Category: Sailing Reports

Sunday morning on the river at Fingal Head saw the usual Juniors sailing and training with 25 kids enjoying some fun on the water in the club Sabots & X3 dinghies. Volunteer instructors focus on making the sessions enjoyable with just small amounts of sailing theory to start off. With a wealth of top level sailing experience at the club the Juniors have the potential to become excellent sailors.

Some of the juniors stay on for the afternoon race to crew with seniors on larger boats and will move on to skippering their own boats in Juniors racing next season.

A big turn out for the last major race of the summer series 23 boats with 45 crew including 7 from the Juniors & Teenagers Division.

By the afternoon the stage was set for the most competitive sailing race seen on the Tweed for years – the final heats of the Northern Rivers Corsair and Multihull Class Championships and the final of the 10 race Summer Handicap Series. Some concern about lack of wind was unfounded with the rigging area sheltered from the easterly breeze but conditions on the water turned out to be perfect. The easterly made most legs of the course an easy straight drag race.

The Corsair positions were at nail biting stage. After the previous 4 heats it was still impossible to predict the final championship results for the Corsairs. Top Corsair “Odin” skipper Daniel Sieders only needed a 4th to win the whole series and last year’s winner “Swell Lady” skipper Monique Smith needed to place first to be in the running. The next 3 crews down the ranking all had a chance at 2nd place for the series with a good result today.

So all eyes were on the nine Corsairs for the very crowded start with a lot of close manoeuvring as every skipper tried to be at the ideal start position. Corsair 104 Melita III unfortunately ran out of space at the windward end of the line and had to give way with a speedy U-turn for a 2nd attempt to cross the line still up with the main fleet.

After the gun it was very short leg to the top mark so the 23 boats were still tightly bunched and rounded the next 5 marks sometimes 4 abreast with not one collision being a testament to their skill. Then the long reach up river to the bottom mark started to spread the fleet out. Despite their hitch at thestart Melita III steamed ahead and was in the lead of the Corsair fleet after the first lap – 30 seconds ahead of “Keenas” with “Swell Lady” only 10 seconds behind them. By the 2nd lap Swell Lady had recovered to 2nd place but Melita III was still 2 minutes ahead. The other Corsairs were fighting for placings too with Peter Ross on 107 “Rockin’ Robyn” having his best race to date with crew Mark Storrier from club sponsors Ecomist, they were ahead of another of the usual front runners, 199 “Minnow”, for the first lap and took First overall on
handicap.

Alison Blatcher, Marg Walgers & Karen Vidler brought Melita III home for her first win of the season over 5 minutes in front of 2 nd placed “Swell Lady” (Monique Smith, Matthew Andrews, Deborah Flannery) with only 10 seconds behind in 3rd “Minnow” (Bill Fenelon, Max Hennessy & Robert Preston). Jimmy Nickless would be pleased with 4th for first time on the helm of “Epic” with Peter Skinner and only 20 seconds behind Peter Ross came in 5th. “Keenas” (Mark Reynolds, Craig Foley, Taj Krasna) dropped back to 6th with in 7th “Nimbus” (Kevin Bourke, Sally Machray & Filipe Saraiva). 8th was Adam Hurt who left his NS14 at home to skipper “Capers” in his first Corsair race with regular crew Tom Busbridge alongside Mick “Beef” O’Keefe and managed to beat “Odin” in a surprise final result with Odin’s crew cheering everyone on from the back of the fleet!

Multihulls also had their final yardstick based championship race today with 3 boats competing John & Saffron Cooke took 1 st on Weta “Scored a Tri”. All sailors were also competing in the last of the 10 race series of the individual handicap point-score to get their name on the big trophy awarded at the annual dinner. The final results of all 5 heats of the class champs will be announced then too – so the wait’s not over yet!

Kate Yeomans must be in with a chance – she took 1 st out of the 7 Lasers but none of them could beat Tim Brown on his Impulse. Andrew Jaggers from Summit Organics in Tyalgum has been the clubs most enthusiastic new member. He tried a Laser for the first time this week – the fifth? Class of dinghy he has enthusiastically jumped on board to date.

New skipper Rainer Glasker with crew Tara Beth had their best race yet in the club’s Access 303. They are looking for more competitors in this division for next season. 2 more Access dinghies are available for racing supplied by Sailability on Tweed and Mirrors, Sabots etc. can also compete.  Get in touch if you are interested – all abilities welcome.

