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

TopYacht Software: Batemans Bay Sailing Club - 10/29/2016 5:56:01 PM

RACE 1 Lady Skippers Series 2016-17

Lady Skippers Race 2016-17

Printed on : 10/29/2016 5:56:01 PM

Vital Spark  - 0:00

True North - 0:00

Start Offset Times for Race 1 on 11/5/2016

BOAT	SAIL NO	AHC	Bt Strt
Xanthia	4536	0.676	0:00
North Star	6803	0.710	0:05
The Shed	3279	0.760	0:11
Avior	2970	0.777	0:13
Wishful Thinking	6189	0.837	0:19
Attitude	8150	0.839	0:19
Accolade	M201	0.850	0:20
Out Wide	4114	0.862	0:22
Apostrophe	6007	0.867	0:22

There was an excellent fleet of 11 boats out last Saturday for the first race of Batemans Bay Sailing Club’s Bay Cup series. It was a cold and not particularly pleasant day, but the 15 knot southerly breeze made for good sailing conditions. Race Officer Dave Magill and his trusty offsider Terry Paton set a pin end favoured start line. The skippers were a bit too eager with about half the fleet over the line at the start resulting in a general recall. This was unfortunate for “Avior” (Tony Sutton) which had easily the best start. On the second attempt “Out Wide” (Peter Schwarz) was away on the one minute signal and never came back despite an individual recall. The rest of the fleet got away cleanly with Tim Davis steering “Apostrophe” to a Mark Richards style pin end start. Further up the line “Accolade” (Lachlan Brown) sailed over the top of “Avior” and high enough to get the gas on her sister ship “Attitude” (John Reed). “Avior” tacked off to the right along with “Xanthia” (James Gardiner) and “North Star” (John Drummond).
 
The first leg was a work up to the Wimbie Beach followed by two reaches to the wing mark at the Toll Gates and hence the leeward mark off Snapper Island. “Apostrophe” led early and was about to sail over the top of “Accolade” approaching the Quarter Deck, but tacked away letting “Accolade” off the hook. “Accolade” then sailed the wind shifts to lead around the top mark. The second lap was a windward and return followed by a short reach to the finish line inside Snapper Island. The Wimbie Beach mark was sheltered from the southerly breeze. “Accolade” parked there while “Apostrophe” found some breeze just off the sand at Surf Beach to sail through to the lead. “Apostrophe” held on to finish 48 seconds ahead of “Accolade” over the line with “Attitude” a further 9 minutes back. The fading breeze was unkind to the remainder of the fleet which finished over the following 50 minutes.
 
In Division One the placegetters on both AMS and PHS were “Accolade” followed by “Apostrophe” and “Avior”. In Division Two (which is for smaller yachts and sailed over a shorter course than Division One) “Vital Spark” (Richard Dunne) and “True North” (Greg and Debbie Cockle) had a close race. “Vital Spark” finished 55 seconds ahead, but “True North” was well ahead on PHS calculations. Full results are available at www.bbsc.org.au. The next BBSC event will be a coastal race on October 22nd.

2016 AMS Handicap ratings can be downloaded HERE.

Thankyou to Terry Paton and Simon Lowth for bringing these together.