Groundswell March 2011

mar c h

I

2011

A r e g u l a r n e w S l e t t e r f r o m t h e C r u i s i n g Y ac h t C l u b o f S o u t h A u s t r a l i a

inside > Sydney to Hobart Farewell Dinner > 2010 Rolex Sydney to Hobart > Nice Dream mate... > turkey to Malta > Ballast Head Cup regatta > Boating Showcase > Broadband Radar

Andrew Saies President Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia

Board of Management President Treasurer

Andrew Saies Henry Petersen Wayne Coonan Andrew Corletto David Hughes David Murray Tom Tymons

Flag Officers Commodore Vice Commodore Rear Commodore

Geoff Catt Chris Morphett Rob Sellick

Administration Executive Officer Administration Manager Finance Manager Marketing/Comms Leasing Coordinator Receptionist Marine Academy Coord.

Racing Manager Food & Bev. Manager Head Chef Functions Manager Slip Master Gardener Pt Vincent Marina

Craig Evans Jenny Krogdahl Marina Segodina Rob Williams/Laura Cowley Laura Cowley Guy Wogan-Provo Matthew Young Jess Hargreaves Mario Cataldi Andreas Bauer Michelle Matte Tim Went Robert Gray Rob Marner

Association Chairpersons Cruising John Sibly Fishing Glenn Spear Racing Traci Ayris Social Activities Jacq Heffernan Life Members Arthur F Carolan Richard H Fidock AO Graeme L Footer James A Henry (Dec’d.)

Malcolm A Kinnaird AC Peter J Page Editors of Groundswell Gay Footer, Rob Perrin Contributions to reception@cycsa.com.au Advertising in Groundswell Jenny Krogdahl: Telephone 08 8248 4222 Groundswell is the official journal of the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia Inc. Lady Gowrie Drive, North Haven PO Box 1020 North Haven SA 5018 Telephone: 08 8248 4222 Facsimile: 08 8248 5888 Email: reception@cycsa.com.au Web: www.cycsa.com.au Phone Port Vincent: 0414 611 110

From the President

T

he Club enjoyed its usual busy pre-Christmas activities both socially and on the water and it was good to see fleets growing for the twilight races. These really are great nights, bringing together guests, sponsors, friends and sailors, showcasing what our Club does the best, fun and hospitality on and around boats. Can I encourage all members to diarise at least one or two of these in before season end.

The Board acknowledges and thanks all members and staff involved with functions like the Sydney Hobart dinner, the Fishing Association evening and the Christmas party. These annual events are enjoyed by many and strong member support provides valuable revenue for our catering operations that by virtue of the seasonal nature of our sport are often under-utilized in the winter months. The Board is very aware of trying to create competitive prices, quality and access to our facilities all year while keeping membership fees at acceptable levels. Again members can help by booking a private or work function at the Club. Why not hold your business strategic planning day at the Club followed by dinner or simply make a new year resolution to book in for dinner with your family on a Friday or Saturday at least once this year?

The new marketing and promotional efforts of the Club being undertaken by Rob Williams and Laura Cowley have cleared a backlog of initiatives and the members booklet and new members induction package are very professional and set a very positive image for the Club. We hope that this, along with other initiatives like the web site upgrades, will result in an increase in new members in time.

The Board has set up or reinvigorated a number of sub committees including the Member Services and Promotion Committee, Marina East Replacement Committee, Marina West Committee and a committee to oversee and plan for Clubhouse renovations and storage facilities along with progressing the BBQ and shelter at Port Vincent. Board members and invited members sit on these committees. If any member feels they have expertise or interest in any of these areas, could they please register that interest with Craig Evans or myself.

Each of these areas have been addressed at two information sessions for members and feedback registered. Detailed plans, costings and stagings will be developed this year recognizing that limitation on funding and priority of some projects over others will influence the extent and timing of delivery of these projects. I will be discussing with Associations how they might help in contributing to some of these projects and goals for the Club. Overall, some aspects of our infrastructure wishes will need to be seen as long term and not immediate goals.

At the Christmas drinks for staff and Board we said farewell to Board Member John Gerard and wife Sue. John retired after many years of service to the Club and the last two years as President. John will continue to assist the Club and the Board as a member but we wish him well with increased leisure time spent in Queensland as he oversees the construction of a new boat. I would like to thank John and Sue on behalf of the Board and members for all they have done. Volunteers of this calibre have been, and will always be, the strength of our Club. In accordance with the constitution, the Board has appointed member David Hughes to fill the casual vacancy. David has a finance background and is a J24 owner.

Finally, on behalf of the Board and as a fellow competitor, I wish to congratulate Geoff Boettcher and the crew of SMB3.5 on winning the 2010 Rolex Sydney to Hobart. I know something of the highs and lows of this race! I am absolutely thrilled that another South Australian and CYCSA member has won this coveted trophy and etched two consecutive South Australian wins into the history of this Club and the race. To the crew of Shining Sea our commiserations. Incidents like yours and the fate of Two True just reinforce how tough this race really is.

Andrew Saies, President

Registered by Australia Post Publication No PP565001/00184 ISSN 1039-4230 Graphic design by Paynter Visuals & Associates Printed by Reflex Printing

Cover Photo: Geoff Boettcher’s Secret Mens Business 3.5 powers down the Tasmanian coast to take victory in the 2010 Rolex Sydney to Hobart. Photo courtesy of Photomakers/Perfect Prints.

3

Craig Evans Executive Officer

At the Helm

CLUB NEWS

PUNCHING WELL ABOVE OUR WEIGHT

W

hat do the results of the 2010 Sydney to Hobart really mean? Looking at where the entrants came from, South Australia made up 3% of the overall entrants and 4% of the Australian entries with New South Wales and Victoria making up 81%.

Looking at the proportion of winners of the Tattersall’s Cup over the last 65 years however, South Australia has won 8% of the Sydney to Hobart races on an international tally and 9% of the Cups won

by Australia. Proof no doubt that South Australia has been punching above her weight.

Anja Richards

P

rior to the year 2000 the CYCSA did not have a winning boat in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. You would have never imagined that by 2010 we would have three different winners. Congratulations to Geoff and Sue Boettcher, the winning crew and their local support team that achieved victory in the 2010 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on board Secret Mens Business 3.5 (SMB 3.5).

SMB 3.5’s win provided the Club with a ‘back to back victory’ after Two True’s win in 2009.

These wins followed the earlier victory by Ausmaid, breaking the ice back in 2000.

I recently received a letter from Gary Johanson, Mayor of Port Adelaide Enfield, congratulating SMB 3.5 and the CYCSA. In Mayor Johanson’s letter he concludes by saying “I will have my PA keep a copy of this letter for next year so I can fill in the details of the Sydney/Hobart winner that also no doubt will hail from the CYCSA”. Let’s hope he is right, but it’s a huge call.

Last year the Club sent out information to members about storage facilities at the CYCSA and asked for expressions of interest on various size storage lockers. The response was quite positive and an architect has been asked to carry out design work for such a facility. We look forward to presenting these drawings to you in the near future and also confirming your interest. If you did not respond initially, but would also like to be involved or would like more information, please contact reception.

Many of you would be aware that over the warmer summer months, particularly during the school holiday period, the Club has had an annual problem with youths trespassing on Club grounds and swimming and diving from the Club’s crane wharf and slipway area. Over the months of November and December a temporary fence was installed to divide the Club from the neighbouring Council Reserve. The fence proved very effective over this period; however it was not supported by the Council and was subsequently removed. The Club will continue to seek a permanent solution to this problem to protect the intruders from injury and also the Club’s facilities, liability and social responsibility. Should you see intruders in this area please contact Police on 13 14 44 immediately.

Recently there have been reports of minor fuel spills in the marina and it is understood that these have occurred during the transfer of fuel from jerry can type containers into a boat’s fuel tanks. Boat owners are permitted to fill their tanks using this method, however please take care and use appropriate equipment when doing so.

The Club’s website has undergone a major transformation over the past few months and we are continuing to add new features to it. Soon there will be a member’s log-in section where you will be able to access and pay your Club accounts and also view other information including membership forums, membership business directory and special offers.

NEW MEMBERS

O

ver the last three months the following people have joined the Club. Please make them welcome.

Tegan Asser Wayne Briancourt Tony Butvila Wendy Butvila Robert Cross Robert Dayman Samuel Dolan David Evans Kay Fyfe Jonathen Haakmeester Mark Harper Greg Jackson Ronald Jesche Luke Jones Roger Jones Ross King Graham Kirkbright

Rhys Kirkbright Sahsa Kovaricek Richard Lea Peter Littledike Stanko Medic Gilbert Phillips Paul Rennie Karina Rennie David Royle James Sarah Tim Sarah Lindsay Stanley Leigh Stok Kyle Treloar Stephen Treloar Mark Venable Guy Wogan-Provo

A timely reminder - while the weather is good it is an ideal time to check your mooring lines and fenders. These items do not last forever and require regular adjustment and often replacement. If you are not sure on how to tie your boat up please contact the CYCSA office for assistance or refer to information in the Club’s new handbook.

Autumn provide some excellent weather for boating with decreasing afternoon sea breezes as the temperatures begin to cool down. I hope you get an opportunity to get out on the water.

Safe boating.

Craig Evans, Executive Officer

The Club’s website has undergone a major transformation over the past few months and we are continuing to add new features to it.

4

NEW BOATS This is another in the series of articles aimed at providing you with a little insight into a few of the ‘new’ boats to the Club over recent months. While not all are newly built, most are relatively new to the Club and others have moved to new owners within the Club. We warmly welcome all these ‘new’ boats and owners.

34’

35’

36’

37’

adria Claude and Val Marchesi have taken delivery of their new yacht, a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36i, called Adria. Rather than buy another marina, they decided to make the boat fit the berth and this they have done to perfection.

Adria is a very pretty, functional yacht and they have fitted it out with all the usual accoutrements of binimi and electric anchor windlass, etc to make it as comfortable and user friendly as possible.

Berthed in A row, it is another welcome addition to the Club.

The business After selling his previous yacht Exile some two years ago, Nick George has bought a Sydney 38 called The Business. It is his third yacht and has proved to be the most enjoyable so far. He feels that the 38 fleet is going to grow and is sure it will evolve into a class with its own competition at the Club.

The Business is one of the earlier 38 productions and won the Nationals on one occasion but in the last few years has been used for corporate sail training events.