We take a break for a few weeks, before the Winter Season starts anew.  Hopefully we’ll also see everyone at the Presentation Dinner!

It looked like just another blue sky beautiful day on the Tweed but beneath the surface of paradise the odds were against any chance of an easy race for the 16 TVSC boats and 31 crew sailing last Sunday. The race start time was in the strongest part of the big ebb tide with a light, unpredictable easterly wind dancing round the skippers. If they got caught in a lull the tide dragged them backwards until the wind returned. The “zigzag” part of the course in front of the start tent caused the most headaches with mistimed tacking leading to many attempts to round the buoys – no doubt very entertaining for those on shore. Those that got it right found themselves way out in front of their rivals.

This was the last chance for the NS14’s and Lasers to move up the ranks in their Class Championships – everything hinged on the results of this final race for them.

First the Lasers. The last battle of the year for Laser Grandmasters John Hayward (Fingal) & Gary McCrohon (Tyalgum). John had the lead after the first lap after Gary got stuck in a strong tide and disappearing wind on the first leg on the north side of the river but by the end of the second lap Gary was 1 second ahead and despite all effort from John he had to concede defeat to Gary at the finish. Third was Kate Yeomans and 4th Peter Redmond.

The NS14 fleet was led by a cat and mouse race between Glenn Slight & Kynan Luescher on “Radical Phase” and Bill Fenelon & Taj Krasna on “Tornado”. After being only metres apart for most of the race it was the choice to take different routes to the last buoy rounding that finally saw Tornado gain water and they finished in 96 min 22 secs – over a minute in front of Radical Phase. Adam Hurt & Tom Busbridge in the lead on the start line took 3rd and David Robsinson and son Hugh were 4th.

The Corsairs were led by Mark Reynolds & Craig Foley on “Keenas” for most of the race – the only other Corsair to finish was Melita III skippered by Alison Blatcher + Marg Walgers & Bernadette crewing.

Division 2 racing for the slower boats is set to take off next season with Rainer Glasker & Tara Beth in the clubs yellow Access dinghy inviting more boats to join them. Sailability on Tweed can provide 2 more Access dinghies on race days and Mirrors and Sabots are expected to swell the numbers the division.

18 kids attended earlier in the day at the Juniors session with a sail up to Tony’s island and back. TVSC under 18 sailors Taj Krasna, Max Hennessy (both from Fingal Head) and Isaac Poulsen (Burringbar) spent the previous weekend crewing on Corsairs at the Big River SC Regatta swapping from helming to hauling up spinnakers to “hiking out” getting covered in spray returning with many tales to tell.

Next Sunday 25 March is the last race of the summer series. Come down to watch the start at 1pm from the spectators’ tent by the main boat harbour at Fingal Head. Adults or under 18’s wanting to sail please contact the club.

The TVSC’s Annual “Chindy Challenge” Race was held last Sunday. Beautiful weather and water clear to the bottom made up for the previous weeks cancelled race. A 16 boat fleet with 28 crew including 6 Corsairs and 5 Lasers sailed in 10-13 NE wind which made for a relatively quiet afternoon on the river. Plenty of time to enjoy the crystal clear water, stingrays jumping and a dolphin or 2 to complete the perfect picture. A different course to the usual 3 laps round the buoys, from Fingal up pass the Chindy Tavern (the race sponsors) and back downstream again to the finish line.

Not so quiet at the start line as the boats jostled for the best position some losing out and hitting the start buoy and having to go round to start again. After flying into the lead at the start Corsair 104 Melita III with new Matt Andrews Sails had a few set backs losing the lead after being forced to do a U-turn to get back to a missed mark but caught up again until another channel marker got the better of skipper Alison Blatcher. Crew Peter Ross and Richard Roberts will no doubt be giving directions next time.

Fastest to the finish (first “on scratch” as they say) was Glenn Slight on Maricat “Osprey” in 89 minutes. The monohull scratch winner was only a minute behind, a very pleasing result for Mauri Meyer (Laser). The winning Corsair also had a change of fortune from the last few races – Bill Fenelon on 199 Minnow with Kynan Luescher and Taj Krasna (an all Fingal crew) were all stoked to finished in 93 minutes.

