Tidings March Edition

MARCH 2014

WARREN JONES INTERNATIONAL YOUTH REGATTA LASER RADIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS BAHRAIN MATCH RACING CUP SEVEN NATIONAL CHAMPIONS CHINA YOUTH OLYMPICS BECKON FOR YOUNG SAILOR 1

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CONTENTS MARCH 2014

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Commodore’s Message Vice Commodore Message Sailing Report Junior/Dinghy Report Power Report Calendar Dates New Members From the Archives

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club staff

General Manager Paul Bayliss Accountant Catherine Ramsey Communications Deb Hanrahan Yachting Operations Mgr Debbie Blaauw Yachting Operations Assistant Jenn Suffield Dinghy/Junior Club Membership Assistant Casey Walsh Accounts Assistant Karen Ozkara Administration Assistant Zoe Rostron Bosun Nathan Stronach Receptionist Pauline Rhodes Training Centre Principal Barry Martin Sailing Administrator Carol Martin

Publication

Registered by Australia Post Publication No 63312300018 To contribute or advertise in the next issue send your copy by Friday 2 May 2014

Contact us

Keane’s Point, Peppermint Grove Western Australia T +61 8 9286 8200 F +61 8 9385 1483 www.rfbyc.asn.au rfbyc@rfbyc.asn.au

FLAG OFFICERS

Richard Timms - commodore@rfbyc.asn.au Ian Clark - vicecommodore@rfbyc.asn.au Dean McAullay - rearcommsail@rfbyc.asn.au Matt Giudice - rearcommjuniors@rfbyc.asn.au Adam Hancock - rearcommpower@rfbyc.asn.au Ian Olsen - treasurer@rfbyc.asn.au

Commodore RICHARD TIMMS

Members may recall that the key performance indicator of the success of our strategic priorities is an increase in yachting participation.

Judging by the level of activity at Club events and the championship successes over this summer, RFBYC members are delivering.

and dining areas and we are, at last, seeing a measurable improvement in standards, consistency and use. There has also been expenditure on furniture and furnishings in the bar and restaurant to enhance the ambiance of these areas.

The maintenance team has also been hard at work repainting the main building.

Articles in this edition of Tidings by Rear Commodores Dean McAullay and Matt Giudice provide details of performances which place our Club at the forefront of yachting achievement across age groups and classes sailed in Australia and internationally; these classes include O’pen Bic, Sharpies, International Dragon and more.

All of these commitments are generated by the many sub-committees working together with administration and catering teams to deliver a high standard of facilities and services for the benefit and enjoyment of members. Visitors from interstate and Europe over summer have been full of praise of the standards that the Club strives to deliver.

The performance of David and Sam Gilmour to fight out the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta on home territory was fantastic to watch. The overall event and the result (in favour of David) brought great credit to all aspects of RFBYC operations and competitors.

The best way for you to get the most from your Club is to be a part of the action, be it volunteering, competing or socialising – so why not all three?

Remember that the Annual General Meeting will be in late July and if you are interested in committee work, make yourself known to one of the current Committee members and consider nominating.Three quarters of the way through our financial year, we are running to budget. This is gratifying, although there are always surprises around the corner - such as significant unexpected expenditure on the post cranes at the main wharf. Maintenance and repairs

Members’ yachting talents also extend to IRC with Gary McNally’s GP 42 Black Betty’s victorious campaign at Geelong Race Week, proving that he and his team can perform at the top level in Australia and putting more than a few east coast noses out of joint. Peter Ahern and Scott Bailey’s TP 52 Oi! was one point away second on IRC at the 27th Phuket Kings Cup Regatta.

Recently, Committee has agreed to an initiative that seeks to increase yachting and social activity in the 18-24 age group of members. We know there are many competing interests, but with only around 25% of them active, there is an opportunity to test the appeal of some targeted activities that may bind this group more closely together and closer to the Club.

are always big-ticket items as you would expect. The budget for 2014/15 is in the final stages of consideration by Committee. There are several areas that are not recovering costs and proposals for increase in fees and charges are likely.

NEW MEMBERS, NEW CAUSE

A large group of new members was welcomed to the Club in February.

This opportunity was taken to present a cheque to the charity which benefits from the Melbourne Cup Lunch. The organising committee of Diana van der Worm, Sharon Grassick and Sue Baker were present to hand over a total of $31,485 to the Australian Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, an outstanding result thanks to the hard work and generosity of members, friends and sponsors. A new cause, sarcoma research, has been selected as the beneficiary for the next two years.

Sarcoma is an uncommon disease that currently receives no research funding.

SEASON CLOSE

The summer sailing season closes on Saturday 12 April, the week before Easter. After Easter, we plan to hold a simple Anzac Day dawn service at the Club for members and the local community. Keep this in mind for Friday 25 April.

THE CLUBHOUSE

Another measure of participation is the increase of activity in members’ use of the clubhouse. It is now two years since the renovations to the ballroom

Sharon Grassick, Diana van de Worm, Sue Baker, the Melbourne Cup Committee.

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Vice Commodore Ian Clarke

The level of activity at RFBYC just seems to get more and more hectic, whether it be on or off the water.

The increased activity seems to be a function of several factors including Members using the Club more often, Members increasingly inviting their guests to the Club, and a healthy growth in overall membership numbers.

Total membership as at 31 January 2014 stood at 2,312, representing net growth of around 100 Members per year over the past two years.

I would like to address several matters arising as a consequence of this increased patronage of the Club in this article.

GUEST RESPONSIBILITY

Firstly a reminder that Members are wholly responsible for their guests whilst on Club premises. This includes adherence to our Rules concerning appropriate dress and behaviour standards. Please remember that guests may not be on Club grounds without their sponsoring Member.

MEMBER CHARGE ACCOUNTS

Secondly, an announcement concerning the use of Members’ charge accounts.

The current rules prescribe that a discount of 10% applies to certain purchases on presentation of a Member’s card for payment through their charge account.

Sometimes Members forget their cards and ask staff to debit their account through the point-of-sale till by reference to their name only. Or a friend/partner/ guest of a Member might ask to charge a Member’s account through the same method. This has given rise to the misapplication to the relevant account and of more concern, occasional misuse of Members’ accounts.

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The increasing activity and membership at our Club increase the chances of mistakes being made. For example, I may no longer be the only I Clarke on the membership list, and confusion could arise. Sorting out these matters after the event is difficult and time-consuming and therefore costly to the Club.

Sometimes a satisfactory resolution is not possible and the process becomes even more costly to the Club. As a consequence, Committee has decided that as of 1 May 2014, Member’s MUST present their card if their account is to be charged. Food and beverage staff will be under instructions to enforce this policy, regardless of how well a Member may be known or any other extenuating circumstance. The alternative settlement methods are by cash or credit card, neither of which attracts Member discount nor counts towards House Support.

ONSITE PARKING

The third matter is on-site parking which is an ever increasing problem, especially on sailing Saturdays as participation levels increase. Not only are Members inconvenienced by the lack of available parking space, but lawns and gardens are being damaged as people become more inventive in finding parking spaces.

A parking attendant has been employed on designated days to oversee the entry of vehicles into the Club grounds during critical times. The Club Rules are very clear on parking, and the parking attendant is doing no more than enforcing those Rules by allowing only those vehicles displaying a Club sticker and whose driver can produce a membership card to enter the Club.

While we can accommodate guest parking at non-core times, guest parking at managed times is not permitted. I also encourage Members not to tail-gate others and not to allow tail-gating.

THANK YOU

Part of me almost wants to apologise for sounding like the ‘Fun Police’ in this article, with so many references to the Club Rules, however the rules were devised by Members for the benefit of the Members. We all agreed to abide by the Club Rules when we signed our membership application form. And of course we have in place a democratic method of changing those rules. It is therefore important that we all abide by the rules for the maximum enjoyment of our wonderful club by all Members.

Is Writing for You? Are you a budding journalist, a retired wordsmith or just love to write a good yarn, then the Club needs you.

Here’s a chance to see your words in print in a special feature of our quarterly magazine Tidings.

Our members are involved in a number of newsworthy events and interesting tales that for a number of reasons never make it to print.

If you would like to lend your craft to the Editor and write an article on our members and their stories, then please contact pr@rfbyc.asn.au.

REAR COMMODORE SAIL Dean McAULLAY

Greetings to you all and welcome to another update of the happenings from the 2013/14 summer sailing season.

CLOSING DAY

Closing day is fast approaching and is on 12 April. It’s a bit earlier than usual because of the Easter and school holiday break. The senior prize night will be on 10 May, so mark that in your diaries now.

We are planning to have a similar format to last year which was well received.

There will be twilight sailing on Anzac Day as per usual. The start time will be 1600.

The Club has hosted several key events over the past 3 months. I think it is very important to acknowledge the people who have enabled these events to happen. There are many facets to event management and most are unknown to the sailors, guests and volunteers. Our club management and staff perform their duties in a way that always reflects their high degrees of dedication, skill and professionalism. Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club is very highly regarded locally, nationally and internationally. For that we are very proud of our Club and it’s in no small part attributable to our Club team.

Equally, the volunteers play a large role in the Club’s activities. The race officers, mark layers, start teams, support boat drivers, on shore helpers, protest committees all contribute. These people make it possible for us sailors to participate.

Whilst I think we should always publicly thank and acknowledge the volunteers perhaps the best way to show your appreciation is to sign up for a role and lend a hand. We can always use more help and sometimes it’s good to ease the load away from the usual suspects.

The Club is going to be conducting some training/instructional courses for the various roles that are required. If you want to see what it’s like to be part

of the volunteer group this will be your opportunity to get involved.

crew. Well done David and we wish you all the best.

DRAGON CLASS

Whilst we were focusing on the Gilmour battle royale another team from our Club were quietly making waves on the east coast. The team from Black Betty pulled off a major coup in winning the premier IRC fleet at the Geelong Festival of Sail beating many of the top IRC boats from ‘over there’. No sooner had they sealed the win, the boat was back on the truck and off to Geographe Bay Race Week. True to form, a win capped off a successful few weeks of sailing. Another of the club’s IRC warriors, ME2 finished a strong second and Glenn McNally sailing Grand Prix rounded out the podium.

The Dragon class has been very active with the state championships held just before Christmas. The Australian Championships (Prince Philip Cup) was run just after the New Year. The event saw several eastern states entrants, a couple of overseas players and a big turnout from the local fleet. Willy Packer, Julian Harding and Denis Cullity showed great form to win the event from GBR import, Robert Campbell and the evergreen 87 year old Gordon Ingate.

The Bunbury and Return ocean race attracted a great field of 26 boats that experienced a range of conditions to cap of a great race. Hoodoo Man, sailed by Craig Carter and his team placed 2nd in division 1 IRC and ME2, Peter Hickson, placed 3rd in the same division.

Our Club in conjunction with RPYC hosted the IRC state championships out of the RPYC Annexe over the Australia Day weekend. A wide variety of conditions and racing saw a small but competitive fleet experience some great racing and Freshie boats filled the podium placings in division 1. Dave Walling and Peter Ahern led the charge on The Next Factor with Hoodoo Man and ME2 keeping them honest. It was great to see Harry Schmidt in Team Saab take first place in division 2.

Club racing this season to date has been solid. There have been a few variations to the normal Saturday afternoon racing.

We have tried these as a result of feedback from the fleets and via the fleet captains. We are starting to think about next year’s calendar and now is the time to let us know what you did or didn’t like.

Night races, Friday evening races, short races, one design days. Contact the Club Yachting Operation department. Be constructive and above all be nice.

Enjoy your sailing.

WARREN JONES INTERNATIONAL YOUTH REGATTA

The Warren Jones International Youth Regatta took place in the last week of January. David Gilmour met his brother Sam Gilmour in the all RFBYC final.

David managed to prevail over his brother and secured a back to back win on his home waters.

Hot off the press is the news that David Gilmour has been selected to sail with the new Team Australia America’s Cup

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REAR COMMODORE juniors matt giudice

We’re over halfway through the sailing season; it’s been a busy and successful period for many of our sailors and volunteers.

