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June
25 2009 Tonight the old kitchen is being demolished in preparation for a new modern kitchen to be installed. Troy will call for assistance when it's needed. Your help will be appreciated. Don't forget the AGM is on the 9th August at 1330 hrs. All members should attend as there are many issues to discuss. All nominations for office should be made before the meeting and handed to Bill or Troy. Remember, all positions are voluntary, you won't be press-ganged, so don't let that stop you from attending. Brass Monkey Regatta June 6-8 2009 BMR photos - click here! WOW, what a weekend! That's how I started to describe the aussie day weekend with the Spirals Nationals and Heron States together on Tuggerah Lakes, so how do I describe the weekend just gone? Well i suppose i can start by saying thankyou to every one who helped to turn out what can only be described as a fantastic weekend. A HUGE thankyou has to go to the canteen volunteers, these great people kept everyone well fed with warm food and drinks all week end. Between Julianne and Lois they put in about about 60hrs and that's just at the clubhouse, let alone the prep work before even showing up. Barry Smith even jumped in to give a hand on sunday and monday. Thanks to my father keith and Sharon Kakato who helped on sunday and to my wife Sharon (the sailing widow) who helped on sunday and monday. To Louise Becker for jumping in and giving a hand and Barnacle Bill who made that fantastic soup. To the brekky crew of Brett Holly and Garry Robinson a big thankyou as well. To the crew out on the water and people who helped out on shore a thankyou is extended to you all. To our commodore Neil (the joker) who along with John manned the alison all week end. John who got to the club early to help get all boats and buoys ready. To Danny, Barry, Rimmo, Brandon T, Richard and Tony K who manned the tuffy a huge thank you as i know it isn't the most weather protected boat and the wind was like ice, thanks again. To Anthony who helped on the start boat on saturday and then on norah homes sunday and monday. To young Brandon Becker who once again put his hand up to do anything and everything he could to help, this young fellow has restored my faith in the youth of today and his mother must be so very proud of him. To Craig who could only give a hand on monday, his only day off for the week end. and lastly thanks again to Barnacle Bill who helped cart buoys and help out on the water (in his own boat), thank you. To be told by most people who attended that they had a great time and that toukley put on the best regatta they have attended in along time goes along way for me and all the helpers over the weekend. We had 70 boats registered plus the international canoes of 9 and on saturday i think there was 64 on the water. To see that many boats going around the wing mark together was a spectacle to watch. The format on the weekend i think worked well and with some fine tuning could be used again for other regattas. Congrats go to young henry makin who took out the junior division with 6 1st places (he had to drop a 1st). Our juniors are growing in numbers all the time and i feel very proud to see toukley sailing doing so well. To Arie in the mono's who only sailed on saturday but came home with a 5, 2, and a 1st which placed him at 15th out of 29 mono's, the most i can recall at the club for many years. To all the competitors who braved the conditions i extend a congrats. It's because of you sailors that we do what we do and i enjoy being a part of the team who brought this together for you all. Thank you to the IC association for giving us the opportunity to host your national championship. I hope we lived up to you expectations and that you all will come back for more racing in the future. thank you troy bennett toukley sailing club president As an outsider I would like to give a big thank you back to Troy who was seen opening the gate at a 1/4 past 6 in the morning and not leaving till well past 8 each night. Your organisation and the work that you did was the back bone to what was a fantastic weekend for those of us lucky enough to go sailing. Thanks heap mate! Brett Holly NSW Contender Association Sunday 3 May 2009 Funny weather today — not much wind to start with, then a nice breeze for an hour or so then back to a drifter for the last triangle. Enough wind at the middle distance for a gust to blow Kershy and Matthew over. Skinny buggers didn't have enough weight or wind to lift them out again. Thanks Anthony for the little assist. The juniors had a ball as usual, Garry's boys in their new Sabots, and Tayhla out on Gaz's trapeze, even down-wind — she loves it. Barry was out in his new kayak checking us out, he was faster than most of the sailboats. The results over the line, briefly, were: Big Cats 1. Garry Robinson and Tayhla, 2. John Kersh and Matthew, 3. Tony Kros and Chris Blackwood, 4. Lawrence, 5. Stan Dixon, 