New Check In using a QR Code to remain COVID Safe

We have introduced QR Code posters at the entrance to the club to enable electronic COVID Safe check-in.  The QR code sign-in process uses the existing ServiceNSW App that members might already have as it is already in many café’s, restaurants and gyms around Sydney. If you don’t have the app, please download it in the Apple App Store HERE or the Google Play Store HERE.

Before you enter the club, you will be required to: 
·      scan the QR code displayed at our front entrance
·      electronically check-in using the ServiceNSW App
·      show the confirmation to one of the Club officials

If you are unable to download the app or are having difficulty registering the manual check in form needs to be completed

Sunday 22 November - Report

A beautiful morning greeted the sailors last Sunday. Light breezes, sunshine and a lower tide meant we even had some space on the beach!

The Sailing School fleet are steadily migrating across to PJs as the term progresses. It’s fantastic to see the kids building confidence skippering their own boats. A big thanks to our instructors for their awesome work nurturing the next generation of sailors. We even had a brave mum taking to the ocean solo on a PJ. Great effort!

The volunteer roster is working very well now. Thank you to everyone for your efforts - especially our canteen captains, Sasha and Fiona. This is one of the biggest roles on a Sunday and these two legends turn up every week and work a solid 6 hours shift. Thank you ladies.

Race fleets were doing sprints this week. We had 10 Sabots in the morning, which is the biggest fleet in many years. Well done all! The afternoon was lighter winds for the three Cherubs that raced. Results available here

Dick Winning Fun Day - Sun 13th December

The end of term is approaching. And that means the social highlight of term 4 is just around the corner - the Dick Winning Fun Day!

For the new members, this is a social family day to close out the term. It starts at 10am and runs through til 4pm. The focus is on beach games, socialising and having fun.

Program of Events

10am - 10.45am - Greasy Pole (three categories: under 10 yrs, 10 - 13yrs, 13yrs +)

10.45am - 11.45am - Swimming Races (kids & parent categories!)

12pm - 1pm - Lunch

1pm - 1.30pm - Beach Games (Tug of war & Treasure Hunt)

2pm - 2.45pm - Kids & Parents PJ race (start in front of clubhouse)

3pm - Afternoon tea, with a guest appearance from Santa!

The Canteen will be serving lunch at $10/head. Please bring a plate for afternoon tea, and a present for Santa to gift to your kids.

Head of the Harbour Regatta - Sun 6th December

Volunteers needed!

VA12SC are hosting the annual Head of the Harbour Regatta on SUNDAY 6TH DECEMBER. This is a full day regatta for 1 up and 2 ups Sabots from the Southern NSW Sabot Sailing Association and invited guests.  This includes Sabot sailors from VA12SC and surrounding clubs.  In previous years we have had 30-40 sabots and their supporters including parents and siblings.  We will also have a Green Fleet for up & coming Sabot sailors. Learn to Sail will also be conducted.

Inter-club regattas are a fantastic training ground for VA12SC children to experience a larger scale event & get excited about the possibility of competing at inter-club & interstate regattas including States and National competitions.

We require VA12SC club members to step up in a number of volunteer roles. If you have a boat that can be used as a support boat please advise & we can possibly allocate it to a position on the course.  

We require the following positions to be filled. If you have any experience in any of these roles or would be keen on a certain position please advise.

Start Boat Committee

Support Boats & Safety Boats

Measurement/Safety Check

Beach Marshals (Kutti & Gibsons Beach)

Parking Marshals (top of Wharf Road & Gibsons Beach)

Canteen

Registration Desk

More information and a volunteer roster will be circulated shortly. Please contact Kate O’Loughlin at kate@wattlesong.com.au or 0407 109 760 for further details.

Club Championships Race 3 - Reports

What a day! Summer is officially here! With one of the highest tides of the year, club championships, the good weather and the biggest turn out of sailors I’ve seen in six years it was very busy on the beach! Well done to everyone for coping with it so well. Another cracking day at VA12SC!

Race Results available here. Reports below.

Sabots

With seven boats on a tight start line it was one of our mostly hotly contested club champs in recent years. Max Nearn prevailed over Zac Golovsky to maintain his picket fence and a series score of 3. Strong! A special thanks to Adrian Paul & Sally Badger who’ve been Race Officers for all morning racing this term.