In Early December Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club hosted the International Classes Regatta (ICR), our annual dinghy regatta. The ICR is the largest regatta for International Dinghy Classes in WA and the 2013 ICR was our largest so far with 169 boats entered, equating to 209 competitors and over eighty volunteers.

Sailors travelled from as far away as Albany, Dunsborough, Bunbury, and Geraldton for the event as well as fifteen members of the Singapore Optimist Team.

The Christmas Pacer Championships were held on the Sunday prior to Christmas. After the 8.30 draw for boats, the sailors hit the water for two races.

Competition was tight at the top of the field with numerous National and World Champions vying for the coveted prize!

Mark and Jenny Spearman were a close second to the eventual winners Lachy Gilmour and Tom Giudice; Grant and Lucy Alderson were third. The morning’s racing was a great success with 24 pacers out on the water.

NATIONAL & YOUTH CHAMPS

Royal Freshwater Bay sailors excelled in the National and Youth Championships held over December and January.

• David Gilmour with crew Sam Phillips won the 49er National Championships; RFBYC sailor Fang Warren was second with skipper Steve Thomas.

It was an exciting series with the Championship being decided on the last leg of the last race!

• Tessa Parkinson and Chelsea Hall won the 49er FX National Championship for the second year in a row. Tess and Chelsea won an impressive ten of the sixteen races.

• Emerson Carlberg and Lachy Gilmour (WAIS) have been selected to represent Australia at the 2014

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World Youth Championships in Portugal after winning the 420 National Championships, and placing 4th at the Youth Nationals. Also well done to Zoe Thompson who was placed 1st Female in the Laser 4.7 Class and Max Giudice & Hayden Hunt for their 3rd placing in the 29er Class at the Youth Nationals.

• The Laser National Championship were held in McCrae Victoria over the December-January period.

Tristan Brown successfully defended his title at the Laser Radial National Championship with Alistair Young finishing second. Matt Wearn (WAIS) was placed 1st in the Laser Standard with Luke Elliott 4th (3rd Australian) and Mark Spearman 7th. In the Laser 4.7 Zoe Thomson had a great regatta and finished 2nd in the female 4.7 and 1st female Under 18 years old.

• Congratulations to RFBYC sailors Zac Littlewood, Oliver Medd and Lochlan Medd who have been selected on the Australian Team for the International O’pen Bic 2014 World Cup in Travemunde, Germany in July. This is a great result for our O’pen Bic program with almost half of the team members sailing from RFBYC. Zac was also crowned the National O’pen BIC champion.

• Congratulations to Peter Chappell, Peter Nicholas & Luke Payne who won the Sharpie National Championships held at Mounts Bay Sailing Club.

WARREN JONES INTERNATIONAL YOUTH REGATTA

The Warren Jones International Youth Regatta was held at RFBYC during the last week of January. The four-day regatta attracted Youth Sailors from Australia, New Zealand, USA and Japan.

The racing was fierce over the course of the regatta with an all RFBYC final being fought between brothers David and Sam Gilmour. David Gilmour’s Team Gilmour was the eventual winner over brother Sam’s team Neptune Racing.

It’s fantastic to see WA’s youth sailors compete on the world stage with four strong WA teams featuring in the Warren Jones event. There will be opportunities for younger sailors to experience Match Racing on the BW8’s throughout the season so keep an eye out for upcoming events.

Congratulations to Sam Gilmour’s team Neptune Racing, for winning their first ISAF Grade 2 Match Racing event, the 2013 Kingdom Match Cup in Bahrain just prior to Christmas.

At the recent RPYC Mini Series twenty five percent of the nearly 200 entries were from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club. RFBYC sailors won five of the eight classes that they entered, finished second in another six classes and finished third in another five classes – a fantastic effort!

The impressive results of summer are reflection of the hundreds of hours of hard work from the sailors, coaches, volunteers and dedicated staff at RFBYC. I would encourage all of our sailors to take full advantage of our great coaching and training programs for the remainder of the season.

It is with some disappointment to note that there have been an increased number of thefts occurring from the boats stored in the dinghy shed and compound. It is unacceptable to take items form another person’s boat without permission no matter what the circumstances. Please be vigilant when you are at the dinghy club and report any unusual behaviour to RFBYC staff.

The sailing season is passing by quickly with many State Championships underway. I would once again like to thank all of the sailors, families, volunteers and RFBYC staff for the continued support at the dinghy club.

Enjoy your sailing in the months ahead.

REAR COMMODORE power adam hancock

It is hard to believe that summer has come, and gone, so quickly!

Despite the official end to summer, Perth offers some of the best boating weather in March and April. To that end, we have scheduled our next ‘Summer Calendar’ event for Saturday, 22 March. At the time of writing, it is likely that the release of Tidings will coincide thereabouts with the event. One key element to successful boating, particularly in Western Australia, is remaining flexible with plans, giving the weather upmost consideration. It is for that reason that the Power Yacht Committee and Cruise Captain, Lloyd Clark, have multiple destination options available for the 22 March cruise. Ideally we would like to leave the river and have therefore decided that if there is a southerly breeze, we will raft up at Carnac Island or if there is an easterly wind, we will raft up at South Beach.

Should the first two options not be suitable, the failsafe location is Rocky Bay in North Fremantle on the Swan River where we have had many very successful and enjoyable events. For further information or confirmation of the cruise destination on the day, please contact Cruise Captain Lloyd Clark on 0403 225 553 or ‘RFBYC Cruise Captain’ on VHF 77.

POWER OPENING DAY

Power Opening Day is on Saturday, 3 May and is set to be a fun filled day. The day will commence with the Sail Past at 1pm, with Commodore Richard Timms taking the salute from the Roland Smith Ballroom Balcony. Following a short time trial, our legendary raft up on the main wharf will commence with the Opening Ceremony including firing of the replica Endeavour Cannon to take place at 3pm. The Power Yacht Committee extends an invitation to all club members to join us for the party on the main wharf where the band will be playing with food and drinks available. We sincerely hope to see you there.

All members with boats on the Club register will shortly be receiving a

Nomination Form for the season and the Check Point roster information. Within the Nomination Form there is provision to make a trophy donation. This season we have introduced a Season Sponsorship which creates the opportunity for up to a maximum of four individuals or organisations, to sponsor the entire Time Trialling season, rather than just once day.

The Season Sponsor rate is fixed at $500 and recognition of a Season Sponsor will be provided throughout the season.

The Power Yacht Committee has been working with the state Time Trialling body, Yachting Western Australia’s Cruising and Power Yacht Committee (CPYC) via our delegate to that Committee, Mark Donati, to refresh the management of the state events with a more contemporary approach. It seems that the state dinners have just about all been done away with, perhaps a couple of cocktail function through the season may exist. A great achievement is that after results are published online, competitors with have until 12pm the day after the event (Sunday) to lodge a protest via phone or e-mail. There are likely to be rule changes associated with the number of practice runs, starting speeds and wash, all of which will be promoted prior to the start of the season.

With the 8 knot speed restricted area expanded to include the waters

immediately adjacent to our Club, a great deal of work is being undertaken to recalculate elapsed times and update course sheets for the effected legs.

One of the longest effected legs is from G Jetty Buoy to Chidley Spit. As a comparison, the difference between 10 knots and 8 knots on this particular leg is only 1.06 minutes. We do not expect the change in speed to have a great impact on our seasons Time Trialling.

Stay tuned for further updates for season 2014 as we approach Opening Day. We rely on non-competing Club members to assist with Check Point Duty. As essential as Check Point Duty is to the success of our events, it also provides Club members an avenue to be involved with the Club and for others, a means to give back to the Club. Members support with Check Point Duty is greatly appreciated and we ask you to confirm your availability and commitment with the Power Yacht Secretary via email power@rfbyc.asn.au. The Committee will continue to scrutinise Members participation and fulfilment of Club duties such as Check Point Duty throughout the 2014 season.

I look forward to seeing all Club members on the main wharf for the opening of the Power Yacht Season, 3pm Saturday, 3 May 2014.

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SAVE THE CHILDREN SAY THANKS

by ARTHUR WELLS - VOLUNTEER

Arthur Wells with the Save The Children visitors prior to the race.

32 Intrepid visitors, representing many nationalities from above were welcomed aboard to brave the decks of the following yachts: Yacht Skipper Andiamo Evan Wood Apokato Kevin Palassis Cosmos Barry Johnston French Kiss Ross McLaren Indecent Haste Peter Chalmer Mimi Graham Stafford Orion David Stowell Rage Ian Day Spirit of Olympia David Meager This Way Up Bryan Thurston Windward Bruno De Tastes

the pleasure of sailing. Despite a 20 knot sea breeze and some minor bruising, the visual pleasure and expression on their faces upon disembarking on dry land was most rewarding, I am sure with lasting memories. Consequently the mood was set for a great evening of friendship and camaraderie.

I and Save the Children Australia gratefully extend our thanks to the skippers and crew of the above yachts for their unselfish assistance and commitment. A meritorious thank you also to Bryan Thurston for his diligent assistance. The afternoon was greeted with much enthusiasm by the visitors and represented and important experience for those not normally able to enjoy

Save the Children visitors extend their sincere appreciation for the overwhelming experience and enthusiasm they received from the mid-week sailors, start box team, with RFBYC itself greatly admired.

Barry Johnston with the Save The Children visitors.

Save The Children visitors after racing.

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Presentation time commenced with a convivial welcome

by Vice Commodore Ian Clarke, followed by a response from a cheerful Glyn Davies (SCA WA State Manager) who presented the pennants to the winning skippers, placegetters, complimented with numerous jovial “hugs�. Speeches and much bell ringing concluded, hospitality & friendship continued to prevail. Recognition is made to the accommodating catering staff, who ensured that the wining and dining in the ballroom was equally enjoyable.

Well done to all concerned.

ads And Kids Sleepover Dads And Kids Dads and Kids Sleepover

Sleepover y, 21 March 2014

friday 21 march Friday, 21 March 2014

Friday

Book your tickets

1700 – Arrival Please contact reception on: $30 per person Friday Book your tickets 0 – Circus Workshop Starts Email: rfbyc@rfbyc.asn.au Ticket includes dinner, dessert, chocolate coin 1900 – Dinner Call: 9286 8200 hunt, breakfast 1700 – Arrival and entertainment.

Please contact reception on: Followed by aIncludes movie dinner, dessert, 1730 – Circus Workshop Starts chocolate coin hunt, breakfast Email: Drinks available from the bar.rfbyc@rfbyc.asn.au Before Monday 17 March and entertainment.

Drinks available from the bar.

Saturday

Items to

0630 - Breakfast 0830 - Home time    

1900 – Dinner Followed by a movie

Call:

9286 8200

Items to bring for sleepover For more information contact Before Monday 17 March _ Sleeping Grant Alderson, Event bag Coordinator, at _ Mattress For more information contact bring Saturday Grant Alderson, Event grant.alderson@rfbyc.asn.au _ Pillow Coordinator, at or on 0412 944 909 _ Water bottle

Sleeping bag Mattress Pillow Water bottle

Intended for age group 4 – 13

0630 - Breakfast 0830 - Home time

grant.alderson@rfbyc.asn.au or on 0412 944 909

Friday 1700 Arrival 1730 Circus Workshop starts 1900 Dinner - followed by a movie Saturday 0630 Arrival 0830 Home time Intended for age group 4 - 13

BOOK YOUR TICKETS Contact reception on rfbyc@rfbyc.asn.au or call 9286 8200.

Before Monday 17 March 2014.

For more information contact Grant Alderson, Event Coordinator at grant.alderson@rfbyc.asn.au or on 0412 944 909

gilmour brothers meet in warren jones final BY bernie kaaks David Gilmour won his second successive Warren Jones International Youth Regatta when he defeated his younger brother Sam in an all Gilmour final on Friday afternoon, 31st January.