Corsair “Keenas” skippered by Mark Reynolds with crew Craig Foley were missing their usual for’d hand, Taj Krasna, as he’d jumped ship to sail on Minnow this week. He could have made all the difference to them as they finished only 35 seconds behind Minnow. They will be back together for the Big River SC Annual Regatta and Corsair Eastern State Titles down at Harwood on the Clarence this weekend. A very big weekend for the Corsair sailors – look out for the report next week.

The overall winner of this years Chindy Challenge on time corrected for class of boat results will be announced at the club’s annual dinner in May – although the bets are on that it could be an impulsive result.

It was also a good day to welcome two new skippers and boats to the club. Dave Robinson and son Cooper on their NS14 and Joe Trueman on his red sailed Mirror. Joe was surprised to discover he had an on water coach – his Dad was on the VMR boat standing by with a few words of advice.

There’s always room for more boats and more crew, beginners or experts, so you if you have a desire to get on the water under sail come on down. Juniors and Try Sailing will be back again on Sunday morning 18 March with a race in the afternoon.

Email tvscmail@gmail.com to book, only $5 per session and membership not required for first 3 sails.

What a great day, with 20 boats competing including some new members and visitors!  Thanks to Bob and the safety boat crew.  We couldn’t race without you.

The Laser Class was won by Gary, with Kate and Peter coming in second and third.

The NS14 Class was won by Glenn and Kynan, Adam and Tom coming in second and Bill and Taj coming in third.

Congratulations to Geoff & Jo Carter, 1st place on handicap with Dave Chester & Kevin Bourke 2nd & 3rd. And again to Dave Chester & Isaac Poulsen 1st place on corrected time with Tim Brown & Lex Branch 2nd & 3rd.

Considering that Dave Chester had worked hard all morning unpacking and packing up for Juniors that was a very good result!

Thanks all for making the effort to sail on such a hot day – hope you have all recovered from the heat. We’ve got a week off now – social sail to Chinderah tavern for lunch on 4 Feb and the next race on the 11th of Feb.

If you’d like to learn to sail, race your own boat, crew or be a safety boat driver, then please get in touch.

Our first race of 2018 couldn’t have been better. Plenty of breeze 15 to 26 knot SSE and a strong outgoing tide to make us all really work hard.

A long race so a special thank you to our support team: safety boat driver Bob Ormsby with crew, first time out, Bunnings BBQ catch – Paul Whitehead + Suzanne Blatcher & Kurt Luescher timekeeping. Big thanks to Marg Walgers for feeding us all after the race and Lex Branch and Adam Busbridge for photos.

So down to the details : 21 Boats made for an impressive and interesting start. Lots of right of way and look out calls but thanks to some good sailing there was not 1 collision (as far as I know) – plenty of very close passes though – good work everyone! The Corsair Class Champ had a record 9 entrants thanks to the Commodore’s hard work rigging 3 Corsairs to make sure both club boats got out on the water today.

Big welcome to lots of new sailors – Rhonda & David Stevens who came to try sailing in the morning ; Corsair Nimbus’ new crew (and new TVSC member) Sally Machray & John; James Rothwell crewing on Bills Corsair with Junior Tully Andrews (her first race); Tully’s brother Rigby also in his first race was with Azo Bell on Club Corsair 107 + visiting from Big River SC, Denise Bruschweiler; and last but not least welcome to experienced sailor Rachel O’Hagen, new to the Tweed and missing her old club at Williamstown in Victoria. Rachel sailed with recent recruit Horst Tietze and another visitor from Victoria , Richard Lawton on club Corsair 266.

The results speak for themselves. Bill handicapped himself with extra crew and followed the rules with a 360 for causing someone to alter course (unlike Wild Oats in the Hobart) – so Minnow was at the back of the fleet for a change.

Tim, Matt & Tom Busbridge (J) kept them company with Azo, Denise & Rigby having some trouble with an unfamiliar boat (with every rope the same colour blue!);

Keenas, Melita IIi & Nimbus made up the middle of the fleet all using their spinnakers and fighting for the lead every lap. Well done to Mark Reynolds, Craig Foley & Taj Krasna (J) for taking a well deserved 3rd place in the Corsair fleet.

Out in front was Swell Lady but even with Matt back on board they couldn’t catch Daniel, Adrian & Tamara on Odin. So that’s the Corsairs …maybe we’ll have 10 boats next time!

