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Becalmed Conditions at Big River

It was a very quiet day on the Tweed River last Sunday, with no Sailing boats to be seen, as the Tweed Sailing club members travelled south to Harwood on the Clarence river to compete in the Annual “Big River sailing Club” Regatta Race.

Harwood is a great place to sail; the Clarence is nearly a mile wide and is generally very windy. Sailors look forward to this race all year. 75 boats competed from sailing clubs from NSW and Qld.

This year a reduced fleet of 7 boats and 14 crew from the Tweed competed in a light breeze which occasionally died out completely’ leaving the fleet becalmed. It took a lot of patience; the first Tweed boat took 3 hours and 30 minutes to complete the long course.

Camping is always free at Big River

The best overall corrected time performance from the Tweed came from Kate Yeomans in her Laser “Bluey”, getting 21st out of 40 boats in the un-ballasted mono hull division.

First to finish from the Tweed was single hander, Impulse “Itcycoo” (Tim Brown), beating second place Impulse “Rosie” (Adam Hurt) by 2 minutes and Laser “Bluey” (Kate Yeomans) getting home 3rd, 9 minutes back.

You know it’s light, when thirty seconds before the start…everyone’s facing the wrong way!

The main race as usual was amongst the big Three handed Corsairs. In a very surprising result, Corsair “Minnow (Andrew Jaggers, Tara Beth & Bronwyn Yeldham) got home in front of regular adversary “Swell Lady” (Monique Smith, Deb Flannery & Gary McCrohan) by only 3 seconds in an incredibly close finish, while 3rd was “Keen As” (Mark Reynolds & Craig Foley) sailing short-handed due to a lack of crew.

One multihull from Tweed joined the Catamaran race, Dave Chester in Sledder who had a slow and frustrating day and headed back to the camp ground before getting to the top mark.

75 Boats competed in the weekend Regatta.

Next week the club is back on the Tweed, and will hold the final race of the Summer Season. With the expected return of Club Commodore Bill Fenelon in Corsair Minnow, and International champion sailor Matt Andrews in Swell Lady, it promises to be a closely contested event.

Sailing is a great spectator sport. Come down and enjoy a pleasant afternoon by the river on the Fingal Reach and enjoy the race.

Dave, Gary and Monique at Harwood.
Dave, Gary and Monique.

The Tweed sailing Club always welcomes new sailors and experience is not necessary to join the crew on a Corsair. Crew for the rescue boat, or skippers with NSW Boating licenses are also welcome.

Bill Fenelon TVSC Commodore

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Fantastic Conditions for 17 Boats on Sunday’s Race

What a fantastic day of racing yesterday! The wind started light at 10 knots, but by the finish, gusts were reaching 20 knots with wind against tide for exciting and wet conditions.

Connor at the helm.

The juniors were out in the morning too.

The juniors setting off in the morning.
Briefing time…
Dave and Isaac
John and Saffron
Lex ahead of Scott and Debbie.

See you all next weekend at Harwood for their weekend Regatta.

Beginners and experienced alike are always welcome.

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Tomorrows Race Postponed to Next Sunday

Due to the forecast for tomorrow remaining at over 30 knots, the decision has been taken by the Race committee to cancel tomorrow’s race.

Weather permitting we will be racing next Sunday 3 March instead.

The race will be for the single handers class championships and All Boats Pointscore but as  it will be low tide during the race next Sunday it is probably unsuitable for the NS14 class champ –  open to discussion between the NS14 skippers.

Mark Storrier will be duty officer  – please advise if you can assist: safety boat driver/crew; sign on; timekeeping etc

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Chindy Challenge Proves a Challenge

14 boats competed last Sunday the Tweed Valley sailing clubs twice yearly Chinderah Challenge, racing from Fingal Head to Chinderah and return. A strong and gusty Sou-Easterly breeze tested the crews and several boats were capsized.

First finisher today was Adam Hurt and Tom Busbridge sailing Adams new NS14. Things didn’t all go Adams way, as Corsair “Swell Lady” (Monique Smith, Matt Andrews and Deb Flannery) pushed them hard all the way and finished close behind in 2nd place. Third was Laser “Bluey” sailed by Kate yeoman and 4th was Corsair “Minnow” (Bill Fenelon, Igor Prada and Laura Leimua).

It was a very pleasant afternoon on the river, sailing upstream as far as Oxley Cove into the magnificent view of Wollumbin in the distance. Todays race was completed in record time of 1hours and 50 mins, thanks to the tide assisting boats in both directions.

Next week the club takes a break from sailing and the next Race at Fingal will be on the 24th of February.

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Sailing On Sunday

18 boats competed in Race 5 of the Tweed Valley Sailing Club summer point score series.

