With news that Ballina had already cancelled, due to the high winds, it was with trepidation that our briefing went ahead. The wind was averaging 15 knots, but the gusts were climbing to above 22.
In the next hour before race start, the gusts steadily built, so Peter headed out to check the conditions and after two capsizes, came back in.
Peter testing out the sporting conditions.
The breeze picked up to an average of 30 knots with gusts to 46 recorded at the airport, by 1pm…Race postponed to another day.
Sailors getting a birds eye view of the brave few testing out the sporty conditions.
That didn’t stop a few sailors testing out the new Pacers though!
One of the club Pacer’s gets a go in the breeze.
This coming weekend we have SheSails on Saturday and a Race Day on Sunday. See you there!
Tweed Valley Sailing Club conducted Race 7 of its 10th Summer Pointscore series and Race 4 of the Corsair Class championship. Single handed boats competed in race 4 of their yardstick championship. (Race 3 is on this coming weekend, due to it being postponed last year.)
A beautiful Northern Rivers day greeted sailors as they arrived in record numbers, and the weather remained pleasant all day, with sailors remarking later, “it was a great day on the river”.
Sailing in a consistent 10 knot North Easterly breeze with very little tidal flow, twenty four boats lined up for the starters gun, making this the largest fleet in regular competition since the club was founded 10 years ago.
Lex, Mark and Andy round the bottom mark
Joining the race for the first time this year, a group of junior’s sailors raced in 4 Sabots and a Flying Ant.
The starters gun fired shortly after 1pm and boats got away in a tightly bunched group, but jumping away to an immediate lead, ‘super sailor’ Kate Yeomans establish her dominance and was never to be passed. The majority arrived at the top mark at the same time, challenging skippers to get around cleanly, then immediately spinnakers were set on the Corsairs, and the re-organized course allow boats to carry their kites through the triangle, and all the way to the bottom mark, requiring two spinnaker gybes, and making for a very colourful spectacle along the Fingal reach.
There was very close racing for everybody in the settled conditions and nobody got far behind the front boats.
Justin and Craig round the bottom mark.
First to finish was Kate Yeomans in Laser “Bluey”, 4 minutes ahead of 2nd placed NS14 “On & Off” (Dave Robinson & Kynan Luescher) while 3 minutes back in 3rd, family team, Corsair “None the Wiser” (Justin Johnson, Emily Johnson & Eden Johnson). 4th was Corsair “Monopoly” (Andrew Lamont, Maddie Lyons & Amber Benoit de Coignac) edging out 5th place by only 6 seconds, Corsair “Gidget” (Craig Foley, Melissa Le Roux & Calvin Pickers)
In the Summer Pointscore series, (Handicapped) 1st was Corsair “Keenas” (Mark Reynolds, Dasha Zaitseva & Harriet Raleigh) 2nd was NS14 Zazen (Tom Busbridge & Adam hurt) and 3rd was Corsair “Gidget”.
The big race today was the Corsair Class Championship.
This is a scratch race for “One Design” 3 handed Corsair class skiffs, with a record fleet of 9 boats with 27 crew competing.
None the Wiser and Gidget drop their spinnakers.
Top points today went to ‘None the wiser’, 2nd was Monopoly, 3rd was Gidget.
A mixed fleet of Lasers and Impulse dinghies raced in the Single Handers Yardstick championship. 1st in this division was Laser Bluey, 2nd was Impulse “Splitter” (Lex Branch), and 3rd was Laser, “Lizard Drinking” (Doug Haig)
Junior sailing has restarted and a fleet of 5 juniors hit the starting line. Fastest today was Flying Ant “Ant Eater” sailed by Ari Manu Gorman and Yoshua Mahoney , while fastest Sabot was Feb Miles. It was great seeing the juniors competing on the river and it is hoped junior sailing will become a regular feature of the sailing club.
Racing is on (again) this coming Sunday, the 14th of February Briefing at midday, race start at 1pm (NSW Time).
Class Championship Race 4 for all classes except NS14s
One Long Race.
This is race 3, the postponed race from last year.
For our Sunday Event: All skippers, please register and pay online before the day On the day, everyone must checkin at the container for COVID registration. For skippers looking for crew, the event page has a section for you to leave your contact details. There’s also a new page for people who would like to sail, to leave their contact details for potential skippers to contact them.
Again, all of the forms/registrations mentioned are linked from the event page.