He will only be competing here in South Australia and is looking forward to the upcoming Adelaide to Lincoln Race followed by the Regatta Week.

38’

Twelfth Night After selling his previous yacht Sweet Chariot some ten years ago, Peter Lucas sailed aboard many other keel boats at the Club, in particular Kiwa and Marnico.

Together with his wife Wendy, he looked around for several months and found Twelfth Night in Southport, Queensland. It is a Passport 40, a very comfortable cruising design, and the previous owners lived aboard it for several years. The boat had not been out of its mooring for some time so there were some minor hassles to overcome such as the anchor windlass not working etc. Being of the belief that you don’t change a boats name, they were more than happy to retain Twelfth Night as its name.

It is happily ensconced at the Club and they had their maiden cruise over the New Year break down to Kangaroo Island where all went well and they are looking forward to many more happy days cruising the South Australian waters.

Gladiator

39’

40’

41’

42’

43’

Russell Crowe eat your heart out – there is another Gladiator on the scene.

Jim and Glenda Smyth have had a new Maritimo C55 Sports Cabriolet delivered and it is a truly stunning boat with all the conveniences you could possibly want aboard a floating home – air conditioning, watermaker, washing machine/dryer – you name it, it’s got it.

They chose not to have a flybridge design as age is slowly creeping up and climbing up and down another flight of steep steps just didn’t seem necessary. All the steering can be done from inside the saloon and Jim has no problems in navigating from there.

They have retained the name from their previous boat as Jim explained that he couldn’t cope with having another name to remember.

5

44’

45’

46’

47’

Geoff Catt Commodore

Commodore’s Report

A

s we congratulate Geoff Boettcher and the crew of Secret Mens Business 3.5 on their well deserved success in winning Australia’s premier blue water yacht race, the 2010 Sydney to Hobart, and look also at the wide range of sailing and boating activities that have been going on in and around the Club this summer, it’s worth reflecting on the objectives for which the Club was formed thirty seven years ago. Amongst these were the following:

Corletto) and Two True (Andrew Saies) on their involvement in the Geelong Audi Race Week in January (Shining Sea having just made it in time with a new rudder following a bruising Sydney to Hobart) as well as all competitors and winners in the 61st Adelaide to Port Lincoln Race – well done to everybody – it’s great to see that blue water racing is alive and well at the CYCSA! I also understand that we may have a couple of new entrants in this year’s Sydney to Hobart – I know that they will enjoy total support from Club members - watch this space!

• to encourage and promote the sports of yachting, fishing, power boating, sea and ocean cruising;

I’m pleased to advise that the Club has recently contacted a number of similar yacht clubs in Australia, the United Kingdom, the USA, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, offering reciprocal rights for visiting members. Positive responses are being received and these, together with Club contact details, will be posted under special links on our website.

I trust that CYCSA members visiting these reciprocal Clubs will be made welcome and enjoy the facilities on offer.

• to encourage competitive yachting by the support and promotion of competitive racing including regattas; • to provide and maintain club houses, facilities and services to encourage such sports and for the use, benefit and enjoyment of Club members and the public; and • to provide education, coaching and youth development programs to encourage participation and achievement in such sports.

Club members’ participation in the Flotilla for Kids, our work with the Marine Academy and the Squadron in providing sail training, navigation education and boat handling skills, volunteers at work every week in manning start boats and organizing various activities, the maintenance of high standards of Club governance, the care and attention paid by our staff to maintain our Club facilities – these are all signs of a healthy and vibrant organization that is meeting the objectives set back in the early ‘70s. We should all be proud of our Club and its achievements and be prepared to protect it vigorously.

On the sailing front, we also congratulate Another Planet (Brenton and Tracey Pegler and Alan Hambly), Game Over (Julian Newton), Secret Mens Business 3.5 (Geoff Boettcher), Shining Sea (Andrew

Finally, together with Commodore Peter Kelly from the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron, I extend an invitation to you to attend the inaugural Combined Easter Regatta at Port Vincent. Traditionally the Squadron has visited Port Vincent at Easter whereas more latterly the CYCSA has done so on Anzac Day long weekends. Because the two holidays coincide this year, it has been seen as an opportunity to share in the seamanship and camaraderie of a great boating regatta. The program of activities has been prepared by the respective committees of both Clubs and with numerous land and water based events on offer, skippers, crews, families and guests can choose to be involved in as much or as little as they wish. So, whether you race or cruise, have a yacht or a power boat, travel there by water or by road, please consider joining us at Port Vincent at Easter. The full program is available now on the website and includes attendance at the local Dawn Service and traditional RSL breakfast on Anzac Day. Geoff Catt, Commodore

Blue Sky MArine BoAtyArd

An uplifting experience...

Peter Bolton Business 8341 8505 Mobile 0412 846 799

Repair Refresh Repower South Australian Authorised Dealers for: Stern Drives & Inboards

6

Email boltyots@senet.com.au www.blueskymarine.2ya.com Alexa Road North Haven SA

2010 SYDNEY TO HOBART FAREWELL DINNER

“They were simpler times, but the men who raced to Hobart in Nerida and Ingrid all those years ago tried as hard as you do today. I am sure that those who will participate in this year’s race will do well and I trust that another trophy can be brought to South Australia.”

Prophetic words indeed as Dr Peter Last concluded his fascinating address to over 100 members and guests at last November’s dinner to farewell the skippers and crews of Secret Mens Business 3.5, Shining Sea and 2009 winner Two True as they prepared to set sail for Sydney!

After a welcome from Commodore Geoff Catt, who also passed on best wishes from the Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, guests enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by our Club staff as a backdrop of exciting images from past races played in the background.

The aim this year was to feature the four past South Australian winners of the Hobart - Nerida (1950), Ingrid (1952), Ausmaid (2000) and Two True (2009) and so we asked two speakers, Peter Last and Rear Commodore Rob Sellick to assist.

Peter began sailing at the end of the Second World War, moved to the Yacht Squadron in 1948 and is their honorary historian. His story about the earlier winners was truly fascinating, with amazing detail and personal recollections of Tom Hardy’s 38’ Nerida which, after Tom’s untimely death, was converted to a yawl and skippered to victory by Colin Haselgrove in 1950 and of the 32’ ketch Ingrid skippered by Jim Taylor to the winner’s podium in 1952.

Nerida, 1934

Rob Sellick then provided us with some interesting background on Kevan Pearce’s Ausmaid campaign in 2000 and rounded his contribution off by acknowledging Two True’s (Andrew Saies) race in 2009 and further comparing the new with the old.

Guests were then entertained by a most unlikely comedy duo of Geoff Boettcher and Caillin Howard as they treated us to a series of hilarious stories of incidents from previous races!

All too soon the evening drew to a close and it was time for the Commodore to present CYCSA caps to each skipper and crew member and to wish them all a safe trip and a successful Sydney to Hobart race.

Many thanks are due to all who helped on the night, especially Master of Ceremonies Peter Middleton and audio visual guru Mike O’Reilly, and all of the CYCSA staff.

Geoff Catt, Commodore

Shining Sea cr

ew

Two True crew

SMB 3.5 crew

Peter Last with Commodore Geoff Catt 7

2010 Rolex Syd Three yachts from the Club entered the 2010 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Secret Mens Business 3.5, Two True and Shining Sea. Only SMB 3.5 completed the race with Two True having to retire to Eden due to engine problems and Shining Sea pulling into Triabunna on the east coast of Tasmania with the end almost in sight. Andrew Corletto was steering Shining Sea at the time and they were going great guns under spinnaker when he announced to the crew that there was a problem. The crew couldn’t see an issue as they sped down the coast but with a demonstration by Andrew of turning the wheel full lock to both port and starboard with nothing happening convinced them there was a problem and the spinnaker came down pretty quickly after that – they had a broken rudder!

As you all know, Secret Mens Business 3.5 not only completed the race but won it and this is Geoff Boettcher’s account of the race followed by a report by Andrew Saies of Two True’s campaign.

Secret Mens Business 3.5’s Hobart Run

T

knots of wind and building seas. Swinging from his harness with his head under water, it took five ‘lumpy guys’ to persuade him to get back on board. Without even an apology for punching a stanchion through the deck, Caillin was sent to bed for six hours on R&R but bounced back even though wounded. Adam ‘Rat’ Common was determined that his first year as No 1 Bowman would be legendary. Backed up by strongman and Finn legend James ‘Pato’ Paterson, Rat’s new ‘fast’ haircut kept windage to a minimum as he worked tirelessly at the bow. Jason Clark lost his ‘Justin Bieber’ hair style the first night out but kept his mainsail in one piece for the duration of the trip after performing a reefing marathon all the way to Hobart.

he gentle spinnaker run down the coast from Sydney didn’t last long as the predicted first southerly front hit the fleet bringing hail, solid rain and plenty of wind.

We were now experiencing the normal Sydney to Hobart weather which had managed to elude the great race over the past few years.

The next two days seemed a blur after one watch ran into the next.

Any sleep received was a bonus. To try and pick up a few positions lost by patchy winds just after the start, the whole crew spent the first night out on the rail.

The crew selection for this year’s Hobart was handed to Michael Dunstan, our Sydney Tactician, who over the past few years has assisted in running some of our successful campaigns. After winning Heat One of the Audi 2010 IRC Nationals in Geelong, we knew the revamped SMB 3.5 had a chance of a place in the ‘Hobart’.

SMB 3.5 reached speeds up to 25 knots with three reefs and a No 5 headsail sailing into Tasman Island on the 29th only to be stopped in her tracks under the cliff face with little to no wind. In good company we experienced flukey winds in Storm Bay dropping to very light winds at the entrance to the Derwent. With a keel and rudder full of inescapable weed, we crossed the finish at 1342 hours; gentlemen’s hours, to experience light refreshments from the adoring wives and girlfriends.

To complement and bring a little more depth to the Adelaide crew, Michael brought in extra steerers and tactical crew. Navigator Steve Kemp drew on the expertise of these ‘Young Guns’ to ensure we adhered to our game plan that we believed was the fastest route to Hobart. David ‘Ollie’ Oliver decided to injure himself sailing on the Harbour a few days before the start and gallantly chose to withdraw from the crew. He was replaced by an equally skilled crew member but sadly at the expense of Ollie’s infamous egg and bacon toasted sandwiches. At least Ollie couldn’t set fire to the boat this year. The difference in our performance this year I believe was attributed to more depth in the crew to control such a powerful yacht along with more attention placed on route planning and weather predictions.

