Entries are still open through the BBSC website with a special offer for any trailerable yacht or sports boat sailors who want to store their boat at the BBSC boat park during the series - $300 including series entry and secure mast up boat storage!

There will be active management of any decision to abandon racing if the weather is unsuitable for sailing. Race briefings will be conducted just outside JJs 90 minutes before the start time for the limit boat for each race by the race officer for the series, John Drummond. If any skippers who are sailing miss the briefing just call John up on Channel 74. Skippers who have entered for the series should email their mobile numbers to John (ullmurra@bigpond.com).

Every winter series race is on a high tide day with the tide times pretty cooperative throughout.

The scheduled start times for the series for the limit boat will be

• Saturday May 20th - 1300
• Saturday June 3rd - 1300
• Saturday June 17th - 1300
• Saturday July 1st - 1300
• Saturday July 15th - 1200
• Saturday July 29th - 1200
• Saturday August 12th - 1200

If a resail is required it will be on Saturday August 26th with a start time for the limit boat of 1200.

The starting offsets for the first race of the series are as follows

TopYacht Software: Batemans Bay Sailing Club - 19/05/2017 11:01:22 AM

RACE 1 Winter Series 2017

Printed on : 19/05/2017 11:01:22 AM

Start Offset Times for Race 1 on 20/05/2017

BOAT	SAIL NO	CLASS	AHC	Time HC	Bt Strt	SKIPPER
North Star	6803	D1	0.617	0:00	0:00	John Drummond
Anembo	A200	D1	0.670	9:30	0:10	Peter Smith
Whitewings III	BCC118	D1	0.670	9:30	0:10	Shane Connelly
Hobo	63	D2	0.677	10:38	0:11	Peter Withington
True North	92	D2	0.687	12:14	0:12	Steve Lake
Vital Spark	1475	D2	0.697	13:46	0:14	Richard Dunne
Xanthia	4536	D1	0.701	14:23	0:14	James Gardiner
Tradewind	608	D1	0.724	17:44	0:18	Allan Rees
Sandia	4179	D1	0.730	18:35	0:19	Tish Ennis
The Shed	3279	D1	0.735	19:16	0:19	Ron Spelman
Avior	2970	D1	0.751	21:25	0:21	Tony Sutton
Jembe	4151	D1	0.800	27:27	0:27	Chris Thompson
Out Wide	4114	D1	0.827	30:28	0:30	Peter Schwarz
Attitude	8150	D1	0.843	32:10	0:32	Simon/John Byrne/Reed
Apostrophe	6007	D1	0.865	34:24	0:34	Tim/David Davis/Mcnichol
Wishful Thinking	6189	D1	0.867	34:36	0:35	Andrew Bain
Shaken not Stirred	007	Magic25	0.880	35:52	0:36	Sonja Gasser
Accolade	M201	D1	0.894	37:11	0:37	Lachlan Brown
Houdini	073	Magic25	0.910	38:38	0:39	Trevor Golding

Remember the course alternates with each race - see the Racing Program on the website and the Winter Series Sailing Instructions in the Club Handbook which is also on the club website.

WINTER SERIES SAILING INSTRUCTIONS CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE

CLUB HANDBOOK LINKS ARE HERE

Note that everyone will need to send their elapsed time to the handicapper at committee@bbsc.org.au within 24 hours of finishing. The offsets will be adjusted after each race. John Drummond will have all the up to date offsets available before the next race.

After each race there will be a presentation at JJs. There will be a bottle of Chateau BBSC wine for the first boat over the line in each race.

April Fools Day was a great day for sailing when the Batemans Bay Sailing Club held the McAsh Oysters Race. Unfortunately there was no joking around for the crew of “Attitude” who discovered a crack in the rig and were unable to start the race. This left a fleet of five yachts. The race was a sternchaser format where the yachts were started at intervals according to a handicap derived from past performances, so that theoretically they would all finish together. Race Officer Dave Magill and his trusty committee boat crewmates Terry Paton and Roger Rowe set a boat end favoured start line. The course was a triangle from near Snapper Island to the top mark at Yellow Rock and the Marine Park middle mark followed by a windward and return leg to Yellow Rock and back then another triangle to the finish.
 