People looking to crew: If you do not have a boat organised but would like to crew, whether you have experience or not, one option is to fill in your contact details here. Skippers will be able to see the information and perhaps get in touch to arrange a spot before the day.
Commencing on Saturday 20th February 2021, we are holding our first 2021 “SheSails Sailing 1” (learn to sail) course.
It comprises of 3 x 4 hour sessions over 3 Saturdays – 20.2.21, 27.2.21 and 20.3.21.
I am asking any competent sailor if they could assist for all or any of the 3 afternoons. There is a need for safety boat drivers and volunteers to assist the ladies sailing the club boats (X3s, pacers and maybe sabots, dependent on how many participants we get for the course).
It’s a fun, bonding experience for us all, and we’re doing what we love, being on the waters at Fingal, and sharing our knowledge of sailing.
Please note: None of us get paid and the proceeds go back into the club. We have recently purchased 3 pacers for the club, so the registration from the participants is to help pay for those pacers.
So, if you have a spare Saturday, 2 Saturdays or 3 Saturdays, could you please let Monique know at email address: swell.lady16@gmail.com
Also, if you know of any females who are keen to learn to sail, please send this email on to them.
After long break due to Covid restrictions, junior sailing has restarted at Fingal Head, beginning with a 6-day coaching camp over the school holidays, leading to club boats being allocated to sailors.
15 trainees from the region quickly learnt the skills and are now competent to sail and join club racing.
4 juniors will race in the Flying Ant class skiff.
Edward Miles sailing NJ “Seaforth”
The Flying Ant (FA) was designed in NZ but has raced in Australia for over 50 years. It is a 3.2m long 2-handed skiff, with a sloop rig, (mainsail, jib and spinnaker), with the crew on trapeze. Its high-performance hull makes it a great boat for young sailors wanting experience the thrills of performance skiff sailing.
The FA has a strong nation-wide class association that runs state and Australian championships every season.
Coming up from the Byron Shire, 9 Y.O. Ari Manu Gorman has taken FA “Ant Eater”, and sailing with 11 Y.O. Will Stovin from Tweed, they demonstrated mastery over this exciting boat. Next week, Will takes over another FA and the two boats will race with the adult fleet.
Will Stovin & Ari Munu Gorman in Sabot “Baranduda”
Meanwhile, also from the Byron shire, 9 Y.O. Edward Miles has been sailing the clubs classic Aussie “Northbridge Junior” (NJ) and has mastered this boat. It is expected he will now move up into the Flying Ant and will sail with Ari.
Sailing is a great sport for kids with boys and girls able to compete equally. Kids can start from as young as 7 years old, but must first be able to swim and be confident in the water.
Contact Tweed Valley sailing club commodore Bill Fenelon 0411 123 405
Racing is on this coming Sunday, the 7th of February Briefing at midday, race start at 1pm (NSW Time). Class Championship Race 4 for all classes except NS14s
One Long Race.
Race 3 is yet to be held, after being postponed.
Full details and all registration links are on the event page on our website.
For our Sunday Event: All skippers, please register and pay online before the day On the day, everyone must checkin at the container for COVID registration. For skippers looking for crew, the event page has a section for you to leave your contact details. There’s also a new page for people who would like to sail, to leave their contact details for potential skippers to contact them.
Again, all of the forms/registrations mentioned are linked from the event page.
People looking to crew: If you do not have a boat organised but would like to crew, whether you have experience or not, one option is to fill in your contact details here. Skippers will be able to see the information and perhaps get in touch to arrange a spot before the day.
The Big River Sailing Club is holding their Annual Regatta on the weekend of the 6/7th of March. (On the Clarence river, near Yamba, under two hours drive from Fingal.)
We’d like as many Corsairs as possible to enter, as we’d like to hold a Corsair Nationals during that event.
Skippers, would you please let Craig know that you’re coming and what crew you need?
For people looking for a great weekend experience, the weekend involves free camping on site from Friday afternoon with a long race on Saturday and three short races on Sunday. Lunches, Saturday Dinner and Sunday Breakfast are provided (for a fee) by the club. (There’s no caravan power, hot showers are available.)
As per their last event, registrations are limited to seventy boats.
Whether you have experience or not, if you do not have a crew spot, but would like to crew (and have the stamina for the full weekend!) then please call Craig on 0413 052 898. He’ll see if he can line you up with a skipper.
This week’s big event was heat 3 of the NS14 Class Championship. Other classes competed in the summer handicap Pointscore.
