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JUNE 2011
DOWNWIND Racing Association Newsletter Diary Dates
July Sun 3:
Winter Series R4
Sun 17: Winter Series R5
Chairman’s Report… Thank you to all skippers who responded to our survey. In all we had 19 answers and our program will be finalised now that we’ve taken the democratic response of tabulating the yes, no and maybe’s. Unfortunately we are, for varying reasons, unable to facilitate every request but our recent committee meetings have been full of open and earnest discussion as we look to the future of CYCSA racing. With the resignation of Peter Hall these past weeks our committee has seconded John Gibson to fill his position until the coming AGM. We thank John for his wonderful dedication to our sailing program, both as an RO and now as a committee member. I hope that he may even nominate for a position in the coming weeks.
Sat 23: Short-handed Short The decisions reached at our last meeting and which will be reflected in our coming program following the survey are: Course Series R5 Sat 23: Seafood Night Sat 29: Racing Association AGM
August Sat 6:
Short-handed Short Course Series R6 & Series Presentation
Sat 6:
PASC Ice Breaker Series
Sun 7:
PASC - Port Line Cup
Sun 14: Winter Series R6 & Series Presentation
AUSTRALIA DAY TWILIGHT/RACE: (Thursday Jan 26 2012). The numbers supported racing on the Thursday holiday. The decision will be to race in the afternoon along a similar format to the extremely popular Australia Day race held earlier this year, especially if the weather forecast is kind. LADIES TWILIGHT: There will be no Friday Ladies Twilight series as very few respondents indicated an interest. CHAIRMAN’S CUP: We will schedule the Chairman’s Cup as a fun Sunday race on January 29. WINDWARD/LEEWARD RACING: Some members have asked for an increased number of Windward/Leeward races however, in keeping with IRC guidelines (reprinted in the IRC Section of this newsletter) we will continue to program a mixed program for all series. We did receive requests that the Premiers Cup return to a five-six race W/L regatta but REX was concerned that, following a review of nominations for this regatta over past years, the increased fleet numbers attending this regatta since it was changed from a multi-race W/L format to a double W/L then longer race Sunday would support that the majority of racing members prefer a mix of racing. A stipulation was however made by REX that the RO for this regatta take into account that the Sunday race should include a W/L component as opposed to programming a simple reaching race. DESTINATION RACE: A destination race was proposed for March 10, it received support from nearly half of the respondents however concern was expressed that the date was too close to Lincoln. A Race to American River has been proposed for January, more information on that elsewhere in this newsletter. AVERAGE POINTS: most respondents had no objections to boats receiving average points whilst they compete interstate but some concerns were raised that such boats need to meet reasonable criteria. The committee subsequently made the decision that average points will be awarded upon application and assessment by REX. TWILIGHT RACING: A suggestion has been put to REX that our Phil Hoffman Wednesday Night Twilight Series utilise two windward marks, or set two separate courses which, in effect, would mean the fleet would split into two divisions. By grouping boats by class/speed courses could be set to enable the entire fleet to finish closer together (approximately a 90 minute race for all). If you have any views on this please communicate them to Jess as we will discuss this suggestion at our next REX meeting. Those of you who have been around the competing in the Short-handed and Port River Marine Winter Series would be aware that I took on the thankless task of Racing Manager when Jess took her annual leave. We managed to get some results for most races.. (a good thing). Thanks to William Strangways and Donna Marshall for their help and to our sponsor Leica Theodore, always a good sport, who volunteered to cook the barbie on Winter Series days. We are in the final stages of putting the program to bed for the coming season and you will receive an email when it is ratified and uploaded. As we near our AGM I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed, both on and off water, to the past season. My fellow Racing Executive members, Brenton Pegler, Roger Nicholson, Nikki Burtt, Peter Hall and Vice Chair William Strangways. A special mention goes to our Rear Commodore Rob Sellick for his invaluable support and advice. I encourage anyone who has strong views on racing at our club to nominate for REX, with Jess’s wonderful help the role played by REX has been far less time consuming than it possibly has been over past years !
Traci Ayris
DOWNWIND • CRUISING YACHT CLUB OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA RACING EXECUTIVE WWW.CYCSA.COM.AU