As we are without a qualified boat driver for the start boat some extra additional courses have been added for Saturday Series Races.

The additional courses are on the Sailing – Racing Information page or can be downloaded here – Extra Additional Saturday Series Courses

Please refer to the email sent by the GFS Safety Officer – Peter Hamilton

SAFETY AUDITS will need to be completed and lodged and uploaded to TopYacht with your insurance CoCs. GFS Audit days are scheduled as:

    1. Saturday 16/9/23   Twilight Fleet Day 1;
    2. Sunday 24/9/23   Twilights Day 2

Please complete the Form (available on the Sailing – Racing Information page) and prepare the boat on the day as described in the email.

  • MOB and Life rings etc. deployed in working position;
  • Lifejackets laid out on deck for inspection;
  • Inflatable life jacket survey reports to be available for audit.
  • Anchor visible with chain laid out on foredeck;
  • Fire extinguisher, Fire blankets, sound signals, flares, buckets, knives etc. topside or in cockpit to be viewed and ticked off;
  • First aid kits available for inspection with a quick reference list of current dates for all perishable items

Have the Radio ON on VHF Channel 72 – to be called in for your audit alongside the club pontoon (and allow a radio check).

As the 2023 -2024 Sailing season has commenced please only use the club pontoon before and after races to pick up or drop off crew. Do not tie up there for maintenance or any other reason. It should also be clear at the start and when the finish is being recorded by the starters.

If you change sail numbers from the ones you have listed on your TopYacht entry, please inform the starters prior to the race. It saves a lot of confusion afterwards.

To be regarded as a starter in a race you have to have entered the Series on TopYacht prior to the race.

Let’s get the season started!

CLUBHOUSE WORKING BEE – SATURDAY AUGUST 26

The Club will be holding its annual working bee next Saturday (this has not been held for 3 years because of Covid).

TIME – 9:30 to 1:00 pm

Attached is a list of jobs which we would like to undertake to prepare the Clubhouse for the 2023-24 sailing season.

The jobs are pretty self explanatory and all cleaning materials will be provided by the club.

The largest job will be cleaning and repainting the dinghy racks. We did this 3 years ago but it requires redoing. We will do 4 racks. With 2 people per rack we require 8 people to bring powered or manual wire brushes  to remove surface rust. Paint, turps, rags and brushes will be supplied. Power leads will be provided. Please contact Robert Hale (0425286115) if you can volunteer for this task.  It requires about 1.5 hrs of work.

Pease come down to lend a hand and support your Club so we can be well prepared for the start of the new season.

Regards, Robert Hale

Clubhouse Manager.

Currently there is a development application before Hunters Hill Council for extending Woolwich Marina further out into the narrow channel between Woolwich Marina and Cockatoo and an extension to the west.

Please use this link to view the information which relates to responses to objections from local sailing clubs.

230808_Woolwich Marina_Local sailing clubs_feedback[1]

The GFS committee  has written to the council expressing our objection to the project.

However, it would be good to add personal (not club related) objections and submit these to council.

There is limited time to do this. Closing date is August 16.  The details are below –

Development Applications

Hunters Hill Council

PO Box 21

Hunters Hill

NSW      2110

RE: Woolwich Marina Development – DA 20230094

Before you race in either a Saturday or Twilight series race at GFS you will need to enter your yacht online through the TopYacht Race Entry System (TES).

Once registered you will be able to enter events at GFS and other clubs or regattas.

Each Series must be entered separately –

Twilight Spring and Autumn

Saturday Spring and Autumn

Twilight Summer

Saturday Summer

Down Harbour Series

Please only enter the series in which you intend to sail.

To enter your yacht for 2023 – 2024 – Go to – https://topyacht.com.au/db/kb2/1703  

You will also need to upload your Equipment Audit form when completed and Proof of Insurance

A help page for the TopYacht entry process can be found here: How to Enter a Sailing Event using the TopYacht Entry System . If your boat has joint ownership please read this.

Please enter by (or before)- 

Saturday August 26 for the Saturday Spring and Autumn Series

Saturday September 2  for the Down Harbour Series

Wednesday September 20 for the Twilight Spring and Autumn Series

Saturday November 18 for the Saturday Summer Series

Wednesday November 22 for the Twilight Summer Series

The GFS Committee has been working on a new membership system which will be introduced for the next membership year starting 1 July 2023. The system is called revSPORT and is the same one used by Australian Sailing for all AS members as well as many other sailing clubs. It is a modern membership system that should support the club’s needs for the foreseeable future. We will continue to use Topyacht for yacht details, race management and Persons on Board details. We will also continue to use the current website and review this in the next phase.

 

The membership system will:

  • Keep a record of all GFS members details including payments.
  • Send out reminders for membership renewal.
  • Accept payments for membership and other fees.
  • Provide an online entry point for new members and changing/updating member details.

Membership Fees

The GFS committee has decided to increase  the membership fees for next year, mostly because there has recently been a large increase in the rent charged by the Lane Cove Council for the clubhouse. While this is still well below market rents it does represent a substantial increase. Largely due to Covid restrictions, the club has incurred significant losses for the last two years and the committee needs to ensure it is on a sound financial basis for the future. GFS will continue to have some of the lowest fees and offer the best value sailing experience of any club in Sydney. The fees for the 2023 – 2024 season will be:

  • Full member $520
  • Crew member $140
  • Tender/dinghy storage $250

We would welcome nominations from Full Club members to join the GFS Committee.