With strong winds forecast to drop we were fairly confident our seventh overall position would alter once the slower boats entered Storm Bay. By midnight the flags on Constitutional dock started to droop and SMB 3.5 moved to third position. The rum and cokes became more frequent, and, by 2.00am on the 30th the boys let loose, confident they had won the Great Race.

For the CYCSA, another win following last year’s win by Two True is a true achievement. I would like to thank the CYCSA officials, members and friends for all the well wishes and congratulations that came through to the crew and myself. Unfortunately it became impossible to respond to all calls but each message was greatly appreciated.

The preparation of SMB 3.5 by Tim Cowen was faultless, giving the crew confidence to push hard without fearing boat or sail damage.

On the second day Caillin Howard decided to take a swim in 40

Geoff Boettcher, Owner/Skipper Photo courtesy of Rolex

88

dney to Hobart

Photoscourtesy of Rolex

Victorious SMB3.5 crew with the Tattersall’s Cup

TWO TRUE’S CAMPAIGN All this effort paid off and we got a great start out of the harbor and in the first 32 hours consistently led our division and were placed between first and tenth overall. The afternoon of the 27th saw 40 knot south westerlies and building seas and a very uncomfortable 12 hours. As we approached Green Cape around midnight, the seas and wind had moderated and we went to start the motor to charge batteries for the compulsory reporting schedule. Nothing happened and further inspection by Mark Hutton, in difficult and nauseous conditions, revealed salt water in the engine cylinders with no prospect of remedy at sea. In one of those moments in life, a leadership decision had to be made to retire from the race. Sydney Hobart sailing instructions require that a skipper makes a declaration at Green Cape that amongst other things the engine and radios are working and the batteries fully charged. False declarations risk a Rule 69 penalty of up to two years disqualification from the sport. One of the key findings in the coronial enquiry into the deaths in the ‘98 race was that many boats went into Bass Strait without working engines or radios compounding an already dangerous situation. Our race was over and the disappointment palpable amongst the crew given all of the events of the previous few weeks.

Two True’s defense campaign for the 2010 Tattersall’s Cup started and ended in tragedy as if the Sydney Hobart gods just decided that all their favours had been fully bestowed on our boat and team in the previous year! As Geoff Boettcher knows, this is a difficult race to win from Adelaide given the distance and conditions that our boats have to travel through just to get to the start line and, for us, a routine crew drop off and pick up at Apollo Bay, started a saga that nearly ended our dream of defending our win. Against impossible odds and with the help of so many in the sailing community and industry in Australia, we were able to be on the start line in competitive form on 26 December.

To put the record straight, Two True, with an experienced delivery crew, one of whom had been into Apollo Bay Marina on numerous occasions, ran aground on a shifting sand bank in the channel entrance to the marina in good conditions on a falling tide in the early evening in full light. Attempts to move the boat by local authorities included a tow from a power boat and when this proved unsuccessful, a line was taken from the mast in order to heel the boat. This did free the keel but in the recoil between the boats that followed, the mast tow line snapped the rig above the second spreaders. Then followed a difficult phone call and one that I received in disbelief. I do not intend to cover everything that followed next but wish to thank all who rallied to get the boat to Melbourne then Sydney by road, the work done at River Quays and the tireless efforts of Youngi, Tony Ritter and many others.

I was disappointed to not have had the opportunity to finish in Hobart (and probably in a good position) and disappointed that I had let down all the people who had tried so hard to get us to the start line but certain that I had made the only decision possible in the circumstances. Two True and her crew move on with a clear conscience about complying with the rules to the letter and the safety requirements of this race. Engine issues and prevention may be the basis for another article! Finally our disappointment was relieved by the knowledge that Geoff and crew had won our Tattersall’s Cup and kept the coveted trophy not only in South Australia but at the CYCSA.

That we could even contemplate a start was only possible due to the generosity of two key people and two companies. Howard Piggot, the owner of Flying Cloud, a First 40 in Sydney, set up in a very similar way to Two True, was going overseas in January and was prepared to sell his mast to us while he waited for the replacement spar to arrive from France. An incredibly generous gesture. In an equally generous gesture, Peter Teakle, wishing to show his support as part of the Port Lincoln sailing community, made an offer to support our efforts to get on the start line by funding the semi trailer costs from Melbourne to Sydney and this was gratefully accepted. Beneteau and Club Marine, my insurer, were also excellent in expeditiously managing many aspects of the claim and the mast purchase.

To all of these people I extend our sincere thanks.

Andrew Saies

9

Georges’ Premier’s Cup Regatta

T

Jess Hargreaves, Racing Manager

Results

RESULTS

he Premier’s Cup Regatta was held over the weekend of 20-21 November and was a successful Regatta with a fleet of 24, including CYCSA, RSAYS and PASC entrants. Congratulations once again to Geoff Boettcher and the boys from SMB 3.5 for winning the Premier’s Cup and also to Trevor Conyers and the crew on No Eye Deer for winning the J24 Southern Cross Cup.

Division 1 IRC 1st Secret Men’s Business 3.5 Geoff Boettcher 2nd Two True Andrew Saies 3rd The Business Nick George PHS 1st 2nd 3rd

Asylum Derek Morrison Secret Men’s Business 3.5 Geoff Boettcher Locomotion Peter Hall/Wayne Rowe

Division 2 PHS 1st Synergy 2nd Carioca 3rd Medosa

Mal Hutton Beth Hutton Brian Smith

J24 OD 1st 2nd 3rd

No Eye Deer Vertigo Jumpin Jack Flash

Trevor Conyers Jamie Goode Doug Watson

PHS 1st 2nd 3rd

Jumpin Jack Flash Vertigo Such Is Life

Doug Watson Jamie Goode Rob Hogan

SMB 3.5’s Premier’s Cup winning crew

Southern Diesel and Marine Cat, Cummins, Volvo, Yanmar, Kabota, Perkins, Mercruiser, etc.

Diesel Fuel Injection Specialist

Southern Diesel and Marine Unit 11/76 O’Sullivan Beach Road Lonsdale

tel: 0408 803 766

• Specialists in pleasure craft - power and yachts.

• Diesel engineer - over 25 years experience.

• Insurance work welcome.

• Fully insured repairer.

• We come to you at the CYCSA. • Discuss your job or quote with Scott

- ring on 8326 10

7075.

From the Race Office

A

nother new year – another win in the Sydney to Hobart! Congratulations to Geoff Boettcher and the crew from Secret Mens Business 3.5 for their well deserved handicap win of the Tattersall’s Cup. A few of our boats have been busy sailing over the past couple of months, with Two True and Shining Sea also competing in the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. This was closely followed by Audi Victoria Race Week where SMB 3.5, Two True and Shining Sea were joined by Another Planet and Game Over.

Twilights On 8 December, the RSAYS and CYCSA held the first of two Combined Twilight races. This race was hosted by the RSAYS and saw a fleet of 50 boats racing in the river.

It was great to see some Club boats who don’t usually make it to our regular twilight races out racing that night.

The next combined twilight will be held in the lead up to Lincoln Week. Hosted by the CYCSA, this race will be conducted along the same lines as our usual twilight races in that the course will be set out in open gulf waters with no river component.

On 15 December, the Racing Association held a Ladies Helm Twilight Race which was also the re-scheduled Chairman’s Cup Race. I am pleased to say that this special race resulted in our largest fleet all year and a big congratulation to Tracey Pegler from Another Planet for winning the Chairman’s Cup! In fact, due to the enormous success of this Ladies Twilight Race, we have had a number of requests to run another. The Racing Executive is in the process of organizing this race – please see me for more details.

No Eye Deer’s crew, winners of the Southern Cross Cup

Speaking of Twilights, our Phil Hoffmann Travel Twilight Series 1 wrapped up on 22 December 2010. Thanks to everyone who took part and made it a great way to spend a Wednesday evening! I look forward to Series 2 being equally, if not more, successful!

Series 1 winners Cruising Division 1st

Matador

2nd

Another Planet

Alan Hambly

3rd

Liberator

Geoff Catt

Mike Draper

Racing Division 1st

Such is Life

Placegetters in the Chairman’s Cup with Traci Ayris Matador’s crew, winners of the Twilight Series 1

Roger Nicolson

2nd

Jumpin Jack Flash Doug Watson

3rd

Vertigo

Jamie Goode

We held a stand-alone ‘Twilight style’ race on the afternoon of Australia Day. There were no spinnakers and an early 3pm start. This day was a great success with 20 starters, including some visitors from other Clubs participating. A barbecue was held at the Club afterwards and it was great to see most participants enjoying a BBQ (featuring tasty Canegrass Lamb Packs) and patonque on the lawn until well after the sun had set.

Jess Hargreaves, Racing Manager

11

RACING ASSOCIATION

Jess Hargreaves

n 2002 I was standing on the deck of the partly completed ten metre aluminium expedition yacht Ocean Sunrise which I was building for Pembroke School with a teacher from another school who had dropped in to view progress. After inspecting the work, he asked what it was we intended to do with this yacht. My reply of an intention to sail with Year 11 and 12 students on the Kimberley Coast caused deep reflection before his reply came, “It’s a nice dream mate, but you will never make it happen!” Fortunately, for every sceptic, there are ten people who materialise during the course of a major project to give physical or moral support, people who have the generosity of spirit to be genuinely excited and inspired by what you are embarking upon.

In 2004 we left Darwin on a delivery trip, Kimberley bound on a 270 nautical mile passage across the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf. The locals refer to this piece of water as the ‘Joseph Blown Apart Gulf’ with good reason, shallow water and strong currents produce a sea state disproportionate to wind strength. At sunset the radio crackled out a strong wind warning and dutifully the wind rose steadily till waves were being torn apart in the wind. A succession of sail changes culminated in an early morning crawl onto the foredeck to put up the storm jib as the wind continued to rise into the mid forties. Waves beat against the hull and spray peppered the sky as Ocean Sunrise ploughed on oblivious to the surrounding chaos. After 48 hours the dramatic orange sandstone ramparts of the Kimberley Coast rose from the ocean and we entered the appropriately named Tranquil Bay near the entrance to the King George River. The anchor chain

Pembroke School lease a berth at the Club where Ocean Sunrise is berthed. David Nelson, a member of the Outdoor Education team at Pembroke, has written this article to share with us a voyage he undertakes with the students. I am sure you will agree, it is an inspiring educational challenge.