David, who now lies 12th on the ISAF world rankings, earned the right to compete in the final by despatching New South Welshman Andy Green two-nil in their best of three quarter final. He was then able to select his semi-final opponent and immediately selected Matt Jerwood, who he defeated in two straight races to earn his place in the finals.

Sam Gilmour, ranked well below David at 33, had a more dramatic journey into the final. During the first round he was involved in a “T-Bone” collision with Matt Jerwood, leaving Jerwood’s boat with a large triangular hole in the side. Sam’s tactics were unpredictable and at times, brilliant. Having qualified in the final eight for the quarter finals despite having an additional one point penalty imposed on him as a result of the collision, he moved into the semis, where he accounted for Chris Steele 2-1 in the best of three, bringing about the first ever final between brothers in the 12 year history of the Warren Jones Regatta.

The final was decided in three straight races, all of them close, but all of them

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decisive as David showed his younger brother why he is ranked in the world’s top 20 in the sport. In the first of their three meetings, Sam inflicted a penalty on David in the pre start manoeuvres, but out on the course, David stretched his lead to the point where he was able to wipe off his penalty and still comfortably win.

The win gives David the title for the second successive year, an invitation to compete in the UK, plus a $7,000 travel allowance from the Warren Jones Foundation towards competing overseas.

There was a poignant moment in the acknowledgements, when David handed the microphone to his bowman Peter Nicholas, who has competed in 11 of the 12 Warren Jones regattas held so far and now retires from youth competition, having reached the age limit.

for a moment and you get done.”

The petit final, to decide third and fourth, was best of three and should have been over while the battle for first and second was still in progress.

Unfortunately, in the second match between Matt Jerwood and Chris Steele, there was contact between the boats, Steele’s boat was damaged and had to be substituted, and Jerwood was penalised a point for having caused the incident.

The proudest father in Australia on finals day was Peter Gilmour. Although he insisted that the rivalry between his two sons was limited to their on-water activities, he admitted: “I did have to give them separate weather briefings this morning!”

In the end, time beat the petit finalists, with the scores locked on 1 point each and although Jerwood’s Redline Racing Team had all the momentum, Chris Steele was awarded third place by virtue of a count back, an anticlimax to an exciting week of match racing in conditions which ranged from very light to the solid “Fremantle Doctor” which came in right on cue at more than 20 knots for the finals. Chris Steele, as the top overseas skipper in the regatta, won the Traveller’s Trophy and vowed to return next year to improve on the third place he has now won for two years in a row.

David was a gracious winner, acknowledging that this was one of the strongest Warren Jones fields in the history of the event. “There were no easy races in this regatta,” he said. “You relax

The surprise package in the regatta was the South of Perth Yacht Club team, Redline Racing, skippered by Matt Jerwood. In the Little Wheel Regatta held in BW8 yachts during the week prior

to the Warren Jones Regatta, Matt took out the title without losing a single race, in a field that included two well-credentialed internationals. After two days of racing in the Warren Jones Regatta, Matt Jerwood found himself at the top of the leaderboard.

This is the stage at which the top competitors start to show their talent. Intent only on making the quarter finals, where all the scores return to zero and start again, they can afford the luxury of taking a good look at their opposition and taking some risks to assess their strengths and weaknesses. Such was the case with David Gilmour. He sauntered through the round robin stages of the tournament, dropping a race here and

there, but always secure in his position on the leader board.

When the finals started however, he came out snarling and full of fire. He left no doubt at all that he deserves his place on the international ISAF rankings and we can confidently predict two things: 1. Expect David to improve his position on the rankings 2. Expect bigger things from him in the future.

RESULTS

Final: David Gilmour (3) defeated Sam Gilmour (0) Petit Final: Chris Steele (1) defeated Matt Jerwood (1) on a countback.

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2014 Warren Jones International Youth Regatta

BY TRISTAN BROWN The 2014 Warren Jones International Youth Regatta was hosted by the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club from 27th - 31st January 2014. This year the event attracted a number of highly ranked teams from various places including New Zealand, Japan and the United States of America.

Subsequently the event was upgraded to a Grade 2 status.

After our second place finish in the Little Wheel Regatta, we were very much looking forward to sailing the bigger Foundation 36 yachts. My team for the event consisted of Matt Wearn, Mark Spearman, Luke Elliott, Eamon Robertshaw and Nadia Punselie.

After we had placed 3rd and 2nd overall in the two previous editions of the Warren Jones we were determined to take home the trophy, however, we were well aware that this year was going to be particularly tough with such good competition in attendance. This time around we were the third last ranked team competing in the event out of twelve teams.

Day one of the event was a successful one for us with a 4-2 score card, including wins over Governors Cup champion Sam Gilmour and previous Warren Jones winner Will Tiller. The excitement for the day was provided in another match by Sam’s team when he put a significant hole in Matt Jerwood’s boat during their match.

Day two was a tough one for the team where we suffered several losses to finish the first round robin with a 5-6 scorecard. We had a tight race with Andy Green and his team from Sydney where we carried a penalty throughout the entire race, attempting to wipe it off at the finish line, however, we fell 1 metre short! Fortunately in our final race for the day (start of the second round robin) we got back into the swing of things with a win over Adam Middleton’s team.

Day three was upon us and we knew we had to have a good day to make the quarter finals. The morning was plagued by extremely light winds, with many races abandoned and the boats left drifting for a few hours until the Seabreeze eventually came in. In our race against David Gilmour’s team we unfortunately picked up a large log which managed to wedge itself under the rudder, which resulted in a significant loss whilst trying to remove the debris.

We had two extremely close races in the afternoon against Will Tiller and Chris Steele, both of which didn’t go our way after surrendering the lead on the final downwind to the finish.

Fortunately we managed to regroup and win our final two matches of the day against Chris Poole and Chris Staub to make the quarter final cut in 6th place. The draw for the quarter finals was held later that night and Matt Jerwood’s team chose to race against us.

The quarter finals were held on Friday morning, and although

12

we were sailing the boat extremely well upwind, we struggled to get off the line ahead and ended up losing our quarter final 2-0. This left us finishing the event in 6th place, which was an extremely disappointing result.

Upon reflection of the event it was an extremely tough ask to expect to be competitive against the top youth world match racing teams on the back of two weeks training, however, it really proved to me that you can’t do everything! Our team has had a very successful summer in our Lasers, and this event very much proved to us all the need to focus on doing one thing properly rather than numerous projects poorly. However, we did still manage to beat many other teams ranked well beyond us!

Congratulations must go to David Gilmour and his team for winning the event for the second year running, Sam Gilmour’s team for making the final and also Matt Jerwood’s team for their fourth place overall after very limited match racing experience.

Thank you very much to the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club for their support of our team for the event and Zhik for providing the team uniforms. Thanks must also go to the whole team for their efforts throughout the week.

Unfortunately this event was my last Warren Jones Regatta as I will now exceed the age criteria, however, I am now looking forward to getting back into Laser training in preparation for the World Laser Radial Open Championships in Poland in July 2014.

To read and see more visit www.brownsailing.webs.com or twitter.com/TristanBrown1

“Leander” Grand Banks 36 IN IMMACULATE CONDITION Twin Cummins (low hours), economical cruise at 13/14 kts, 6 kva generator (500 hrs). Eutectic fridges, great galley.

Fabulous vessel for two couples.

You will not fault this “little ship”.

Very good value at

167,000

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Randell 41 Mark II built 1986, twin Volvos give 20 knots. Major refit in 2011 including motors, engine room painted while motors removed for overhaul, whole vessel rewired, new exhausts and manifolds, new stainless water tanks, new hot water system, fuel tanks removed, pressure tested and painted, new stainless fuel lines, new steering equipment. Onan 7.5 kVA generator. Citor 90 litres per hour desalinator.

Berths 1 double and 5 singles, 2 showers, electric toilet. All new gas installation, new 3 Excellent value at way fridge, gas stove with oven and grill. This is a well maintained Randell with a fussy owner, $ nothing to spend.

188,000 SALTERS S SA LTE LT TER ERS RS BOATS

Peter Hammond 0429 362 937 10 Mews Road, Fremantle, Western Australia 6160

www.saltersboats.com.au 13

2014 Australian Laser Radial Championships

BY TRISTAN BROWN

Tristan Brown leading in the Laser Radial.

The 2014 Australian Laser Radial Championships were held out of McCrae Yacht Club in Victoria from 27th December 2013 to 4th January 2014. I arrived at the venue early to train and to gain an understanding of the local winds and tides. Thankfully I was able to stay near the club with Paul Gilham at the local caravan park which also had a table tennis table which was well utilised.

After a week of training I then moved into a house in Rosebud with Brad Utting and Luke “Swifto” Elliott. We had Christmas down at the club with the crowd from WA, where a lot of beach cricket was played. We also had a great time learning how to fly our new remote controlled helicopters! (Thanks to Lynddy Young).

The training went well up until Boxing Day when I unfortunately became ill. The practice race was scheduled for 28th December and in a first for the Laser class, $400 prize money was being offered to the winner in each rig.

Even though the thought of $400 tempted me to get out of bed, in the interest of the main event I chose not to compete. As it turned out this was a very wise decision, as

14

a 45knot squall lashed the fleet mid race, with many boats suffering significant damage to their Nationals kit. The race was eventually cancelled and it was decided that the prize money be redistributed to the Australian ISAF Youth Worlds representatives.

Fortunately I had started to recover from my illness and I had a solid first six races with all my results placing in the top three, including four race wins. New Year’s eve was a very quiet affair, however, on New Year’s day Brad, Matt Wearn and myself decided to test ourselves yet again at mini golf.

After the qualifying series I had an eleven point lead over fellow Western Australian Alistair Young. The series had been very shifty and many of the top sailors had posted some higher scores than usual. As with any split fleet racing, I was looking forward to Gold Fleet racing and the opportunity to race against everyone.

On the first day of gold fleet racing I had a mixed day with a 1st and 11th. In the second race I started at which I thought was the favoured end, but in the 30 seconds after the start a major wind shift came through and I was stuck on the wrong

even further away from the start line).

After this I knuckled down, hiked hard and used some shifts to try and get myself back into the race. About half way up the first upwind I realised I had worked my way back into it. I ended up rounding the top mark in 1st after some of the fleet significantly overlayed the top mark due to current and wind shifts. From there I extended my lead to take the race and the championship with a race to spare. My third Radial National Championship in a row! I also went on to win the final race.

Tristan Brown with Matt Wearn. side of it. This meant that I rounded the top mark in 38th place. I continued to fight my way through the fleet and was happy to recover to 11th place.

The final day of racing brought 18 knots and finally some waves, which was quite different to what we had experienced throughout most of the week. In the first race of the day I was fighting it out with Krystal Weir for a pin end start, when there was contact between our two boats. I was unsure who was in the wrong as it happened so quickly, so I decided to be safe and take a 2 turns penalty. However, I only started this penalty five seconds before the start. This meant that I started 30 seconds behind the fleet (as the current had dragged me

I must congratulate the rest of the WA team on their efforts across the three classes which were aptly rewarded with Fremantle Sailing Club winning the top club trophy. In particular congratulations must go to Matt Wearn for claiming the Laser Standard Championship and Alistair Young for 2nd overall in the Radial (top youth).

A result like is not be possible without a lot of support. Firstly I would like to thank my coaches Arthur Brett and Belinda Stowell for their efforts throughout the entire year, Fremantle Sailing Club and Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation, Monkey Fist Marine and Optimum Time. I must also thank my Mum and Dad for giving me the opportunity to compete over many years!

Full Results can be found at www.sailwave.com/ results/2014LaserRadialFinals

505 FLEET UP TO SPEED AT TWILIGHT

BY MARK STOWELL Six boats in the fleet out for recent Sunday racing, including two of the new XSP Fremantle 505’s of Andrew Cawley and Graham Turner. The fleet is also doing the twilights, at speed, weaving past the cruiser/keel boat fleets (still to get the course correct mind you!)