Flying 11s

Race report – David O’Loughlin

We had a 15knt North easter, a packed harbour with Yachts and 18fters mixing it up with our fleet. It was hectic out there.
JackO had to gybe away from a Port tack Yacht who could not control their boat. Yachts were broaching downwind at times it was chaos..
We had a full complement of Support boats and safety boats 3 on water in addition to the start boat.
Sophia Ugarte and Emma Badger won the F11’s convincingly by a few mins shooting past JackO who had gear problems
Earlier JackO came from dead last at mark one to lead to for most of the race in a great display of power reaching.. Awesome to watch.
The run out tide really threw up challenges for the F11’s on the reaching, probably JackO set the benchmark running high across the tide to get out of it a bit and then jibed back high to the wing mark getting a quick inside run on mark 2 to jump past Sophia who was leading at that time. Then at the end of lap 2 his massive 2 min lead came crashing down with gear issues…(a savage knot in his spinnaker halyard that took him the remainder of the race to sort out)
Sophia cruised past JackO and through the remainder of Lap 3 and won by 50seconds. Jacko  pipped a fast finishing Max by 5 or so seconds to finish second – I could hardly watch.. it was a close thing.
JJ led well to the first mark with his best upwind performance to date, His boat again had gear issues, but he finished confidently, well done.

Cherubs

Race report – David O’Loughlin
Ombeline and Pierre won the cherubs in a great display and their boat handling has really improved
Second was ChrisO and third was Neil
Sophie O and Natasha Walshe joined in for the first week and had a hard time holding it down…
I was so proud of them all - they are all really improving fast.
We had 4 Cherubs and 4 F11’s comprising 16 members, all having a great time, one late scratching from Richard and Ella meant we just missed out on the biggest turnout for years –
I’m confident that we are heading in a good direction.

Xmas Holiday Camps - filling fast!

We’ve had a heap of kids already signed up for our Xmas Holiday Camps. So much so that we’ve put on a fourth week to cater for demand. If you’re keen to get your kids involved, it’s definitely worth signing them up sooner than later to ensure they get a place. Camps cater to beginners through to seasoned sailors. Getting a friend to sign up with your kid always helps them enjoy it even more.

Camp dates:

7th Dec - 11th Dec 2020 (choose 5,4 or 3 day camp)

14th Dec - 18th Dec 2020 (choose 5,4 or 3 day camp)

11th Jan - 15th Jan 2021 (choose 5,4 or 3 day camp)

18th Jan - 22nd Jan 2021 (choose 5,4 or 3 day camp)

Details and booking link here

Sailing School - Sunday 15th November

A perfect day for our Learn to Sail crew. With lighter winds we were able to start moving the kids out of Pacers and into the PJs - skippering their own boats without instructors aboard! There were a few swimmers, but with the self draining cockpits the kids can quickly right the boats and carry on - making capsizing fun not frightening!

Photos courtesy of Scott Denton

Upcoming Events

22 November - Sprint Racing & Sailing School

29 November - Club Champs Race 4 & Sailing School

6 December - Head of the Harbour Regatta & Sailing School

13 December - Dick Winning Fun Day

Save the Date(s)

Two important diary dates for everyone:

Sunday 6th December - Head of the Harbour Regatta
This is a Sabot regatta with competitors from around the region. The club will be full and fun will be had.

Sunday 13th December - Dick Winning Fun Day
Arguably the most important date this side of Chrissy…it’s all about beach games, greasy pole and (a very nautical) Santa. Check out the details here, along with photos of previous years.

Finally some good weather!

After two weeks of rain and wind, the sun finally shone on Watsons Bay last weekend, and the winds were perfect. The race fleets were largely out of town, but the Learn to Sail fleets (young and old!) had a cracking time back at base.

Sunday 1st November - Report

Another cool, rainy day. This week the wind held off for the Learn to Sail fleet so we were able to get more of the kids into the PJs, with the beginners in the Pacers, helmed by our fearless coaches.

New member Matt Smith gave us a glimpse into the future last week when he launched his Wing Foiler off the deck. This week there wasn’t enough wind to fly the foil, but that wasn’t going to stop Matt getting wet.

