Issue 60, December 2018

Christmas - done and dusted.

Still some hard work ahead though. It will need a strong commitment to trifle for breakfast and putting ham on and in everything possible before there's free space in the fridge.

Be strong - you'll get the NYE drinks in there soon.

While the club is a little quiet over Christmas, lots of sailing is going on at this time of year. Sail Sydney and the Sydney-Hobart have been and gone. We have crews taking part in State, National and World Championships all over the country in the next few weeks so keep an eye out for updates in the media.

Good luck and safe travels.

Boyd Newton, Da Easy Crew, Editor.

Important Info

Please look into the following as others may be relying on you to do so:
* Safety Audits
* CPR Refresher

Dubious Info

Changes have been made to the Racing Rules of Sailing for this year's Sydney to Hobart. Competitors may deploy a Rangifer Tarandus in front of the headsail. Amendment will be detailed in the special Santa Clause.

New Members

More new members join the club this month:

Welcome to you all. Don't be shy to ask for advice or a hand.

Windsurfing Training

Nationals training starts at the beginning of January. All expressions of interest please email to windsurfing@balmoralsc.com.au with your name, mobile and email.

Twilight Sailing/Windsurfing

Thursday Jan 10th and 17th from 5pm-7pm at BSC
Followed by free sailing/windsurfing race coaching 730pm-830pm

Nationals - Jan 24-27th - Toronto, Lake Macquarie

Family discounts available. Adult, junior and youth categories as well as a cruiser division for those wanting to do a shorter course as well as usual racing and events. We have a BSC team going with Mat, Greg, Simon, Arnold, Dan, Grace, Katie and I all going which makes 8 so far!
Should be a fun. All welcome.

Good luck to all classes doing nationals!

Melanie Webb, BSC Windsurfer Class captain
e: windsurfing@balmoralsc.com.au

Sail Sydney 8-9 Dec 2018

Tasars competed in 6 races over 2 days at Sail Sydney earlier this month. Conditions were typical for summertime on Sydney Harbour and the Event was thoroughly enjoyed by those teams taking part. Below is an extract from a post on our TANSW facebook page announcing the winners (pic shown above) on the final day...

Ralph Stanford & daughter Imogen sailing 'Sea Major & Minor' took two 1st & a 2nd in the final 3 races today, to claim victory in the Tasar division. They finished with a healthy lead over silver place getters & fellow Woollahra Sailing Club dueling partners Kerry Fyfe & Michael Obrien, with NSC's Malcolm Handel & Beatriz Calvete taking bronze.

Ralph commented this afternoon, saying 'just finished a great day on the Harbour!' He said that the building but swinging NE/ENE's necessitated working the shifts, regularly checking the top mark placement & pressure areas on the 3 lap windward/leeward course race sets.

The day wasn't run without dramas however with Kerry & Michael retiring in Race 1 & DNC'g Race 2 with a broken mast step, & WSC's David Eastwood & Christine Selvey disqualified on a U Flag start in Race 2. David stated 'it was an epic start.. too epic by a few inches... UFD it was'.

Day1 of racing also had its dramas. The NE’ly was fresh at 18-23kts, the chop was up and the waves as Ralph described, were confused. Skippers David Eastwood had rotator problems and Malcolm Handel snapped his jib clew. Ralph advised he had replacement crew, WSC’s Helen Imprey on board, who at times was completely submerged in spray as they steered straight, low & fast up to the windward marks. In another race it had been a super tight finish as `Faking Clever’ (skipper Kerry’s boat) skilfully used the wake of a passing motor cruiser to ultimately pinch the lead.

Despite the Class fleet being smaller this year, all crews revelled in the superb conditions & must be congratulated for competing in one of our country's most spectacular multi dinghy events. Hosts Woollahra SC will have a new wider & flatter slipway with adjacent floating breakwater laid next year which Club Captain Ralph affirmatively states 'will make life so much easier'.

Nationals 5-12 Jan 2019, Largs Bay SC, SA

SI’s & NOR have just been released on the Largs Bay Sailing Club website - click here

Tasars 46th Australian National Championships will be hosted by our wonderful colleagues in TASA (Tasar Association of SA) at Largs Bay SC.

10 scheduled races will be sailed over 5 days on St Vincents Gulf, 20kms NW of Adelaide. TANSW have 12 registered boats competing in a total fleet to date of 47 boats. Among them are 2 international teams from the US & NZ and 3 ex-Tasar World Champions - Rick Longbottom, Paul Ridgway & Chris Dance. We also have multi National and current Tasar UK Champions Craig McPhee & Gill Berry, as well as multi NAT Lady Helms Champion Heather Macfarlane. Don’t be surprised to see a few other teams doing well at this regatta as the level of competition, as seen from last year’s Japan Worlds & Darwin Nationals, is definitely on the rise.

For all those competing, or others who’d like to follow each day’s results, head to the Australian Tasars Facebook page. This month there have been weekly posts containing information for competitors as well as for visiting friends & family. Also check out the NATS SA Event page to obtain your copies of Race Docs, including the Measurement’s Checklist, Map & Instructions. Our Tasar Class is extremely fortunate to have on line media publishers DOWN UNDER SAIL broadcast the Nationals throughout the sailing world in conjunction with SA’s Summer of Sail Festival.

The New Year - Wha gwaan?

An exciting calendar of events await sailors in the 2nd half of the season. We have the final 2 Summer TT’s, a special celebratory Anniversary Cup Regatta as well as State Title Regatta’s in VIC & NSW.

Mark your 2019 Calendars with the following:

Happy Festive Season & safe sailing all, as we reflect on a special 20yrs remembrance on this year's Sydney-Hobart. We also wish all our National teams the best of luck competing in SA soon!

Jenny Sorensen, TANSW, Publicity Officer

National Champoniships

The 53rd Australian Championships for the National E Class will be held at Elwood Sailing Club on Port Phillip Bay 4th to 9th July.

The NOR is available from Peter Nixey, Class Secretary at psnixey@ozemail.com.au or on the class web site nationale.org.au.

NSW States

The 2019 NSW State Championship will be held at Balmoral Sailing Club on 7th April.

Peter Nixey, BSC National E Class Captain
e: psnixey@ozemail.com.au

Safety audits are due so please look into your requirements. For assistance or to return once completed please see your class captains.

Please make a note in your diaries of the upcoming CPR course for volunteers to be held on the 17th of February 2019 at the sailing club at 0830hrs with coffee and refreshments available.

The session will finish early enough that you can still carry on with your other weekend activities. At this stage the course is only open for volunteers of the club.

Register your interest

Shirley Matthews
e: shirley.matthews@balmoralsc.com.au

Hay, Flat Plain

Heading off to the Tasar Nationals in Adelaide has us crossing the Hay Plain - the flattest place in the southern hemisphere. Flat and planing is what we hope for on Largs Bay.

Banjo Patterson wrote the famous “Hay, Hell and Booligal” after visiting the region. The 'Booligal' name of the village is an Anglicised corruption of an Aboriginal word meaning either 'windy place', or 'large swamp', or 'place of flooded box trees'.

Some have said all options are appropriate for Adelaide but I'm hoping it's a good omen for wind.

High Hay

I heard that cows can't walk down stairs. If you get one on a balcony at least it won't go hungry, just get this chap - big old Randy Richey.

Big Plane

It's a long way to Adelaide. This would shave some time off the trip - Howard Hughes' massive wood plane.

This wooden wood shave wouldn't help though - David Barron's massive wood plane.

Hey... Plane!

Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it's a Ford Pinto - Henry Smolinski's bizarre Mizar.

NautiQue