Background image: King George River

Nice but you’ll never 12

The ketch rig keeps the centre of effort of the sail plan low, which is appropriate for a centreboard yacht and when caught out in strong winds, sailing under jib and mizzen provides a balanced, safe and comforting rig. These boats have proved exceptionally forgiving yachts in the hands of inexperienced crews navigating these shallow inland waterways.

rattled out of the bin and white breasted Sea Eagles soared overhead, checking out the intruders. We anchored at the head of the bay, with a pristine sandy beach, backed by orange sandstone walls spouting a waterfall from half height. The Kimberley is a truly breathtaking landscape!

I have been fortunate to be employed by Pembroke School, a dynamic leading Adelaide based school headed up by Mr Luke Thomson. Pembroke runs a vibrant Outdoor Education program in the middle school years from its base on the Finniss River. This program involves a sailing expedition for all Year 10 students across Lake Alexandrina through Tauwitchere Barrage and explores the shallow waters of the magnificent Coorong. It takes a special yacht to operate with any reliability in these shallow waterways that are littered with coral bommies when being sailed by novice crews. Fifteen years ago we moved away from fibreglass boats because of maintenance issues and built ‘in house’ the first of a series of three seven metre aluminium centreboard ketches designed by local Naval Architect Howard Peachey. Carbon fibre, kevlar and composite construction are great materials for racing yachts, but when it comes to operating in unchartered waters on remote coastlines, aluminium takes a lot of beating, literally! The boats were fitted out specifically to suit our style of program with a double bottom and buoyancy tanks for safety.

In 2000 approval was sought and given to build a purpose designed expedition yacht to cater for our senior school students, stepping up from the inland waters of the Coorong to an ocean sailing experience in Years 11 and 12. The project was allocated a shoestring budget of $25,000, enough to build the hull and deck, but we were confident we could raise the rest once the project started. A design concept was drawn up for a yacht constructed in aluminium, with a lifting keel and rudder, double bottom, water tight bulkheads fore and aft, ketch rigged and demountable to be able to truck the boat to interstate destinations. The design was totally function driven, unpainted work boat finishes, designed to operate as an educational platform supporting multi pursuit programs on remote coastlines around Australia. Naval Architect Howard Peachey did an amazing job continued over page...

dream mate...... make it happen!

13

Nice dream mate......

...continued from over page

at converting the conceptual drawings into a design that met Transport SA survey specifications and the end product has since performed way beyond any reasonable expectation for a yacht of this size.

Two tonnes of aluminium were ordered and the boat was lofted full size on the shed floor, starting a 5000 hour build. Four metre hoops were fabricated, supported in rollers that allowed the boat to be rolled many times during construction for all down hand welding. The project inspired many people who generously donated either money or equipment. The Pembroke Parents and Friends Association adopted the Ocean Sunrise project, raising money to keep it moving. One parent owned a tyre business and offered lead wheel weights for the keel, so when a four wheel drive staggered down the driveway with front wheels barely on the ground, I knew who was coming! The lead was melted down and cast into foil shaped blocks which were placed into the lifting keel structure to avoid the distortion induced from a molten pour and epoxy was then poured in to isolate the lead from the alloy skins. Transport SA inspected the construction eighteen times before launch and then an inclination test to check stability was carried out. Ocean Sunrise was launched by Bunty and Warren Bonython in 2003 and it is hard to imagine more qualified people to launch an expedition yacht.

Sailing trials followed and a season of sailing from the CYCSA with Year 11 students exploring the Gulf ports, fishing and diving for scallops and blue swimmer crabs to complete their ‘catch of the day’. The ‘over the horizon’ destination added much to the sense of accomplishment for student crews on these trips. The student response to this first season of sailing dispelled any nagging doubts we may have had as to the benefits of this type of experience! As with many things in life, the tougher the conditions, the more they got out of it!

The Kimberley beckoned, but the logistical costs involved with trucking a yacht to Darwin are significant, so to overcome this and still make Kimberley sailing expeditions affordable to our students, we sail every season with adventurous parents willing to pay semi-commercial rates for

Drying out on the Montebello Islands

Eastern arm of the King George River

the experience, effectively subsidising the student experience. In 2004 we sailed with parents only, developing the experience base necessary to safely operate in this area with students. Our first student trips ran in 2005 and to date we have spent 34 weeks operating between the Berkeley River and the King George River. The tidal rivers lined with 80 metre high sandstone cliffs, allow access deep inland. Each night we moor close to a waterfall and swim in the crocodile free freshwater pools on top of the cliffs. The landscape teems with life, such as turtles, fish, dugong, humpback whales, crocodiles and many other species. Students find Bradshaw and Wanjana aboriginal art in the many natural galleries and everywhere we go, students have the feeling of being first time explorers.

The design features incorporated in Ocean Sunrise, particularly the lifting ballasted keel and rudder and strong double bottom, allow exploration of small creeks offering safe shelter on an otherwise hostile coast, occasionally drying out in the process. In Ocean Sunrise we regularly cross miles of shoaling mud on a falling tide, something you would not contemplate with a fixed keel yacht, and secure the boat to the cliff face, often at the base of a waterfall, the boat fitted with dedicated line reels to facilitate this style of mooring. To fill the water tanks we gently nudge up to a cliff face under a waterfall, engage forward to hold the bow in place and get out the funnel and hose, the crew getting a shower in the process!

In 2010, after sailing a six week Kimberley season, we left Darwin and sailed 1150 nautical miles down the West Australia coast to the Montebello Islands, situated 60 nautical miles offshore from Dampier.

The Montebello Islands are a group of 70 limestone islands, classified as a marine park. The islands feature beautiful beaches, secure sheltered anchorages, surrounded by pristine coral reefs. The surrounding waters are havens for humpback whales, dugong, several species of turtle and migratory birds. The islands were also used by the British to test three nuclear bombs in the early fifties but are now clear for human visitation.

The attraction for us was what the islands offered in terms of the student

Osprey on Montebello Islands

14

Head of the King George River

experience, unlike the Kimberley where it is impossible to get in the ocean due to the healthy salt water crocodile population, the Montebello Islands offer superb snorkelling on coral reefs, world class surf breaks, ballistic fishing and close encounters with wildlife less threatening than salt water crocodiles!

For students and parents their trip started in Dampier, sailing the 60 nautical miles out to the Montebello’s which usually entailed close encounters with humpback whales and landing at least one tuna or spanish mackerel en route. We often entered the island chain through the North Passage, lifting the keel and negotiating several miles of coral strewn shallows to a deep hole where we could anchor inside North West Island.

Students took the liberty of naming this anchorage ‘Stoke Bay’, as it was a five minute dinghy ride to a grinding left hand surf break that delivered experiences which rated a ‘ten’ on the Ocean Sunrise ‘stoke meter’! To be surfing there in the late afternoon glass off, surrounded by humpback whales and green turtles, is an experience that will stay with them for some time.

The Kimberley is a magical place and exploring it by yacht only heightens that experience.

Students snorkelled pristine coral reefs with an impressive diversity of fish and coral in all shapes, sizes and colours. Fishing there, we targeted quality eating fish like mangrove jack and coral trout, augmented by a dedicated dive for painted crays, which were easily caught by hand and delicious eating. Students slept ashore some nights in tents and got to share their desert island with many green turtles waiting in the shallows before their nocturnal struggle up the beach to lay their eggs.

During the design and construction of Ocean Sunrise, remote areas like the Kimberley had been at the forefront of our thinking, so it has been a particularly satisfying experience to see her prove her worth as an exploration vessel in over 14,000 nautical miles of adventurous sailing in this environment. The Kimberley is a magical place and exploring it by yacht only heightens that experience. For many students it has been a significant life experience helping to define them and their life aspirations and expectations. After a week of sailing through this landscape with students, I have often wondered how it would be to ‘step up’ from this experience at their age, what a start to an adventurous life! Sailing through the Kimberley has left many participants with memories of a landscape that induces sensory overload, where words and images are almost an exercise in futility. There are some experiences in life that leave an indelible stamp, sailing through the Kimberley is one of them. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to be a part of making this dream a reality and to share it with such an incredible group of students, parents and staff. We are hopeful that in the near future we can utilise this experience base to build a larger vessel along similar design parameters as Ocean Sunrise, to carry a larger student crew, but then again.... nice dream mate, but you’ll never make it happen!

David Nelson

Students filling water tanks at King George River 15

TURKEY T raeme and I flew into Istanbul on the morning of 2 August and met up with Howard and Ann Bone, friends going back to schooldays, at the airport. They had flown in a few days earlier to have a look around Istanbul, something that if you are in the neighbourhood, you shouldn’t miss out on. Together we flew down to Antalya on the south coast and caught a taxi down to Finike where Jemmaroo was moored. Bob, our Kiwi cruising buddy and his friend Liz, fresh from touring around Ireland and France, had already stocked the boat so once we unpacked most of the gear and paid the all important bills, we set off around to Kekova Roads, a sheltered waterway to the west along the coast.

We anchored and had a very welcome swim as it was stinking hot and off to bed early to recover from jet lag. The next morning we attempted to look at the Sunken City within the Roads but you are not allowed to dive there so had to give that away and instead motored across to the Greek island of Kastellorenzon and anchored in Mandraki Bay. More swims were on the menu before dropping the dinghy over and going ashore for dinner. We went to Sydney Restaurant, owned of course by an Aussie Greek who spends the northern summer running his restaurant and then goes back to Oz for our summer. We said “feed us” and he did – we had a great meal and wine for less than 20 Euro each. There were protests from the crew as it was so hot so on went the gen set and we ran the air conditioning all night – talk about wimps.

Howard was given the jobs of Flag Monitor and DMO (Drinks Movement Officer) for the duration of his stay and what a busy boy he was. We returned to Turkey to an area called Gemiler Adasi, a bay with a few islands at the head of it. We motored in behind the islands thinking that would be good and discovered it was busier than Rundle Mall. The ice-cream man/general

Pancake Makers at Gemiler Adasi in Turkey Photos by Gay Footer

organizer came around to supposedly direct us to where we should anchor (outside his restaurant of course) but six Magnums and 48 Lira later we decided to skedaddle out of that anchorage area and found a quieter spot where we moored Med style tied to a tree all by ourselves. They are very persistent and the restaurant guy came around to check whether we were going in but we compromised by ordering two loaves of bread and a watermelon to be delivered at 9.00am the next morning. We were lolling around in the water and enjoying a quiet little drink when a couple came up in a small fishing boat – they were selling pancakes – she prepared them and filled them and he cooked them on a little gas burner. We had afternoon tea of lemon and sugar and banana and honey pancakes at 5 Lira each – delicious – and we booked them up for breakfast the next morning. The bread and watermelon duly arrived and we discovered it was a flat minimum charge of 35 Lira and we could have had five loaves of bread and four watermelons all for the same price – you live and learn. Our cheese and spinach and cheese, tomato and onion pancakes plus a basket of free figs filled us up for breakfast and we finally set off to Rhodes, some forty miles away.