Meanwhile, the rest of us focussed on keeping the coffee pot busy

The final, and arguably main event of the day, was the adult Learn to Sail. Seven parents jumped into the Pacers at 10.30am, perfectly timed for the rising wind and rain. Far from ideal conditions, but lots of smiles and laughter. Well done to all who participated.

Sunday 25th October - Report

What wild weather! Well done to all those that braved the conditions and made it to the club last Sunday.

Sailing School

The Sailing School opted for Pacers for most kids apart from the hardy foursome who took to PJs. A few swims by the latter. And some great speeds from the former! Everyone returned to shore safely, if a little chilly. Best of all was the overwhelming positivity of the kids and the parent support crews. A huge well done to everyone for getting stuck in despite the conditions. And a special mention to James Campbell in the Adventure Sailing session for some awesome PJ sailing out on the main harbour! We have lighter winds forecast for this weekend!

Club Championships - round 2

Sabot Fleet
( words courtesy of Adrian Paul)

With breeze ranging from fresh to scary we had 5 champions take to the water. Coco had a great ride but the southerly sent her back to the beach early. Hugo pushed on and got plenty of miles up - definitely one to watch. The race start itself was incredibly tight with Max, Zac and Charlie crossing the line together, staying engaged until the top mark. Boat speed was high for all of them as they managed the gusty southerly. No one in the fleet capsized (legends!). First place went to Max, well earned with consistently solid boat handling. Smiles all over the course, despite the rain and breeze. Bring on the state championships at Gosford this weekend!

Check out this video from the start boat

Fiying 11 & Cherub Fleet
(words courtesy of David O’Loughlin)

The Sailing exhibited today can be best described by the huge smiles when everyone made it back to the beach.

It was certainly a day of building resilience. Getting around the course in the challenging 20-25 knot breeze was a feat, one squall came through in the afternoon (lap 3) resulting in a white out and 28kn gusts. Thankfully that only lasted a few mins. It took out a large number on the 18fters – it was carnage out there. 

Mostly our fleet stayed up, the cherubs had a major battle on their hands coping with the bullets and they ended up in the drink quite a few times.

In the Flying 11’s JackO and Hugo in Shotgun faced with a lost rudder on the second beat, managed to get it back on the pintels with some great team work – Hugo jumped over the front and held the boat in the fierce gusts. Their determination was rewarded by regaining the lead at the top of the 3rd beat (overcoming a massive 6 min deficit at the top of the second beat) to win the day. JJ in Bandit had his own breakages to deal with and got around the course well (without any boom vang) and finished in great spirits.

The F11’s both had new crews and they had a ball in the wind, the reaching was amazing at times.

In the Cherubs Well done to Chris Dixon who survived the conditions and finished the race to win. Gear breakages cost the other cherub dearly and they returned to shore. Retired, but not beaten.

 A Big thank you to Jeremy Dixon who loaned his boat as the start boat and helped out on course with flags, wisdoms and stories of the good old days, Sabots, F11’s and Cherubs. Its great to see him back. And to Simon Bando and Ashleigh Minnett who bravely set the marks and supported the F11’s and Cherubs on their own. At times it was raining cats and dogs and blowing like a demon had been let out of the cage.

Adult Learn to Sail

Adult Learn to Sail starts this Sunday. It will be a 6 week program running from 10.30am - 12.30pm. Using the Pacers the aim will be for all participants to complete Australian Sailing’s Start Sailing 1 course.

The cost for the course is $300. To participate please register and pay here by COB Thursday 29th October.

Booma Hats

A nifty invention from our friends over at Middle Harbour is the Booma Protective Sailing Hat. If you or your kids are concerned about a knock from the boom these are great solution.

There is a sample at the club (in the Canteen) if anyone wants to check it for size on Sunday.

Volunteer Roster

Sue Hammermaster has done a great job of preparing the volunteer roster. This will be sent around on Thursday by email with allocations for the rest of this term.

Our entire club is dependent on volunteers so we really appreciate your enthusiastic contribution to the allocated roles. If you can’t do the requested dates, please find a replacement and let Sue know.

Sunday Sailing - 25th October

We had a fantastic day at the club last Sunday. Lots of new families joining the Sailing School, followed by good racing.