6. Jonjay and Darryl. Fourteen ft cats 1. Aaron Robinson, 2. Danny NYF (not yet finished) Monos 1.Greg Roche MG, 2. Adam 505, 3. Grant Makin, 4. Neil Bowles Juniors 1.Henry, 2. Jarred, 3. Jordan, 4. Nick. Well done everyone. Don't forget Presentation Day 17 May. Also on next Sunday 10 May The Annual Ocean Trip will commence at Cabbage Tree Bay around 10.00am. Barnacle is bringing his boat as support. We will probably go up around Birdie Island for a bit of adventure. All sailors welcome. Sunday 19 Apr 09 Windy — all the adults (except Troy) stayed on shore. The kids, well they attacked it head on with Chris and Aaron taking the Gwen 12 out to the delight of everyone in the clubhouse cheering as they tried to set the spinnaker in 25 kts and put it in the drink. Jarred after a 10 minute false start and a rig adjustment took off in his new sabot Black Diamond and had a blast as did Henry in his sabot and Grant on the laser. Troy blasted around in a Spiral then Aaron took it out, after getting hit by the squall of the day and bouncing down the lake came up with a broken mast then had to endure "the tow of shame" back. But credit to all those that sailed 25 to 35kts it showed great skill well done guys. Garry The juniors showed us all up again yesterday being the only ones to have the b...s to go out in that southerly yesterday. Andrew and myself took out the Vagabond, Brandon took out a Spiral with his mate Cain, Aaron and Chris took out a Gwen12, Grant had his dad's radial laser, Henry took out his Sabot and Jarred Robinson took out their new Sabot. I also went for a run on Anthony's Laser, what a blast they are in a good blow (have sore stomach muscles now). Troy  Sunday 12 Apr 09 I (Danny) wasn't there today, but Garry has told me this: Hi! You missed a drifter, but Leah took great photos of us as we passed her and Troy. This was in about 3 knots. I was practising reducing the wetted surface. The race was shortened to a triangle/sausage. Still took 2 hours. Kershy snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. After a 30 second lead at the bottom mark, I got him at the very end. Aaron was the only 14. The Juniors had fun — after starting 5 minutes after us they were only about 10 seconds behind me at the first mark, in their Sabots! See ya, Garry One of Leah's photos is on the Homepage. Next week is the 6th heat of the Club Championship. Sunday 5 Apr 09 Excellent sailing today for the twenty-three skippers who made the start. The breeze built up nicely as usual from the NE to make near-perfect sailing conditions. Steve Halliday was on his new (for him) Hobie 16 with his son Nathan but by the time they made it to the start the trampoline had let go as the stitching disintegrated. He kept going for a while but in the end had to pull out as Nathan was in danger of disappearing into the water. Lawrence had a big spill and DNF. Big ask for a skinny guy one-up on an H16. Bill King also had his H16 and did pretty well for a first outing, not being a skinny guy. Ian Marko graced us with his Mojo and was only 30 seconds behind Darcy at the end. Aaron did really well on his Maricat just beating Chris who was using Rimmo's sail in preparation for next week's School Championships. Watch this space. Jason was up there with Darce and Ian, champion that he is. Garry on his Taipam just held off Kershy's H18 in an exciting finish. Barry continues to do well with his new jib on the Taipan, beating all the Hobie 16s. Grant on his Laser also is doing well, beating Neil's Spiral home by 10 minutes. Progress results of Series 3 pointscore are on the clubhouse noticeboard (opposite the door). Results over-the-line look like this:
Sunday 29 Mar 09 Sixteen starters today, for some reason only two fourteens, and a nice breeze building all day to 10-12 same as last week. Everybody swapping boats or changing them makes for an interesting report. Kershy and Leah same as usual, but Mick Pitts and Aaron Robinson sailed Jonjay's H18, while JJ crewed for Darryl on the other H18. Chris Blackford skippered Tony K's Taipan while Tony crewed for him. Leah, if there are errors here, just hit that bottom button on the left and let me know. Barry stuck a jib on his Taipan today and went from the usual back of the field to an amazing 3rd place ahead of bigger craft. Danny also wore a jib and made a brilliant 2nd place, only 22 minutes behind the only other 14, Darcy. Race results past-the-post :
Sunday 22 March 09 Perfect days like this one can't last, so we're making the most of them. Twenty-one skippers signed on to do battle in a breeze that kept building all day to a handy 10-12 knots. Good to see Troy out on his own boat, ably supported by his son Andrew, aged 7. Andrew's big sister Maddy was also out on the water crewing for Darryl on the big Hobie. Also back are Adam and Ryan on the 505 16' skiff to clean up the monos. Results over the line were:
