Waiting For The Wind

The final race weekend of the calendar year was a bit of a waiting game. A good fleet of boats made it to the rigging area but only half made it to the water as waiting for the wind dulled the enthusiasm. The best of the breeze was just before the start of two races. Just enough to fly a hull while double trapping and just enough for someone to bury the bows a bit deep on a reach, now who was that. Egbert and Siebren smashed the opposition in race 1 and everyone had a good start in race 2. Next Sunday is the club's Christmas party so bring along your own lunch for a bit of a feast. There is no racing scheduled but the Nationals bound Hobie's will probably be on the water practising so bring along your boats as well.

Congratulations Quinny

Congratulations to Richard and Rachael who have successfully defended their Hobie 18 NSW State Title over the weekend. In the Hobie 16 fleet, Andrew and Georgii brought home 2nd place in the masters division. Conditions were varied with a moderate easterly on the Saturday before a honking southerly pushed crews and boats to the limit on Sunday. Seabreeze charts showed gusts reaching 30 knots on Sydney Harbour and at North Head, added to the lightening and hail that kept the fleet on their toes. Results can be found at the NSW Hobie Class website and some pretty awesome photos were taken by Sailing Images Global

Ready, Set, States

Sailing began on Sunday with a fairly solid westerly breeze, gusting over 20 knots. Only the brave ventured out on the Hobie Waves and Patrick and Will took to a new sport, something a mix of sailing, surfing and waterskiing. Spot on to the forecast, the breeze dropped and swung to the south east and four races were held with 9 Hobie 16's on the water. New to the club, Rudy and Helen tested out their boat righting skills before performing well on the water. There was very close racing across the whole fleet, but Mick and Patrick were in top form to take out each race. There will be a fun & recreation day at the club this coming weekend as team Vincentia travel to Pittwater to compete in the NSW Hobie State Titles.

Outrageously Variable Winds

After being spoilt with constant nor-easters the last few weeks, sailors were greeted with an undecided forecast on Sunday. A total of 14 boats were on the water including Rohan and his family from Bathurst and Simon and Roe from Canberra. As boats left the beach, many were seen paddling to find breeze, only to find a lot of breeze as a gusty westerly set in. The course was adjusted for the new breeze and 2 hot dog races were held in a smoke haze. Gilby took out race one and Egbert claimed race two. During lunch, a solid southerly dropped the temperatures and brought some rain. Race 3 was won by Simon before Andrew took out race 4.

Another Great Day on the Bay

And yet another great day on the bay was had by one and all. Egbert started the day with terrifying Taipan speed to take the first two races. Mick was reliving his youth on an 18 (And loving it), scaring Quinny off in the process (he was a no show). Andrew's teabag and capsize in race 2 was the stand out for the day. With the increasing north easter after lunch, the Anderson's and John kept the duty crew nervous for races 3 and 4. Plenty of spray and catamaran speed topped off another great day of sailing.

Gilby

Terrific Conditions to Welcome New Sailors

The NSW Boating Industry's Association's annual try sailing day was held on Sunday with an estimated 80 people attending the Vincentia Sailing Club to give sailing a try. Conditions were ideal with a light nor-easter before lunch which gave the opportunity for beginners to get out on the water. After lunch the breeze strengthened giving the thrill seekers some face paced and enjoyable joy ride opportunities. Visitors to the club were treated to a variety of sailing craft to take rides on, with Hobie 16's, Taipan 4.9, Hobie Getaway, Wave & Bravo, Hobie Adventure Sailing Kayaks and a few Hobie Stand-Up paddle boards for good measure. We hope our visitors enjoyed the experience.

Jervis Bay, Cat Sailing & VSC At Their Best

An abundance of smiles, happy faces, kids having fun on the beach, great food and exhilarating sailing is what it was all about on Sunday. Surely the surprisingly good weather conditions contributed to those smiles on everyone's faces, sailors and beach gatherers, young and adults alike. Even Andrew came close to having a glimpse of a smile on his face, although not until after the sailing was over. Quinny and Rachael taking the gap at the start of race 2 and stealing Andrew's clean air may have had something to do with that. Helen and Dobbo were unquestioningly the duo on the water who had the most fun, even though they weren't the couple to beat. You can only do so much chatting Dobbo before it starts having an impact on your sailing!

Overall, the sailors were treated to excellent conditions with an all day long 10-15 knots Easterly. Of course some extra puffs and shifts, resulting in a few capsizes also (Rachael & James, Di). After lunch most of the sailors seemed more keen on spotting a whale in the middle of the race course rather than getting ready for race #3. Just as well Siebren, the race duty assistant for the day, had brought his fishing gear along on the start boat, stopping him from nagging his dad to get the races underway!