This Sunday Sailing School continues at the same time - 8.30am for the beginners, 10.30am for Adventure Sailing. NB Race Fleet coaching starts after the 10am Sabot Briefing (apologies for the error in last week’s newsletter!).

This week it is Round 2 of the Club Championship for the race fleet. Sabots starting at 11am, Flying 11s and Cherubs at 2pm.

Sailing School flotilla sets sail last Sunday!

Sailing School briefing to kick off the new term

Club Championships - Race 1 Report

Sunday 18th October was the season opening day, and the first round of the Club Championships.

Congratulations to the winners:

Max Nearn - Sabot

Max Nearn & Zac Golovsky - Flying 11

Chriso Dixon and Oliver Bingemann - Cherubs

Full results available here

Sabot Race Report
(courtesy of Adrian Paul & Sally Badger)

Our first club championship, kicked off with a little pre race on water dance party.  Despite very little breeze, the fleet had a great start.  Max Nearn had boat speed and led the fleet out into the outgoing tide (yikes)!  Georgia Silverton and Oscar Paul spotted the opportunity and hooked back into the bay.  Ultimately the lack of wind won out and the course was shortened.  Rising ⭐️ of the day award went to Hugo Minnet.  Max Nearn took 1st place in the end, focus and passion paid off.  A really fun day.

Max Nearn & Zac Golovsky heading out right

Georgia Silverton in ‘Havoc’

Max Nearn (1599) and Zac Golovsky (7046)

Sailing season starts this Sunday!

It’s happening! The 2020/21 season starts this Sunday!

Canteen

The world famous breakfast BBQ will be fired up, pumping out bacon and eggs. The usual tasty lunch will be served from 12pm.

Race Fleet

We kick off with round 1 of the Club Championships for all classes.

Sabot race briefing will be at 10am ahead of the 11am race start.

Flying 11 and Cherub briefing is at 1pm ahead of 2pm race start.

Sailing School

Sailing School starts at 8.30am - 10.30am with our beginner programs (Discover Sailing, Start Sailing 1 & 2).

The new Adventure Sailing program kicks off at 10.30am - 12pm. Adventure Sailing is open to kids who can already sail but who don’t want to join the race fleet. Instead they’ll be doing treasure hunts, playing games and having a lot of FUN!

Race Coaching for Sabot sailors runs from 8.30am - 10am

New members

After a very successful series of October holiday camps we’re delighted to have a number of new families joining the club this season. Please make them feel welcome and show them the way around (remember, it’s a bit complicated when you’re new!)

COVID-19 Safety Plan

The health and safety of members, participants, coaches, officials, volunteers, visitors, families and the broader community is our number one priority. To ensure we manage risks associated with COVID-19 we have developed the following Safety Plan and continue to maintain, rigorous compliance with all Public Health Orders.

The requirements are clearly sign posted in the clubhouse.  Please ensure you sign in on arrival, follow the instructions and maintain good hygiene at all times.

Key Points and Requirements;

• You may not attend the clubhouse if;

  • you have any of flu like symptoms, however mild: fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath,

  • you have been overseas or interstate to Victoria, unless you have received a negative COVID-19 test result after waiting at least 14 days since returning

  • you have been in contact with anyone with COVID-19, unless you have received a negative COVID-19 test result after waiting at least 14 days since your contact

• We request you to avoid the use of public transport to and from the club, where possible    

• You must maintain social distancing of 1.5m both inside the club and on the beach

• No more than 10 people are allowed in the clubhouse at any one time and no more than 20 people are allowed in a single broad grouping on the beach at any one time.

• You may not get changed inside the clubhouse or socialise inside the clubhouse or on the deck.

• The clubhouse is to be used only for boat retrieval or race management purposes and you must remain inside for as short a period as possible – “get in, get out”

• If the canteen is operational, no one (other than canteen volunteers) are permitted to access the canteen. 

• We encourage all members to download the COVIDSafe App and to make sure it is active when you come to the club.

2020-21 Flying 11 NSW State Championships

This event will be held over two rounds:

Round 1

When:   7 and 8 November 2020

Where:  Bayview Yacht Racing Association (BYRA)

Round 2

When:   20 and 21 February 2021

Where:  Port Kembla Sailing Club

Enter here