Tweed Valley Sailing Club

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

On Sunday, 13th June, 16 boats across 7 classes from the Tweed Valley Sailing Club competed in a Pursuit (handicap) Start Race. The slower boats started up to 32 minutes before the quickest, giving all competitors a chance at being first over the line.

Competitors were greeted on the day by sunny skies. A light East Nor’easterly breeze, an outgoing tide and a staggered start suited those with experience and an understanding of the river.

Phoebe, Ben and Kim in ‘Neil Armstrong’ (Corsair), Rose and Anthony in P6 (Pacer) and James McKay and Ari Manu Gorman in ‘Snark’ a unique home built timber craft were the first to start with Kate Yeomans in ‘Bluey’ (Laser) starting a full 32 minutes later.

Phoebe, Rose and James tussled for the lead ahead of the chasing fleet for much of the three-lap race. As the race progressed, it became clear that round-the-world sailor Andy Lamont in ‘Monopoly’ (Corsair), father and son team Adam and Zack Andrewartha in ‘No Sweat’ (NS14), club enthusiast and hardworking volunteer Craig Foley and crew in ‘Gidget’ (Corsair), and acclaimed sailor Kate Yeomans in ‘Bluey’ were all sailing well and moving up through the pack.

Competition was closely fought but in the final throes enthusiastic onlookers watched on as ‘Monopoly’ with Andy Lamont, club regular Maddie Lyons and Justin Harman who had come all the way from Lismore for the race, came through for a win, followed by Andrew and Zack Andrewartha in second. In third place was Dave Robinson in ‘On and Off’ and in fourth was the ‘Snark’.

Next, In a flurry of finishers was Bluey’, ‘V2.5’ Mauri Meyer, ‘Neil Armstrong’ and ‘Rolling Stone’ Monique Smith.

Results are here.

Overall, the day was deemed a success by all.

Meanwhile, our Catamaran sailors were at the Gold Coast Catamaran‘s Bad News Regatta, held at the Alley in Currumbin. A great fleet size but day two was cancelled due to the lack of wind.

See you in two weeks time.

Matt Andrews