We were checked out by the Turkish Coast Guard as we made our way across to Greece but heard nothing of it. Howard was kept incredibly busy with his jobs and we anchored in the outer bay at Rhodes for two reasons; one, we could swim and two, we didn’t have to worry about checking in – you get fairly cunning after a while. We dinghied into shore about 7pm hoping that there would be some relief from the heat and after a walk, drinks and calamari, another walk and then dinner, we made our way back to Jemmaroo for another night with a musical gen set.

Our next port of call was Simi, a very popular and pretty Greek island. A policewoman was directing the boat traffic and we eventually backed in and only two more boats made it onto the wall after us. First things first, so after a couple of QLDs, we set out

Marble Hill at Naxos 16

Our own pers

TO MALTA

ON BOARD JEMMAROO

to find a carpenter to make up an adaptation for our swim ladder – 10 Euro and it was all done. The town was absolutely buzzing, the waiter called it “tornado season” and it took quite some time to get our dinner but it was all good fun.

Back into Turkey and more flag changing to an anchorage at Palamut Covu and then further west along the coast calling into Buyuk Limani (Knidos) for a lunch pick and walk up to the ruins, finally anchoring for the next night in a lovely bay called Mersincki. The water temperature was incredible so we had several more swims before christening some Turkish skewers Graeme and I had bought in Kas, so kebabs, together with French champagne, New Zealand white and Lebanese red, filled out the menu – how international was that!

The Flag Monitor was put to work again as we made our way to Kos and moored in the harbour there, a really beautiful spot. We did quite a bit of shopping as there were many great little leather shops in the town. Slightly off the main tourist drag we found a small square surrounded by restaurants and enjoyed a great meal – good food and good company, the wine, well……..

Howard and Ann were leaving the next day and we were having a crew changeover with Kathy and Mark Horton, friends from New Zealand, taking their place. We were hoping to kill many birds with one stone so we went into the marina in Bodrum to do our changeover and to see the Yanmar mechanic about our overheating problem. Many departures and returns to the marina later and we still did not have the problem fully solved but improved somewhat so we decided to continue on with our passage and anchored off at Aspat Koyu, still in Turkey, for a night before officially entering Greece the next day at the island of Kalimnos. Because we had a different crew than when we officially entered Greece the previous year, we had to pay for another Cruising Permit – what a cheek!

with apple streudel and icecream for dessert – yum. We woke to the sound of goat bells and after breakfast headed to Dendro Bay on Dhenoussa Nisos for the night and to Naxos the next day. The marina was full so we anchored inside the outer breakwater. We organized a hire car for the next day to do a bit of a tour of the island. We missed the Lemoncello factory but found a hill of marble – not sure if that compensated – but it was all very interesting. Dinner was had at the “Old Inn” and the next morning Graeme, Bob and Mark went in search of gas. They found half a bottle, better than none we thought, and fortunately so as none was to be found over the next three weeks and we were running low. Iraklia and Skinousa followed as anchorages before we went across to the island of los which boasted of nudist beaches, so you can imagine we were going there. On the way we passed a large cruise boat called Costa Fortuna, how apt. We missed the nudists somehow and eventually achored in a bay on the south east end of Ios. We met up with a research vessel who informed us there was some strong weather coming so the next morning we sailed across to Thira, also known as Santorini. After motoring all along the west coast of the island and checking out the anchorages, most were too deep or too exposed, we eventually hunkered down in a bay along the south coast in about five metres of water. A swim, lunch, a dinghy ride into shore for a beer, and a bus ride into the main town followed.

This island has to be the most photographed of all the Greek islands.

Although we couldn’t seem to find the right locations, it was all very pretty perched about 300 metres above the sea on the cliffs. The town was chock-a-block full of jewellery shops, strange that. After a walk checking it out, we settled on a restaurant for dinner and had our own musician entertaining us – we had to buy his CD however. It was all very multi-cultural with the waiter from Maldovia and lots of Aussie accents continued over page...

The wind started to really pick up as we made our way to Levitha but we spent a peaceful night on board dining on roast pork and all the trimmings

sonal musician

Fishing boat at Santorini

This one didn’t make it!

17

Negotiating for our dinner

Anchored at Diros

Cave at Diros

...continued from previous page all around. The weather was having a great time and as it was blowing a treat, we decided to stay put and organized the hire of one scooter, for Bob and Liz, and two quad bikes for Kathy and Bruce and Graeme and me for the next day. It was really blowing and you had to squint a lot so after several stops we returned the bikes and went back to Jemmaroo for a sleep before going ashore for dinner. We stayed put the next day also as when the meltemi blows in the central Aegean, it stays in for several days at 20-30 knots.

Across the gulf to Ormos Scoutari and after checking out all the anchorages within the bay, dropped pick at Fisherman’s Bay. We bought some very fresh fish from a passing fishing boat – we weren’t sure of its parentage but it tasted good for both dinner and the following morning for breakfast. Yithion was our next stopping place and Liz left us there to return to New Zealand via Athens and Dubai. Bob went with her to Athens and Graeme and I continued on. We stayed another night at Yithion before heading down to Porto Kayio, a lovely little bay where we had no sooner made our way to shore and settled down for dinner, when down came the rain and up came the wind. Graeme made a hurried voyage back to Jemmaroo to close the hatches and of course, it stopped just after he sat down for dinner.

It was time to move on so we up-anchored and set off for Crete and enjoyed a great sail averaging eight knots and arrived in Iraklion about 4pm. We could not fit into the old Venetian Harbour so moored outside on the wall. It was too high to climb up so we dinghied into the Venetian Harbour and had a wander around town, dining on the waterfront. We caught the bus to Knossos, an Ancient Minoan site, which was very interesting.

We anchored in Diros and did a tour of the caves before settling for the night around the point at a beautiful little town where we anchored right in the middle of the small bay and dinghied into shore for a look around. I put the roast beef on before we left and we had plenty of time for a walk, an entrée of calamari and a bottle of wine but not quite enough time for an interlude with our son Mark’s in-laws, Andy and Ginny, who were driving past and called in. The roast was a tad overdone but it was a good night.

Rethymno, further west along the coast of Crete, was our next stopping place so we tied ourselves up, had a great dinner on the foreshore, and organized a hire car for the next day. We packed a small bag each and set off to explore some of the island, stopping first at Souda Bay to visit the beautifully maintained War Cemetery where 456 New Zealand and 197 Australian soldiers are buried. Driving inland across the mountains and through the gorges was incredible, the scenery was great but the roads left a lot to be desired. We de-camped at Palaiokhora on the south western corner of Crete and booked into “On The Rocks” for the night.

After checking out all the restaurants along the foreshore we settled on the busiest – the fish was great, the lamb was yuk. We returned to Jemmaroo via a more scenic, read steeper and windier, route and called into (C)Hania to check out the mooring facilities and booked tickets on the ferry for Mark and Kathy to go across to Mainland Greece the next night. We motored down to Hania and tied alongside in the harbour.

The six of us had a farewell dinner on shore and Kathy and Mark left to catch their ferry around 9.30pm.

Stoupa, where Andy and Ginny were staying with friends of theirs from Oxford, was our next destination. Fortunately the weather was settled as the anchorage was very open. We went ashore and met up with everyone, first having lunch at the cottage where they were staying, then everyone came aboard for a swim, a few drinks and a motor up to Kardamila. We dropped them back at Stoupa and returned to Kardamila where we had arranged to pick up Bob and spent the night there.

Kalamata, of olive fame, was next on the agenda and we moored in the marina there. We were still having issues with the engine so got in touch with a mechanic there. He declared it was the head gasket so we were on the engine merry-go-round again. Strikes in Athens where the part had to come from and all the rest of the catastrophe but it all finally came together.

Meanwhile, we hired a car and drove inland to Sparta. There is not much of Ancient Sparta left so we had a look around the monasteries at Mystras etc.

The engine was put back together again but it doesn’t seem to have solved the problem except depleted our pockets. It was better but still not right.

The weather was not looking good so we decided to get going and left around 3pm for an anchorage on the north east corner of the Rodopou Peninsula. It looked good on the chart but was untenable with bullets gusting down from the hills and 35+ knots of wind so we headed south to an incomplete marina at Kalimvari (there are many of these in Greece), tied ourselves up and spent a quiet night.

We anchored next at Koroni, a town with another castle guarding it. There is a working convent within the grounds and we were taken on a tour by an elderly nun who spoke no English at all but we managed to name some of the right disciples so she was happy. Meanwhile, I discovered that the alternator off the main engine was not charging but we couldn’t find anything obviously wrong so we set off for Methoni and anchored there.

Graeme and Bob sussed out a mechanic they could talk to – he was English – and Jerry declared the alternator cactus and suggested we go around to Ormos Navarinou to a marina at Pilos where he would meet us and organize an auto electrician. Methoni was a beautiful town with a stunning castle near its entrance but we only had time for a quick walk around before heading for the bay called Ormos Navarinou. Going through the entrance to the bay we passed some great rock formations. The marina was another one of those not completed so people have put in there own slime lines and weights etc and if there is a mooring free you just tie up, which we did.

Graeme and Bob dismantled the alternator in readiness for Jerry’s arrival and they all set off to the auto electricians. It was a debacle – the boys couldn’t speak a word of Greek, Jerry spoke very little and the electrician spoke absolutely no English. They did manage to ascertain that he thought the alternator was cactus also but it was just too hard to deal with him so we hired a car and drove back to Kalamata and met up with the mechanic there, who spoke very good English, and he took us to his auto electrician.

On our way across to the mainland, we spent a night at Nisis Andikithera, anchoring in the bay of Ormos Polamou in the north of the island. We had just settled down for a snooze when we heard screaming and yelling from the shore – the ferry was coming in. Up with the anchor and we motored out of the bay to allow this rather large ferry room to get into the bay and when he left, we re-anchored and settled down for the night. We then set sail in winds of about 30 knots for the island of Kithera and anchored in the bay called Dhiakafti for the night. The wind dropped a bit the next day so we made our way to the mainland, anchoring first at Vatiki on the south eastern tip of the Peloponeise and spent the night moored at Elafonisos Village. It was a great little village and we had a good walk around before having dinner at the best restaurant in town and then, at last, had a good night’s restful sleep.