Sunday 15 March 09 Seventeen boats were out there today in what eventually turned out to be a very nice breeze for sailing. The Club Championship points table is not quite ready yet but we're working on it. As mentioned on the homepage, Kershy and Leah took out the H18 Victorian Championships last weekend. Well done! Results for today (on the water):
Wednesday 4 Mar 09 A word from our president: Hi all, just a quick couple of things before this weekend come around. 1/ the next scheduled meeting to discuss costs of reno's is on 10th march at the club house @ 7.00pm and all are welcomed. 2/ bill has not been to well and although he said he would be ok for sunday, if i could get a volunteer to help him on the start boat then that would be great. i know it a club champ race and the volunteer would get given a third place. for those of you that couldn't be there last sunday sorry to say you missed a cracker of a race, not that the wind was up but a nice close race. this sunday forecast sound to be even better (so far). check out the results from last weekend. A nice spread of different fleets with still 20 boats competing. Maybe the few who haven't been there for various reasons can find the time to drop in for a race/chat. troy bennett Sunday 01 Mar 2009 After a quiet start the breeze picked up to give us a beautiful sailing day for the eighteen starters, on all types of boat. Chris Blackford and Aaron Robinson sailed Troy's H16, only tipped over once, and Garry, after tearing his tramp on the Taipan last week, sailed Aaron's Maricat, and very well too. Stan sailed his H16 one-up, as did Lawrence on his H16. Darcy skippered his Windrush, now sloop rigged, to a very good win, ahead by 12 minutes from Garry. Darce was on the beach pulling down his sail before Kershy crossed the line. Will and Chas Yeadon took the Calypso out for a try - just the day for it. Junior Brendan Becker had his first day racing on his own. Not a bad effort, completing one triangle. Grant and Henry Makin competed in the Monos, as they are too good for juniors. Results across the line as follows:
Sunday 15 Feb 2009 After the recent heatwaves, it was hard to accept cool temperatures, driving rain and generally yukky (to use a technical term) weather for our Marathon today. Quite a few of our fleet were elsewhere competing, and only three boats turned up here but the prospect of sailing was not the least appealing, with very little wind up our end of the lake, so we gave it a miss and concentrated on planning our renovations to the clubhouse. Many projects are contemplated, including renewing the verandah, re-modelling the kitchen, sanding and polishing the floor and installing a new barbecue with its own flue. Re-wiring the electrics is necessary, and the kitchen will have new benches and cupboards. Next week is a normal pointscore race so we'll see you then.  Sunday 9 February 2009 Last Sunday saw some pretty good wind turn a little nasty. Only boats to venture out were Grant and Jarrod on a hobie hawk, Henry and his mate on a 4.7 laser rig, Terry Watts on a spiral and myself on a radial laser. I later swapped with Grant and Jarrod. What a blast the lasers and spirals are in big wind! Anyway next weekend's weather is going to be kinder to us. Next Sunday is a marathon around the lake and hopefully we will have some favourable weather this week. See you all at the club on Sunday! Regards Troy Sunday 1 February 2009 Club Championship 4th Heat Big Cats: Garry Robinson 1st, John-Jay Kersh 2nd, John Kersh 3rd, Tony Kros ... Fourteens: Jason 1st, Darcy 2nd, Geoff 3rd. Funny stories: Christopher's rudder broke off the Maricat beofore the start. After Garry and Jarred finished, Jarred fell off the side during a big hull-fly so Gaz did a swan dive into his mainsail. Explanation about Championship rules (from Bill) — To discourage skippers trading up to better boats, all champ points must be won on the same boat. President's Message 27 January 2009 WOW, what a weekend! Spirals Nationals and Heron States together on Tuggerah Lakes — it looked impressive to see that many boats on the water at the same time. Firstly I must give a big THANK YOU to Julie-Anne for going the full 4 days in the canteen and organising all that and the bbq on Saturday night as well. To the other canteen helpers, Jill Makin, Sharon Bennett and Louise Becker a big thank-you as well. A thank-you also goes out to Lois Smith for offering her services even though she had a leg operation only on Thursday, get well soon. Thank you also to Brendon Becker and Terry Watts who turned up every day and even though not rostered on, still gave a huge hand whenever needed. Thank you to Anthony Makin who handled the club captain issues on Friday in my absence. Thanks also to the various boat crew who helped over the week end especially to Terry Makin and John Rayner who took care of the Alison launch and the fuelling of all craft the full four days, Garry Robinson who showed up for three days and supplied his own boat and fuel (we owe you a tank or two). Richard Campbell