Term 1 Sailing School

If you read the last article then you know you need to book ASAP!

We already have a lot of people registered for Term 1. With 100+ kids going through the holiday camps it’s likely Term 1 sailing school will be a sell out. If you’re planning on enrolling your kids, please sign them up ASAP.

If your child sailed last term and you’re not sure which course, register for the course you think is correct. Adele and Jules will be going through the lists ensuring we put people into the right courses to match their skills and experience. If we think your child should be on a different course we’ll let you know.

If you have any other questions, please email Jules on sailingschool@va12sc.org.au

What a (Dick Winning) Fun Day!

Last Sunday was the annual Dick Winning Fun Day. And it delivered on the promise.

The weather was calm, the sun even shone (despite the awful forecast). And we had a huge turn out of members and their families.

The slippery pole kept the kids busy for the first hour. Then it was the beach treasure hunt and tug of war. It was particularly good to see the girls beat the boys in the latter! The swimming races and beach run got the parents active. Genevieve Taubman-Campbell took out the mother’s race, and Ben Pollitt won the Dad’s race. Commodore Rob was hot on Ben’s feet as they exited the water, but a little bit of mid fleet jostling saw him down on the sand!

The lunch was sensational. An awesome effort from Sasha and Fiona and the many people supporting the canteen team.

Santa arrived as lunch was ending. The kids went nuts. Santa is still recovering.

And then it was prize giving, with special guest and past commodore Glenda Nixon handing out the prizes.

A very big thank you to everyone who helped make the day such a success.

Silent Auction for Key Dates This Summer

As mentioned last week, the silent auction for the key dates for exclusive club use this summer is on now.

With a minimum bid as low as $1000 you could have the best spot on the harbour for up to 40 of your family and closest friends. So make a plan and lodge your bid stating the date, proposed usage and bid amount to sailing@va12sc.org.au

The remaining dates for auction and minimum bids are as follows;

• Boxing Day for the Sydney to Hobart start - Min bid $2000

• New Years Day - Min bid $1500

• Australia Day - Min bid $1000

Bids for Boxing Day and New Years Day close next Thursday at midnight so there is not much time.

Folks, tell your family and friends,, start planning, and make us an offer we can’t refuse!

DICK WINNING FUN DAY AND PRIZEGIVING THIS SUNDAY

DICK WINNING FUN DAY

COMBINED WITH THE

2019/20 SEASON PRIZE GIVING

AT VA12SC

When: Sunday, 13th December

Time: From 10am

The final, and funnest, event of Term 4 is this Sunday - the Dick Winning Fun Day! Named in honour of (Uncle) Dick Winning, a long time friend and supporter of the club, this is one of the marquee events in our calendar - with a firm focus on socialising and fun!

Due to COVID restrictions, we haven’t been able to hold the 2019/20 Season Prize Giving so we are combining both events this year.

Our canteen rock stars are preparing a special lunch for $10/head. They need to know numbers for the catering so please RSVP here (or below) by midday Friday 11th Dec. Cold drinks will be available for sale at the canteen. Tea & Coffee will be served in the morning, but we won’t be doing the breakfast BBQ due to the later start time.

Program For The Day

10.00 am: Beach Games (Tug of War & Treasure Hunt)

Greasy Pole

Swimming Races (kids & parent categories)

Pacer sailing

12.00 pm: Lunch. Kids$5, Adults $10 RSVP

12.45 pm Santa arrives!

1.15pm: 2019/20 Season Prize Giving

2.00 pm: Pacer Races for kids and parents. Start line from clubhouse.

3.00pm: Afternoon Tea and drinks.

Please bring…

Please bring a modest gift, wrapped & labelled, to put under the tree for your child - For afternoon tea we request that guests bring a plate.

It is going to be a great day so we hope you can join us for fun, food and fantastic company.

See you all on Sunday.

Term 1 Sailing School - Registrations Open

Term 1 Sailing School kicks off again on Sunday 31st January. We recommend that you register early if you’re keen to participate. We had 41 kids in Term 4, and with nearly 100 children registered for the Xmas Holiday Camps we are expecting a very busy Term 1. We are limited by the number of boats we have in the club so it will be a case of first in, best dressed.

A seperate email will go out to Sailing School families detailing the pathway for this term’s graduates. For now, choose the course you think is best fit and we can always move kids around afterwards, ensuring they are on the right course.

Register here

Head of the Harbour Report

Last Sunday we hosted our annual Head of the Harbour Regatta for Sabots. It was another windy weekend. But the sun shone and the AP was lowered early afternoon to get two races away. With regular gusts over 20 knots it was tough going. A big well done to the five finishers in race 1, and the seven finishers in Race 2.

Simon Clayton-Adam from Drummoyne Sailing Club was the overall winner. Zac Golovsky in 3rd place was the top sailor from VA12SC, Isabelle Badger was 4th, Max Nearn 6th, Charlie Paul 7th and Ben Richards 9th.

Regatta results available here. There will be a few videos posted on our Facebook page.

Finally, a very big thank you to our many volunteers who made this event possible. We had some lovely thank you notes from our visiting competitors. Overall we did our club proud. Well done all.

Good Bye 2020

What a year it has been! So, let’s see it out with a bang.

This weekend, 6th December, we host our annual “Head of the Harbour Regatta” when VA12SC hosts sabots from our zone and further to race on our beautiful waters. See the post below for the info and get involved in what promises to be a great day. The forecast is for gusty westerlies so the elements may have a bit in store!

Sunday the 13th of December we have our annual Dick Winning Fun Day where we play lots of games have lots of fun and get a visit by water from Santa Claus himself! There will be sailing relays, greasy pole pillow fights, a tug of war, and treasure hunts on the beach, followed by fantastic food, music, drinks and a BBQ for one and all. Don’t miss out!