Swings and Roundabouts winery sponsored 505 WA State championships are at FSC on Saturday afternoon 17 May and 18 May, - expecting a dozen entries.

World Championships this year are in Kiel, in August – to date attendees are Murray Smith in “Manta”, and Carrie Smith is possibly going to transfer some of her 420/470 skills and compete for the Women’s Championship title.

2015 worlds are in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and WA will be sending a container.

Good breeze, good surf, and cheap holiday!

One brand new XSP Fremantle 505 left in the “shop” going for bargain price of $14,500.

Fully fitted ready to sail, with aluminium trolley, cover, Waterrat foils, carbon boom and poles, etc.

Email Hansen@highway1.com or merchant1@iinet.net. au for more details - the next shipment will be in the range of $19,500 each for the same boat.

‘Shore Thing’, Andrew Crawley and Graham Turner.

15

SAIL MELBOURNE 2013

BY TRISTAN BROWN

Trent Rippen (NZ), Tristan Brown, first, Ben Franklin (QLD).

Yacht Club from the 2 – 6 December. A strong WA Laser team of 15 boats made the trip across, with most using the event as a warm up for the upcoming Australian Laser Championships in McCrae over the Christmas/New year period. We had four in the laser Full Rigs, nine in the Laser Radial Men and two in the Laser 4.7.

Day one of racing only saw one race completed due to light, shifty and hot northerly winds. I had a good start with a race win and was also leading the second race until a 180 degree wind shift came in and the race was consequently abandoned.

Day two of racing was again tricky. We had three races in shifty conditions and after two good starts the previous day my starting was terrible and I struggled to work my way through the fleet to finish the day with a 7th, 1st and a 10th.

The third day of racing was cold! We had a large swell running from South West which lead to some exciting runs downwind surfing waves all the way to the bottom mark. With such big waves there was a lot of potential for gains and losses downwind. The conditions were very deceiving with the waves making everyone think that it was windier than it was, however, in reality it was 10-14knots. After some good battles with Queensland sailor Ben Franklin I managed to claim two wins out of the two races sailed.

Day four presented strong winds from the West. When we first arrived down at the club, the wind was suitable for racing, however, as we started rigging up the wind progressively built 16

and we were postponed onshore. Eventually after several hours waiting inside the club monitoring the conditions, racing was cancelled for the day and we all headed off to the nearest ten pin bowling alley.

Three races were scheduled for the final day of racing due to the cancellation of the previous day. Going into the final day I had Ben Franklin 9 points behind in 2nd overall so I knew that I needed to perform well to take the overall regatta win. I had much better starts on the final day to score a 1st, 1st and 2nd which meant that I managed to win the regatta by 20 points.

Congratulations must go to the rest of the WA sailors for their efforts and results, in particular to Matt Wearn who claimed 3rd in the Laser Standard just a week after qualifying for the Australian Sailing Team at his World Championships in Oman.

Sail Melbourne was a great warm up for the Nationals because it identified starting as my main area to work in the next couple of weeks. Now I head home for a Radial camp in Perth and I intend to do as much cycling as I can to continue to build up my fitness.

Thanks must go to Fremantle Sailing Club, Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation, WA Laser Association, Optimum Time and Monkey Fist Marine for their continued support and I must also thank Arthur Brett for his support on the water during the event.

Full results can be found here: www.sailingresults.net/site/event/35/overall_20.html

Yachties in the know know Doyle Locally

Arajilla – Club Champion Blondie – Offshore winner

Capricious Wind – State Champion Elusive – State Champion Grand Piano – State Champion Mighty Blue – State Champion This Way Up – Offshore Legend Wild Bull – Offshore winner The X Factor – Offshore winner

Nationally Margaret Rintoul V – Offshore Champion Secret Mens Business – Sydney to Hobart Winner Overall Team Australia – Sydney to Hobart record run Tow Truck – Sydney to Hobart Division winner Wedgetail – Brisbane to Gladstone winner

Internationally Bella Mente – IRC winner Hugo Boss – Round the World racer Invisible Hand – Transpac winner Leopard – Super Maxi Ragamuffin 100 – Transpac Line honours RedKyte – China Sea Race winner Salperton IV – Super maxi Sanya – Volvo 70 Team Shockwave – IRC winner

Will Hammond www.doyleaustralia.com Doyle Sails 2/15 Forsyth Street O’Connor WA 6163

76689

acorndesign.com.au

Ph: 08 9430 5366 Fax: 08 9430 4243 Email: will.hammond@doyleaustralia.com

Invisible Hand – Ex Limit

17

Bahrain Kingdom Match Cup

BY SAM GILMOUR

The 2013 Kingdom Match Cup held out of the Bahrain Maritime Sports Centre was held over the week 15-21 December, beginning with a qualifying event, followed then by the open regatta. Competitors flew in from all over the world to compete for the title and with prize money up for grabs as well as an Omega sponsorship.

The competition was fierce.

Neptune Racing, consisting of skipper Sam Gilmour, trimmer Adam Negri, tactician Chris Smith and bowman Justin Wong travelled to Bahrain hoping to contest for the title. We as a team knew we had to bring our A-game. There were some teams with impressive résumés racing.

We hadn’t heard much about Bahrain previously, so we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived by the modern layout of the capital city Manama, and the difference in culture was a real eye opener to us.

Having qualified for the open event already, we sailed the qualifying regatta as a warm up event. This gave us a chance to identify ourselves with the boats, conditions and some of our opponents. We were racing J24’s, a very common class, and whilst not ideal for match racing, the team adapted to the boats quickly- finishing the qualifier just ahead of Sergey Musikhin from Russia, Seviero Ramirez from Italy and Mati Sepp from Estonia. These guys had some high ISAF rankings, with Sepp being 20th and Musikhin being 23rd in the world, so it was a

18

positive sign for us to take out the lead up event.

Directly after this we went into racing the open Kingdom Match Cup. Whilst most of the teams had raced in the qualifier, a few teams joined the regatta- including Olli-Pekka Lumijarvi from Finland and Vladimir Lipavski from Russia.

On the opening day of the event we were met by an onshore breeze, ranging between 15-18 knots, bringing with it a very steep chop due to the shallow waters surrounding Bahrain. As a result, conditions were really challenging, with a number of teams (including us) having some big wipeouts as a result of mis-timed maneuvers. We managed to go through the first day of racing with a record of 4 wins and 1 loss which put us in a good position for the remainder of the round robin. Four teams were to qualify for semi-finals to be raced on the final day.

Because of the regatta format we had a few days midregatta of no sailing. This lead to all of us getting a little side tracked, and nearly resulted in Justin thinking he’d take up a new profession, almost getting taken to Pakistan on a falcon expedition with some local hunters. The rest of us just managed to get him back in line for the next day’s racing.

As it turned out, the breeze hung around the entire regatta, increasing at times to well above 20 knots, not falling below 12 knots. Whilst difficult at times, we found our boat handling to be one of our strong points, which allowed us to make up

Neptune Racing battling with tough conditions. for mistakes made at other points around the race course.

Eventually, we finished up the round robin series with a record of 8-3, and qualifying us in second place for the semi-final!

We progressed to the next round along with Lumijarvi in first, Musikhin in third and Lipavski in fourth. We were pretty pleased with our position going into finals, but knew we had to step up another level to finish strongly.

Lumijarvi chose Lipavski to race in the semi’s, meaning we were matched against Musikhin in a first to 3 points semi-final. We got off to an ideal start by taking out the first race convincingly, but Musikhin came back strongly and with a show of impressive boat speed around the course, winning the second race. Knowing that we were up against it, the team really lifted for the next two contests, allowing us to progress into the final with a scoreline of 3-1. Meanwhile in the other semi-final, Lumijarvi was able to achieve a similar result, also winning 3-1.

The finals series got underway immediately, though due to a time constraint it was shortened to a first to 2 series.

Fortunately, we managed to come out firing! We won race one after leading around the entire course. This meant a great deal to our confidence, as Lumijarvi had shown great speed in the boats all week.

The match point position put an increased level of pressure on both teams, and it showed in the next pre start, with penalties

flying for both teams. Eventually though we started with a penalty off the line (meaning we had complete a circle at some point around the course), but with the lead. The race began with a flurry of tacks up the first leg where we were able to put some distance between us. It was going to be close getting our penalty in, but we took the spin whilst managing to just keep the race lead. From there, it was a tense final leg where we were able to hold Lumijarvi off giving us both the race and regatta win!

It was awesome to come away victorious, winning our first grade 2 event, as well as going home with some new watches and prize money in our pockets, definitely making the win that little bit sweeter!

From here, our next event is the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta held in home waters at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club. With some strong international competition coming down to contest the title, it’s going to be a thrilling week of sailing.

The team is already looking forward to getting back out on the water, taking huge steps forward every time we compete. Our next step is looking to continue funding these events to keep climbing the rankings (currently ranked 33rd by ISAF), so thank you to RFBYC for all the support up to now!

19

66th BUNBURY AND RETURN OCEAN RACE

BY BERNIE KAAKS Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club’s Bunbury and Return Ocean Race is one of the oldest ocean races on the WA calendar, dating back to 1949 when Maid Marion won the inaugural race under conditions vastly different to today, when organisers were taken to task by some of the competitors for insisting that boats should carry a life jacket for each of the crew.

In today’s hi tech world of ocean racing, not only do crews carry life jackets, but every yacht is equipped with a GPS tracker in addition to a range of safety and communications equipment, so that race organisers know the position of every yacht throughout the race and can respond immediately if assistance is needed.

In a light north easterly breeze, a very good fleet of 26 yachts faced the starter off Port Beach and with just a few exceptions, got away well. Two division 2 yachts, busy checking everything but their clocks, were still a long way from the start line at the start signal and gave away several minutes to their colleagues.

A beautifully judged start saw the Farr 40 Enterprise, sailed by Anthony Kirke, jump to the front of the fleet early. Enterprise was reined in just before rounding the windward mark by the Sydney 47 Endorfin, being sailed by Peter Mason in her owner’s absence.

As final results attest, the crew did a remarkably good job.

Others to show up early were Peter Hickson’s MEII, Laurie Flynne’s Beneteau 34.7, Dynamic and the Archambault 40 Hoodoo Man sailed by Craig Carter, which recovered well after being trapped at the pin end of the line.

A supremely optimistic tack just a couple of boat lengths from the mark by This Way Up led to a real mess for Farrago, which was about to round, its pole already set. Forced to either collide or crash tack, skipper Peter Vlaar wisely elected the latter option and spent the next few minutes sorting out the mass of sheets on the deck. As it happens, This Way Up failed to clear the mark anyway and executed a 360 in exoneration before setting up a kite and giving chase to the pack.

A line of colourful spinnakers made an impressive sight as the fleet headed for South Passage and the long trip southwards to Bunbury. An early windshift to the west and then the south

west forced the fleet to abandon the spinnakers and by sunset the bulk of the fleet was crawling down the coast in the vicinity of Mandurah sailing into a light south wester. The majority of competitors hugged the shoreline, following a well-established tradition for races going south. Those who did not paid a hefty price. Lyn Powell’s Fourth Dimension, a Dufour 40 which had been reasonably well placed earlier, found itself directly north west of the Bunbury turn mark when the breeze settled back into the south east, undoing all their good work.

Andrew Dawson’s Knot Dreaming was another who ventured some distance from the shore and arrived at the Bunbury mark at about noon, with no breeze at all. He finally called it quits.

Shortly thereafter of course, a healthy sea breeze kicked in, allowing them to pop up a spinnaker for a comfortable ride home. Andrew had no regrets about his decision, pointing out that had they sailed the full course (they returned via Challenger Passage) the boat would have been facing light easterlies for the final leg to the finish – not a prospect that they would look forward to!

The two yachts that missed the start were Sand Crabs’ Disco and Numbers Game. There is a certain irony in the final result, showing them first and third respectively in division 2’s YAH handicap, split by the S&S 34, Blondie, sailed by Simon Torvaldsen. Graeme Martin and his crew had a very successful race, chalking up a second on IRC to supplement their YAH win.