and Tony Kros who gave up their Friday when coming off night shift and then sailing for three days at Manno, I thank you both. To Craig Hair and his kids who helped both onshore and on the starting boats, Tristan and my Andrew were kept busy emptying the garbage bins all the week end, Bob Lockley, Brandon Tein, Glenn Bond, Geoff Solomon, Arie van Spronssen and of course Bill Cheal. The week end was a huge boost to the club because of all these people and probably more that I have forgotten about at this point in time (sorry). I must also thank Travel World Lake Haven for their kind donation and Bias Boating Tuggerah for the new bouys and gift voucher. Neil Bowles said they are that big that he lost the wind for 5 min when he went to round them! Congrates to Neil and Grant Makin who competed in the Spiral nationals. Neil only got through Friday and got banged up very badly (well he is only 80 yo) and Grant placed in the twenty somethings, a big effort for his first nationals and at only thirteen years old will be a very successful sailor in the future I'm sure. A big congrats to Jarred Robinson who sailed as crew on a Heron and finished in the top five (third I think). Well done and I believe he has already been booked for next year. Keep it up. Will see you Sunday. Troy Sunday 11 January 2009 Another near perfect sailing day - warm, sunny, windy... Twenty-one skippers lined up on all sorts of craft. Tony Kros on his beautiful 4.9 Taipan tried out new Dacron sails today, almost too much in this breeze - more practice needed. Richard is going well on his new Mari, Darcy's old Sandwich Action. He has to learn this boat too but is looking good for some good results in future. Geoff went out on Darcy's Yella Terra with the 5555 sail and managed to rip off one of the rudders - broke it clean in two. Oops, sorry Darce! Darcy went out on Geoff's Windy and dominated - what a legend! Brandon couldn't find his sailing clobber so started a leg behind but still managed to catch Robert. Barry Smith took his Maricat out for the first time, but in the blowy conditions the boat backed over the tiller extension and broke it off. Never mind Baz, try again next week. Kershy and JJ had a late start due to family commitments so ran out of time to finish, letting someone else have a win for a change. Garry and Jarred had a great tussle with the boys Jason and Chris campaigning Steve Relative's good H16, but the Geronimo is very fast. Craig's going well on the new Hairball H18, finishing without grief. Tristan was keen to let 'er rip! Tony Toohey's mast said 'Auf Wiedersehn' to the Maricat which is never a nice experience. Perhaps it might be better to call the boat 'Hang in There', or 'Keeping it all Together', eh Tony? Stan and Brandon failed to sign on and so will lose 3 demerits. Other monos/juniors who DNF were Henry (boredom), and Terry who didn't finish the course. Line results as follows:
Sunday 4 January 2009 What should have been a perfect sailing day was spoiled by too much of a good thing (wind). Quite a few boats turned up but some were unwilling to risk the stiff NE breeze. Those who did get out on the water included a few who turned straight around and came back in when the strength of the wind became apparent. With a North-easterley at Canton you can't really tell till you get out a few hundred metres. And of the remaining who made it to the start line a few more had problems associated with the conditions and thought better of it.  TSC Xmas Regatta 27-29 December 2008 Twenty-eight different sailing boats competed at different times in this year's Xmas Regatta. The weather was kind to us all weekend, except for a bit of a slow start on Sunday. Today's weather was incredible, with excellent southerly winds for the racing, then a big storm straight after we had packed up and were safely in the clubhouse. Up at Belmont, one of the "A" Class sailors got zapped by lightning which hit the water while he was in the rigging area. He's OK. Many of us were unable to compete in every race as we have other commitments, including race duties, but well done to those who managed every race. Welcome to those skippers who came long distances, like Darren Schmidt from Illawarra, Rodney and Zac Anderson from Wagga Wagga Way. Zac is about 12 and this was his first regatta as skipper and he did very well in the little Arrow. Mark Waters was visiting from New Zealand and borrowed a Spiral for a couple of races. Special mention to all the helpers who made the regatta so successful - our pres Troy and Sharon, Terry M and John in the big boat, Bill and his various offsiders in the Start/Finish boat, Tuffy (inflatable) pilots especially Craig who gave up his only day off work on Saturday, Julie-Anne, Louise and everyone else in the Canteen - Top Job. Straight to the results now, and sorry, no photos this year as I couldn't get the lid off my camera, and I also left Brandon on the shore waving his camera as I didn't know he was there.