                The light SE breeze forced a 30 minute delay and when the first yacht, John Drummond’s “North Star” started conditions were still building.  The next yacht to start was “Xanthia”(James Gardiner) at 12 minutes, then “Wishful Thinking” (Andrew Bain) at 37 minutes, “Apostrophe” (Tim Davis) at 38 minutes and finally “Accolade” (Lachlan Brown) at 41 minutes. By midway through the race “Wishful Thinking” had sailed through to the lead with “Apostrophe” and “Accolade” both around 3 minutes behind. “Accolade” got past “Apostrophe” on the broad reach from Yellow Rock back to the leeward mark, but was still two minutes behind “Wishful” with a triangle to go. Rounding the Marine Park middle mark with one leg to go to the finish “Wishful” was still over a minute ahead, but then gybed onto starboard towards the north side of the Bay. “Accolade” sailed off on port in better breeze and was further assisted by a veering wind shift which enable her to run deeper towards the finish line. “Accolade” waited until the next wind shift then gybed back on starboard, which forced “Wishful” to pass astern when the two boats crossed paths a few minutes later. “Accolade” went on to cross the line 31 seconds ahead of “Wishful”, followed by “Apostrophe”, “Xanthia” and “North Star”.

Accolades for Wishful Thinking.

 
The Batemans Bay Sailing Club was supposed to hold the 3 Bays race from Batemans Bay to Beagle Bay, Broulee Bay and return. However the rough conditions last week made it unsafe to go out to set marks off Durras or Broulee so a new course had to be found. Captain keelboats Andrew Bain came up with a cunning plan using the waverider mark 4km off Oaky Beach. From a start line in the middle of Batemans Bay there was a short work to the marine park middle mark, then a long work to the waverider mark, a broad reach to the marine park south mark near Black Rock, a fetch back to the marine park middle mark and a run down to the finish at Caseys Beach.
 
Race office Dave Magill and his trusty offsiders Terry Paton and Roger Rowe set a well-balanced line. After a 30 minute delay waiting for the sea breeze to arrive, the fleet of four got away to an even start. “Attitude” (Simon Byrne) soon forced “Apostrophe” (David McNichol) to tack off but then tried to point too high in the light breeze, allowing “Accolade” (Lachlan Brown) to sail over the top of her. “Accolade” led around the middle mark from “Wishful Thinking” (Andrew Bain). “Wishful Thinking” picked up a couple of wind shifts to move into the lead but “Accolade” jagged a right hander near the waverider mark to come right back. The two boats rounded the top marked overlapped with “Attitude” and “Apostrophe” close behind. “Accolade” powered over the top of “Wishful Thinking” under spinnaker to lead around the south marine park mark. “Wishful Thinking” caught back up to “Accolade” with better sail trim on the tight reach to the middle mark where there was nothing in it. “Accolade” did a tight gybe set to keep clear air and managed to eke out a margin of 17 seconds over “Wishful Thinking” at the finish after over three hours of sailing. “Apostrophe” came in 2 minutes afterwards, with “Attitude” a further 45 seconds in arrears.
 
On AMS “Accolade” won by 3 seconds from “Wishful Thinking” and hence “Attitude” while on PHS calculations “Wishful Thinking” had a more clear victory from “Accolade” and “Attitude.

You can download the result of the dredging here:

https:/bbsc.org.au/resources/Documents/1255-06_Batemans_Bay_Postdredge_Survey_6Dec2016.pdf

PLEASE NOTE:

• Changes in levels could occur rapidly due to waves and currents. Extreme caution should be used when navigating this entrance.
• Seabed contours show average depths in metres below Australian Heights Datum (AHD) (approximately Mean Sea Level (MSL)) not clearance depths.
• This survey is not to be used for navigational purposes.