As a volunteer organisation the committee is vital to the sound management, planning, ongoing improvement, decision making and organisation of club events. The committee meets once a month on the second Tuesday of the month.

The various committee positions can be found on the GFS website – Contacts or here.

A nomination form can be downloaded here and will need to be submitted to the current club secretary (jtk2900@gmail.com) by July 4, one week prior to the AGM on July 11.

Please be aware that there are signed parking restrictions in Bay Street as well as some lesser known unmarked regulations which are being applied.

For example. recently several ‘offenders’ have been booked for parking with wheels on the on the pavement at the top of Bay Street adjacent to houses number 6, 8 and 10.

The GFS committee has voiced concern with Lane Cove Council regarding the increased restrictions and the resulting lack of access particularly to those with disability permits.

The GFS Prize Presentation is at the GFS Clubhouse on Saturday May 27.

This GFS gala promises to be an event with as much pomp and ceremony as the recent crowning of King Chuck 3 in the ‘old Dart’.

Unfortunately, Bay Street access and restricted parking will  prevent much of the pomp but within the castle walls of the clubhouse there will be ceremony to crown not only trophy winners but plate recipients as well.

Finger food and drinks will flow from the rotunda and the occasion will provide an excellent chance to debrief on the season past, irrespective of winning an award or not.

As the season nears to a close and final point scores are being calculated here are some parts of SI 21 (Scoring) to bear in mind.

Races to Count.
The races to count for each point score shall be determined as follows. If,

– between 1 and 5 races are sailed count all races
– 6 or 7 races are sailed count all but the worst 1 result
– between 8 and 11 races are sailed count all but the worst 2 results
– between 12 and 17 races are sailed count all but the worst 3 results

Club Point Scores.
Points shall be calculated, and any ties resolved in accordance with RRS Appendix A4 – Scoring. The Low Point
Scoring System will apply, except that:

a. Each yacht will receive points equal to its finishing position for scratch results

b. All yachts which start and do not finish (DNF – Did Not Finish) will be awarded –

i. equal points as if the yacht finished one place after the last placed boat for that division on corrected time.
ii. in the case where all boats in a division do not finish (TLE – Time Limit Expires) each boat will be awarded 4 points, see Sailing Instructions 17 & 18.

c. For Series Point Scores, boats that did not come to the starting area (DNC – Did not Compete) shall be scored points for finishing place one more than the number of boats entered in the series.

d. Boats in the vicinity of the starting line but did not start (DNS – Did not Start) will be scored one place after the last placed boat for that division on corrected time.

f. Yachts disqualified (DSQ) following a protest hearing or otherwise shall incur points as for (c) above plus 1 point.

i. Boats finishing on equal points in any point score will be scored as equal placings (no countbacks). RRS Appendix A8 does not apply.

k. Yachts of skippers who fail to lodge a crew list (POB) on TopYacht by the specified time will be classed as DNF.

Overall Point Scores.
The Overall Point Score for Saturday, Down Harbour and Twilight Series is the combined results of the
Spring and Autumn Series, after dropping the worst results in accordance with the Races to Count above.

My name is James Arnold, I am the fleet captain for the Sydney Etchells fleet.

Please be aware that there is a buy – sell  – swap day on the 1st April from 8:30 to 11:30 at RSYS.

For more details, follow the link here

Unfortunately the race was abandoned which proved to be a good call. The GFS committee will always make decisions based on the perceived and expected conditions at the time to ensure the safety of members, their crews and to prevent possible damage to yachts. Furthermore, with the wind from the south and south west the club pontoon is vulnerable to shifting wind directions when crews are embarking and disembarking and tenders are being launched.

Wind at Sydney Airport March 1. Click to enlarge.

I was honoured to be the representative of GFS at the Scattering of Ashes of Rob McAuley on Sunday 15 January.
Rob died in January 2020 but due to Covid, his last wish, the scattering of his ashes off Sydney Heads, was delayed for two years.
On a perfect Sydney summer day his family and friends, including his great mate, John ‘Shero’ Sheridan, left Wharf 7 on the James Craig tall ship for a 4-hour voyage. At 2 nautical miles off North Head his wife Anne and son Cameron and daughter Rohan privately scattered his ashes into the sea.
Rob was a cinematographer, director and documentary film maker. He had crewed on the William Fife 74-foot schooner Astor which won line honours in the Hobart race in 1961, 1962 and 1964. He joined GFS and revived our newsletter and called it ‘Humbug’. Here he raced with a Thunderbird and later an Etchells.
He is best known for 3 documentaries: The Liners, The Battleships and The Airships. These were so good that they were sold to most countries in the world.
Rob filmed the 1970 London to Mexico Car Rally and it was a pleasure to meet a Volvo co-driver, Gerry Lister, who told me that Rob was such a bad driver that they made him sit in the back seat and make their coffee!
There is a short obituary on the GFS website that can be accessed by the Search button and a longer one on the CYCA website.
The best way to remember Rob is by watching the CYCA Archive Project Episode 17, Parts 1 and 2.
John Amos

Unfortunately the mailout of the January Humbug Lite failed. If you are interested you can read it by following this link – Humbug Lite Volume 8 January 23.

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