Sunday 14 December 2008 A top sailing day with winds around 25-30 knots - ideal for a club championship event. Unfortunately no racing took place, but Brandon and Danny went out on their Windies, with Angie crewing on the Silly Goose with Brandon. We sailed right down to Pelican Island looking for the windward mark but still didn't find it. So we sailed under the The Entrance Bridge and disrupted the pelican feeding. Knowing that the channel by Pello Is. is a bitch in a SW breeze, we took the shortcut across the sandflats, given that the lake level was extra high due to the rainfall previously. Great for Danny, but with the extra weight Brandon and Angie got stuck and had to get out and push. Not willing to follow Danny again over the mudflats on the way back Brandon attempted to negotiate the channel - very difficult... half an hour of frustration. I'm reluctant to mention it, but on the way back, running downwind ahead of 25 knots, Danny (that's me) did nose in and take a tumble. That funny little ball on the top of my mast did its job of keeping my mast out of the mud, only the merest muddy smear along the top of the sail. This of course happened on the second attempt to right the cat after it went right over the other way first time. Angie has never been out on a cat before but her baptism of fire (or water) did not break her composure. Anyway I think Brandon and I should get the full points for the club championship even if we couldn't find the Start/Finish line. Don't forget, next week is a social race and Xmas Party. Bring stuff. Sunday 8 December 2008 An excellent sailing day with plenty of breeze and pleasant conditions, resulting in serious racing happening. On the big cats Kershy and Leah absolutely flew around the course to win convincingly, with young Jonjay well back in second. Garry and Jarred on Geronimo finished rapidly not far back. Darryl and Brendan had a nasty cartwheel on the 18 and cracked a rib or two. Tony Kros and Adam decided not to risk it at all. In the smaller cats Darcy made the most of the wind to race home on his foam-sandwich Mari. Very hard to beat that bloke! Steve H on his Paper Tiger managed to keep ahead of Jason, also not easy, with Geoff next, then Tony Tui and Brandon all finishing well. Robert had a good race against Danny for 2nd last place and managed to shut out the fast-finishing old guy by 2 seconds. Aaron had a bad spill before the start damaging himself and his Mari and pulled out before the end. In the Monos Adam and Ryan steamed home on the 505 with Glenn second. Young Grant was terminated due to the weather so was awarded 3rd. His Dad Anthony did duty on the Rescue Boat so will get consolation points. If you volunteer for the support boat every week you could win the championship I think. Richard and Neil (great-great-grandfather mind you) thought better of it and watched from the clubhouse. Nick and Joey practised on the Sabot and didn't race. Thanks to Bill, Terry, John, Anthony and Terry for personning the motor boats and looking after us. Sunday 1 December 2008 This was the first race of Series 2. Some Maricats were away at a regatta in Illawarra, so numbers of 14s were limited. A very pleasant day with SE breezes about 12 knots. Darcy decided to sail with the Monohulls, on an NS14 and won the race, on handicap, what a legend. Adam and Ryan on their 505 came 2nd, with Glenn and Arie on their Impulses following. Richard was rated next, followed by Bob, Anthony and Neil. Grant didn't finish. In the Juniors, Henry won from Brendon and Terry. These two had a nasty little spill when the mainsheet got tangled around Brendan's legs, and couldn't be eased at a crucial time. At the start of the season a couple of months ago, Brandon and his mate Kane went out on boats for the first time ever, quite apprehensive. Now here is Brandon skippering a boat, so well done mate, and well done Terry for looking after him. On the little cats, Geoff's foam Windy came home first, with young Robert taking 2nd. Aaron similarly mounted on a Maricat was next with Danny Catatonic as usual next. Tony Toohey's Mari was there but was handicapped to last. In the big cats, handicap results saw Bob Lockley win, followed by Kershy, Gary, Tony Kros, Jonjay and Stan. Conditions were good for the big cats, with many of the skippers going out one-up. I prefer to give the line results, but the paperwork has been taken out of my hands. I'll try to work