It was a long hot afternoon on the river, racing in a strong ebbing tide with a light and fluky easterly breeze.

Starting first today was a Division 1 fleet which included 4 boats. Getting home first in this division was Rainer Glasker in an “Access 303” and second place went to Leyla Scholtz in Flying Ant “Flippant” and third was Tom Busbridge & Darcy Busbridge in a Club X3.

In Division 2, first finisher this week was perennial winner, Dave Chester with crew Isaac Poulsen on a Hobie 16, sailing the only cat in the fleet.

First mono hull was Maurie Meyer sailing a Laser.

This week’s main race was the 3rd heat of the Corsair Class Championship with 7 boats competing in this 3 handed 16ft. spinnaker boat.  

First place was “Swell Lady” (Monique Smith Matt Andrews & Deb Flannery), second was club boat “Neil Armstrong” (Andrew Jaggers, Tara Gough & Gary McCrohan) and Third “Minnow” (Bill Fenelon, Igor Prada and Laura Leimua) and close behind in 4th was “Nimbis” (Scott Jones, Debbie Jones & Zac Riding) . The top four Corsairs raced closely all afternoon and, in the end, only 2mins 30sec separated all four boats.

It was a great result for Andrew and his team on “Neil Armstrong” getting his best result to date and aided greatly by having the experience of Laser runner up, world champion Gary McCrohan as tactician. Also having a good day on the water, another club boat “Capers” (Nicholas Taylor & Craig Foley) got home first but was heavily sanctioned for sailing shorthanded and scored 5th place.

Also putting in a commendable performance was Corsair “Capers” (Nicholas Taylor & Craig Foley) getting its best result ever, actually finishing in front of the Corsair fleet but dropping back to 5th place due to sailing without a third crew.

The 4-race series for Corsairs is now virtually wrapped up with one race to go, “Swell Lady” now being in an unbeatable position with 3 first places. Next Sunday the club will hold its Chinderah Race, starting at 1pm from Fingal to Chinderah and back. This is a great race to watch from the shore as boats will sail very close to the roadway along the Chinderah reach.

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Sailing – they can’t get enough!

The last school holidays sail at Fingal on Wednesday was the biggest yet with over 25 young sailors and the biggest number of teenagers so far. 12 boats took to the water – from classic Sabots with 2 small crew up to 16ft Corsairs carrying an adult and up to 6 kids at a time!

Everyone gets to learn how to steer and work the sails – lots of new vocab and never a moments rest as the crew have to jump around to balance the boat when the wind picks up. All agree the most fun is leaning right out as the boat fly’s along sending spray over everyone. All this with only the wind to power us!

Rigby on the Northbridge Junior and Taj and Sam on an X3

The other popular boat is the Australian made Extreme X3 – a durable plastic hull and various different sail combinations to suit the crew and the conditions. These are also used for Adult learn to sail – and even the experienced members enjoy taking them out when the wind gets up. The team took a break for a sausage sizzle and refreshments and continued on after lunch so the more experienced sailors could make the most of a great breeze.

Brianna, Avryl and their new crew Brylea on the 125.

We also had a few adult beginners come down for a lesson. One of our Juniors Team, Igor Prado, originally from Brazil, was a complete beginner a few months ago and after only one full day lesson from our chief instructor John Hayward  he is now taking out any boat he can get his hands on. The club Laser being a favourite.

The Laser is a single handed Olympic class dinghy with 1 sail – difficult to sail well especially downwind but still a great boat to learn on. You soon know when you did something wrong … as you find yourself swimming instead of sailing, no bad thing on a hot summers day!

John Hayward will be available to give 1 on 1 private lessons from the end of March – contact him directly 0431 025 497 if interested.

Beginners always welcome to come and crew on race days too – email tvscmail@gmail.com for more information. Our next Race at Fingal is on Sunday 3rd Feb – midday briefing – lots of fun to watch too. Do you have a Power Boat Licence? we need Safety boat drivers for February – contact Bill 0411 123 405 if you would like to try out.

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Kamilaroi Visitors to Fingal – Hooked on Sailing!

Last Friday 18 Jan was a big day for TVSC. The morning saw a record number come down to Fingal for a special school holiday Try Sailing session. Teenagers Avryl and Brianna, who learned to sail in Canada, jumped aboard with longtime Teen Squad member Isaac Poulsen on a 125 – enjoying the great breeze and determined to get out on the trapeze wire. Their parents Kerrie and John took one of the club Corsairs out. We’re hoping they come back to race in the Corsair Class Champ on 3 Feb as they looked like they could put up some very good competition. The club Laser also got a work out with Dad Jo Adlard jumping on after deciding a Sabot was really too small – it started to fill with water as he left the beach (bungs missing!). Jo’s confidence quickly returned – sailing really is like riding a bike, you never forget the thrill of a gust of wind propelling you across the water as if there was a silent engine on the back.