The outstanding performance in this race was by Endorfin, which just seems to be getting better at every outing. She won the treble – line honours, IRC and YAH handicaps.

RESULTS

Division 1 Line honours, 1st IRC, 1st YAH: Endorfin. Skipper Peter Mason Division 2 Line honours: This Way Up Bryan Thurstan & Hamish Maddern 1st IRC: Blondie. Skipper Simon Torvaldsen 1st YAH: Sand Crabs’ Disco. Skipper Graeme Martin Double Handed Line Honours: Fifty Four Skipper M Dickmann 1st IRC and 1st YAH: Kraken. Skipper Todd Giraudo

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Call 0418 403 764 to discuss.

20

CHINA BECKONS FOR YOUNG RFBYC SAILOR

In August this year young people from across the globe will descend on Nanjing, China to compete in the second Youth Olympics Games and Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club junior sailor Zoe Thomson is hoping to be amongst them.

Zoe has some work ahead of her, as the boat selected for the competition is the Byte CII. A boat not sailed in Western Australia.

Her preparation to date has been by sailing and training hard on the Laser 4.7. This has included participation in her first international regatta in Hungary in July last year, and training up to 20 hours a week on the water ahead of competing in a series of regattas in Victoria over the summer. The hard work paid off with Zoe crowned: 2014 Laser 4.7 Australian Girls Youth Champion, and 2014 Open Laser 4.7 Australian U18 Girls Champion “My next goal is to represent Australia at the Youth Olympics in China this year – only one girl and one boy are selected. This opportunity only occurs once every four years and for me this is my one chance to represent Australia at this event.

I’ll be travelling to Brisbane to take part in the final qualifying event at the Oceania regatta at Easter. We are required to compete on a Byte CII which is a sailing dingy that isn’t sailed here in WA so that will be interesting. Tristan Brown is my coach and under his guidance I’ll be giving qualifying my best shot!”

Selection for the Youth Olympics will be based on the sailors result in the Oceania Regatta as well as their previous results.

Along side practice on the Byte CII Zoe will continue to race in the Laser 4.7 class to be as competition ready as possible.

We wish Zoe every success.

Join Zoe at East Fremantle Yacht Club for

BREAKFAST WITH SABRINA HAHN GARDENER EXTRODINAIRE & ABC RADIO PRESENTER

THURSDAY MARCH 20 TH , 7.30AM

ð

Youth Olympic hopeful

Zoe Thomson

PROCEEDS SUPPORTING ZOE THOMSON’S YOUTH OLYMPIC CAMPAIGN, CHINA 2014

ð

Tickets:

$50.00 per person or Table of 8 for $380.00

Includes:

Breakfast and talk by Sabrina with question time

Bookings:

www.trybooking.com/EIZW or contact Karen

Contact Karen:

karenthomson@iinet.net.au or 0412 593 681

Try your luck in the raffle for an advanced Little Gem Magnolia Tree

Keen gardener with a burning question – then come along and ask Sabrina

21

CRUiSING IN COMPANY

by RON KEMPIN During November 2013 we had a week end cruise to Rockingham. We departed Fremantle at 0815 hrs Saturday, 23 November for our adventure.

Day 1

There was a window in the dreaded Southerly pattern, so off we sailed to Rockingham in a beaut Easterly arriving at 1130 hrs.

This was very nice sailing, along with a beautiful calm period at anchor. A barbeque on shore put a finishing touch to a very pleasant day.

Day 2

Day 2 Destination Mandurah

The weather forecast was South Easterly then South South West 20 knots in the afternoon. Departing Beecher point 0500 hrs, this was very nice sailing through Comet Bay in 15 knts East South East providing a comfortable reach.

Arrived at Mandurah 0815 hrs the Easterly was down to 5 knts. This now was the end of sailing for this day as the strong Southerly was forecast from 1000 hrs on.

Day 3 – 4 - 5

Strong Southerly pattern.No Sailing

The Southerly pattern had returned, however this time it was on the stern. We set sail at 1000hrs and enjoyed a fast ride back to Fremantle. This was comfortable cruising in great company.

Day 6

The Geographe Bay and all ports cruise began 27 December, 2013 departing Fremantle at 0500 hours.

Day 7

Day 1 Destination Mandurah

Day 8

The weather forecast was not friendly for the afternoon period.

However we decided to make for Warnbro Sound, then pending on the weather, sail onto Mandurah.

Arrival at Warnbro 1145 hrs. The dreaded Southerly arrived with us and in a short time, was roaring at 25 knts. Beecher Point provides good holding and good shelter for an overnight stay.

As there was no sign of a window in the weather we decided to return to Rockingham.

Lay day at Rockingham Return to home port

Summary

In the past 28 years we have always been able to reach Geographe Bay. This year the seas and winds were very unfriendly. As safety comes first we would never go to sea and place any lives at risk …. very rough conditions.

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5% from every sale is donated to the RFBYC 2014 Junior Exchange Sailing Scheme programme (mention RFBYC).

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Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club Inc

2014 DOC OF THE SWAN

Are you striving to ďŹ nd the work life balance you prescribe to others? Are you feeling that you need a dose of excitement, an injection of fun or a course of something new?

Join us on the afternoon of 23rd March 2014 at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club to participate in a Yacht Race especially coordinated for health professionals and their staff.

This race is an opportunity to have a bit of fun in the sun on our beautiful Swan River in an action packed, wind in the sails afternoon.

Useful for blowing out all of those accumulated cobwebs, developing or reinvigorating skills and a great opportunity for team building.

Whether you have a yacht or not, whether you have sailed before or not; just register your interest, mark the date in your calendar and we will get back to you.

Call RFBYC 08 9384 9100 or email sailadmin@rfbyc.com.au or Amanda Rose on 0451 533 578 23

RECIPE FROM THE CLUB CHEF After a six-year stint in Switzerland, Peter Kelly has joined the catering team at our club, armed with over 25 years of culinary experience and industry know-how. As well as his expertise in modern Australian cuisine, Peter’s cross-continental career has seen him versed in high-end à la carte restaurants, banquet service and has worked as a private chef. He is particularly inspired by the fine techniques of French cooking, and seeks to invigorate the Freshwater Bay menu with fresh, seasonally inspired meals.

In his short time in the RFBYC kitchen thus far, Peter has introduced the concept of an evolving menu. Members can now enjoy exciting new dishes on a weekly basis, as Peter is inspired by featured ingredients and dining trends.

Peter Kelly.

Peter’s vision is to bring members the ultimate dining experience.

“Dining at the Bowline is not just about educating our members, but providing a tailored customer experience for whatever our customers really want or need,” he says. “Don’t hesitate to talk to me about anything you want on the menu – The Bowline is your members’ restaurant and we aim to provide you with that premium service.”

LE VRAI CONFIT: CONFIT DE CANARD 4 serves Ingredients Moulard duck legs Coarse sea salt or gray salt Extra duck fat as needed Pork fat (optional) Method 1. Place your duck legs in the vessel it will cure in. measure a scant tablespoon of salt for each leg. Rub the salt into the meat well so that it starts to dissolve. Arrange the duck fat side down so that the meat side cradles the released juices and cover with plastic. Allow it to sit overnight in a cool cold place or refrigerate. The duck should cure for 12 to 16 hours.

2. about 1.5 litres of duck fat should suffice for about 8 legs.

Put the duck into your pot, cover it with fat and cook it gently, 82-87 degrees C., until its tender, with a few bubbles coming to the surface (about 3 hours). 2-3 hours is traditional as in the past fuel for cooking was precious, however, nowadays it is not unusual to cook the duck for up to 10 hours, resulting in a meltingly tender and succulent flesh.

3. Once cooked, place the duck in an immaculately clean earthenware vessel (using a rack under the duck ensures that the entire surface of the duck is covered by the fat). Strain the fat with a fine mesh sieve into a separate bowl. Allow the gelatine to settle then ladle the fat over the duck to cover.

Allow the duck fat to cool and solidify in the fridge. For an extra measure of protection put a layer of pork fat over the duck fat. Allow it to solidify, cover the vessel with opaque paper and tie a string around the outside of the vessel to hold the paper tightly in place.

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4. This results in the traditional confit de canard. It can be used in cassoulet, sautéed, roasted or broiled. Served hot or cold it is beautiful. For the silky texture and aged succulence of traditional confit de canard, store the duck for 6-12 months.

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March

9th

12th 13th 15th 16th

19th 20th 22th 23rd

26th 27th 28th 29th

30th

APRIL

2nd 3rd 5th 6th

9th 10th 12th 13th 17th 18th-21st 24th 25th 25th 25th 27th

MAY

1st 3rd 4th 8th

10th 11th 15th 16th 18 th 22nd 29th

JUNE

5th 13th 19th 26th

420 State Championship Dinghy Racing Twilight Sailing Thursday Mid Week Racing Keelboat Racing Swan River Retro Series No. 6 Dinghy Racing Twilight Sailing Thursday Mid Week Racing Keelboat Racing Doc Of The Swan Dinghy Racing Twilight Sailing Thursday Mid Week Racing Rottnest Foundation Festival Of Sail Keelboat Racing Rottnest Foundation Festival Of Sail (All Day) Dinghy Racing Rottnest Festival Of Sail Twilight Sailing Thursday Mid Week Racing Keelboat Racing Flying 15 Tally Hobbs Memorial Series Dinghy Racing Final Twilight Sailing Thursday Mid Week Racing Closing Day Keelboat Racing Closing Day Pacer Championship Dinghies Thursday Mid Week Racing Easter Thursday Mid Week Racing ANZAC Day Anzac Day Remeberance Dawn Service ANZAC Day Twilight Old Gaffers Regatta

AM PM PM PM PM AM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM AM All Day PM PM PM AM PM PM PM (Final Race For Spring / Summer Series) PM AM PM (First Race Of The Autumn Winter Series ) PM AM - 0630 PM - 1600hrs- Fleet A 1605hrs Fleet B AM - 0900 – 1400hrs

Thursday Mid Week Racing Power Opening Day College Cup Thursday Mid Week Racing Presentation of The Spring/Summer Series Senior Prize Night Mothers Day Thursday Mid Week Racing Dinghy Prize Night Frostbite Race 1 Thursday Mid Week Racing Thursday Mid Week Racing

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Frostbite Race 2 Anniversary of Royal Charter Thursday Mid Week Racing Thursday Mid Week Racing

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AM - 0900-1400hrs PM 1800hrs PM PM PM PM PM PM

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2014 Australian Youth Championships

BY Emerson Carlberg The 2014 Australian Youth Championships held out of Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club (SSCBC) in Melbourne began on the 6th of January with a fleet of 37 competitors preparing to fight for a position in the Australian Sailing Youth Team. Teams from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club consisted of Adam BrenzVerca and Digby Taylor who were competing for the first time at the Youth Nationals in the 420. Also experienced sailors Will Boulden and Nic Gale competed alongside myself and crew Lachy Gilmour.

Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron, co-hosting the event with SSCBC put on a great opening ceremony providing food, drinks and a chance for athletes to get together and make the most of the regatta festivities. The ceremony also showed an inspiring video with footage of the Australian Sailing Team in action and provided more motivation to all athletes ahead of the Australian Youth Sailing Team selection event.

On the first day of racing teams were making final adjustments and repairs to their equipment looking to gain anything over rivalling competitors. The racing for the 420 fleet was held on course Alpha underneath the club, creating tricky and shifty breezes. The teams from Freshwater Bay got stuck in right away where the opening race saw Will and Nic cross the line in 1st although an infringement at the bottom mark led to an arbitration penalty being added to the score card and myself and Lachy in 2nd. Adam and Digby continued to show improvements from the previous regatta and finished 24th.

Two more races were sailed on the first day with Will and Nic finishing the day with a 15th and 9th, Adam and Digby with a 26th and 20th and myself and Lachy with two strong bullets.