It will be surveyed again in approx. 5 months to monitor the infill.

It was another great day for sailing on Saturday when Batemans Bay Sailing Club conducted the Bengello Plumbing Services Broulee Race. The surf was up on the Clyde River entrance at low tide so the race was delayed for one hour until conditions were safer. A 15 knot south easterly provided a quick race to north Broulee and back. Race officer Dave Magill and his trusty crew of Terry Paton and Isaac Mackay set a well-balanced start line. After an even start “Apostrophe” (Tim Davis) maintained superior height and speed on the first work to lead around the Marine Park middle mark from “Attitude” (Simon Byrne) and “Wishful Thinking” (Andrew Bain). Bain and company did some rock hopping around Burrewarra Point to move through to second. “Apostrophe” managed to carry a reaching spinnaker from Burrewarra Point to the north Broulee mark to extend her lead. “Attitude” was quicker to set her kite on the broad reach from Burrewarra Point back to Black rock and moved past “Wishful Thinking”. “Accolade” (Lachlan Brown) was further back after snagging some weed around her rudder at the start but started to make up ground after changing her reaching spinnaker to her big running kite. She eventually overhauled “Wishful Thinking” on the last gybe before the finish line at Caseys Beach. “North Star” (John Drummond) had sailmaker Adrian Mills on board but still finished well behind the larger yachts.
 
“Apostrophe” lived up to her potential on the day to win the race on PHS. “Attitude” was the fastest of the three Adams sister ships for a well-deserved AMS win. Full results are up on the BBSC website www.bbsc.org.au

Thanks must go to Andrew Bain for putting out the Broulee turning marks and to our generous sponsor Simon Lowth of Bengello Plumbing Services.

It was a great weekend for sailing when Batemans Bay Sailing Club held the Platinum Blinds and Awnings Regatta on January 7th and 8th. On Saturday there was a 20 to 25 knots sea breeze blowing, the first big nor’easter of the season for the BBSC keelboat fleet. A fleet of 8 yachts faced the conditions after “Xanthia” (James Gardiner) was a late scratching with mainsail problems. Dave Magill and his sidekick Michael Reisima set a pin end favoured line. “Apostrophe” (Tim Davis) and “Wishful Thinking” (Andrew Bain) got away the best. “Accolade” (Lachlan Brown) was delayed by a late decision to reef the mainsail  and the close attention applied by “Out Wide” (Peter Schwarz) up the first work to the marine park middle mark. There followed reaching legs to the Chain Bay mark and back to the middle mark, then a work up to the Yellow Rock mark followed by a run to the Wimbie Beach mark. “Apostrophe” had the only crew who were brave or foolish enough to set a spinnaker. They just stayed under control and picked up a couple of minutes in the process. From Wimbie there was another work up to the middle mark followed by a broad reach to the finish line at  Caseys Beach. This was a particularly fast leg with all the larger yachts and the sports boat “Out Wide” hitting 14 knots or more. The trailerable trimaran “Hobo” (Peter Withington) and the more cruisey boats “Sandia” (Tish Ennis and Michael Leydon) and “North Star” (John Drummond) were happy to just get around the course.
 
                On Sunday the fleet was down to five after the forecast of 25 to 30 knots deterred a few skippers. On the day the sea breeze only came up to half the forecast strength making for excellent conditions. There were two sprint races conducted over a windward leeward course set by Dave Magill and his trusty assistant Alastair Brown. These races were over in less than 40 minutes so there was no time to recover from any mistakes. A fluffed spinnaker drop on “Accolade” cost her the first race after leading most of the way. “Attitude” (Simon Byrne) sailed through to win the race in a tight finish from “Apostrophe” and “Wishful Thinking”. In the second race “Attitude” and “Accolade” were very close all the way around the course. This time it was “Attitude” which had a minor crew work mishap on the last rounding, allowing “Accolade” to go on to win the race.
 