This year the Dick Winning Fun Day will also include the presentation and prize giving for the 2019-2020 season. Special guest passed members will be presenting our kids with trophies and medals and inspirational stories of just how far a well-trimmed sail can take you! The programme for the day will be published in Kutti News next Thursday so keep the date free and watch this space.

We then take a well-earned break (except if you are training for the Flying 11 Nationals on the 10th of January), where we are all encouraged to make the most of our most beautiful and privileged location and the hot summer weather.

On behalf of our committee, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our members and their families a most enjoyable festive season and a fabulous end to a challenging year. We hope you find time to spend on the important things in life like family, books, and boats!

So……Live Slow and Sail Fast!

See you down at the club!

Club Dates for Silent Auction.

The clubs 2020 fund raiser “Kutti Cocktails” was nothing less than pandemically impaired and so we still have not auctioned off our key dates for club use over the 2020-2021 summer.

Dates for auction include.

• Boxing Day

• New Years Eve

• New Years Day

• Australia Day

• Easter

• And any other special day for you

The most financially beneficial, club-friendly, water activity-based, proposals will win the pleasure of club use on your preferred day.

Submit your proposal to sailing@va12sc.org.au stating the date, function brief and amount to be donated. Of course, all proposals will need to be covid friendly and within the club usage policy. If you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to double your donation amount!!

Head of the Harbour - this Sunday!

This Sunday is the annual Head of the Harbour regatta hosted at Vaucluse 12 foot Sailing Club.

Always a fun day, this is one of the main Sabot regattas for our region. As well as our own fleet of intrepid Sabot sailors we will be welcoming visitors from other clubs around Sydney.

Sailing School will be running as normal, including Sailing School and Adult LTS, but it will be busier in the club than usual.

A big thank you to the many members who are volunteering their time to help on the day. We recognise it’s a big time commitment and we’re very grateful for your support.

Details of the day, race documents and results can all be accessed here

Xmas Holiday Camps

We’re reaching capacity for all of our holiday camps. If you want to register kids please do so ASAP (click here). We will be closing registrations for individual camps as they get full.

For those that expressed interest in the advanced skills camp (14 - 18 Dec) - we’ve received sufficient interest to confirm this is going ahead. Please book here

Sunday 29 November - Report

Autumn closed with a very hot and very windy bang last Sunday!

Just as the Learn to Sail fleet were launching the first big gust came through with a 40 degree blast of 25 knot wind! Needless to say most of the PJ fleet found themselves blown back ashore rather quickly!

Some fast action from the coaches and parents ensured everyone stayed safe - and for the most part happy!

Back onshore we changed the focus to relay races with some rope tying cunningly tucked in to make sure the kids kept learning. A short day on the water, but another good day at the club!

The Sabot fleet were rigged and ready to race. A few of the kids were getting quite excited about a blast in the breeze. Race Officer, Adrian Paul, hoisted the AP to see if the wind would abate. It didn’t so thecorrect decision was made to abandon racing. The afternoon fleet followed suit.

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

Sabot - Upcoming Regattas

There are a couple of regattas coming up for the Sabot class:

Teralba Club Regatta - Sun 28th November

$10 per Sabot and a presentation after sailing on Saturday for juniors. Saturday 2.30pm start. Sunday 2.00m start. SI’s issued on the day. Enter here

Head of the Harbour - Sun 6th December

Vaucluse is delighted to once again host the annual Head of the Harbour Sabot regatta on 6th December. This year promises to be a great day out on the water.

This regatta has a long tradition and is an invitational for all our clubs.

The details of the event including COVID plan, NoR and SI are included below, together with the booking details.

 https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing?eid=682213&bof=1

 I encourage early entry, to assist us in planning for a smooth day.

If you have any question please do not hesitate to contact Scott Day (0421626092) or our regatta Director Kate O Loughlin

Speers Point Club Regatta - Sat 12th December

This is a re-run because it was called off in September when a dog flew high from a chain before the start.  For those that don’t know, Speers Point is the same waters as Teralba on Lake Macquarie, so another good reccy opportunity at this event too.

For those considering a weekend on the lake, Sundays are extremely busy at Wangi for sabots too.  There are 2 sessions of LTS (8-10am)/Intermediates(10-midday) and then junior club racing, mostly 3 races, starting after midday with 10-15 boats.

Any questions on Speers Point or Teralba events, please contact Scott Day by email

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.

Changes to Sailing Instructions

Our sailing instructions (SI’s) have been recently amended in order to improve scoring accuracy and reporting through ScoreIT. The revised sailing instructions are located here. You can access the Racing Rules of Sailing is located here.

Summary of amendments
Changes have been made to clauses 15.3 and 20.1 ii. of our Sailing Instructions as follows:

> 15.3 Boats still racing after the time limit has expired will be allocated a point score equal to the number of boats that have started the race + 1 (ie SRS). This changes Rules 35 and A4.

> 20.1 ii. Each race in each event will be scored as provided in RRS 90.3 but applying A9 Race Scores in a Series Longer than a Regatta.

These changes have been approved by the Race Committee for application to this seasons' Club Championship race results. Race results are now updated and published after each Club Championship race. Club Championship provisional results are located here for each class.

Please feel free to reach out to Alex Badger (Rear Commodore) or another member of our Race Committee if you wish to discuss any aspect of these changes or scoring in general.

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

Sustainably Sailing

On Sunday, our little sailing club was powered 100% by solar energy, we had the smallest bag of food waste which went into organics recycling, all cans were recycled, bottled water is not sold anymore and a very small amount of rubbish went into the red bin. Previously we used to put at least two full bin liners in the landfill bin every week!!
Thanks to your support, we are kicking our sustainability goals! It just goes to show how small changes, make a big impact.