something better out. Due to a lack of drivers Troy did the honours, acting as rescue boat, support boat and starter/finisher. Young Matthew Kersh acted as bosun. Thanks very much you two, and Troy, take a consolation pass for 2nd. Sunday 23 November 2008 Coming up this Sunday we will be having a Marathon — Off-The-Beach Le Mans-style Start, out to the 8 knot marker taken to Starboard, across to Pipeclay Point Marker, to Port, south to the nearest marker off Pelican Island, to Starboard, back to Pipeclay Point, Starboard, and the finish is around the 8 knot marker off the clubhouse to Port, then back on the beach at the clubhouse. Well, that was the plan anyway... Owing to freezing temperatures and 30 knot SW winds, no sailing took place. A busy crew kept painting the inside of the clubhouse. Now both toilets are the same colour as Kerry's house (toilet blue). Sunday 16 November 2008 A nice breeze of 10-12 knots (Seabreeze says 20) from the SE after earlier southerlies of 15-20 left us with brisk racing on a port course with the wing mark tucked into the NE corner for protection. Troy and Kershy were away at the Hobie State Titles at Salamander Bay, with John picking up 2nd in the 18s and Troy the 3rd. Apparently no fourteens turned up so the State championship was sitting there for someone to pick up for a start. Back in Canton Beach Land, Gary and Jarred on Geronimo beat Stan and his brother Dave in the big cats (bit of a weight disadvantage happening there), while in the fourteens Richard, after finally deciding to risk it, stormed home first followed by Darcy and young Chris on their Maris, according to Chris two and a half seconds behind, with Geoff, Brandon and Danny next on their Windies (makes it sound like I was up there with them). Robert followed closely after a race-long tussle with Danny for last place. Robert came ahead of Danny's Catatonic on handicap, the only result to change from line results, while Jake and Blake DNF because Blake needed to go to the toilet, and Aaron DNFed earlier on the last lap. In the Monos Grant busted his mast, so took over Anthony's boat, leaving his Dad as DNF while he won the race with himself. In the Juniors the legendary Henry and Joey (below) on the Sabot completed the race to take honours in their class.  Sunday 9 November 2008 Back again after a nice holiday. Not much luck with the wind today (see Seabreeze graph) so tactics were important in the absence of brute strength.  You can see how much trouble Neil and Bill had setting the course at 1.00pm, by 2pm it had changed from S to NE. Sailors had problems too, with the wind swinging around during windward tacks. But it was steady and was better than calm. Team Robinson was badly depleted due to Nick being sick-at-home, and Garry also incapacitated after trying to cut his foot off with an angle grinder. Poor little Aaron couldn't get his boat pointed in the right direction and spat the dummy. The only Robbo to wave the flag was Jarred who had a great time on the Hobie Hawk while Henry's Sabot failed to finish the course. Team Makin on their Lasers finished four seconds apart with Grant getting the edge over his Dad Anthony. The monos were light-on today owing to the State Impulse titles at Manno. On the small cats Geoff on his Second Wind had a win on handicap as well as line for a change, over Danny also Windrush mounted and as usual catatonic. Always the sport, Geoff often stopped to let Danny catch up but in the end won by 8 minutes. The big cats were more interesting with Kershy and Troy (on Darryl's 18) close at all stages, with Troy and Maddie first home by a few seconds as part of their campaign for the States' coming up soon. Stan on his sixteen put in a good effort against the bigger cats while Craig on his first outing on Troy's 16 with Katelyn and Tristan had what is best described as a good training run. Barry's Taipan went home as it was bored stupid. Sunday 19 Oct 2008 Twenty-one boats turned up today for a fantastic day of sailing, with good breezes over 15 knots, according to Seabreeze:  but it felt more like 10-14 knots. Young Nicholas Hord tipped over before the start and had to be rescued, putting paid to father Brett's Big Day Out. Most of the other cats were watching this drama and missed the start. Aaron Robinson capsized on the last leg but, in front of a worried audience on the beach, managed to right the Maricat and continue in a matter of seconds. Special