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Heat wave conditions and conflicting wind predictions resulted in selecting a short course (3) for all divisions. The wind avoided what was predicted by either method and resulted in a good NNE breeze which progressively dropped as the day progressed.
Coupled with the wind there was a large outgoing tide. The pontoon at the club and the ramp were reversed at the top of the tide (pictured).
In Blue Division the final result is provisional and may depend on the outcome of a protest. On the water Flashback then Irukandji and Monkey Business while on handicap Monkey Business, Hasta La Vista and then Tana.
In White Division the fleet was reminiscent of the golden age of GFS Etchells with 4 the only contestants in the race. On the water and handicap results were the same with Forte Forever ahead of Eggshells and then Chloe. Foxy made a good effort without setting a kite on the long run home from Shark Island
In Red Umzimkulu II led the fleet establishing a good margin with Joka making every effort possible to catch up. Paca sailed consistently to be back next. On handicap Umzimkulu from Joka and Flair.
Please be aware of the heat wave conditions predicted to continue for Sydney with temperatures approaching 40 degrees.
Ensure that there is plenty of fresh water on board your yacht.
Avoid dehydration, use and re-apply sunscreen and wear a hat.
Again a delayed start and a short course 13A due to the uncertainty of the various wind predictions linked to the GFS website. The 10 minute delay proved beneficial as the start saw yachts heading for Goat in a nice breeze. However, the rounding at Goat proved tricky for some in the fickle breeze in the shelter of the island.
In Blue Division 1 Irukandji powered away to lead the fleet and finish ahead of Blue Chip and Chloe. Jester was rewarded for a good sail being first on handicap ahead of Blue Chip and Chloe.
In Green Division 2 the fleet made a good start until the Goat doldrums came in to play which allowed some yachts to escape and others to park for several minutes. Peach Teats Velocity (pictured) established a good lead to finish ahead of Gwhizz and Hasta La Vista. Handicap results to Paca from Hasta and Flaira.
Although we are not sailing for sheep stations it was good to see a yacht exonerate by completing a ‘two turns’ penalty after an on water incident. This was much appreciated and would have avoided any possible protest action.
Australian Sailing has announced the 2017 Australian Sailing Youth Team, who will represent their country at the 2017 Youth Sailing World Championship.
Included in the team for the Boy’s skiff (29er) are Henry Larking and Miles Davey (representing Woollahra Sailing Club, NSW).
See previous post success-for-an-ex-gfs-sabot-sailor
This just showed how many races you can have at once Summer Race 6, Mick York Race 4, the GFS Saturday Australia Day race and final race of the Summer Series all in one. Thanks to Harvey Porter for stepping in to do the start and finish duties.
To add to the occasion the Sydney Amateurs Fleet were rounding Spectacle and Snapper Islands and the Middle Harbour Fleet were contesting the Bedlam Cup rounding a mark off the previous Gladesville Hospital at Bedlam Bay. Sure would have been interesting to see some of the Sydney Hobart sized yachts negotiate the narrows of the Parramatta River with a substantially falling tide.
Anyway back to the real world sunny conditions a strong NNE wind gave the GFS fleet a good challenging race. The start from the club was interesting and for the first time in my memory a general recall occurred for the Blue fleet.
Blue sailed course 41 and again the Etchells ended up dominant with Forte Forever, Foxy and Eggshells keeping the same order on the water and in the computer. Series results to Forte from Eggs and Blue Chip.
Green sailed course 39 (same except missing the final rounding of Cockatoo). Hasta La Vista and Tana made a break under the huge party boat that suddenly materialised just 100m after our start forcing some to go under and others above the obstruction. Gwhizz again were powerful and eventually gained the lead to be back ahead of Tana and Hasta. Tana scored a well deserved win on handicap from Gwhizz and Flair. Series result to Paca and Flair (equal) from StarElan (pictured).
Next race is Autumn Race 1 and handicaps revert to those at the end of the Spring Series.