Race 3 was exhilarating and very fast paced, with Quinny and Rachael completing the two triangles and taking line honours in no more than 12 mins 34 secs, and with Mick & Patrick, Andrew & Georgii, Glen & Will not far behind. See the results, both Spring Handicap and overall Yardstick for more details. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say, from where I was standing the Hobie fleet looked like a glorious and rather thrilling spectacle, being a Taipan sailor that should say something. Lastly thank you Chemene and assisting ladies for serving a yummy lunch to us all.

Egbert

Hobie 16's Rule In The Seasons First Nor-easter

The first nor-easter of the season began light but strengthened to about 15 knots by the afternoon. 4 races were held with 8 sixteen's on the water and all had a blast particularly on the reach leg, thanks Dobbo. After teaming up for the last couple of weeks, John and Howard skippered their own boats and enjoyed a close battle on the water. Di and Julia showed great speed on the water taking line honours in race 4.

Andrew and Will claimed bragging rights over Mick and Patrick as the breeze strengthened and Peter visiting from Pittwater got the fleet thinking about the upcoming NSW state titles. So that leaves one question, where were the 18's and taipans?

Club Championship Starts

After a wash out of the first championship weekend, the club championship got underway in a sou-easterly breeze. Race 1 finished the way it started with Quinny first followed by Mick. Dobbo had a good race coming third. In race 2, James got a good start while Quinny dragged his arse in the cold water but after the first lap made the right decision to tack towards the beach and came through with the line honours just in front of Mick.

After taking another dip in the water on the way back to lunch, Quinny took another dip in the 3rd. The winter weight proving too much for his trapeze wire. James almost had the best start of the season but arrived early by 25 thousandths of a second. Race 4 was a quick single lapper with only 3 minutes across the entire fleet.

Blair

Pleasant Westerly

The halfway weekend of the spring series was 4 races in varying conditions. Races 1 and 2 were held in a 10-15kt westerly. Dobbo welcomed a new crew Julia to the sixteen in race 1 and the start boat crew nearly abandoned ship after James buried the bows on the finish line. In race 2 James got a great start and John, teaming up with Howard, decided to impersonate a teabag.

After lunch races 3 and 4 required a paddle out to the start line but then a light sou-westerly gave good racing while the V8 fans missed out. Egbert was happy with the start line all to himself for race 3 while the sixteen's were playing bumper boats. Rachael had taken the tiller for races 3 and 4 and took out line honours in the sixteen fleet in race 4. How often does James do this?

MB

Wet and Woolly Weekend

The first weekend set down for club championship races was a wild and woolly one. No races were held and only Quinny braved the conditions to test out some new gear. Next weekend will see team Vincentia competing at the 40th Anniversary Forster Wild Cat Regatta and the Callala Bay Regatta. Good luck to those competing and safe travelling to everyone who are driving over the long weekend.

Cheers

James

A Light Sou-Easterly

Racing on Sunday began in a light sou-easterly, with 4 sixteens and 2 eighteens. Race 1 was taken out by Glen and Michelle and they continued there good form in race 2 after nailing a port start only having to duck Quinny. After lunch, only the sixteens braved the disappearing breeze and Andrew's starboard hand course with Di and Meg taking out the race on handicap.

The Season Opener

The season opened with a light westerly on flat water with Quinny and Rachael on duty. Race 1 had a few clouds and the wind stayed consistently light. The course was 2 sausages with a downwind finish. James and Rachael took the lead over Glen and Michelle on the last downwind leg to take the seasons first line honours. Race 2 was a single lapper before lunch and Glen and Michelle shot away getting to the breeze first. Glen and Michelle took race easily and James and Rachael scored a lucky wind shift to sneak second from Andrew and Georgii. Race 4 was a single lap getting us off the water before the breeze dropped.

What event was this?

Ok, so who knows when this photo was taken?
Can you remember who some of the boats belonged to?
Were you there?
How did you go?
Throughout the season we'll be showing photos from years gone by at Vincentia Sailing Club, and will put together a page that will include details to accompany the images.
So click on the image for a bigger view, put your thinking hats on, and use the "comments" button below (on the NEWS page) to share your memories.

Season 2011-12

Welcome everyone to the start of a new sailing season. After a rollercoaster of a 2010 – 11 season, let’s hope the off-season has been a relaxing time for everyone. Over the off season, we have welcomed Mick Butler into the Commodore’s role and we thank Egbert for his many years of hard work.

Before we brush the cobwebs off our boats, we’ll need to dust the cobwebs out of the club house with a working bee planned for 10am on Saturday the 10th.