Conditions were very testing and many boats capsized in the gusty Sou-easterly breeze which reached 22 knots. Adding to the problems, the recent rains created a strong current which aligned with the wind, causing the fleet to sail against the wind and the strong tide.
It turned out to be a lovely afternoon on the river. The windy and rainy conditions meant sailors had the river all to themselves. Sailors love windy and rainy!
Two races were held today. Pointscore results are based on handicap. In the Pointscore fleet, there was 4 Lasers and 3 Corsairs & 3 NS14’s. It was hard work for the single-handed Lasers and there were many capsizes
Pointscore Race 1 was won by NS14 “Flight 24” (Adam Hurt & Kate Yeomans) 2nd was NS14 “Impulsive Matt” (Matt Andrews & Melissa La Roux) & 3rd was Laser “Dreadnaught (Peter Fell).
Race 2 was won by Laser “Dreadnaught, 2nd was “Impulsive Matt”, and 3rd was NS14 “On & Off” (Dave Robinson & Kynan Luescher)
The NS14 Class championship was very closely contested. Class Championship races are based on scratch results (no handicap)
Race one of the NS14’s got off to a bad start for top contender “Impulsive Matt” when they mis-read the start signals and got off to a flying start, although one minute early. They were forced to return, finally to start 30 seconds behind the fleet. This cost them the race as “Flight 24” stayed ahead for the remainder and got home for first place.
Race two was a very different story and a 3-way race. “Flight 24” lost time in a capsize and “Impulsive Matt” got the bullet with “On & Off” getting points for second.
The 3 handed Corsairs managed the tough conditions well, and stayed close to the front. Racing was very close fought between the 2 top boats with Corsair “Monopoly” (Andy Lamont, Maddie & John Morgan) getting the bullet in both races only seconds ahead of second Corsair Gidget (Craig Foley, Ella Ekstrom & Patricio Moreno)
Sailing is on again next Sunday (the 17th of Jan) and will feature heat 4 of the NS14 Class Championship.
Sailing is a very enjoyable spectator sport and the club welcomes visitors to watch. Racing can be viewed close up from anywhere along the lower Fingal Reach of the Tweed River.
The club is current in need of a rescue boat driver. Must hold boat license
Racing is on this coming Sunday, the 17th of January Briefing at midday, race start at 1pm (NSW Time).
This is the rescheduled day 2 for NS14 Class Champs and Handicap Racing. If you already registered for this event in the past, then there’s nothing to do. You can confirm your listing on the registration page.
Full details and all registration links are on the event page on our website.
All skippers, please register and pay online before the day Covid registration is now a check in, done on the day, not before. Our website has a check in option in the top menu. Please check in when you arrive on Sunday.
For skippers looking for crew, the event page has a section for you to leave your contact details. There’s also a new page for people who would like to sail, to leave their contact details for potential skippers to contact them.
Again, all of the forms/registrations mentioned are linked from the event page.
If crews can help setup and packup on the day, then that would be appreciated.
People looking to crew: If you do not have a boat organised but would like to crew, whether you have experience or not, one option is to fill in your contact details here. Skippers will be able to see the information and perhaps get in touch to arrange a spot before the day. If you are not a member, then you will need to pay for a sail pass for the day. ($4. Which can be deducted from your membership in the future.)
Racing is on this coming Sunday, the 10th of January Briefing at midday, race start at 1pm (NSW Time).
There’s still two postponed races to be held in the coming weeks, but this race was already scheduled.
Three Handicap Races and NS14 Class Championship Day 3? (Day 2 will come later – existing registrations for that will stay.)
Full details and all registration links are on the event page on our website.
All skippers, please register and pay online before the day Covid registration is now a check in, done on the day, not before. Our website has a check in option in the top menu. Please check in when you arrive on Sunday.
For skippers looking for crew, the event page has a section for you to leave your contact details. There’s also a new page for people who would like to sail, to leave their contact details for potential skippers to contact them.
Again, all of the forms/registrations mentioned are linked from the event page.
If crews can help setup and packup on the day, then that would be appreciated.
People looking to crew: If you do not have a boat organised but would like to crew, whether you have experience or not, one option is to fill in your contact details here. Skippers will be able to see the information and perhaps get in touch to arrange a spot before the day. If you are not a member, then you will need to pay for a sail pass for the day. ($4. Which can be deducted from your membership in the future.)