Back Right  Bill Fenelon  & Darrel Smith (MBYS) with Beck Couch and Moree Visitors & TVSC sailors.

In the afternoon we welcomed a group of 12 boys from Moree who joined some of the TVSC juniors for an afternoon learning to sail. Five TVSC members brought their Corsairs along and after a short intro to the ropes and cleats and how everything works from Commodore Bill Fenelon they jumped aboard their boats and headed out. In no time they were stearing and working the sails themselves. Every sailing trip needs a destination so they headed to Ukerebagh Island to stop for a cool off swim before heading back to Fingal. Another big day in the their packed itinery. And it was definitely one of the sailing club’s most fun and memorable days, all the volunteers agreed.


Commodore Bill Fenelon greeting Ronald Swan and the rest of the boys from Moree.

Big thanks to TVSC members Craig Foley, Alison Blatcher, Matt Andrews and Karen Vidler and Safety Boats Bryan Townsend and Reg Court. Special thanks to the organisers for the Moree visitors – in particular Beck Couch (Tweed Police Aboriginal Liaison Officer), Darrel Smith (Miyay Birray Youth Service in Moree),Tweed Police and PCYC, Fingal Rovers SLSC. To come sailing on the Tweed get in touch.

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New Sailors Love the Tweed

Did you see the 20 sails out on the river at Fingal last Sunday? That was your local sailing club putting on a great show in their first regatta of 2019. They also ran a Try Sailing event for adults keen to learn or get back on the water, some after a 20 year break!

Byron Bay family Suzanna, Michael & Lucy Murray drove up to Fingal to take Lucy for her first sail. It may have been over 20 years since Suzanna had sailed but as she said “it’s like riding a bike” and they spent the morning exploring the river on one of the club Corsairs.

Just after the start for the afternoon’s race.

In the afternoon 36 crew enjoyed the racing with some complete beginners getting their first taste of how much fun sailing can be. There were 3 class championships running too.

Adam leading Dave

Firstly The NS14’s who were missing a few key players, so there only 3 boats competing. Just back from competing in the NS14 Nationals Robert Preston took out beginner crew Igor Prado and was only 18 seconds behind 2nd placed Dave Robinson with son, Hugh. First place went to Adam Hurt and junior crew Thomas Busbridge.

Line Honours winner, Peter Fell.

The single handed Impulses, with 4 competitors, had Peter Fell visiting from Brisbane up the front also taking line honours in the monohulls in 74 mins. Tim Brown on Itchy Coo was over 3 minutes ahead of new kid on the Impulse block, Craig Foley on “Woodcraft” and Lex Branch on “Splitter” bringing up the rear.

Most of the Laser fleet were missing today – which gave some first timers a chance. Monique Smith, racing in this class for the first time, on Flying Dragon put up a good fight against hard to beat Kate Yeomans on Bluey. Both finishing middle of the fleet. Dave Condor from Byangum was sailing his laser for only the 2nd time did well in the first 2 laps but slipped a few places in the final lap.

Sledder II is looking for friends!

Only 1 multihull raced – Hobie 16 Sledder. Dave Chester is keen to get more multihulls to race against – in the meantime they entertain the rest of the fleet!

Nimbus, the winning Corsair with Scott on the helm.

The 3 handed Corsairs had a break from their class champ series but still had 6 boats racing. Karen Vidler skippering Club Corsair 107 with Rob Shaddock and Marg Walgers, led the Corsairs for the first leg and had a close race with Scott and Debbie Jones on “Nimbus” with ring in crew & sail maker Matthew Andrews from Ocean Shores who eventually beat Karen to the line by only 35 seconds. Karen will be one to watch for the rest of the series.

Karen’s 11 year old son Kynan Luescher also impressed everyone today – stepping up to take the helm of Corsair “One Too Many” with owners Liz and Michael Grace who are still learning the ropes of their new boat.

Melita III leading Andy on one of the club Corsairs.

Corsair Melita III somehow managed to scrape in at third place. This was despite bringing up the rear of the fleet for the first 2 laps and making so many mistakes, missing course marks and a going back to correct, that they nearly decided to just head to the beach for a swim – the river was so clear and inviting. Skipper Alison Blatcher and new crew Camille Lettieri and Wren Mclean got it together for the last lap and just pipped Peter Ross, Christine Martin and Mark Storrier on “Adrift” at the line, so they swapped the swim for the only close finish of the day.

Bryan on the Safety boat, sponsored by SAE .

Our next race is on the 3rd of February, with social sails this Friday the 18th and the following Wednesday the 23rd. All are Welcome!