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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!

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Christmas Party and Winter Series Presentation

There was no racing scheduled on the Tweed River last Sunday, but several boats went sailing and took people for rides.

The club held its Christmas party and Winter series presentation.

The Tweed Valley Winter series commenced on the 20th of May and concluded onthe 19th of August which consisted of 4 handicap point score racesand 6 short course sprint races

All participants including crew are awarded points relative to the boats handicapped position and these are accumulated throughout the series.

The top positions in this year’s Winter series was shared by 3 sailors, Skipper and crew on Corsair Swell Lady; Monique Smith & Matt Andrews, and Corsair Crew, Marg Walgers.

1st Place Marg Walgers, with Bill and Bryan

This year for the first time the sailing club conducted 6 short course sprint races. Each race lasting between 20 to 30 minutes.

This new format has proved to be very popular. All races score points based on class Yardsticks. Points are accumulated to determine the winners.

Winner of the sprint series was Kate Yeomans on her Olympic Class Laser “Bluey”, 2nd was Lex Branch on Impulse “Splitter” and 3rd Adam Hurt on another Impulse “Rosie”

In the juniors, joint winners were Sid Willis, and Taj Kransna, 2nd was Kynan Luescher and 3rd Hugh & Cooper Robinson who share the crewing job on their dad’s NS14.

Next Sunday, the 16th of December, the Tweed Valley sailing club will host its final race of the year, the 2nd Class Champions heat for 16ft 3 handed Corsairs and 16ft Hobie Cats.

The club expects a very big fleet of Corsairs in this very closely contested series, the North Coast Corsair Championship.

Spectators are very welcome and racing starts at 13:00 NSW Time.

Come down to Fingal Head and enjoy a pleasant afternoon on the river bank and watch the race.

Bill Fenelon Tweed Valley Sailing Club Commodore

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Sailing on the Tweed, Heat 3 of Sprint Series

A reduced fleet set sail at Fingal on Sunday, due to many boats and crews being away competing at Lake Cootharaba, north of Noosa.

16 ft 3 handed Corsairs, were represented with 2 boats, and 3 single handers. Our club performed very well with Corsair “Swell Lady” (Monique Smith, Matt Andrews and Deb Flannery) winning ahead of another Tweed Corsair “Odin” (Daniel Sieders Adrian Dokter Matt) getting second. Racing was very intense between these 2 boats, with Swell Lady winning 5 of the 6 races. The Tweed crew of “Swell Lady” are now hot prospects of winning the Australian Corsair Championships!

Back on theTweed, 10 boats and 21 crew contested the 3rd and final races of the Summer sprint series, consisting of 3 short course races.

Conditions were testing on the river with a hot gusty northerly blowing, which challenged thecrews.

Todays fleet consisted of 4 16ft Corsairs, and a 16ft Harpoon in the 3 handed heavyweight division, 2 NS14’s in the two-handed division and 2 single handed Olympicclass Lasers.

At the front it was a 3-boat race, between 2 Lasers, and 1 Aussie designed NS14.(Northbridge Senior)

Top boat today was Laser “Siesta” Gary McCrohan getting 2 firsts and a second. Pushing Gary very hard all day was second placed Laser “Vickie 2“(Maurie Meyer) scoring 1st, 2nd & 2nd. While third went to NS14 “On& Off “(Dave Robinson and son Hugh) 3rd, 2nd & 3rd.

Maurie might have managed 2 wins today but for a spectacular capsize in the second race, while Dave and Hugh in the NS14 also had their share of misfortune,hooking up a rounding mark and towing it 100 metres up the river, as well as several capsizes, Hugh said it’s was a tough, bruising day!

Mean while in the Corsairs, a very close battle was being fought, but surprise top boat today was new comers Michael & Liz Grace sailing their new boat, “One too Many” with ring in crew Nicholas Taylor. Obviously, Nicholas is a very good sailor as he led the team to score 1st, DNF (did not finish) &1st, a disastrous capsize ended their second race. Next fastest in the Corsairswas “Melita 3” (Alison Blatcher, Christine Martin and Igor Prado) 2nd,1st & 3rd, and third place went to “Capers” (Andrew Jaggers, David Berg and Tara Beth) 3rd, 2nd & 3rd

It was a tough day for top Corsair “Keenas”, with skipper Mark Reynolds missing his gun sheet hand Craig Foley who was away sailing at Southport. Mark seemed to have his mind on compliance issues and not on sailing, and took an unusual 4thplace.

New boat in the fleet a Harpoon 5.2M sailed very close to the Corsairs and was only beaten in one race by 2 seconds.

Next Race is on the 16th of December and is the last of the year. The sailing club is expecting a big and highly competitive fleet to contest the 2ndHeat of the North Coast Corsair Championship. Racing is expected to be intense.With a flooding spring tide forecast, crews will be hoping for a stiff Southerly.

All are welcome to come down to Fingal and enjoy the race and the ambiance on the riverbank.

