleet was well spread out, and the chase began to try and close the gap on the lead boats.

As is often the case, we were all chasing down John Haywood, sailing a Pacer with Debbie. After returning from Adelaide only a week ago and a sailing drought, they managed to hold the lead for a good part until Dave Robinson took the win in his Impulse, Matchbox. There were various other tussles out on the water and a few capsizes thrown in for good measure. Final results are available here.

Mention must go out to a few new members/sailors; Murielle and her daughters sailing a Pacer. What better way to celebrate mother’s day than a family sail with mum.

Lex sailed with Julie and gave the club’s latest acquisition a run on its maiden voyage. This new Pacer was recently found and purchased by Mon for our “She Sails” program, bringing the pacer fleet up to five in total.

Craig Foley, always on the lookout for members went on a recruiting drive to find himself a crew for the afternoon racing. This led him to ask random people during a morning surf at Kirra, with promises of glory he brought along Kenny Rodgers. Although Ken had no sailing experience, he was able to contribute with some great country and western out on the water and assist in getting the job done.

With the first race complete and time permitting, all attention turned to the second race, all boats off together for a 1 lap sprint. Bryan maneuvered the start boat into position; with an awkwardly placed houseboat and a shifting wind direction, an interesting and challenging start line was on offer. The fleet started circling like a pack of vultures vying for a favourable start as the 3-minute countdown began. As it got down to the final seconds, the fleet resembled a scaled-down version of the famous Sydney to Hobart, very congested and boats sailing in just about every conceivable direction. There was plenty of helpful communication between boats and manoeuvres to avoid any collisions. One such romantic encounter did occur when Kate got hung up on a new bouy, a hansom round orange fellow that marked the other end of the start line. Although a brief meeting, it did leave a lasting impression, with Kates’s rudder blade lifted up which went unnoticed for the majority of the race.

The lap went by with the fleet all finishing quite closely together. Craig did not disappoint, crossing the line first in Gidget and delivering on his promise of victory to Ken. Dave proved the first race was no fluke with a second before deciding to install another inspection port in his hull…might be time to look for a new boat name Dave, perhaps Chopsticks?? Kate sailed into third spot on Bluey, even with a less than desirable start, she is always one to watch.

All in all, everyone had a good time, results were announced at the conclusion of the day and some prizes were awarded from the merchandise department, much to Kate A’s relief to be able to make some room for new stock.

Juniors will return next Sunday on the 15^th and racing again on the 22^nd. See you then

Adam Andrewartha

As the competitors in the 2022 Peel island marathon were listening carefully to the race committee at the briefing inside the Cleveland Yacht club, Peel island disappeared in a rain squall that would have sent any landlubber running back home to watch T.V.

Seven Corsairs from TVSC and one local Corsair made their way out to the start in conditions that had changed dramatically and were bordering on pleasant. Not all boats however made it to the start on time, and only two made it to what had become the favoured pin end of the start line.

This meant that after a short beat to windward, Monopoly   (Matt, Kat and Spike) had a small lead over None the Wiser, which had left the beach with four onboard but arrived at the start line with only two on board with a rescue having been performed on the way and Clare and her daughter Mia were taken back to the beach leaving Justin and his daughter Emily to take on what was to became a very windy and wet afternoon.

The breeze rapidly filled back in from the South East at 20Knts and promptly blew None the Wiser over, who had tried to set a spinnaker and all though they valiantly tried to continue after losing two crew and enduring a blustery capsize; that was pretty much the end of their day. Kat, who clearly was not aware of the ethics of racing against Justin, suggested that they turn back to check on them. Monopoly then sailed off to a distant wrong mark leaving Cyanara with Allan, Doug and Adam aboard to battle it out with the Gidget crew of Craig, Mellisa and Paul for the win.

Conditions were by any standards wild by this stage, and the sea state on the northeastern corner of Peel island was not to be treated lightly.  The island did offer some protection from the waves if crews dared to go close to the reef, but the beat up between North Stradbroke and Peel Island will be remembered amongst those who were there for a long time.

Mark, Hollen and Kynan, who are always Keenas put in a solid performance, and Peter Ross, Kate and Brennan on It’s Academic showed what they were made of and completed the course safely with only one report of a crew member attempting to abandon ship.

After leading for a good portion of the race, Craig and his crew made a small but costly navigational error that handed the Corsair class win to Cyanara. Local sailor, Greg Driver, on his corsair “Moody Blue”, came in third and Keenas surfed over the line for fourth in the class.

While many other classes of boat failed to make it around the island, and some did not even take to the water because of the weather, the corsair fleet proved their hardiness once again.

TVSC member and legend Igor Prada sailed his Hobie cat “naked” (he had clothes on) around the island and came in third in his class. Another great effort from him.

On a day like this though, there is always one story of seamanship that stands out as something special. After breaking the tiller on Haveachat several times and reassembling it several times, each time a little shorter, Alistair, Braeden and Tristan managed to get the boat back to safety using a combination of broken timber, a leatherman, their wits and good humour.  It is for this reason they were awarded the first edition of the Andy Lamont seamanship award.

Sail because it’s fun.

