Issue 65, May 2019

Game over man, game over!

Season 2018/19 has come to an end. Lucky winners (and some unfortunates) received awards at Presentation Night. The Spanish vanished as our volunteers ate their way to the bottom of a giant Paella at the 'thank you' lunch.

For pictures of the events - see BSC Facebook.

Thanks for the great racing, the good times, and all the help. Thanks to the volunteers who made for another great season. Thanks to Rob Owe-Young for the pictures. Thanks to John Rendle for looking after our handicapping - which worked beautifully for Da Easy Crew this time around.

That's all folks.

Boyd Newton, Da Easy Crew, Editor.

Important Info

Dubious Info

BSC will host a skills clinic focusing on boat handling in large waves. To register your interest please contact - Sue Narmy.

Prizes for the National Es went to a limited number of recipients owing to a smaller than usual fleet this season. Of course there are a number of boats sitting at home or in the shed waiting for 'a favourable wind' that is to say without health or crew availability problems.

Club Championship

Ken Wilson in Costl-E has once again won not only on the water but most importantly by sailing regularly - he seems to have a longer list of potential crew than anyone else which helps.

Runners-up, Sue Halloran and Jim Allen in Miss Teak and Peter Nixey and Murray Town in The Fury were no match when it came to attendance. Dennis Paton in Firewind missed out on any podium finishes in this season’s competition owing to unscheduled absences but fortunately he was able to sail in the State Championship held at Balmoral providing some serious competition.

NSW State Championship

Mirror sailors Cullen Hughes and Gavin Cooke borrowed Miss Teak and actually won the championship with four straight wins. Too bad we had to rely on the Mirror fleet for that!

Peter Nixey, Nat E Class Captain, BSC

Roger Quinn Memorial Trophy

Our first awarded prize, a memorial to greatly missed member of the Moth fleet Roger Quinn, is a yardstick trophy for the Balmoral Marathon. Open to all classes the prize is rarely awarded to a Moth let alone both divisions. Ian & Andrew are chuffed to have their names on Roger's trophy.

Junior Trophy

For the first time in a long time this was up for grabs in a contest between James Griffin and Evan Gauci. Despite an excellent nationals campaign Evan was unable to back up to take the club title from James’s greater experience and more reliable equipment. Both have come along in leaps and bounds. With training over winter we look forward to them being right in the mix next season.

The Big Bickies

Winning the Summer Series and Club Championship in a dominant display surprise surprise was Les Thorpe. This left Andrew Sim, yet again, with the B-team award for Perennial Second Place - coming complete with sour lemon drops so one might savour the bitter taste of defeat until next season.

The Scow Moth Trophy win went to Ian. The champ better not get comfortable though with Mike starting to take wins in the back end of the season and the fleet expected to grow over the break.

Andrew Sim was awarded a dubious Holy Grail (engraved 'with love Christmas 1977') for taking out the BSC marathon, Botany Bay marathon, BYRA marathon, Heaven Can Wait Lake Macquarie marathon. As well as a speeding fine for doing 32.5 Knots, plus an entry visa to NZ in case he's stuck in another super westerly and cannot round up.

Andrew Sim, Moth Class Captain, BSC

Club Championship

1st - Josh Faddy & Paula Cummins, Mango Chilli
2nd - Brad Stephens & Jenny Overton, Vivace
3rd - Pete Davies & Pia Lehtonen-Davies, Another Roadie

Handicap Pointscore

Annual Winners - Boyd Newton & Kylie Symonds, Rastasarmouse
Spring Winners - Boyd Newton & Kylie Symonds, Rastasarmouse
Autumn Winners - John Rendle & james Corbett, Freyest

Core Award

John Rendle, not pleased with a suggestion that a core workout was in order and his subsequent award of last season, donated his prize and created the Core Award - a handicap finish in the middle of the fleet. In a surprise to nobody the winners were...

Spring Winners - Brad Stephens & Jenny Overton, Vivace
Autumn Winners - Brad Stephens & Jenny Overton, Vivace

Ecuses (no eXcuses) Award

For always helping out on Saturday, board meetings, social events, getting stuff done and never any excuses.
The winner is - Laurie Hoffman

Missing You Award

It was a great shame that shoulder issues put Yes Darling out of action, nice to see you at the club. Hope to see you out in the Tasar again soon.
Missing you - Yvonne Wadham

No Class Award

Being crew-less, Kevin has been Windsurfing, Kite Surfing, threatening to try an Aero and even a foiling Moth. Until settling on the next craft, he's left with absolutely no class at all!
No Class - Kevin Wadham

3rd Time Unlucky Award

For stepping up as Commodore - stepping down as Class Captain - recently stepping into a hole, going flying and fracturing an arm.
3rd Time Unlucky - Heather Forton

Da Easy Crew are looking forward to next season as I'm sure you are too. Good luck in winter events and safe travels to those heading to Hayling Island Sailing Club for the World Championship.

Boyd Newton, Tasar Class Captain, BSC

Class Improvement Award

Keith has been in and around the club since purchasing his second boat. Keith started off the season just having fun sailing around the bay and finished the season with points on the board finishing races. He is an example to us all of perseverance.

Van Gough Prize

As many have seen, some International Contenders are works of art and in the 2018/19 season Adam Linton spent most time working on his boat, to a point he was nearly going to take his ear off. This paid off with many top 10 finishes at the 2019 Contender Nationals.

Club handicap Champion

Niall captivated the class over the past 2 years rebuilding his 30 year old green boat called “The Green Boat” . Once on the water the boat showed its true speed and competitiveness challenging for the lead in many races racking up points that gave him the handicap championship.