                Overall “Attitude” won on PHS in a countback from “Wishful Thinking”. The tables were turned on AMS calculations, with “Wishful Thinking” coming through to win the regatta by a single point. In Division 2 it was “Hobo” all the way. Full results are available on the BBSC website www.bbsc.org.au

It was another great day for sailing last Saturday when Batemans Bay Sailing Club held the third Bay Cup race of the season. There was a 5 to 10 knot easterly breeze which was enough to ensure some close tactical racing for the 9 boat fleet. The course was a triangle from a start in the middle of the Bay to Yellow Rock, Toll Gates and Caseys Beach then a windward leg to Yellow Rock and a run down to the finish at Caseys.
 
Race officer Dave Magill and his trusty offsider Rob Currall set a boat end favoured start. “Avior” (Tony Sutton) was too close to the line in the final minute and was forced over by “Accolade” (Lachlan Brown) so she had to go back and restart. “Attitude” (Simon Byrne) got away cleanly and led early but had to cross behind “Accolade” to clear the cardinal mark off Acheron Ledge. “Accolade” led around the top mark. The next leg to Yellow Rock was still upwind. “Attitude” was higher and faster upwind and got back into the lead, relinquishing it again when she overstood the Toll Gates mark. “Accolade” was lucky to just clear “Apostrophe” (Tim Davis) which came into the mark on starboard tack and called “Attitude” to tack out of the way.
 
“Apostrophe” was able to run deep under her symmetrical spinnaker to take the lead on the run to Caseys. She finished a minute and a half ahead of “Accolade” with a further 3 minutes to “Attitude”. They were followed by the much smaller “Avior” and then by the two cruisiest boats in the fleet “North Star” (John Drummond) and “Xanthia” (James Gardiner).
 
On PHS “Attitude” won from “Apostrophe” and “Avior” while on AMS calculations “Accolade” was the victor from “Attitude” and “Apostrophe”. Division two for the smaller boats sailed over a shorter course. Peter Withington skippered his trimaran “Hobo” to the win from “True North” (Debbie and Greg Cockle) and “Vital Spark” (Richard Dunne). Full results are up on the BBSC website www.bbsc.org.au .

“It was a great day for sailing on Saturday when Batemans Bay Sailing Club held the annual John Boyes Memorial Broulee Race. Cloudy conditions meant the easterly breeze never got above 10 knots. Race officer Dave Magill set a well-balanced start line with “Accolade” (Lachlan Brown) sailing over the top of “Attitude” (Simon Byrne) and “Apostrophe” (Tony Bonouvrie) to grab the early lead. “Attitude” tacked off while the rest of the 7 boat fleet struggled to get clear air on the first work to the marine park middle mark. From there it was a fetch to Black Rock and a beam reach to Burrewarra Point. The yachts set spinnakers prior to bearing away at Burrewarra for the broad reach to a laid mark off north Broulee beach.
 
“Accolade” held a 2 minute lead on “Attitude” at the Broulee mark. “Attitude” gained time by picking a wind shift on the work to Burrewarra but then gave it back when she overstood the headland. She was the first to hoist her spinnaker on the way back to Black Rock, managing to carry it on quite a shy reach. Still “Accolade” led by over a minute at Black Rock. Then to the crew’s delight, “Attitude” ran deeper and faster than her sister ship “Accolade” on the broad reach to Caseys Beach, sailing straight past to leeward. Rounding the reef off Caseys Beach, “Attitude” tried to run square to the finish line but collapsed their spinnaker in the process. “Accolade” put in a couple of gybes and kept the kite flying to come back through to a 17 second victory on line honours. “Apostrophe” followed 12 minutes afterwards. The fading breeze did no favours to the smaller boats in the fleet, with “Avior” (Tony Sutton) and “North Star” (John Drummond) finishing a considerable time later.
 