Around the headland we found a great little bay but we couldn’t find its name anywhere. It was a real little fishing village and we had great fun having mezes for dinner – octopus and wine at one restaurant, more food and wine at the next and capped off with champagne and whiskies at a local bar.

18

Shipwreck Bay on Zakinthos The problem was eventually solved – we bought a reconditioned alternator and the electrician drove to Pilos after work and fitted it for us – phew. During this little interlude we found a great local restaurant in the town called Gregori’s – food and wine for three – 35 Euro all up – we went twice.

From Pilos we sailed to Katakolon where we anchored in the bay. It is where the cruise ships moor for the passengers to do day trips to Olympia and other sites nearby and it made us think of Paul Yarwood as it was at Olympia that we literally bumped into Paul and Judy in 2009. There was one boat in when we arrived, it left about 7pm and when we woke up the next morning, there were two! The town is one shopping mall, souvenir shops, jewellery shops and restaurants and not much else, and it was seething with passengers from the two liners.

We left mainland Greece and headed for Zakinthos, the most southerly of the main Ionian group of islands, where we moored Med style on the wall in the main town. A glass of wine at a café and dinner in the square with Greek music to entertain us and we were feeling very relaxed. We were on a winner as we found a shop with Camping Gaz – very fortunate as we had nearly run out. We caught a bus to a town further along the coast called Argilla and picked up two motor bikes, a chopper for Bob and a scooter for Graeme and me, to tour around the island the next day. We headed south visiting the aquatic park to check out the turtles but there were none there, had lunch up in a hill village and then rode across to Port St Nicholas for a bit of a look before going to a local winery for a tasting and back to the boat by 6pm. The boys returned the bikes and we ambled into the Town Square to pick a restaurant for dinner. We devised a very scientific means of selecting a restaurant – the one with the most comfortable chairs, as at some time a chair salesman has been through Greece and sold thousands of the most uncomfortable wicker type chairs that you can imagine and our butts were very tired of them.

The weather gods looked fine for our passage across to Malta via Sicily so we decided to get underway.

We motored around to the western side of the island, had a look at Shipwreck Bay with its beautiful beach and anchored at Ormos Vroma for a bit of a rest before setting off in the early evening. A local fishing boat came in and informed us that the forecast was for force six winds (not on our gribs), so we decided to leave straight away with the hope that we would be far enough west for the expected weather not to bother us. We up-anchored about 4pm and set course for Syracusa on the east coast of Sicily. It rained and we had quite a thunder and

Maltese fishing boats lightning show during the first night and with the wind behind us, the trip of approximately 250 nautical miles was uneventful except for the last three hours when the wind and the sea came up. We made it into Grand Harbour in Syracusa just after midnight, a trip of around 30 hours, and anchored in the south west corner of the bay. We woke the next morning to find we had anchored about 50 metres from a mussel bed, unlit of course. We moved to the northern anchorage in the bay and dinghied into town. Syracusa is a lovely town but Italy, Sicily particularly, is fairly backwards as far as WiFi is concerned and we eventually had to use an Internet Shop to find out what was happening in the world. We wandered around the Old City, absolutely stunning, and went back to Jemmaroo for a rest and clean-up before venturing back into shore and having dinner at a lovely restaurant called LaTerazza – really good food and wine – at last.

Porto Palo on the south-eastern corner of Sicily was our setting off point for Malta and we had a peaceful night there before departing for Valetta in Malta. The wind came up and it rained a bit but otherwise the passage across was uneventful. We called Valetta Harbour as we approached because we wanted to do a bit of a cruise around Grand Harbour before going around to the marina at Manoel Island.

It is just fabulous entering Grand Harbour with Fort St Elmo on one side and Fort St John on the other – there is just so much history associated with this area and it gives you goose bumps as you enter. After berthing at the marina in the next bay, we organized for Jemmaroo to go on the hard for their winter at the Manoel Island Boatyard, an excellent facility with good security etc. We washed and scrubbed and emptied the fridge and freezer and took her around to be slipped and placed on the hard. In the meantime, we organized someone to keep an eye on her while we aren’t there and had several things fixed up. We still had three days till we were due to leave so we booked into a hotel and hired a car and did some touring around the island. The trip across to Gozo on the ferry was fun and we managed to get lost a couple of times trying to negotiate our way around. Malta is a fascinating place, full of so much history and is a real must do if you are travelling in Europe.

We haven’t yet determined our travels for 2011 as there is ongoing debate about the merits or otherwise of taking Jemmaroo across the Atlantic to the Carribean – we will see…..

Gay Footer 19

For the right price, advice and friendly service on all of your chandlery and boating requirements...

HEMPEL YACHT PAINT ANTIFOUL STOCKISTS

A spectacular venue

for your wedding day...

JOHNS MARINE TRANSPORT Yachts, Cruisers and Trailer Boats

“The CYCSA ensured that our wedding day was one to remember. Our day was wonderful, the service and food was fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.”

Emily and Jared

Contact Robert Johns est.1988 PO Box 2591 Regency Park SA 5942 Email: johnsmarinetransport@bigpond.com

Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia 20

Tel: 08 8242 4000 Mob: 0418 818 676 Fax: 08 8242 5098

BALLAST HEAD CUP REGATTA NEW YEAR’S DAY 2011 Photos by Susan Saies and Ann Burrow

N

ew Year’s Day dawned with a light south-easterly wafting over Island Beach caressing the silence of the “morning after”. A bit of sluggish activity began around 1000hrs, when the eight crews which had previously arrived from Adelaide realized that the compulsory pre-race briefing on the beach was less than an hour away and, one by one, dragged themselves to register and make some sense of the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions. But hang on, at the scheduled time of the briefing, where were the eight or nine American River entries we had been advised would sail?

Then I remembered that Kangaroo Island time is about fourteen minutes behind mainland time and sure enough, a couple of minutes later, eight of American River’s finest yachties were steaming out of the river looking very much like an attacking armada. At final acceptances, we had sixteen monohulls and two multihulls to face the Race Officer on Top End for a 1300hrs start.

The bloke with the hardest job in this regatta is the handicapper.

Although he had some indication from twilight events for the Adelaide boats, he was pretty well sailing blind for the rest of the fleet of which three were over sixty years old and others in need of a touch of TLC. However using his experience and previous results over eight regattas and playing a hunch or two, it was remarkable that the corrected times for the finishers from second to thirteenth were all within a tad under two minutes.

Previous line honours winner Javelin did her handicap aspirations no good at all when she was spied by a member of the Race Committee secretly practising the day before with a new suit of sails and was very quickly slugged a half percent for her unbridled enthusiasm.

At race start the breeze had built to 16-18 knots and all boats got away cleanly but you had to feel momentarily anxious for the 21 foot trailer-sailer which found herself being squeezed in an ever narrowing gap between Marnico and Javelin on the start line. At the end of the first lap, sailed in ideal conditions with almost flat seas, the fleet had spread out over 37 minutes from first to last with every boat carrying guests, and who by the sound of their comments and good natured banter directed at the start boat as they passed, were thoroughly enjoying the experience. At race end, the first boat crossed the line in 74 minutes and the last in exactly double that at 148 minutes with the handicaps bringing the fleet in to within 14 minutes. An interesting observation was that give or take half a minute either way, each boat sailed the second lap of the 10nm course in exactly the same time as it sailed the first, highlighting either the consistency of the crews or the conditions or both.

With Marnico taking line honours for the second year in a row, the Race Committee is going to have to tighten up the trophy rules just in case she wins again next year and the skipper tries to invoke the “win three times and it’s mine to keep” idea and takes the trophy home with him. Perennial line honours bridesmaid Celebrity, which for the past four years has been beaten each time by less than four minutes by three different boats, may probably have to empty the on-board dishwasher and toss over the ironing-board before she starts for any chance of making up some of that time. American River boat Windalee got nicely under the handicapper’s radar with a handicap of 0.420 and took out the overall result making it two in a row for the local boys and with a lesson that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover or a yacht without a sail number!

looking good, she slid into the top third of the fleet on corrected time.

Local boat Jafra, despite a dramatic coup in acquiring the services of the 2009 Sydney to Hobart winning skipper as tactician, dropped several places from previous years’ results and reportedly had tried to off-load the champion yachtie after the first lap but who pleaded with Jafra to let him at least finish just one race over the Christmas/ New Year period. Last year’s overall winner Chardonnay, also from American River, did not defend her title amid strong rumours that her owner had found other interests and was enjoying an overseas holiday. Back Friday’s skipper who won overall in 2007 on Caroona, has found it difficult to reprise that performance in his current boat and it would seem that the only answer is to up the handicapper’s normal inducement fee. Golden Odyssey and Dauntless always seemed ready to pounce but found it not easy from thirty minutes behind the main bunch. A review of their respective handicaps has already taken place and so they should be higher up the list next year. Trinacria finished just two minutes off the podium and should do better next year with a fully professional list of guests and an earlier night the night before. Alternative Therapy was testing the water this time with a reef in the main just to be sure, however with more confidence next year to go for broke, the former champion dinghy sailor will climb up the placings.

On behalf of the Race Committee, I would like to thank Carol Miell from American River who assisted me on Top End in identifying nameless and numberless boats and keeping a safety eye on the fleet, Brooke McLeay on Rockholme and crew for ensuring that the marks were in place, Rob Clampett and crew for start/finish boat Top End and for looking after the Race Officers, Sue Pentelow for overseeing the many behind-the-scenes jobs, David Bonnin and Marcus Booth for presenting the sausages just as they should be, David and his daughter Bonnie for the entertainment both live and recorded and the many people who I don’t know by name but who assisted in a number of ways and by ferrying crews and guests to and from the beach.

Finally I would like to thank those crews from American River and Adelaide who took the trouble to participate and for sailing in the spirit in which it is intended and for taking a record number of nonsailing guests for the thrill of a lifetime! For the first time each boat had at least one visitor on board and so the 1% incentive to carry guests wasn’t used. Also for the first time, the race was reviewed and featured in the local Kangaroo Island paper, further building the relationship between the “townies” and the locals. The Race Committee and I look forward to seeing you all again next year and trust that you will spread the word.

