Archive for February 2016

Details have now been released of the death of a sailor and serious injury to another in a yacht race on Pittwater yesterday (Incident report). This  highlights the need for all of us involved in the sport to be extremely conscious of our own safety and that of our crew and other competitors. We offer heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the victim and our thoughts are with the club which has to deal with the aftermath of the incident.

We sail in a restricted waterway with courses which are often crowded with a variety of different boats from our own fleet and those from a variety of different clubs. Yesterday was a case in point in the waterway between Hunters Hill and Cockatoo Island. We are reminded that we need to give room, and opportunity, for boats to navigate in a proper manner.  The issue of room is vital especially for windward boats in areas of congestion with boats of different capabilities and sizes.

Also, copy and complete the GFS Safety Card (here) and keep it on board and instruct your crew where safety equipment is stored and how to retrieve persons overboard.

GFS Buoy

 

Autumn Race 3 at GFS was sailed in glorious conditions – the 60% prediction of showers seemed way off the mark and a good breeze around 16kts with some gusts up to 18kts made for a quick race on Course 18.

In Division 1, Solitude and Irukandji headed the fleet on the water whilst the remainder kept in fairly close contact.  Foxy, Solitude and Speedwell were the handicap placings.  Well done to the Speedwell crew for coping it sweet after a Port-Starboard incident approaching a GFS mark. They exonerated by doing a two-turns penalty.

Division 2 on-water and handicap results went to Paca, Joka and Umzimkulu II after a well sailed race.

Emergency_Safety_Card

 

 

In light of the incident where a DSC yacht (Hartley TS 16) lost its keel and capsized and now the death to one and serious injury to another sailor during a race on Pittwater, GFS skippers are urged to copy and keep a Safety Card on board.

Skippers should be aware of the potential danger when fleets with boats of different capabilities are sailing in restricted waterways especially when the fleets converge as was the case in the Pittwater incident.

The Safety Card can be downloaded from the Club Documents page on the GFS site or here .

Once again cloudy skies and strong Southerly winds made for an interesting day on the water.  Course 25 resulted in a quick, perhaps too short, race.  Nevertheless, no one got wet nor did any spinnakers get injured.

Speed

 

Solitude led the way in Blue Division and were able to make full use of their asymmetrical kite in the reaching conditions.  Forte and Sweet Chariot tried valiantly to bridge the gap and made a strong charge to the finish with the three of them finishing inside a minute.

 

Eggshells and Blue Chip continued their on water battle finishing within 20 seconds. Speedwell were victorious on handicap from Foxy and Gwhizz.

 

In White Division Evo made a brilliant port tack start and continued to sail strongly for the entire race being well rewarded with the win on handicap.  Paca and Flair had a close race and Umzimkulu II sailed well to bridge the gap after a mistimed start.

RANSA regatta  2016 RANSA REGATTA NOR  2016 RANSA REGATTA Entry Form

A very healthy fleet of 20 yachts contested the race in balmy summer conditions (at last), with the wind prediction ranging from 10 to 15kts and finally a NE breeze.  The actual conditions which met the fleet differed slightly with the wind upward of 15 kts and varying from ENE to NNE depnding on where you were and when.  Several spinnakers bear testament to the tricky conditions.

It was fortunate that we had a Down Harbour event as the waters around our normal Saturday courses seemed to be more crowded than usual with not only the Lane Cove and Drummoyne fleets but also from Hunters Hill who were hosting a NSW travellers’ trophy regatta over this weekend and were expecting over 100 Optimist dinghies.

M Bus

 

In Blue Division there were 13 boats.  Welcome to Paul Glynn and crew in the Davidson 34 Monkey Business who sailed as a casual entry and were very competitive.  On the water result was Flashback from Solitude and Forte Forever.  On Handicap Forte from Saints II and Gwhizz.  The Etchells just missed a clean sweep by about 30 seconds with Eggshells fourth.

In White Division Tana made it back first followed by Umzimkulu II and then Joka.  The positions were reversed on handicap with Joka first from Umzimkulu and Tana.  Paca and Out of Africa were not too far behind.

In the Reds match race Flair was able to just keep ahead of Evo on the work to the Bridge. Then from the Fort to Clark Island and back to the Fort Flair managed to extend the lead.  From the bridge to Greenwich Point Evo narrowed the distance and finally, for once, Flair had a better run through Humbug.

Congratulations to the following GFS members who competed in the 57th Annual Heron Nationals between January 10  and 17, 2016 at Port Lincoln Yacht Club in South Australia.  Special congratulations to Jason and Michael Groves from the GFS competing yacht Aggrovation – trophies for first and sixth. Others were David McClean who is the Sabot captain and, of course, John Veale who is the GFS Treasurer and co-skipper of GWhizz.

Full results can be found at https://plyc.com.au/results/2015/herons/nats/series.htm

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