mention should be made to the only other juniors, Henry Makin and his mate Joey, who finished the race in their little Sabot despite the brisk conditions, especially as Joey had no experience at all. (See picture of the week on the home page). Some old faces re-appearing today included Stan, and Dave Finney, after a year's absence in Dave's case. Troy and Andrew sailed in a little mono today. Big Chris also finally had an outing after years of psyching himself up. Richard is going well in his NS14 after years of Cat sailing. Today was a Club Championship race and the running results will be kept on a new page: click here, or on link in sidebar. Sunday 12 October 2008 What a great sailing day, with fourteen boats making the start. The breeze picked up from about 8-10 to 12-15 knots during the race, strong enough to drag the Start boat's anchor and leave us with a very unusual start-line, which couldn't be crossed on a starboard tack (not by cats anyway). Garry and Jarred on Geronimo absolutely flew around the course to win the Big Cats. Bob Lockley and Leah on Bobcat also performed well. Thanks Bob for coming all the way from Richmond or wherever to sail with us. Although the fourteen ft cats had their own regatta at Manno this weekend, five of 'em still raced today, with Brandon winning in fine style with Craig and Aaron not far behind. Aaron was ahead of Craig but stalled on his last tack to get zapped by a fast improving Craig on his Hobie 14. Danny was a couple of minutes behind, with Robert and his little mate way back due to overloading. In the monohulls Glenn's Impulse lurched over the line ahead of Arie's, with Anthony's Laser not that far behind. According to the Finish times, Neil's Spiral crossed the line the same time as Grant's Laser Radial. Terry didn't cross the Finish Line after sailing most of the course, so I don't know what happened there. The Star of the day again was Henry Makin on his Sabot, successfully completing the Junior Course on his own, in great style. Well done Henry! The excellent conditions and close racing made this day very satisfying. Come and join us! In other news - John Kersh and Leah Bennett came 2nd in the Miscellaneous 2 category on their Hobie 18 at the Forster Wildcat Regatta, and Craig Hair came 4th in the Misc 1 event, sailing against NACRAs and others, on his Hobie 14. Just missed 3rd by a whisker. Well done you guys! Sunday 5 October 2008 A fairly small fleet today, possibly due to cool conditions and competing events elsewhere. However the ten skippers and their crew had a fine day sailing in 8 - 12 knot southerlies. Garry and Jarred on Geronimo were the only big cat sailors so won comfortably, lapping all the smaller cats bar Geoff, who dominated the fourteens on his new Windrush. Brandon came in next on his Windy, well ahead of Aaron on Bumble-Bee and Danny on Catatonic. New members Adam and Jarrod on their 505, a fast skiff-type boat with spinnaker, was the first monohull, passing two of the earlier-starting cats. The light conditions favoured the monos, including Glenn, Arie and Bob, who finished among the cats. Terry brought up the rear on Jolly Roger, while Neil DNF. Terry Makin was unavailable to drive the support boat, so Troy had his work cut out setting the course, with help from boys Brendan and Kane, then operating as Start/Finish boat. Sunday 28 September 2008 It was decided that it was too windy for racing today, but six of us went out and had a ball anyway. Danny, Christopher, Geoff, Brandon, Karl and Stan buzzed around on the lake for about 2 hours. We came in ten minutes before a big southerly change hit. No-one tipped over, nothing was broken and no-one was sick on their boat. We took some good pictures with Danny's waterproof camera, and you can see them here. We tested out the camera's integrity by chucking it in the lake once, but Brandon managed to scoop it out. This is what Seabreeze said:  Next weekend is the long one, but we'll be there on Sunday so come and get some serious wet action. Sunday 21 September 2008 The first race of the season was greeted with breezes of 10-15 knots and a good turn-up of sailors. As this was the first race and handicaps have not yet been calculated, the results were adjusted by Yardstick. New handicaps for the season will apply from next week. Richard Campbell turned up in his new NS14 'You Bought What!' and had a sail with his family. Hopefully we'll se him racing