The second day brought strong wind conditions early on, but dropping off quite significantly throughout the day leaving a short, sharp chop for everyone to battler through. Keen to make amends for the previous day Will and Nic came out firing, taking out race four, just overtaking Lachy and I on the final reach to the finish. Adam and Digby produced some great results posting a 19th and a 16th to their score. Race five and six brought difficulty for myself and Lachy as we struggled to make good decisions we recorded an 11th and a 16th. Will and Nic clearly enjoying the lighter conditions continued their form from the first race slimming their total with a 6th and 3rd.

After day three, Will and Nic were sailing consistently posting another top 5 result coming in 4th. Lachy and I still held the lead with a margin of 10 points over 2nd place. We placed 2nd regaining some form from previous poor results. The conclusion of the day came earlier than usual when the wind completely died out giving athletes the opportunity to regain some muchneeded energy leading into the pointy end of the regatta.

On the final day of the regatta Lachy and myself were sitting ten points clear of 2nd although a poor start led to finishing the race in 13th setting us back in achieving our goal in winning the Youth Nationals. Our attention then switched to rival male competitors as our overall goal was to win the 420 Youth Male position in the Australian Youth Sailing Team. Will 26

and Nic and also Klaus Lorenz and James Hodgson from Queensland closed the gap on us in the standings for the selection. Heading into the second last race we knew we couldn’t repeat what we had produced in the previous race.

Looking for a good start we pushed the line with the ‘U’ flag being displayed. Crossing the start line we were in good shape and rounded the top mark in 3rd, gaining one position until the finish where we crossed the line in 2nd. But after sailing back up to the start line ready for the last race to be sailed we realised we had been disqualified from that race after being over the line too early. We were both upset over the outcome, although, with help from our coaches Belinda Stowell and Matt Jerwood with sidekick Ella Clark we were able to get our minds back on track and finish off the regatta with a 7th securing our goal of being in the Australian Sailing Youth Team. The last day of the regatta saw great improvements from young Adam Brenz-Verca and accomplice Digby Taylor who finished off with the past weeks highest score of a 13th. It was great to see Adam and Digby progress in their first national regatta in the 420 and shows signs of great things to come. Alongside the success of Adam and Digby, Will and Nic had another awesome day to place all 3 races inside the top 10 gaining an 8th, 3rd and a 5th.

Unfortunately, Lachy and I could not maintain our lead from a few bad races on the two last days. We managed to drop several places before gaining back only a few in the final race of the regatta to finish 4th overall beating fellow Freshwater Bay sailors Will and Nic. This granted us the top Youth Male spot from the two regattas combined which enabled us to represent Australia at the upcoming and prestigious ISAF Youth World Championships.

This is a massive achievement for both of us and it is great to have Nia Jerwood and Lisa Smith alongside us in the Female Youth Spot, who finished second overall in the Australian Youth Nationals, which is a great and well deserved achievement for them. A massive thank you to everyone who has supported and followed us in the journey to these events!

We’d like to thank RFBYC and Debbie Blaauw for the tireless work they do for everyone at the club, Zhik, the WA 420 Association, Yachting WA and most importantly our parents!

bill (boxer) leonard BY paul hammond Bill Leonard was a colourful character at this club post WW 2 until his early death in the 1970’s. He was a burly chap, famous for his gruff manner disguising a wicked sense of humour, deep gravel voice, wooden leg,and his beloved 25 foot Halvorsen launch ‘Harmony’, universally known among his mates as the ‘Har-Har-Harmony’ owing to Bill’s stutter.

This burden may have some origin from his very tough war service with the AIF in New Guinea where he sadly lost his lower right leg in the final days of combat with the Japanese.

In my secondary school days of the 1960’s, writes Paul Hammond, many happy days were spent with my family (father Neville being a former Commodore) staying on our various wooden launches in Marjorie Bay at Rottnest.

In those days the bay was almost exclusively an annexe of RFBYC with such planked vessels as ‘Pollyanna’, ‘Nokomis’, ‘Spinaway’, ‘Avalon’, ‘Pinafore’, ‘Grace Darling’, and the smallest being ‘Harmony’. Bill’s love of Rottnest was such that to prove a point one year he made the crossing 52 weekends straight - undoubtedly some sort of record.

Many other stories abound concerning this incredible character. Read more about Boxer’s adventures on the RFBYC website.

   

   

     

     

  

    

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“The Tram” is turned into the Express at the Couta Nationals by the boys from RFBYC. After managing to invite ourselves to the 2013 Couta Nationals hosted by the Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club over 28 to 30 December, all we had to do is attend.

Tim Phillips from Sorrento organized the loan of George Kimpton’s Couta “The Tram – Never on Time” (formerly “Jane Louise” and “Vote 1 – Putin”. For starters, variously described from “quite a fast boat” to “she hasn’t really been sailed much over the last few years” and “George doesn’t really race her” and then “George normally takes out his other Couta…”).

Day 1, 28 December We all assembled at SSCBC nice and early at 9.30 – a good effort as when the bar closed the previous midnight it was on to rum shooters in the hotel room. Our Glorious Captain Andrew McMillan leading the Saturday team of Rob Cameron, Asshe Craven, Charlie Peach, David McDonald, Freddie Butler and the scribe, Marty Jurat. The Coutas all hang on moorings, adding an extra dimension to sailing a boat none of us had ever seen before, and all of a sudden a hundred questions flooded into our minds like – is there a key left in the ignition? Is there an esky on board? So far the answers are Yes and No – we realized a Couta without an esky is an indication that all the talk about it being a social sail, and nobody taking racing seriously and the like was very misleading. It was a “Mid-Bay” start, about an hour sail north. Andrew and Rob used their extensive local knowledge to run us aground only a little bit and not very often on the way to the line, a routine we continued for the rest of the weekend.

New white sails – and lots of them – with about 30 in Division 1 and 10 in Division 2 there was plenty to look at. We also had fairly new white sails, we liked them so much we raised and

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lowered the main 4 times and the jib 3 times before the race, adjusting just about everything until most things worked. The main was a very flat “cruising” type cut with no roach, and we could never make use of our superior crew weight.

The first race featured a jib pulley failure and an entire upwind leg with David and Marty holding in the clew while Andrew commenced repairs with string and fencing wire. His ability to “make do” on Roulette was transferred seamlessly to The Tram. The tide and a competitor pushed us onto one mark 3 times in the 2 races, and we got better and better at 360’s. We were late for the second race too – after being overly cautious and changing down to the small jib, the forecast strengthening breeze initially dropped away and we were well underpowered.

Despite all this we finished up in the top half of the fleet for both races. The gale forecast for the afternoon finally came – about 5 seconds after dropping the main on the way home, a wall of wind came down from the north and it went from 15 knots to 43 knots in a heartbeat. We tonked south under motor, watching a large fleet of 420’s get knocked over like skittles.

Day 2, 29 December The lay day started with a quick visit to The Wooden Boat Shop for some bits for Hero, and then a look around the yard, where Christa was spotted getting a new engine fitted. We all shed a quiet tear while Tim rubbed it in, telling us the new owners are still crowing about the price they bought her for. We consoled ourselves by then touring the wineries on Mornington Peninsula and enjoying Pinot’s, superb food and wine with just a little bit of average service and high prices so we wouldn’t feel homesick. Incredible county side, still green with recent rain, vineyards and strawberry fields forever. The day just got better with The Tram winning the twilight race, and hearing kind words at the presentation about how the twilight concept was brought back from the West after Tim Phillips enjoyed twilight hospitality

NEVER ON TIME

BY MARTIN JURAT

and a BBQ at RFBYC years ago.

Day 3 – 30th December, time to go hard or go home.

Today we were ready to go hard, or at least get to the start line on time. Asshe was flying out that arvo, and could only sail the morning race, and unfortunately there wasn’t one! Charlie had to bail on Sunday, so Mike Cameron filled in as guest crew. Andrew skippered the first race, and we played every sail continuously in light fickle breezes to make the most of our flat cruising sails.

We were on the line on time, which brought with it a whole new dimension with about 25 others barging the line and us in a borrowed boat weaving a course of “right of way” vs. potential damage to a beautiful old girl. As always, the foredeck crew offered softly spoken insightful and good advice.

Rob skippered the last race; again we were on time, several times. The first general recall was followed by a black flag start, which was again broken by so many boats that there was another general recall – this time with about 10 less starters who were disqualified on the black flag. It should have been a much easier start with 10 less barging the line, but then these guys sail without an esky, and it is understandable that they are in a rush to get back to the club.

Cup home. We could only agree! We have all been invited to the Portsea Cup (next week) and the Queenscliff Regatta in March, both more prestigious than the Nationals. Grant Smith of Nepean sends regards to Geoff, and there were many other wishes of good tidings to be sent home across the Nullarbor to Freshie, now all lost in my hazy memory.

In return we invited them all to compete in the Couta Worlds, to be held at Freshie next season, although we can’t guarantee to supply all 30 crews with a Courtesy Couta, the first team may well score Hero and a bad handicap.

We never got to meet the owner of Tram / Vote 1 Putin / Jane Louise, George Kimpton, and we can’t thank him enough for allowing us to sail his Couta, us sight unseen to him, and Tram sight unseen to us. Apparently George has owned 2 Coutas for some time, and now the virus has spread to Freshie. George, if you ever come over, Kasey and Hero await you.

The Wrap Altogether we finished mid fleet, and were handicapped further down the field! We intend to rectify this with regular appearances at the Nationals and more liaising between our Couta handicapper Andrew and theirs. It was magnificent sailing in a large fleet, clean salt water and a change of scenery, all for the price of an airfare and a cheap hotel room.

At the bar there was some talk of “that last time with Merlin” with many saying Mick and Geoff deserved to take the Portsea

Rob, Freddie, Charlie and Asshe on our way to the 12.30 start – that started at 12.05!

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420 NATIONALS

BY LACHY GILMOUR The Australian 420 Nationals were held out of Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club from 27th Dec 2013 - 2nd Jan 2014, a great hospitality and location for 3 weeks of sailing. 43 boats were entered and it was shaping up to be a pretty successful regatta as entrants arrived from Hong Kong, New Zealand and of course, all around Australia.

best race of the championships with a 19th, 16th and 20th respectively. Will and Nic had a killer day with a 3rd, 6th and 4th but unfortunately were disqualified in the second race for rounding the incorrect windward mark after numerous mark changes. Myself and Emerson finished with a 1st, 3rd and 1st but were protested by a New Zealand team in the first race which set us back with a 21 point arbitration penalty.

RFBYC had 3 boats representing the club: Will Boulden and Nic Gale Adam Brenz-Verca and Digby Taylor Emerson Carlberg and Lachy Gilmour

The third day of racing on the Port Phillip Bay waters again brought favourable conditions for the West Australians, more wind! Another 3 races were sailed which meant that the regatta’s first drop would come into play after the 6th race.

Once more, the RFBYC sailors succeeded without failure.

Adam and Digby placed 25th, TLE, and a commendable 14th.

Will and Nic finished a deserving 9th, 9th and 10th and Myself and Emerson with 4th, 3rd and 2nd. With a lot of teams hanging out for the drop to see what place they’d be in, in which many were surprised and happy of their position.

Emerson and I had arrived on the 24th Dec just in time to set our boats up before the big Christmas rush in the Sorrento area. To our relief, we found the boats in the container to be in the same position and condition as we left them! The days leading up to the regatta was mainly focused on sussing out the location and learning the conditions about what the trends of the wind and current were. Having traveled a few days earlier than most of the other teams, we were able to get a head start with our knowledge collection as well as have time to chill out and relax.

The day of the practise race, many teams were frantically running around the boat park to get what they needed to get done in time for the race at 3pm. The race was raced in about 10 knots and it gave everyone an idea of the level of the fleet, who was good, who not to get into trouble with and what the race committee was like. Although many sailors dropped out at the top mark, WA training partners Nia and Lisa placed first with Emerson and myself second.