Most improved at Competition

Jimmy Meggison sailing Megatron has moments of glory followed by moments of failure. Constantly seen upside down on the racecourse side of the finish line, Jimmy managed to hold it together at this years Nationals for a vastly improved result in his 30 year old boat.

Club Champion

Matt Mulder competed in every state championship offered by the class this year. With no result outside of the top 3 it has been a great season for our club captain. To finish it off with a 3rd at the Nationals behind a previous National champion and 2 times world champion was a fitting end to the season.

Matt Mulder, Contender Class Captain, BSC

A big year for the Windsurfer with 107 competitors at the nationals held in January 2019.

Amelia Quinlan competed in the BIC Techno Plus class at the Youth Sailing regatta in Tasmania in January 2019. As a result she has been selected to travel to Poland as part of the Australian Youth Sailing team and represent Australia on the RS:X in the Youth Worlds Sailing Regatta Gdynia.

Katie Webb had fantastic results this season.
NSW States 2018: 3rd, One Design; 3rd, Ladies Division; 1st, Junior Division
Nationals Jan 2019: 7th, Course Racing - open mixed cruiser division; 5th, Marathon - open mixed cruiser; 6th, Overall - open mixed cruiser division; Junior Female National Champion Trophy; Youngest competitor trophy; 3rd, One Design

Grace Webb
NSW States 2018: 1st, Female Youth
Nationals Jan 2019: 3rd, Ladies Freestyle; 6th, Ladies open course racing; 6th, Ladies open slalom; 6th, Ladies open marathon; 6th, Ladies open pentathlon
Sydney Summer Point Score: 2nd, Youth Trophy

Mel Webb
NSW States 2018: 1st, Ladies Division; 2nd, Lightweights
Nationals Jan 2019: 1st, Ladies Freestyle; 2nd, Ladies course racing; 2nd, Ladies slalom; 3rd, Ladies marathon; 2nd, Ladies pentathlon
Sydney Summer Point Score: 3rd, Mixed

Simon Jones
Nationals Jan 2019: 1st, Overall - super heavyweights (SHW); 1st, SHW course racing; 1st, SHW marathon; 2nd, Mens pentathlon
2018 Siam Cup in Thailand: 3rd, Heavyweight Division
2018 Kona World Windsurfing Championships in Tampa: 17th, Overall
Sydney Summer Point Score: 6th, Overall; 1st, Heavyweights

Mathieu Hanaut
Nationals Jan 2019: 8th, Heavyweights (HW) course racing; 4th, HW marathon; 23rd, Overall Mens pentathlon

Arnold Vogel and Dan Grainger who have just started racing also did nationals in the cruiser division with Katie. Arnold came 8th open cruiser division, and 9th overall. Dan came 9th open cruiser divsion, 6th cruiser slalom and 7th overall cruisers. Katie Webb did well to beat them both!

This is a fantastic achievement for Katie, Arnold and Dan given they are all very new to racing.

Anthony Charlton
Nationals Jan 2019: 10th, Lightweights (LW) course racing; 10th, LW marathon; 34th, Overall Mens pentathlon
Youth Nationals: 9th, Bic techno plus

So not bad overall for the BSC Windsurfing mob. I am very proud of them all. Its great to have 4 from Balmoral heading Lake Garda, Italy to the Worlds.

Mel Webb, Windsurfer Class Captain, BSC

Tasar AUS2588 for Sale, "French Berry" - $7500
Currently racing at and stored in BSC shed. She is bang on weight (lead ballast) with near new top mast, foils (spare set also), sheets, halyards and mainsheet block. 3 sets of mylar sails with the newest in good condition. Comes with great beach trolley & registered road trailer. Everything you need.
Contact: Nick at chateauS@gmail.com or 0414 207 161

Tasar AUS2618 for sale, "Ontour" - $neg
Ex Australian Champion boat is underweight with a very stiff hull. The colour scheme is a light grey hull and deck with a blue stripe. 2x Mylar Jibs and 1 Mylar Main. Foils all in good condition. Comes with beach dolly and licensed road trailer. It is set up and ready to sail. It has been garaged for all its life. The Decalls on the sail will all pull off if required, The jib as seen here is the first time it has been raised. It has been a brilliant boat for us and now needs a new home. It currently is in Sydney but can organise transport.
Contact: Brad at brad@tallisman.com.au or 0416 00 7777
Pictures: click here

Mirror Dinghy for Sale, “TRIM” - $900 ONO
Wood and Varnish finish. Gaff-rigged. Trolley, spare sails and spars. Racked at Balmoral Sailing Club. More info - click here.
Contact: Matthew White on 0414 185 798

Wanted, articles for Whale's Tales - $10/10ths of nothing
Contact: Ed Itor

Have gear for sale or looking for something specific?

Send details to e: whalestales@balmoralsc.com.au

Ned said it

Winter is coming - along with a distinct lack of interest in getting out on the water by somewhat soft Sydneysiders.

While we can easily avoid the cool seas and icy wind, some sailors are not so lucky...

Pleuston, we have a problem

A lot like dinghy sailors, Pleuston are organisms that inhabit the thin surface layer at the air-water interface of a body of water.

One such beastie is the Velella Velella. Their only form of propulsion comes from a sail running diagonally along the body.

We've had a main B bus undervolt

Seems I ripped off a misquotation...

'Houston, we have a problem' is often credited to James Lovell, the Project Leader on Apollo 13. But he never said it. He didn't even not say it first.

It was fellow astronaut John Swigert who initially reported the electrical failure to Mission Control. But he never said it either.

Swigert: 'Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.'
Houston: 'This is Houston. Say again please.'
Lovell: 'Houston, we've had a problem. We've had a main B bus undervolt.'

Other popular misquotations can be found here