Line Honours - Ballast Head Cup Marnico Graeme Footer

CYCSA

Handicap - Ballast Head Trophy Windalee David Churchill

American River

Jamie Cowell Memorial Windalee (first new entrant on handicap) Multihull Quadrant

David Harris

American River

David Saies – Race Officer On behalf of Andrew and David Saies (Race Committee)

A surprise appearance was Southern Myth which sailed in twelve successive Hobarts from 1954-1965 and then her last in 1970. Still 21

social Activities Association

CLUB CHRISTMAS PARTY

T

he 2010 CYCSA “Rocking into Christmas” was attended by 170 guests. The dress code turned up some absolute stunners – Elvis was alive and well.

Seriously, well done to all guests for the superb effort.

Horizons Function Room took on a very 60s theme with Rock’n’Rollers arriving in droves.

Congratulatio ns Geoff Catt, winner of the Imperial Mag num ‘Casalingo’, donated by Dominic Vers ace Wines.

The band booked this year was the Highlighters. Testimony to their popularity was the fact that the dance floor was packed every bracket. Please note, they have been booked for the 2011 Boat Hop on 19 March 2011.

“Swing Corner”, featuring our own members, Dave and Wendy Ritter, gave us not only an excellent example of how good they were but also got a huge number of guests up on the dance floor to take part in an interactive dance lesson – thoroughly entertaining.

Santa popped in for a visit and kindly drew the Festive Cheer raffle. At that time, I had a thought, how about a go at a Guiness Book of Records – how many women can sit on Santa’s lap at once... we nearly got there - 38 at last count!

Our popular Best Legs competition once again bought the weird and wonderful out of the woodwork, there was even a ‘temporary’ appearance by Andy from the kitchen who could have been in the running. Best Male Legs was won by Robert and Best Female Legs by Victoria Letherby from the huge group from Bryces Bakery (yum yum, thank you Daryl for the Mince Pies).

It was a terrific night – many on the night said it was the best yet. Thank you to the Social Activities Committee, a job very well done.

Jacqueline Heffernan, Chair, SAA

Cruising Association Report

cruising Association

W

ell, another new year and another new Cruising Association Chair. I would like to start this, my first report, by introducing our committee (see below), and encouraging all members to look us up with your views, ideas or even complaints so that we can better serve your needs and create an inclusive and innovative cruising experience. As a power boat owner I especially encourage others and those on the hardstand to become more involved and we, as a committee, will do what we can to include you in future on-water activities.

I am pleased to announce that we have a new committee member in Gerard Hughes (Setanta) who has volunteered to help and who was unanimously co-opted. It is good to see a new member with enthusiasm and willing to get involved.

I would also like to thank my predecessor, John Sibly, for his contribution to this association and in particular his leadership in progressing new moorings for Edithburgh. We have all the hardware and approvals in place and several willing members to place them and are now working on the logistics of getting it all across the Gulf and installed. Hopefully this will take place late this month.

The next big event for us will be the Easter/Anzac weekend at Port Vincent, in conjunction with the RSAYS. Various working groups are being put in place to ensure that this will be a weekend for everyone, with a good mix of on-water and social activities. We are working with our counterparts at the Squadron to set up post-crossing weekend cruising and

boating activities for power and sail for those not involved in racing.

If you plan on going to Port Vincent for Easter, I encourage you to contact Marina Manager Rob Marner on 0414 611 110 as soon as possible. Rob is compiling a list from which the Clubs will allocate berths closer to the date.

In the meantime, our monthly barbecues continue and the members of the committee look forward to meeting you there. As the year progresses and we achieve some of our goals, we will keep you informed through our monthly online newsletter and, of course, through Groundswell.

The Cruising Association Committee for 2010-2011 is as follows: Keith Degenhardt Chairman Playstation - B27 Len Stephens Deputy Chairman Equanimity - F29 Robert Perrin Secretary Sugar’n’Spice - E18 Martin Heffernan Committee Hot Mustard - C13 Terry Denham Committee Panache Gerard Hughes Committee Setanta - E13 Roger Flint Committee Alpha Centuari - D11 Keith Degenhardt, Chairman

22

FISHING ASSOCIATION

I

n November the Fishing Assocation held its Annual Boating Showcase at the CYCSA North Haven. We had nearly 100 Fishing Association members and guests join us for a night of drinking, eating, dancing and, errr...’ socialising.

The weather gods smiled on us this year with a warm dry evening with everyone taking the chance to meet new members, look through some wonderful boats and exchange boating adventure stories. Jim and Glenda Smyth displayed their brand new Maritimo 55 and were very generous in allowing us use of this wonderful craft. On display we also had Playstation, (thanks Keith and Helen Degenhardt), Lifestyle, a Riviera 40, and the Theodore 720. Thanks to these boatowners for their support.

Chef Andreas again provided some delicious cocktail food served by the Club catering staff. The evening was free to Fishing Association members and judging by the quantity of empty bottles, extremely good value.

Chairman Glenn Spear welcomed the sponsorship of Maritimo Boats and Paul Harrop was present as Dealer Principal. We greatly appreciate them ‘coming on board’, along with Custom Cartons, Cummins and Riviera. We are indeed fortunate to have such good support.

Thanks also to the committee for helping organise the event and Tracey, Tina, and Jenny for the wonderful desserts.

Crabbing Day is Sunday 6 March so put that in your diary. Also, tables in boat names need to be booked before the day.

Happy boating and fishing.

Boating Showcase Glenn Spear, Chairman, FA

23

Successful Repowering with Diesel Power Systems v Sales v Installation v Service v Spare parts D4-D6 Series 180 to 435HP

D1-D2 Series 12 to 75HP

Your Volvo Penta Centre Tel. 8347 0011 www.donmorton.com.au

With the Volvo Penta Engine Configurator, let us help you determine which Volvo Penta best suits.

24

2011 Flotilla for Kids O

nce again, the CYCSA and its members got behind the Flotilla for Kids. Driven by the Social Activities Committee, this event has become a regular for fundraising support by the Club.

A number of Club yachts and power boats took part in the Flotilla ensuring a good representation from the CYCSA. The Club also made available CYC1 and it was put to good use by hosting three families that have been affected by paediatric cancer.

The duty crew volunteers, Ray and Marilyn Evans, Ron Yates and George Ottewell did a great job supervising and entertaining the kids and their families. A big thank you to the boys for inviting Jacq and I to join this humbling experience.

The day itself was quite windy but fine.

The Port River was a sea of colour as the Flotilla made its way down to the Inner Harbour, under both bridges and for the salute by the lighthouse on Number One wharf. The event was supported by people lining the shoreside vantage points who came down to enjoy the spectacle.

Trevor Kipling cooked a sausage sizzle back at the Club after the Flotilla to feed the returning crowds. A couple of snags and a drink was a perfect way to end the day and a gold coin donation for the sizzle raised a further $85.50 – thanks to Trevor for donning the apron.

The pre-Flotilla twilight raised $540 and another $186 from the Queens of Clean day, when the Committee cleaned the winner of the Commodore’s Dinner raffle and where Sophie and Tymika Johns sold muffins and cake, cooked and donated by Sophie Humeniuk and Anne Kellett.

Martyn Heffernan

25

social Activities Association

We would like to congratulate another South Australian yacht, Enchantress from the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron, on their effort in winning the Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race down the west coast of Tasmania. Anja Richards has written this article about the race.

Nautical 60th Birthday Celebration

N

ot many people plan to celebrate their 60th birthday sailing down the west coast of Tasmania but local yachtie, John Muirhead, did just that in his cold moulded 36 foot cedar yacht Enchantress, which he designed and built in

1983.

Just to keep it interesting, her first attempt at a blue ocean race across Bass Strait and down the rugged west coast of Tassie saw John, co-owner John Willoughby and the crew, Roger Harrison, Andy Muirhead, Steve Jenkins, Rob Large, Noel Swan and Chris Magarey, also contest the Melbourne to Hobart West Coaster.

After a start with fresh 20 to 25 knots of wind across Bass Strait the seas became becalmed for six hours off the north west tip of Tassie before the predicted cold front eventually arrived. Winds up to 42 knots saw Enchantress averaging 12 to 16 knots, at times rocketing along at up to 22 knots.

I don’t know if there was a birthday cake but if there was, the cream on the cake would surely have been taking out six main trophies in the 2010 Melbourne to Hobart West Coaster.

The trophies Enchantress took out were, Overall Winner, IRC, AMS, PHS, Rookie (Skipper competing for the first time) and Steve Jenkins was awarded the Navigator’s Award for the first boat on IRC.

26

l a r t n e c a t n a s Children’s Christmas Party

S

anta’s helpers, the Social Activities Committee, transformed the BBQ area into a Santa’s Cave with fabulous decorations.

The weather was absolutely perfect for a visit from Santa and the children were all on their very best behaviour, well, most of the time.

The Committee once again did a fantastic job and gained two new apprentices, Tymika Johns (a veteran helper of four years) and Georgie Humeniuk. Pass the Parcel and the Jumping Castle were very popular and helped entertain the children until the call from Santa Central (AKA Doyen)!

Santa arrived in spectacular style on the Club’s RIB and before long he was surrounded by children and the magic of Christmas took over. The children were very excited and waited patiently for their name to be called.

Georgie and Tymika did a beautiful job with the hardest part of the day, calling out the children’s names in the right order as their presents were being handed to Santa. Well done and thank you both.

Lunch was BBQ chicken and home made salads served by Santa’s Angels and a special thank you to Glenys Richardson and Sophie Humeniuk for their hard work and assistance in making the day such a success.

With the chocolate crackles handed out, the decorations taken down and packed away and the BBQ area cleaned up, it was time for the Angels to down a few festive beverages.

Always held on the first Sunday in December, the Children’s Christmas Party is a date to put in your diaries.

Jacqueline Heffernan, Chair, SAA

27

What is Broadband Radar?

Y

ou may have seen advertisements and reviews for Navico’s “Broadband Radar”, that “transmits at 1/20,000 the power of traditional radar, using less than one tenth of the energy of a mobile phone”1. Is this possible? Does it really work? Is it really safer than “conventional radars”? The answer to all of these questions is probably yes. To understand why and what are the benefits, we need to understand a little about how these two types of radar work. And we do need to know the difference between power2 and energy3 so that we can understand the bunkum in the quote.

Technology Update

How Does Conventional Radar Work?

Many people understand how conventional radar works: it transmits a narrow pulse of electromagnetic (in this case radio) energy from its directional antenna. A tiny amount of that energy is reflected back by a target, such as a ship, towards the antenna where a very sensitive receiver amplifies the echo and displays it on a screen.