it soon. The Support Boat was launched then proved to have a seized steering cable so was retrieved and replaced by the old Tinny with the 30 horse motor. Held us up for half an hour but we got away by 1400 (2pm). Henry Makin was the only junior but sailed really well in his Sabot to beat Terry to the first mark. Geoff Solomon has a new sail and other bits so did really well. Aaron and Robert did well on their Maricats. Darcy took young hopefuls Brendan and Kane out on his 18ft 'Grumpier Old Men'. Troy manned the Start boat while Leah crewed Kershy as usual on the Finline. In the senior monos Glenn's Impulse came home first with Ari rated 2nd and Anthony 3rd on his Laser. On the fourteens, Geoff was followed by Brandon also on a Windrush, and Danny last on his old crappy Windy behind the two Maricats. Bob Lockley and grandson Zac came second in the big cats behind Kershy with Garry and Jarred third. Darcy was there somewhere. With the canteen under new management there will be sausage and steak sangers for lunch, yummy, and a meat tray raffle each week. Thanks also to Terry M and John for setting the course. Latest News 5 September New Stuff Today - Calendar (thanks Barry), NOR and Entry Form for Xmas regatta (thanks Troy), picture of Brandon flying (thanks Danny). Take note of the calendar changes: no Laser Masters in November, so all races moved forward one week allowing us to have a freebie day on 21/12. Start on 14 September with another freebie day. Brandon and Danny tested the waters yesterday with a spin down to Berkeley Vale and back (24km in 75 minutes). AGM 04/08/08 The Annual General Meeting for 2008 was held today. A new Committee was elected and can be viewed here. Brass Monkey, June 7,8,9 2008 The weekend started out in fine Brass Monkey style, with winds on Saturday up to 22kts from the south, and temperatures around 17°C but with a fierce wind-chill factor. Sunday the breeze eased off a lot, with one start being postponed waiting for a puff. Monday was pretty-well a write-off with one race being attempted but finally abandoned after 90 minutes with all boats on the first circuit. Forty boats of all sizes signed-on Saturday, but numbers dropped off over the weekend as the wind died. Photos were taken mostly on Monday and can be seen by going to Photos button at left. Sadly, on Saturday when everyone was there and the action was at its best, no-one was taking photos. Bugger! Thanks to our sponsors, HobieSports, and Travel World Lake Haven, for their support with this event. For complete results on Excel spreadsheet, click here. Basic results are as follows:
Sunday May 18 Presentation Day photos now on line. Click here. Sunday 11 May Notice the new page for Stuff For Sale. Check it out click here. Sunday 4 May 2008 Three intrepid ocean voyagers turned up on Cabbage Tree Beach for a trip around Birdie Island, seven kilometres north. Geoff, Danny and Brandon all brought their Windrush 14s for a bit of adventure on the big sea. A gentle westerley helped us get out of the bay, then it turned south to give us a slowish run up the coast. At 10-15 knots the breeze took an hour to get us up to the island. Despite the mild wind, the sea itself was rolling past with about 7 metres between trough and crest, so in every trough the other boats disappeared but for their mast-tops. See pictures. Even with the big mountains of sea rolling past, I found it very difficult to surf down the front of them, and stopped dead on the back - a bit frustrating. There were no dramas, although we did have to go a long way out to sea on some of our tacks on the work back. The intention was to have lunch at Toowoon Bay then head home, but after two hours of rolling up and down these swells my stomach forgot about lunch and decided to revisit breakfast. So we came straight back to base, in my case cold, sick, tired and hungry. My two younger companions were keen to continue as planned but I think they were a bit ambitious. Despite all that, it was an exciting and memorable trip and a day we'll never forget. Thanks to Rimmo for his help at the start, and to other well-wishers, Darryl, Stan and Brenton. All the pix were taken on the way out, as the trip back was too hairy for one-handed photography. Water on the lens ruined the last few shots. Have a look at the photos here. Danny For last season's reports January to April 2008 click here 
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