The first proper day of racing had a great atmosphere with the beach filled with the public using it as their ‘Cottesloe Beach’ or similar. The forecast had said that there would be a squall coming with winds up to 50 knots at times and so the race committee was eager to get us out and have a few races sailed and under their belt. The first race was sailed in a 5-10 knot nor-westerly. In this race, Adam and Digby placed 24th, Will and Nic 7th and myself and Emerson 3rd. It was at this point at which the freak squall came in from the south, over the land, without warning. The first gust hit the fleet and 30 boats were flattened including the majority of the WA sailors.

After ferociously trying to right the boat and down the sails, many other’s boats had broken or lost masts, booms, rudders and not to mention the sneaky spinnaker poles. Luckily everyone arrived to shore unbeaten, only shocked.

Teams that had repairs and maintenance to do, got straight onto it as they came in, finding and borrowing new replacement equipment to use.

Day 2 was forecast to be a relatively windy day for Melbourne conditions, with wind reading up to 21 knots. Although the race area was protected from the Mornington peninsula, when the wind was up, the waves were usually quite big and easy to catch downwind. The day was extremely successful for the RFBYC sailors as Adam and Digby scored their second

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Much to our disappointment, the wind god hadn’t stayed around on day 4, bringing a building southerly which started at about 5 knots which later developed into a 8-13 knot seabreeze late in the afternoon. The race committee was again eager to get through 3 quality races to gain the second and final drop for the series. Adam and Digby had an average day but they learnt a tonne of new skills and tricks from the tough conditions along with a number of the other sailors at the regatta placing 25th, 27th and 23rd. With a few equipment failures, Will and Nic scored their second drop of 22nd, 19th and an awesome 6th! Myself and Emerson as well scored our second drop while placing 5th, 8th and 27th.

With a lay day for New Year’s Day, everyone was amped to enjoy the night and the days rest while people spent their rest day doing different things. Emerson, Will, Nic and I spent the day at the nearby golf driving range hitting a bucket of balls into the valley. A day well spent!

The final day of racing for the 420 Nationals was scheduled for a 10am start and racing got underway on time. With a developing 15-20 knot breeze from the south west, the West Australians were eager to jump places and climb the ladder board in their final opportunities. The racing began with everyone feeling extremely tense as they fought their way to the top of the fleet. It was pleasing to see Adam and Digby jump a place from 26th to 25th. Will and Nic jumped two places after two 3rd places finishing the regatta in a creditable 7th place. Emerson and I had a lot on as rivals Xavier Winston Smith and Josh Dawson from Sydney closed the margin from 7 points to a near 3 points but maintaining our lead and defending my title from last year, as well as taking out the much anticipated winning state trophy!

Autumn at the Bowline Breakfast in The Bowline Restaurant

Members Birthday Cards Do you have a birthday coming up In February, March or April? Keep an eye on the letter box for your complimentary Birthday Voucher, to enjoy a meal in The Bowline Restaurant on us! Make your booking at reception. Orders for Birthday Cakes welcome!

Member Feedback At the Bowline we are continually looking for ways to improve our member service.

If you have any concerns or suggestions, contact MLeCerf-Smart@rfbyc.com.au so that we can accommodate your requests. If you have any concerns with your recent experience in the Bowline, we will aim to compensate.

Bowline Opening Hours Beautiful breakfasts are now being served in the Bowline Restaurant! Wake up your weekend with a glorious view of The Swan River and enjoy a sumptuous breakfast from our contemporary a la carte menu.

Open from 8:00 am, please phone reception on 9384 9100 to make a booking.

Private Dining in the Ward Room Looking for the perfect venue to hold your next client meeting?

The Ward Room at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club is discreet and exclusive, creating the ideal ambience for a corporate dining experience.

Contact our functions manager at functions@rfbyc. com.au for more information or call 9286 8222.

Refer a weekday booking for 12 or more and receive a complimentary dining voucher to the value of $50 for The Bowline Restaurant.

Monday Closed Tuesday Closed Wednesday 6:00pm – 10:30pm Thursday 6:00pm – 10:30pm Friday Lunch 12:00pm – 3:00pm

Dinner 6:00pm – 10:30pm Saturday Breakfast 8:00am – 11:00am

Lunch 12:00pm – 3:00pm

Dinner 6:00pm – 10:30pm Sunday Breakfast 8:00am – 11:00am

Lunch 12:00pm – 3:00 pm

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2014 international contender world championships

BY SIMON BARWOOD Five intrepid WA sailors journeyed to Lake Macquarie, NSW, to compete in the 2014 International Contender World Championships.

Four took the soft option of packing their boats into a container and themselves into commercial airlines whereas I, hardened from the drive to Tasmania for the Mirror Nationals last year, loaded the boat on to the roof racks, hitched the camper trailer and packed the whole famn damily into the Landrover for another epic sailing adventure.

The container arrived at RFBYC and a timber structure was constructed on site to rack the boats up in the container with some straps slung from the ceiling for safety as an afterthought. An afterthought that turned out very prudent as when the container was opened the structure had proved less than sound and all the boats had various degrees of damage from holes, in the foredeck, worn gunnels and ground pintels to an allegedly warped hull. All were repaired and ready to sail in time for the regatta.

Three RFBYC sailors - Clay Cook, Ross Brennan and myself - had competed in the Pre-Worlds regatta in consistently strong winds with mixed results. It was an interrupted lead up for Clay who broke his mast at the step but fortunately had a spare on hand. We lined up for the first day in an unfamiliarly gentle 8-12 knot breeze that favoured lightweight young Brit Tommy Hooton who finished ahead of two Victorian sailor Mark Bulka and Jono Neate who ended the day on equal points and would battle closely over the next four days for the title.

After three attempts to get the first race away under the Blue Peter the Black Flag came out and claimed it’s first victim in

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Clay who then finished 18th in the second race. I scored a 25 th and 24th but it was Ross leading the WA charge with a 14th and 29th on the first day. Chris McDonald (RFBYC) and Adam Brett (HYC) were just getting warmed up mid fleet, after having spent the previous week in Japan skiing.

The breeze was stronger at 14-18 knots for the second day and I got away to a flyer in the first race but started to get that sinking feeling on hearing a horn sound after the start, I looked over my shoulder to see the individual recall flag and thought it might be for me. Going back now would mean starting last and a mid fleet finish at best so I sailed on to finish 13th but was OCS. After getting away cleanly in the second race I found the fast track to the top mark and to my amazement rounded a close third, after a brief luffing exchange with the eventual world champion I was thrilled to finish in 9th place.

Clay finished 21st and we were both looking forward to the first drop to discard our big numbers. Ross was placing consistently in the 20s including a dead heat in race four while Chris and Adam were consolidating mid fleet. Disaster struck for Jono Neate retiring from race four when his tiller extension and then trapeze hook broke.

The third day was the lightest yet in frustrating shifty conditions that tested the class suggested minimum of 6 knots. Italian light wind specialist Antonio Lambertini had a great day with two bullets while Clay and I both scored 41, me with a 20th and 21st and Clay with a 12th and 29th. Ross unfortunately couldn’t replicate his first day form and slipped back to keep Adam company in the 40s while Chris had his best result, a 26th, in race six. The regatta leaders had their worst finishes in the tricky conditions but were separated by only 2 points.

Day Four saw improved wind with 15 knots building to 20-22 over the afternoon and racing started an hour earlier at 1pm with three races sailed due to a strong wind warning forecast for the following day. Conditions were perfect for Contender sailing Clay was steadily improving scoring an 11th and 8th but then a 20th in race nine. I started and ended the day with a 16th but had my best finish - a 6th - in the middle after holding off seven time world champion Andrea Bonezzi who had capsized during a tack and was storming home. Adam was improving and finished twice in the 20s while Ross and Chris were working hard mid fleet. With nine races completed there was a new overnight leader as Jono had overtaken Mark for the first time to sit two points ahead after Mark had capsized on the pin in race 9 and had to work his way through the fleet to finish 5th, a score he couldn’t drop.

An 18 knot southerly greeted us on arrival for the final race that quickly built towards the 25-30 knots forecast leading many sailors to decide prudence was the better part of valour and stay ashore. Chris made for the start line but turned around after three capsizes on the way. The wind was dense, gusty and harsh and the Lake’s infamous short chop rose to bury bows both up and down wind. The first beat was a slog, even for the heavy weights. Clay rounded about tenth, I was about five places behind, a gust hit on the bear away and I was fully trapezed with the end of the boom in the water and a Dutch boat to windward screaming at me to ‘get down’.

When I came down it was all the way and a capsize to windward. Recovery was very difficult in the heavy conditions and I lost about 30 places. I worked hard to get back to 27th despite a second capsize but was nowhere near Clay’s 10th place, a great effort in the difficult conditions. Ross finished one place behind me in 28th and Adam got home 36th.

Further ahead Jono had crossed first with Mark in second to claim his second Contender Worlds Title, or so we thought.

Ashore Mark had lodged a protest for a luffing incident early in the first reach that was upheld by the jury and he claimed what he later described at presentation as a somewhat “hollow victory”. Both had sailed the whole regatta brilliantly and it was a disappointment to have the final result determined off the water. Matt Mulder leapt into third after winning the last race for an all-Australian top 3.

Further down the leader board there were many mini battles playing out including between the WA sailors. Clay and I had been very even all regatta finishing in 19th and 20th respectively, Ross placed 35th, Adam 41st and Chris 46th.

Lake Macquarie presented the fleet with a range of conditions over the regatta and it was at times thrilling and frustrating but a lot of fun and a great learning experience for my first Contender Worlds.

ANZAC REMEMBERANCE DAWN SERVICE Date

ANZAC Day. Friday, 25 April 2014

Venue

Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club upper lawn adjacent to the flagpole.

Time

6.30 am. (Duration approximately 35 minutes. Sunrise 6.44am)

Invitation

Members and guests.

An indication of numbers would be helpful. Please RSVP by phone on 9286 8200 or email to rfbyc@rfbyc.asn.au

Richard Timms - Commodore 33

Welcome New Club Members ORDINARY 25

Member Remy van Baaren Kim Maxwell Britton Jeffrey Browne William Burgess Michael John Cartwright Judith Magdalena Dieericks Frederic-Jacques Flipo Christopher Frankland Pemberton Peter Fraussen David Hann Gerard John Hardisty Peter Charles Hugall Murray Hughes Curt McDonald John McKechnie Robert Usher Newton Peter Ward

Proposer Richard Timms Richard Young Doug Kerr Ron Fletcher Peter Kohlen Robert Niven Peter Kohlen Dan Fisher Alan Stein Paul Moore David Millar Geoff Totterdell Gordon Blaauw Tony Parker Bob Niven Paul Byrne Stephen Davies

Seconder Ian Clarke Peter Hammond Stephen Cole Murray Johnson Greg Hanson Ian Deany Greg Hansen Richard Williams Richard Pitt Gordon Blaauw David Foskett John Anderson Grant Alderson Robert Parker Brice Thorpe Geoff Wells Kevin Palassis

Member Mark Bellini Daniel Mark Sklarz

Proposer Chris Bingemann Richard Sklarz

Seconder Tom Watts Graham Anstee-Brook

Member Olivia Phillipa Ridley

Proposer Mark Ridley

Seconder Peter Hickson

Proposer Matt Giudice Matt Giudice Matt Giudice Matt Giudice Matt Giudice Matt Giudice Ian Campbell Ian Clarke Ian Clarke Richard Timms John Fitzhardinge Lisa Brazier Matt Giudice Matt Giudice Penny Walsh Penny Walsh Matt Giudice Matt Giudice Rex Henderson Meikle Meecham Matt Guidice Matt Giudice Matt Giudice Evan Moore Peter Chalmer Paul Byrne Evan Moore Dean McAullay Geoff Wilson

Seconder Carol Martin Carol Martin Carol Martin Carol Martin Carol Martin Carol Martin tbc Harry Schmitz Harry Schmitz Paul Finn Jennie Fitzhardinge Matt Giudice Carol Martin Grant Alderson Clive Hawkes Clive Hawkes Grant Alderson Carol Martin Matt Giudice Len Buckeridge Carol Martin Carol Martin Carol Martin Matt Giudice Carol Martin Geoff Wells Jamie Dodd Geoff Wilson Carol Martin