Matt Andrews

Big River Sailing Club’s Annual Regatta was held on the weekend of the 4th and 5th of March. While 70 boats (and ten Corsairs!) were entered, due to the inclement weather, only half that number attended. (Sensibly)

The river colour reflected the volume of water that had already fallen before Friday afternoon with the occasional log rushing downriver. The tide was always running out, it just depended by how much.

The usual Saturday long race was wisely changed to two short races held outside the club house so that everyone could keep an eye on the boats.

By Sunday morning, with the deteriorating forecast and heavy rain, it was decided to finish up early and head home…just in time too!

Photos by Alden Clarke (Who used to race Corsairs and loved watching us from the shore.) He has more photos up on the Big River Facebook Group.

A  classic summer day 25-30c and average 10kts NE, gust and shifty welcomed back all the members for the first race of the Summer Championship 2022.  

The fleet of 11 boats with 21 sailors managed to sail out the busy boat ramp and head to the start line. The wind direction swing from NE to E back and forth made the start line set up a hard challenge for Bryan in the safety boat. (Thank you heaps for your help Bryan). 

The race started!  Shouts of STARBOARD!! WATER !!! Oh, how I’ve missed this lovely place and the TVSC family. Unlike Covid, most of the fleet did not spread out and both races were very close.  Leading the fleet were the two Hobie 14 Cat Rigged (without Jib), Naked Again (Yours Truly) followed by Lion from Southport Yacht Club with only a 0.52sec difference across the line. Not too far behind were Laser’s Splatter (Lex Branch) ahead Monique on `Rolling Stone`, then the 2 NS14 only 15 seconds apart Impulsive Matt (Melissa Le Roux, Craig Foley) and No Sweat (Adam Andrewartha and his son.) The first corsair across the line was Cyanara skipped by Doug Haig. If this first race was tight, hang on for what comes next… but before I have to mention how graceful it was to see Craig setting on leeward (opposite side to where the wind is coming from) while Melissa tries to bear away and they almost capsize. Nothing like sailing with someone for the first time.

BANG !!! The second race started. STARBOARD!!! the start line looks even worse when the wind swings more to the North, however, the gusts coming from the East were stronger and more constant. Once again the Hobie cats reach the top mark first as it should be but with a change in the lead. Now Lion had a great start ahead of Naked Again, some people argue that he had a false start, but no protest had been made to the race committee. Lion kept the lead for the whole race finishing it in 31:11 minutes. Change in the lead also happened in all the other classes. Now focused, No Sweat was 28 seconds ahead of Melissa because Craig was tired of hiking.  While on the lasers Rolling Stone was warm and ready to take the lead of Splatter. John Morgan using the laser ConditionZulu for his first time was under 2 minutes behind the other lasers. Well done!  Now in the Corsairs Squirtie (Guy Forrester, Erik Naumann and Tom Arnette) took the lead of Cyanara by 29 seconds with Keennas (Mark Reynolds) a few minutes behind.

Wow! What a great start to the short championship season, smooth sailing, beautiful day, close races, cold beers and annoying powerboats…heaps of them. We also have the results on yardstick thanks to Kate. 

View the results here.

See You next race on the 24/01.  

Ps: Please volunteer to help on the next races as I gotta keep racing to keep my lead. 🙂 

Igor Prado and NakedAgain (Hobie 14)

^{Photos by Ben Jarvis.}

On the 4 / 5 December, 5 Corsairs, 15 sailors and various support crew/family/sailing fans threw tents, guitars, keyboards, ukuleles, sailing gloves, zinc and suncream into the back of the vans and trekked north 260 km to Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club for the 2021 Monomasters.

Due to border restrictions, only the Queensland based sailors/boats could make the trip.

Saturday’s two races were held in 8-12 knots and tested who could play the shifts the best and find a clear track through the 81 boat fleet.

Sunday, the wind was a lot stronger. Race three was gusting 16knots, and race four was missed by all the tweed sailors who missed the bit on the sailing instructions about when to break for lunch (or more importantly, when NOT to….)

Race 5 was proper blowy, perhaps gusting to 22knots at times; it was a case of who could hold on and not tip (hint, not Monopoly).

The top 3 Corsairs were the reverse order from last year; Justin, Emily & Eden Johnson took home the chocolates in None The Wiser (802). Andy, Maddie and Kanisha on Monopoly slipped (tipped) to 3rd, and Craig with Scotty and Kate, always the bridesmaid, never the bride got 2nd for the 2nd year in a row.

The big surprise from the regatta was the vast improvement of the new skipper, Jason who with crew Dasha and Alex, was leading races and just proved that time on water = better performances. He will undoubtedly be pushing for a podium finish next year.

Of course, the end of racing didn’t mean the end of the day’s events with group dinners at the pub and a sing-along after…Friday, Saturday and even Sunday night.

With the Queensland Border set to open early, it will be great for all TVSC Sailors from the North and South of the border to be reunited for the start of racing next year. From the looks of the performances of the Queenslanders at the Monomasters, the southerners will have their work cut out for them!

Most on-water photos are credited to Russell Witt. More photos from the weekend are on his website here.

Words by Justin Johnson. ^{Captions by the very attractive bridesmaid.}