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Sandy Steals The Show

The Corsairs were out in force again this weekend – this time back on their home ground at Fingal but venturing further afield than the usual Fingal reach. And for a change the aim wasn’t first across the line, it was first to the Chinderah Tavern to get our orders in for an excellent lunch. Eight boats sailed from Fingal and with the big tide were tied up at the pontoon only 45 minutes later. It was the maiden voyage for Corsair “One Too Many” with new owners Michael & Liz Grace taking advantage of a fun sail with other members to support them as they learn the ropes. Michael and Liz are new to sailing but were instantly keen enough to look for their own boat and sons Charlie and Oliver regularly attend Juniors sailing squad sessions. Some of the Juniors were also out sailing today – Kooper Wheeler getting some more practice on the Corsairs & Taj Krasna on an X3. Keep a look out for the bright pink Flying Ant “Flippant”, a donated boat newly restored by dad & daughter team Gunnar & Layla Scholz. These are a great class of boat to be crewed by two 10 to 13 year olds. With a spinnaker and trapeze they’re a big step up and just what the club needs for those who like a bit of excitement.

Gunnar and Layla on Flippant

There are of course many exceptional people amongst the Tweed community and we’re glad it turns out that lots of them love to sail! This week’s shout out has to go to Sandy Sorenson who has been a member of TVSC since 2013 being involved in many different ways from our first women’s learn to sail course, crewing on Corsairs, helping out with timekeeping and now in training on the safety boat. This is all when she wasn’t busy with grand-kids or caring for her partner Jim in his last years. Jim was another great character in the sailing world and helped Sandy restore her beautiful Heron sailing dinghy. It was an auspicious day, 25 November, she chose to relaunch “The Good Ship Lollipop” and surprise us all by sailing solo to meet us at the Chindy. She kept it quiet, but sailing club records do not lie, so a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sandy – you’ve now reached “level 70” in the game of life. Long may you continue to be part of our sailing community and may “Lollipop” take you on many more adventures.

Daniel on the club Laser.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to pitch in, we’d love to see you. Come and have a go at sailing or safety boat driving, timekeeping, restoring and repairing boats and trailers or putting together fabulous post sailing spreads of food… there is always something creative to do – or just chill out on the bank and watch the boats.

Liz and Michael’s new Corsair, One Too Many

We sail next Sunday 2 Dec from Fingal boat ramp – 3 short Sprint Races round the buoys kicking off at 1pm. Contact the club for more info.  Our next social sail Sunday 9 Dec.

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TVSC Competes on the Mighty Clarence – record Corsair numbers

Gary!!!

Last weekend nearly 40 TVSC members, friends and family headed south to Big River Sailng Club’s Bridge to Breakers Regatta at Harwood on the Clarence River. The 10 TVSC boats, including 7 three handed Corsairs, competed in the marathon race on Saturday starting in a moderate breeze and sunny blue skies. An hour later, up the other end of the course, the tide was raging and the swell and wind gusts had picked up. One of TVSC’s best sailors, Peter Skinner from Terranora, on Corsair Epic went for a couple of swims with his crew Mark Storrier & Greg Martin from Uki – they were up and sailing again quickly though. Greg was completely new to the sport of dinghy sailing and loved his wild adventure as did wife Christine and son Konnor also sailing on Corsairs.  As they came to the finish line 3 hours later, the sky had turned a threatening black and thunder rumbled close by.  Most of the boats made it to the finish as the rain started to pelt down but two of the TVSC Corsairs, Adrift & Nimbus, had to pull in to the safety of the bank and were welcomed by local prawn fishermen to shelter in their shed until the storm passed… stories of eating freshly cooked prawns and sipping champagne may have been scurrilous rumour.

Ominous clouds in the distance…

TVSC Commodore Bill Fenelon, with junior crew Kynan Luescher from Fingal and Konnor Wheeler from Uki on Corsair 199 Minnow, were the first Corsair to cross the line in the marathon race. Corsair Swell Lady still managed to finish, and in 2nd place, despite their jib sail ripping off the wire. Deborah Flannery was the hero of the day fixing the sail as they continued to race!

Bill with Kynan and Konnor on Minnow

Sunday saw clear skies again and racing started early getting 2 short sprints in before lunch and finishing up the regatta with another longer race in the afternoon.  TVSC’s Dave Chester on Hobie 16 Sledder flew round the multihulls course beating everyone home on Saturday and did well against the Nacra’s on Sunday too until a freak wind shift stole his lead and left him in last place on the final race. He still took 2nd place in the multihulls. Monique Smith won 1st place in the Corsair Class on Swell Lady with Matt Andrews & Deb Flannery with Bill Fenelon’s Minnow coming 2nd. Peter Skinner, Mark and Greg on Corsair Epic took a hard earned 3rdprize – well done everyone.

Mark with Reet and Craig on Keen as.

As always, the weekend provided many stories to entertain us all at the evenings BBQ and memories to last as we look forward to the next Big River regatta next March. Nothing beats a weekend of camping and sailing adventures with friends to clear the cobwebs before we hit the silly season. The kids had a ball too – lots of space to run around together when they weren’t sailing. It was too hard to leave for some of us so we stayed an extra night but it still felt like the weekend was over in a flash. Come and join us for the next one!

Some of the SYC boys camping setup…buy one get five free???

There’s a lot more photos on our Facebook Page.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to pitch in we’d love to see you. Come and have a go at sailing or safety boat driving, timekeeping, restoring and repairing boats and trailers or putting together fabulous post sailing spreads of food… there is always something creative to do. TVSC sails next Sunday from Fingal – fun sail down to the Chinderah Tavern for lunch and back again.  Start approx. 10.30am.  Email tvscmail@gmail.com or call 0434 982 922 for more info.

Next racing at Fingal on Sunday 2 Dec – Sprint Series first race starts 1pm.