The radio waves travel at the speed of light and so, by measuring the time delay between transmission of the pulse and reception of the echo, it is possible to calculate the distance of the target. Since the transmitted energy is directed into a narrow beam, we know that the target is located somewhere within that beam at a distance we’ve just calculated. As conventional radars alternate between transmitting and receiving, they are also known as pulse radars.

In order to be able to distinguish between targets at similar distances (“ranges”), the transmit pulse must be short, so that echoes from two closely spaced targets can be separated, or resolved. However, in order for the echo to be sufficiently strong to be detected, the transmit pulse must be very powerful.

To give you some idea of the numbers, the transmit pulses of a typical recreational marine radar are 2.4 kW (or 2,400 watts) but last for about 100 billionths of a second. The total energy in a single pulse is therefore around a quarter of a millijoule and the beam width a little less than five degrees.

Broadband Radars We’ve seen that a conventional, or pulse, radar is able to detect a target with less than a millijoule of energy in each transmit pulse. We can deliver that same energy in a different way: by lengthening the pulse and reducing its power. Let’s use the numbers in the quote in the first paragraph. Now the transmitted power is not 2.4 kW but 1/20,000th of that, which is about one tenth of a watt.

The pulse duration must be increased by the same factor to about two thousandths of a second so that the transmitted energy remains the same. Unfortunately, it appears our ability to distinguish between two closely spaced targets is reduced by a similar factor, from 25 m to around 50 km, which is unlikely to be very useful!

Not so fast! Let’s be smart and impress some modulation onto the transmit pulse, say a frequency modulated signal.

Please send any technical or scientific articles or updates, of interest to fellow boaties, to the Groundswell editorial team.

28

Once we change the frequency of the continuously transmitted pulse in some specific way we can correlate the frequency modulation of the echo with the frequency modulation of the transmit pulse and, bingo, we reduce the range resolution to less than the transmit pulse width – much less, in fact. If we are careful with our radar design, we can recover the loss in range resolution of more than a factor of 20,000.

Benefits of Broadband So what have we achieved by all this? We’ve certainly complicated the transmitter and receiver by modulating the transmit pulse and monitoring the modulation of the echo.

With modern digital electronics, the additional cost is minor.

Importantly, we have vastly reduced the power we need to transmit and this is very significant.

In order to generate the enormous power required by pulse radar, we need special devices, called magnetrons, which in turn require very high voltages to be supplied to them. On the other hand, our “broadband” radar is able to use much less expensive solid state devices (transistors) and power supplies.

There is no warm up time required by the transistors and the radar is probably more reliable.

So, we’ve traded magnetrons for transistors, high voltage power supplies for low and added some (digital) signal processing.

Expect the cost to be markedly lower and reliability better.

The Navico radar is a “Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave” radar, that is, the frequency of the transmit pulse linearly increases throughout the pulse. Military radars use much more sophisticated modulation methods. By the way, the Global Positioning System, GPS, uses a similar method, but with a very different (digital) modulation technique.

The Navico radar (under the Simrad, Lowrance and Eagle brand) is optimised for high resolution at short range and, as you can see in the images, can be used for discriminating between individual vessels and berths in a marina. I understand that the price is very competitive too.

Where to from Here?

Logically, we would expect other manufacturers to offer low power radars. However, intellectual property ownership restrictions, as well as military technology controls, may restrict options for manufacturers. Time will tell. Certainly, modulated pulse radars are the way of the future and, if western manufacturers are unable to provide then, I am sure the developing world will.

Owen Mace (Cygnus II)

References and Footnotes 1 www.boatpoint.com.au/news/2009/new-wave-recreationalmarine-radar-14730 2 Google “define: energy” or for a more detailed explanation search for “energy” in Wikipedia 3 Google “define: power” or search for “power” in Wikipedia 4 (see sidebar) Google “define: modulation” or search for “modulation” in Wikipedia 5 (see sidebar) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jindalee_Operational_ Radar_Network

broadband radar There are two microwave antennas (one on top of the other) inside the antenna dome of the Navico Broadband Radar. One transmits while the other receives, unlike a conventional radar that only has one antenna used alternately to transmit and then receive.

Power and Energy Power and energy are two closely related terms and are often confused, so here’s an explanation.

Energy (symbol J) is the capacity of a physical system to do work and can take a wide variety of forms.

Some examples where the energy might be quoted are the energy in a fuel tank, the energy per litre of fuel, energy stored in a battery or the energy required to move your boat from the Club to Port Vincent.

The unit of energy is a joule.

Power (symbol W) is the rate of doing work or the rate at which energy is converted from one form to another, for example an electrical motor converting electrical energy to mechanical energy. The unit of power is a watt (joule per second). Examples are the power of a light globe or engine (usually measured in thousands of watts or kilowatts, kW, or in imperial units of horsepower).

So, the critical measure for radar performance is the amount of radio energy it places on a target, not the power.

Energy (joules) = Transmit Power (watts) x Transmit Pulse Duration (seconds)

Modulation

In screen shots provided by Navico’s publicity department, Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) technology appears to provide much clearer close up echoes on the left taken within a marina and on the right comparative radar screen shots between FMCW Radar on the left and conventional radar on the right showing echoes from a narrow waterway. Since the Broadband Radar is optimised for short range target detection and Conventional Pulse Radar favour long range target detection, future sea trials should prove interesting.

Modulation4 is the process of varying one or more properties of a (radio) signal with a modulating factor. An example is a musician who modulates a note by varying its volume or pitch. Likewise, a broadcast radio station modulates its radio signal with voice or music and your receiver amplifies and extracts (or demodulates) the voice or music. In AM broadcasts, the amplitude of the radio wave is modulated whereas in FM, including marine VHF, the frequency of the radio wave is modulated.

In the case of the Navico “broadband” radar, the frequency of the pulse is linearly increased throughout the transmit pulse. The receiver searches for echoes whose frequency increases in exactly the same way as the transmit pulse. By the way, other radars such as the Jindalee Over the Horizon Radar use the same principle5 although they use more sophisticated digital modulation techniques.

29

FOR SALE Marina East

8 metre twin: C05, C09, F01, F02 from $62,000 10 metre single: A02, F07 from $90,000 10 metre twin: A09, A24, F04, F10, F13, F18 from $65,000 12 metre single: E04, E10, E11, E20 from $110,000 12 metre twin: D38, E13, E17 $90,000 12 metre twins: E30 & E31 suitable for catamaran (ea.)$110,000 13 metre single:D01 from $150,000 14 metre single: A46, C30 from $170,000 15 metre single: B23, B26, B31, B35, B36, C34 from $175,000 16m single: B15 $225,000 20m single: A49 $350,000

Marina West 15 17 18 20

metre metre metre metre

single: single: single: single:

M08 J05, J14, J18, J19 M10 K06

$155,000 from $150,000 $225,000 $240,000

Berths for sale or lease For up-to-date information on all sales and leasing, log on to the Club website www.cycsa.com.au or contact Jenny Krogdahl for sales or Laura Cowley for leasing at the CYCSA office on 8248 4222.

As per the Marina Berth Agreement, a 10% commission is payable by the vendor on all berth sales. As of the 22 October 2007 Board meeting - If you are selling your berth and buying a berth of equal or greater value then your berth sale may be subject to a 5% commission payable to the Club (in lieu of 10%). This will be at the discretion of Management. The sale and purchase must be effected on the same day.

PORT VINCENT For berth leasing at Port Vincent please contact Rob Marner (Port Vincent Marina Manager) on 0414 611 110.

Hardstanding Berths  9 metre: 11, 14, 18, 25, 43, 51, 52, 54, 57, 68, 94 from $6,000 10 metre: 102, 137, 140, 144, 146, 147 from $5,000 from $9,500 12 metre: 113, 115, 119, 127

CYCSA Port Vincent leasing rates

FOR LEASE Marina East Berths

10 11 14 15 16 18

metre metre metre metre metre metre

twin: (A20 available 1 April 2011) twin: C17 single: A46, C26 single: C34* single: B20 single: B01

Marina West Berths

Note: All berths in Marina West development are single berths 15 metre: M08* 17 metre: J13, J14*, J18, J19, J20 18 metre: M10* 20 metre: K01, K02, K05, K06*, K07, K08 22metre: K15, K18 25 metre: M14 30 metre: K16

Hardstanding Berths 9 metre: 10, 21, 24, 50, 51*, 52*, 54*, 63, 65, 84 10 metre: 34, 102*, 110, 130, 137*, 139, 147*, 148, 150 12 metre: 03, 113*, 119*

For berth leasing overnight, weekly and during off-peak times, the Club will lease out berths with the owners agreement, at the owner’s rates below.

10mt 12m 14ms 15ms 18ms 20ms 22ms 24ms 30ms

O/night

$25 $30 $40 $45 $55 $60 $65 $70 $80

FOR SALE Port Vincent Berths

Weekly

$125 $150 $200 $225 $275 $300 $325 $350 $400

10mt: A08, A23 12mt: B29, B37, C60 12ms: C48, C68 14ms: D70, D71, D73, D78 15ms: D83, D85, D86, D87, D89 All prices include GST *denotes berth for sale and lease

Off-peak weekly $60 $80 $110 $125 $145 $160 $175 $190 $200

from from from from from

For information on all CYCSA membership fees and charges please refer to www.cycsa.com.au

30

$35,000 $35,000 $55,000 $65,000 $50,000

ALL AROUND THE WORLD ALL AROUND AUSTRALIA...

Marina YE, Australia

You’ll find Bellingham Marinas designed and built to stand the test of time

Bahia Mar, Fort Lauderdale USA

JBH Marina, Dubai UAE

Cruising Yacht Club South Australia With over half a century of experience, Bellingham is the proven Industry leader in designing and building Marinas to suit virtually every conceivable application.

La Paz, Mexico

Great Marinas are the result of inspired vision backed by old-fashioned ‘been there - done that’ competence.

All around the world - Bellingham delivers.

BRISBANE FREECALL

Nelson Bay, Australia

07-3376-6955 1800 655 539

MELBOURNE 03-9646-6744 SYDNEY www.bellingham-marine.com Orakie, New Zealand

02-9439-9066

Quality Endorsed Company ISO 9001:2000 Lic QEC12930 SAI Global

SPONSOR 2008 - 2010

31 The World’s Most Comprehensive Marina Builder

ADV09

32