GFS again participated as a ‘satellite event in the Australia Day Regatta. 2017 marked the 181st regatta which is regarded as the oldest continuing sailing regatta in the world.
The results for our races in order first, second, third were –
Twilight Blue Gwhizz, Worlds Apart, French Connection
Twilight Green Tana, Out of Africa, Streetfighter
Twilight White Paca, Joka, Amateau
Twilight Orange Barubi, L’Atitude, The Saints
Twilight Gold Disko Trooper, Gem, Mind/Matter
Twilight Black Soundtrack, Sweet Chariot, Dump Truck
Saturday Blue Forte Forever, Foxy, Eggshells
Saturday Green Tana, Gwhizz, Flair
Sunday Laser Max Effort, Break Wind, Orinoco
Sabot 1 Up Wildside
Sabot 2 Up Sabotage
Medallions were awarded after the various races for second and third places. If you didn’t collect yours they will be in the GFS Sailing Office.
The winners will be invited to attend a presentation at Sydney Town Hall on March 28 to collect their medallions.
The wind prediction from earlier in the week did not eventuate, although the wind was from the south and south east. Course 19 provided a challenge especially with spinnaker runs and the bit back to the finish through Humbug. The 17 Endeavour yachts sailing their State and National titles also made for a bit of a challenge as one of their race finishes coincided with our start with both lines in close proximity.
Blue Division 1 was again a good result for the Etchells with Forte Forever ahead of Eggshells at the finish. Blue Chip were third and the results remained in the same order through the computer.
In Green Division 2 the race proved to be a bit of a precession with Gwhizz leading by a good margin from PT Velocity and Flair (pictured). Paca made a strong run towards the finish. Handicap results to Flair from Gwhizz and Paca.
Next race is the GFS Saturday Australia Day Race – winners of both divisions will be expected to attend the presentation function at Sydney Town Hall. Harvey Porter will award the medallions to the second and third place getters at the club after the race.
The 2017 Australian Youth Championships followed on at the Adelaide Sailing Club from the recent open National Championship with the first day of racing January 11 and the final day of racing to close the competition on Saturday 14 January.
Henry Larkings and Miles Davey, representing Woollahra SC, were again successful (see previous) taking out the 29er class by 3 points from current World Champion Tom Crockett from Belmont SC. 44 boats contested the 29er class.
Of the five youth classes there was representation from all Australian states and six additional nations including Germany, France, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Ireland.
Additionally, the Australian Youth Championships is the final selection regatta for those youth sailors vying for a spot on the 2017/18 Australian Sailing Youth Team.
Results for the 29er Class are here.
The weather conditions again proved tricky to determine and fortunately the breeze came in just in time for the start. The decision to sail shorter courses was made for a number of reasons specifically the uncertainty of the breeze along with the hot humid conditions with temperatures around 30o and the huge run out tide (a change of 1.7 metres). It was too hot to stand on the clubhouse deck without shoes.
Blue Division had a quick race around the Fort and the other islands with Flashback winning both on the water and handicap from Blue Chip (pictured) both on scratch and handicap and Peach Teats 3rd on scratch and Tana on handicap.
In White Division the Etchells were the dominant force with Forte Forever, Foxy and Eggshells on scratch and handicap after a close race.
In Red Division Paca and Joka gained the ascendency and along with Wind Charmer were within one minute at the end. Joka were first back but were overtaken by Paca in the computer.
Good luck to Mike Wise and crew in Barubi and Richard Wood and crew in Evo for the Endeavour Yacht titles at Drummoyne Sailing Club next Saturday and Sunday.
The RANSA (Royal Australian Naval Sailing Association) Regatta will be held on Sunday 19th February. There is provision for up to six spinnaker divisions, a Gaffer division and two mixed non-spinnaker divisions. Starting time will be from 1100 onwards with each boat allocated a separate handicap starting time.
