Tweed Valley Sailing Club

This past weekend 3 members (named Tweed By 3), – the 3 Ms – Maddie, Mel and Mon, representing Tweed Valley Sailing Club, headed to the Mooloolaba Women’s Keelboat Regatta (now in its 3rd year), sailing Elliott 6s.

Maddie, Mel and Mon participated in the Women’s Skills Development Program at Mooloolaba YC with coach Kristen Davidson to learn to sail the Elliott 6s.

Friday morning was a much-needed training session (we have only sailed altogether once before in a previous spinnaker lesson held by Mooloolaba YC), with 5 “practice” races with 4 teams that afternoon, for “The Battle of the Bubbles”. The wind was approx. 9 knots E. Our claim to fame was winning the 1st race! To obtain another point overall, any boat could turn their boat into the wind and reverse the Elliott over the finish line and complete it within 2 minutes. In one race we were coming last and pulled the reverse finish off well! Overall, we came 3rd. The other teams on Friday were from Mooloolaba YC (having the advantage of knowing the river so well), including Olympian for Canada, Danielle Kennedy. This is Maddie’s first time as skipper, with Mel on jib and Mon on the mainsail.

On Saturday, with very little wind (and building for the afternoon), we spent 40 minutes on the water, waiting for the wind to come up and the first race to start. Minutes from the first warning signal “lockdown” was announced – THE END! We were advised to return to shore where we de-rigged, debriefed and were sent packing to beat the 4 pm lockdown.

The regatta has been rescheduled for the weekend of 30 October, so we are very keen to improve, especially our spinnaker work – does anyone have a spare Elliott we can train on?

Stay safe and Covid free!

By Mon and Maddie

Our Sunday racing was split between Queensland boat meeting at Lake Orr in Varsity and the NSW Boats staying at Fingal. As a result, we’re lucky enough to have two write up’s from Sunday. The NSW team do need to work on their photos, though, as none were supplied!

NSW Report

With the Queensland members of the club deciding that caution was the better part of valour and choosing to stay north of the border, a reduced fleet gathered at Tweed Valley sailing club on Sunday the 23rd of July.  Twelve boats and crew from the southern side of the border sailed a race from the clubhouse ^{(clubhouse???)} at Fingal head to a mark just shy of the Chinderah pub and back again.

A beach start meant a very tight pack left the Harbour together.   The winter westerlies and a run-out tide quickly spread the fleet as only two boats managed to get through a big hole in the breeze adjacent to the wharf at the golf club. John Haywood, Gail Bernet and Deb Beard in Capers squeezed through the hole first, closely followed by Matt Andrews and Kat Barwick in Paper Plane while the rest of the fleet was left wondering what they had done wrong.

Paper Plane and Capers engaged in some close racing as they approached the M1 bridge. While holding a close eye on their competition, the crew of Paper Plane tried to see what would happen if they hit a red channel marker in a small timber boat. The water Police then decided to see how close they could get to a Corsair without ramming it.  We don’t know what “Old man of the sea” John Haywood said to them, but the cops certainly left in a hurry.

The rest of the fleet turned for home with the leaders, and together the fleet raced in a tight pack again.   The three lasers with Karen, Kynan and Doug all had a go at leading, and the Corsair “Nimbus” with spinnaker flying also challenged for the lead.  But it was a day for the thinking sailor, and John and his crew again made their way to the front just in time to sail into the harbour for a deserved win with Paper Plane second and Karen in her Laser coming in for a very close third place.

It wasn’t the same without the QLDers, and we sincerely hope they will be able to join us for more winter racing in two weeks.

Stay well and sail well.

Matt Andrews

Queensland Report

TVSC members living north of the border met up at Lake Orr for some informal racing in shifty westerlies.

There were 6 boats – three classic Corsairs, Igor on his Hobie 14, Andy with his Laser and a newcomer, Alfie, with a Spiral. There were also 6 vans – Andy’s very black Mercedes, Jason’s very big Renault, Igors very little Caddy, Craig’s lost in Transit and 2 wise women going with trusty Toyotas… and Mark still drives a Camry!?

Jason had Dasha crewing again on Epic and newcomer Kanisha Bruce. Great to see Debbie Jones back on the water crewing with Mark on Keenas and also Byron sporting a new pair of wetsuit pants and opting for a more conventional boat entry technique this week. I left my Laser at home and still managed to be late but in time to jump on Corsair Gidget with Craig and Kate Ausburn. It was rather confusing but we settled on Kate 1 and Kate 2, Kate 1 being the one closest to the bow as we changed positions a few times just because you can in a Corsair. 

Zac and his son Finn kindly turned up with a tinny to be our start boat.  The big challenge was deciding which buoys to use. The lake has lots of them in long lines, mostly orange but the odd white one is thrown in. They are used by folk that choose to sit facing backwards in their boats, obviously, so they don’t hit each other.  A very wise decision was made to go port around the furthest buoy and return to keep it simple.

Relaying the course whilst on the water was also challenging in the blustery conditions. It wasn’t hard to spot the start boat as it was the only tinny on the lake although they were using fishing rods instead of flags. Andy was braving the conditions in the full rig but headed back to the beach just before the start with a sore back, later mentioning a Radial might be a good rig choice in those conditions.

The 3-minute call was shouted out and missed by most of the fleet but then Zac’s impersonation of a hooter left no doubt that the race had started although the fishing rods didn’t come down.

I don’t remember much of the race after that as Craig was giving lots of helpful instructions to Kate 1 and Kate 2 and I was getting very confused. I did know the question “What are you doing down there??” while we were going upwind in a decent breeze was clearly for me sitting in the bottom of the boat but I didn’t really have an answer for it.  It was good sailing and we all got up and around the last buoy and back to the line although the tinny was gone, perhaps in search of a better fishing spot.