The Lasers were missing Mauri but had Peter Redmond & Michael Mills filling the gap. A close race between Macca and Millsy.

Division 2 needs some more boats – Rainer on the Access took first place (being the only boat in the division) – handling the strong breeze well especially considering its only his 3rd time out.

Congrats to corrected time winner Tim Brown on new Impulse “Itchy Coo” (maybe get a flower sticker on the boat for every win she has Tim? ) and Handicap winner Paul Uhlmann & Ian Lomas on Tasar “Wingover”.

Great to see father and daughter team Mike and Imogen on the club Tasar and also Andrew J with Mark Storrier on club NS14 Blutack were having a ball by the looks.

The multihulls fleet was down to 1 – so hard to do class champ results – Hobie 16 Sledder entertained us as usual, this time the crew skippered most of the race (well done Isaac) but Dave didn’t do so well as crew , falling off the boat at the finish line.

We were all off the water by the time the 30+ gusts came in!

Not long to wait for the next race – come down to Fingal and watch the action next Sunday 21 January – briefing at 12 – race start at 1 – finish between 2.30 and 3.30pm. Thanks folks.

On Sunday, Tweed Valley Sailing Club conducted its 5th race of the Summer Pointscore Series with strong winds reaching 26 knots at times on the Tweed River.

14 boats, sailed by 25 crew, battled the windy weather with many giving up and retiring early. Only 6 boats completed the course.

It was exciting sailing for the survivors, with a strong flood tide against the wind, creating large waves in the river which enabled boats to surf and gain speed.

1st Finisher, Weta “Scored a Tri” (John & Saffron Cook), completing the 10km course in record time of 70 minutes. John and Saffron were very happy with their afternoon, winning their first line honours result this season, edging out perennial winner Dave Chester & crew Kynan Luescher with Daves Hobie 16, who lead the fleet by 3 minutes after the first lap but was forced to retire following a capsize early into the second lap.

Line Honours in the mono hulls went to NS14 Tornado, (Bill Fenelon & Taj Krasna) beating second placed Laser “Siesta” (Gary McCrohan) by 2 minutes and third placed Laser “Bluey” (Kate Yeomans) only 9 seconds behind.

The two big events this Sunday were the 3rd heat of the North Coast NS14 class Championship series and the Tweed River Laser Class Championship.

3 boats started in the NS14’s with only one completing the course.

30 years old and built on the Northern Rivers, NS14 Tornado was skilfully sailed and avoided damage to complete the difficult course and take the bullet. Tornado show exceptional boat speed on the fast reaching legs and lead for most of the race. New sailors, Andrew Jaggers and Jessie Normans sailed NS14 “Blue Tack”, but withdrew after numerous capsizes, while Tasar “Hippocampus” (Mike & Imogen Mansted) was also forced to retire early with a broken mast while actually leading the fleet. It was a disappointing result for Mike & Imogen as this would have been their first race win.

3 single handed Lasers competed in heat 3 of their Class Championship, with only two finishing. 1st placed Laser, “Siesta”, had a very close race with “Bluey”, with Gary finishing only 9 seconds ahead of second placed Kate Yeomans. Kate lead for the first 2 laps & showed incredible courage to continue racing despite the strong wind and multiple capsizes.

Racing in the Clubs Summer Pointscore series included 3 Corsairs, 1 Impulse and 1 Access 303.  First to finish in this group was “Swell Lady” (Monique Smith, Deborah Flannery & Craig Foley) .

It was a great day out for Monique and her crew, and one of their strongest performances, as they battled & survived the winds and beat second place Corsair “Peggy” (Josh Ferguson, Tim Molloy & Grant Banning) by 8 minutes.

This was the last race day of the year and the club will now take a break for Christmas. Next race at the Tweed Valley Sailing Club will be Heat 3 of the Northern Rivers Corsair Class Championship, conducted on the 14th of January 2018  Race Briefing will be at 12:00 NSW Time and Race Start will be at 1pm.

The sailing club is in need of volunteers to drive our rescue boat. It’s a fun afternoon on the river and everything you need is supplied. Please contact Club Commodore Bill Fenelon 0411 123 405 if you would like to try out. Boating licence is required.

Likewise, if you’d like to crew or learn to sail, then please get in touch.