Sailing Instructions will be available at the RANSA Clubhouse and on the RANSA website at least one week prior to the Regatta.
The Notice of Race is NOR here and Entry Form Entry Form here. These are also available from the RANSA website: www.ransa.yachting.org.au.
All participants are invited back to the Clubhouse for presentation of divisional prizes, awarding of the Admiral’s Trophy to the best-sailed club on the harbour and post racing refreshments with live entertainment.
For a number of years, Blues Point Yacht Club has added to its racing program by undertaking an annual cruise from Sydney Harbour to Pittwater. This year is no exception and the Commodore of BPYC, Duncan Veal (who is also a member of GFS), has invited GFS member yachts to join the cruise.
Yachts will begin just inside South Head at 1130hrs on Saturday 4 February and sail to Royal Motor Yacht Club, Pittwater. Berths will be arranged there for yachts staying overnight. This gives access to the Club’s facilities, including hot showers. Informal, pre-dinner drinks are usually held amongst crews on various yachts, followed by dinner at the RMYC Bistro, sometimes followed by informal post-dinner drinks on some yachts (someone once said BPYC is a drinking Club with a sailing problem!). In other words, the emphasis is on casual fun with friends brought together through a love of sailing.
It’s expected that yachts will make their own way back to Sydney on 5 February.
There’s no yacht entry charge for GFS boats for this event. Berthing cost at RMYC Pittwater, arranged by BPYC, is $55/night. All other expenses, including all drinks and food while at RMYC, are at own cost.
For more information, call or SMS Duncan on 0417 942 290, or email duncveal@gmail.com. If you’re interested, please respond ASAP so sufficient yacht berths can be arranged. To learn more about BPYC, see www.bpyc.com.au.
If you are interested in racing in the 2017 Combined Clubs (Balmain, Drummoyne and GFS) Summer Series the notice of race is here and the link to enter is here.
The Series runs every second Sunday and commences this Sunday January 15. There is no cost for paid up racing members of the 4 clubs.
Race dates, Sailing Instructions and other information can be found here.
I apologise for the late notice, but if you intend to sail please enter using the link above as soon as possible.
Henry Larkings and Miles Davey have become National Champions in the 29er Class after a count-back beating current World Champion Tom Crockett and World Women’s Champion Annabelle Davies who were 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The 2017 29er Championships were held at the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron between January 2 and 8. Henry and Miles sailing DAMO finished the 16 race series on equal points with Crockett and 13 ahead of third place.
Miles first learned to sail 7 years ago as a GFS Sabot junior as did his sister Andrea and older brother James. Miles father Brian is a regular Twilight competitor with his Beneteau First 27.7, Amateau.
Henry was a previous State Sabot Champion representing Lane Cove Sailing Club.
Henry and Miles with their 29er National Champions trophy.
As a welcome to 2017, the strong Saturday winds continued.
The course (60) chosen to avoid contact with the tanker started from the deck and proved successful as only the tail-enders had to avoid the tanker as it departed from Gore Cove.
Welcome to Eisen Laing and crew in Clovelly Pacific and apologies that the results placed them in the incorrect division. These will be adjusted.
In Blue Division 1 the Etchells Eggshells (pictured) and Foxy had a great day on the water fending off Irukandji despite their best efforts with a huge overpowered asymmetrical kite. At the finish the three were separated by less than a minute. Spinnaker runs were a challenge with both Irukandji and Blue Chip spearing off in a variety of directions. Generally the fleet were close on the water all finishing within about 7 minutes. Jester sailed well in the strong wind to be third on handicap behind Eggshells and Foxy.
In Green Division 2 a depleted fleet kept relatively close all afternoon. Clovelly Pacific led for most of the race grabbing the lead soon after the start. Paca and StarElan battled closely on the water and Dreamer wound up to return back behind Clovelly Pacific. StarElan broke away from Paca to finish third. Provisional handicap results to Flair from StarElan and Paca.