We did a couple more races with one boat electing to park on the rocks for a rest, an Epic feat really, and some fast reaching legs too before calling it a day. It was a good training session and no one went swimming.

Drinkies entertainment was a singalong with Craig playing his new keyboard, raising the bar for the next Harwood regatta.

 Kate1..or 2😊

TVSC held the third of their Winter Series pursuit races on Sunday the 11th of July. The promise of a strong wintery southerly brought out the best and sometimes the worst in a fleet of 18 boats that made the start. The added challenge of a beach start made for some creative methods of exiting the harbour. Igor Prado made his intentions clear early in the race by hopping off the back of his Hobie 14 “Naked” and propelling it out of the harbour like an oversized kickboard.

In our sport, there is no substitute for preparation. Several breakages including a broken out-haul on “Rolling Stone” (Monique Smith), a snapped jib halyard on “Keenas” (Mark Reynolds) and most spectacularly, a broken mast on “Monopoly” (Andy Lamont) reminded us all of this. Monique, Mark and crew managed to limp back to the club to render repairs and continue in the race. However, Andy, Maddie Lyons and Gail were gallantly towed back to the harbour by the rescue boat team. 

First-timers to the club Bob Krojs and Tony Marsh on their Windsurfer LT’s proved to all that it can be done standing up.

Race favourites, Jason Hogan, Alister Greenwood and Ben Jarvis in the Corsair “Epic” sailed well and were early leaders. Craig Foley, Guy Fitter and Alexander Arase in “Gidget”, also a Corsair were hot on his transom and were one of the only crews to set a spinnaker in the blustery conditions.

Our competitors rely on the dedicated race committee volunteers to keep accurate results. They had their work cut out for them on Sunday with a busy and crowded finish line.

Let the records show that Igor Prado claimed first place, Craig Foley and crew grabbed second and the beautifully presented Corsair “Cyanara” sailed by Doug Haig, Allan Tolley and dedicated TVSC member John Hayward came in third. Full results here. John had already spent his morning sharing his knowledge of the wind and waves with the junior members of the club.

Thanks to everyone that braved the conditions. With sailors ranging in ages from 8 to 80 sailing is truly a sport for everyone.

In away news, Peter Fell attended the Qld Laser Association’s Winter All Ages Regatta on the weekend at RQ.  Racing on Saturday was cancelled due to 30-knot winds…. and he had this to say about Sunday.  “This laser person did not sail particularly well and came 15th out of 18 in the Radials. But it was a good day out, 4 races of 40 minutes in 8 to 15 knots of very shifty southerly. A few shifts of 30 or 40 degrees made it hard if you happened to be on the wrong side of it. 49 lasers out on the water, gotta be happy with that!”

On Saturday Maddie, Monique and Melissa had a team training day at Mooloolaba to practice on the Elliott 6’s in the lead up to the Winter Regatta Match Racing weekend that they’ll be attending there soon.

Our regular working bee is this Thursday morning.  Saturday is a committee meeting at the Sheaoak Café at 10 am, all are welcome to attend. SheSails is also on Saturday from midday.  Please register via the website.

For more photos, please check our our Facebook Album from the day.

See you in two weeks!

Matt Andrews

Forty-eight people took to the water in twenty-four boats at Fingal head on Sunday for the second of the pursuit (handicap) start winter series races on Sunday the 27th of June. Clear skies and 10 knots of southerly breeze made for great racing and some new names to the club and on the winner’s list.

Kate Ausburn and her children Charlie and Flynn after completing a sailing course up at Southport took on one of the Tweed Valley Sailing Clubs Pacers and impressed all by completing the three-lap racecourse on the Tweed River. Mellisa Le Roux and Amber Benoit raced an NS14 together for the first time and also made their way around the course with some style.

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After a little confusion around the starting time, the early starters were away. Epic (Jason Hogan), One Too Many (Michael Grace), Impulsive Matt (Mellisa Le Roux) and the two Pacers all came to the top mark within a stone’s throw of each other. It became clear on the first downwind leg back towards Fingal head that the two corsairs, One Too Many and Epic were in for a battle that would last the whole race with the lead changing constantly. There could be no doubt that they would both need to sail well to fend off the fast-moving Lasers of Wayne Culph in Flight V,  Peter Fell in Dread Nought and Lex Branch in Splatter, not to mention the ever-present Andy Lamont and his crew in Monoply (Corsair).

Not all went as planned for some of the chasing boats as they pushed hard to make up some distance. Craig Foley on the corsair Gidget had some spinnaker problems at the gybe mark and John Hayward and his crew felt the cold of the river when they capsized their Corsair Capers towards the end of the race giving the armchair admirals something to shake their heads about from the shore. Club regular Dave Chester in his Hobie 16 was the fastest boat on course, Igor Prado and Anthony Butler in their Hobie 14’s also provided some colour and spectacle in the way that catamarans  can.

The low tide just after start time provided another obstacle for the sailors which often came into play when approaching the western shore with the ever-moving sands of the Tweed River coming into play on more than one occasion.

 Within sight of the finish line Michael Grace was passed by Wayne Culph to win by just a few seconds with Peter Fell crossing for third less than a minute later. Epic, Monopoly and Kate Yeomans in Bluey (laser) rounded out the top six.

Another fun and active day was had by all and we will do it all again in two weeks time. Anyone is welcome to join and perhaps get a spot to crew.

Our Juniors program will begin again during the September school holidays. If you’re interested in joining us for that, then please join the mailing list on our website, to be notified of updates.

by Matt Andrews