On PHS “Attitude” had a well-deserved win over “Accolade” and “Apostrophe”. Things were going to be tight on AMS where the slightly higher rating “Accolade” gives “Attitude” four seconds per hour and so it proved, with “Attitude” claiming the win by one second on AMS after four hours and twenty minutes of racing. Full results are on the BBSC website, www.bbsc.org.au .”

The role of the duty boat is now less than in past years.

It may have to contribute 1 crew member to Clarence and if Clarence is unavailable it may have to start the race. The Committee is finalising changes to the sailing instructions so as if the duty boat has to start the race this can be done over the radio with a sound signal as Accolade did last year when Clarence’s starter motor failed. Past experience suggests this will be an infrequent happening.

The Committee has decided that:
(a)  A role of a duty boat should be to start a race when the Club’s start boat or the Race Officer is unavailable;
(b)  the duty boat may compete in the race that it is required to start;
(c)   if the race be a Bay Cup, a course should be chosen from Bay Cup course A, B or L with a start between the Caseys Beach mark and the Caseys Beach Cardinal mark and self-timed finish at Casey Beach, rather than rounding the Caseys Beach mark before the finish; and
(d)  there should be no adjustment of a duty boat’s score for starting the race.

Skippers and crews should read the amended Notice of Race and amended Common Sailing Instructions giving effect to the Committee’s decision. This will be posted soon on the Club’s web site.

A new program incorporating the names of duty boats for the remainder of the season has also been posted on the Club’s web site.

               It was a great day for sailing on Saturday 5th November when Batemans Bay Sailing Club held the annual Lady Skippers’ race. This was a sternchaser start where the smaller boats got a headstart based on past performances. There was less than 5 knots of breeze at the starting line off Caseys Beach. The first boat off the start, “True North” (Debbie Cockle) had only covered a few hundred meters by the time the quickest boat in the fleet “Apostrophe” (Jackie Jansse) started 22 minutes later. “Wishful Thinking” (Julie Phelps) soon ghosted into the lead. The sea breeze arrived helping “Wishful Thinking” and “Accolade” (Lara Phillips) extend their lead on the work to Chain Bay. The next leg was a broad reach to Wimbie Beach. “Accolade” was first to set her spinnaker and powered over the top of “Wishful”. “Accolade” held onto her lead on the last reach back to Caseys Beach to win from “Wishful Thinking” and “Attitude” (Sonja Gasser).
 
                Lara Phillips was stoked with the win but there was little time for celebrations with the Bay Cup race starting shortly afterwards. For this race race officer Dave Magill and his trusty crew Jude Brown aboard “Clarence the Clocker” set an excellent line with a slight pin end bias. There was an impressive fleet of 12 BBSC yachts out on the water. The sea breeze had built to 10 to 20 knots. “Hobo” (Peter Withington) attempted an ambitious port tack start but it was “Avior” (Tony Sutton) which got away the best. The majority of the fleet went left into Chain Bay on the work to Yellow Rock. This was a poor move as the wind was much stronger out in the middle. “Apostrophe” (David McNichol) capitalised on this but was underpowered for the conditions having reefed the mainsail. Shaking the reef out took a long time which allowed “Accolade” (Lachlan Brown) into the lead. “Accolade” extended her lead on the following reaching legs, hitting speeds of up to 13 knots. She sailed conservatively for the remaining windward and return legs to get line honours from “Apostrophe” with a 5 minute margin.
 
                On AMS “Accolade” won from “Attitude”(Simon Byrne) and “Wishful Thinking”(Andrew Bain). James Gardiner was able to get the mighty “Xanthia” moving nicely to win on PHS from “Accolade” and “Attitude”. “Hobo” won Division 2 in a welcome appearance by the popular Witho. Full results are up at www.bbsc.org.au .
 
                The Commodore’s dinner held at On The Pier restaurant that evening was a great evening. Harry Watson Smith gave an excellent presentation full of practical information on making long distance cruising easier and safer. Thanks must go to Simon Byrne for providing the projector and screen and for setting up all the equipment even though he was unable to stay for the function.
 
Lachlan Brown