Ordinary 21

Junior 16

UNDER 16

Member Stephanie Allara Stephen Alpers James Bougher Hayley Clark Nathan Cook Annabelle Davies Rohan Dean Amelia Evelegh Oliver Evelegh Charles Marcus Finn Lexi Fitzhardinge Hardye Godfroy Tessa Hanson Alex Harden Jones Samuel Heathcote-Smith Matthew Heathcote-Smith James Hollingsworth Ella Honan Emilia Horn Felix King Aaron Grant de Longville James Lukin Abbey Merdith Elise Moore Thomas William Moulin Talani Newton Jessica O’Callaghan Rosie Rowell Laura Schlich 34

Jacqueline Shallcross Jake Stergiou Jett Stevenson Grace Townes Caitlin Ward Gareth Ward

ASSOCIATE

Member Adriaan Gabriel Diedericks Cate Heathcote-Smith Deborah Henderson Susanne Maree Finn Lisa Newton Jemma Stergiou Kathryn Townes Janet Whitbread

SAILING AFFILIATE Member Matthew East William Head Derek Marshall Michael Francis McBriar Trevor Solomons Jaemie Stuart Wilson Marie Thorne Julie Wheelhouse

RECIPROCAL Member Lee Evelegh

Richard Shallcross Mark Tremain Keith Stevenson Geoff Black Stephen Davies Stephen Davies

Carol Martin Don Tremain James Stevenson Matt Giudice Kevin Palassis Kevin Palassis

Proposer Robert Niven Penny Walsh Rex Handerson Richard Timms Paul Byrne Mark Tremain Geoff Black Stephen Davies

Seconder Ian Deany Clive Hawkes Brad Stout Paul Finn Geoff Wells Don Tremain Matt Giudice Kevin Palassis

Proposer Geoff Black Ian Day Ian Clyne Angus McBriar David Campbell Jeff Sinton Ian Clyne Gerard Murphy

Seconder

Proposer Ian Clarke

Seconder Harry Schmitz

Important dates for membership applications Membership applications (with signature and endorsement of two Members with five+ years membership) must be submitted to the Communications & Membership Services Manager by post or email – membership@rfbyc.asn.au • Submit completed application forms to the Club by the last Monday of the month • Membership committee reviews applications on the first Monday of the month (Monday public holiday – the committee sits the following Monday) • Ordinary membership applications will be invited to attend and interview the following month • All membership applications which progress to the next stage of the membership process will be ratified by General Committee on the fourth Thursday of the month.

New members night; with some of our new members.

35

2014 PRINCE PHILIP CUP AUSTRALIAN DRAGON CHAMPIONSHIP

BY JOHNNY FULLERTON

The prestigious Prince Philip Cup is awarded to the overall winner of the Australian Dragon Championship, which was held on the stunning Swan River, in Perth from 3 - 9 January.

26 Dragons competed with entries from Western Australia, NSW, Victoria and internationals from the UK and Germany.

The age group of competitors ranged from 11 year old Lucy Alderson to legendary octogenarian Gordon Ingate, who is a veteran of America’s Cup and Admiral’s Cup racing.

Seven days of racing were held in a range of sailing conditions from 8 - 25 knots on courses that were universally praised by the sailors. The internationals from Germany and the UK were particularly impressed with the summer weather enjoyed on the Swan River waters Racing was very close with 5 different winners in 7 races.

Local Western Australian sailors Willy Parker, Denis Cullity and Julian Harding sailed a consistent series to come from behind and win the Prince Philip Cup by two points from UK based Rob Campbell, who was sailing with local RFBYC crew of John Moncrieff, John Low and 14 year old James Stout. Third was Gordon Ingate from Sydney with his crew, David Giles and Brad Sheridan.

The 2014 Prince Philip Cup will be remembered for outstanding courses, a great mixture of sailing conditions, fantastic hospitality and the usual Dragon family atmosphere which is synonymous with the class.

The Prince Philip Cup was organised by the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in conjunction with the West Australian International Dragon Association.

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2014 PRINCE PHILIP CUP ACTION ON THE WATER

37

WHO IS SOUTHERN RACE CONTROL?

BY RON FLETCHER The 66th Bunbury and Return Ocean Race coincided with the 10th anniversary of the setting up of Southern Race Control (SRC) and is therefore an interesting milestone, the background to which is probably not known by many members or competitors.

SRC was suggested and created by myself with the support of the intrepid John Milne (Meggsie) as an idea to provide additional VHF coverage to the competing yachts as they progressed beyond the vicinity of Mandurah. This was before the repeater VHF Station Ch 82 wa installed.

My brother John has a lovely beachfront home at almost the highest point of the sleepy holiday hamlet of Preston Beach midway between Mandurah and Bunbury. The house has almost uninterrupted 180 deg view of the ocean to a visual range of 11.4 nautical mile (21.1 km) and it occured to me that it was an ideal location for radio coverage.

My brother, in his younger days, was a keen yachtsman and still takes an interest in the major yacht race events so when I raised the idea of “borrowing” his balcony for a weekend so as to provide radio coverage for the Bunbury and Return Ocean Yacht Race he was thrilled with the idea. Of course the enticement of a suitable bottle of red for Saturday night dinner and a couple of RFBYC wine glasses to match, clinched the deal.

The first base station in 2005 was a bit “Heath Robinson” with aerial pole precariously lashed onto Steve Ward’s utility, (see attached photo) but nevertheless we were up and running.

Since that time however, we have streamlined the siting of the VHF aerial and also HF aerial for when HF coverage is

38

required. We no longer have to draw on the assistance of Steve Ward and his utility but Steve most generously has provided the aluminium aerial poles that we connect together and now attach to the side wall of the garage.

Southern Race Control has been an integral element in the safe coverage and support of the Bubury and Return Yacht Ocean Yacht Race. The coordination with the team at RFBYC Race Control is always professional and most cooperative as we jointly monitor the progress of the competing yachts throughout the race. It is quite a thrill to see the yachts sailing past Preston Beach, sometimes visually in daylight and other times by their red and green nav lights during the hours of darkness.

We also maintain contact with the Bunbury rounding boat Teelia Bell which enhances our coverage of the fleet as they near and then round the Bunbury mark. The actual radio skeds with the competing yachts is always precise, professional and reassuring that we provide that important safe link whilst the yachts are in the lower region of the race course.

The intrepid team at Southern Race Control is always John Milne (Meggsie) as the senior race control officer with myself as a “doggsbody” and in the early years Steve Ward as the “supplier of materials”. Of course my brother John is the silent member of the team who volunteers his house and produces any amount of tea or coffee plus breakfast lunch and dinner.

I hope this small story is of interest to the club and also to the yacht crews who compete and probably wonder from time to time, just who is Southern Race Control?

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES START TEAM CELEBRATE

Ron Rose, Arthur Wells, Lee Walsh, Alison Clohessy, Robin Rose, Carmen Wells, Brian Cain, Jackie Cain

39

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Club Members Watch this Space!

particularly on underwater metal.

Fact! Zinc Cathodic systems were applied to prevent

Fact! Underwater erosion is a result of salination of the engine room, and is easily corrected using our desalination kits

corrosion of bronze in sea water.

40

Fact! Archaeologists uncover bronze components 100’s of years old, in tact – No Zinc here-

Kleenhull 20 years ahead.

Fact! Zinc is totally incompatible with copper

Call Ron on 0408 958 323 or visit www.kleenhull.iinet.net.au

antifouling and is the reason for ongoing failures

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

BY JOHN STANDLEY The recent spell of strong sea breezes has seen the ‘Y’ flag displayed by the Race Committee on a more regular basis. I am sure you all know that this means you have to wear a PFD while racing.

However it is important to note that for a PFD to work satisfactorily it must be of a suitable type for the sailing you are doing and that you know how to use and wear it correctly.

There have been three incidents involving Club boats over the past 2 months involving inflatable PFDs which could, in different circumstance, have led to a more tragic outcome.

The first was when a Dragon helmsman fell out during a death roll. He was wearing a brand new, fresh out of the bag manually inflatable type 1 PFD. This complied with all the Australian standards but, when in the water, the wearer was unable to locate the pull cord so he was unable to inflate the PFD. He was in the water for 15 minutes before he was picked up by a passing motor boat. Had he been injured or unconscious when entering the water we may well have been attending a funeral the following week.

The second incident again involved a manual inflating type of PFD. A female crew member fell off a boat while rounding a mark. The skipper of her boat was finding it difficult to return to pick her up as he was now sailing single handed and there were a lot of other boats in the vicinity of the mark. She too was unable to inflate her PFD and panic was beginning to set in when she was eventually picked up by another boat.

So what are the lessons?

1.Put a bit of thought into the type of PFD you use and make sure it is suitable for the type of sailing you are doing.

It is not my position to advise on appropriate types of PFD but there is a reason why Yachting Australia’s safety regulations PART 2 (for off the beach boats including unballasted boats, Centreboard Dinghies, Sailboards, Skiffs, Multihulls, Small open ballasted boats (Flying Fifteens) and Small Trailable boats (Maybe J24’s, S20 and smaller Sports boats)) DO NOT ALLOW THE USE OF INFLATABLE PFDs. (Regulation 5.01.3.)

2. If you still wish to use an inflatable type of PFD then ensure: • You know how to wear it correctly – including fitting crotch straps • You properly instruct your crew on the proper fitting and use of the PFD • If it is of the manual type you ensure the pull handle is readily to hand and not buried in the PFD or under your other clothing.

• Ensure it is properly maintained and serviced. It is recommended that they are returned annually for inspection and service.

• You read carefully the manufacturers advice as to its use.

3. You brief your crew on man-overboard procedures and carry out a drill at least once a year.

A PFD Is Not A Fashion Garment. It Is Important It Works Properly When You Need It. It May Save Your Life.

The third incident involved the knockdown of a J24. The skipper was wearing an auto inflating type of PFD and it properly inflated when he fell into the water. However he had not fitted the crotch strap and the PFD floated up high round his neck and he was in a very uncomfortable position. He was unable to use his arms easily to hold onto the boat or any ropes handed to him. When he did eventually get alongside the boat the crew were unable to get him back on board as the inflated jacket prevented him from passing between the lifelines and he could not climb up high enough to get over the top rail. He was picked up by a rescue boat and he was then able to get back on board. His description in the bar as to how USELESS he felt the PFD was should be a lesson to us all.

Compare the above incidents with a further recent incident where another sailor parted from his boat in a knockdown.

The skipper was unable to sail back to pick him up due to spinnaker problems and he was seen and picked up by another yacht. He was wearing a permanent buoyancy type 2 PFD of the minimum 50KN capacity. He fully appreciated the certainty of having the extra buoyancy while he was in the water and because of the lack of bulk when compared to a fully inflated PFD it was relatively easy to get him on board the rescuing boat. It should be noted that this type of PFD may not float you in a face up position if you are unconscious but this is not guaranteed with other types of PFD either – particularly if they do not inflate!

41

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2014 Australian International Contender Open Championships

BY SIMON BARWOOD

The 2014 Australian International Contender Open Championships was held on Lake Macquarie, hosted by the Belmont 16 Foot Sailing Club, over three days from January 16-18. The forecast leading up promised North easterly sea breezes between 15-25 knots, with all races scheduled in the afternoons this was going to be a heavy regatta.

The event was also the pre-Worlds regatta and the field included four of the top five from the previous Worlds plus several past World and Australian champions. Three Western Australian sailors competed, all representing RFBYC. In the 2013 Nationals Clay Cook had placed third (and second the year before) and Ross Brennan 7th, this would be my first major regatta in the Contender class.

We had practice the two days before the regatta and Lake Macquarie was delivering on the promise of great sailing and in conditions not dissimilar to Melville Water.

The first race started in 15-18 knots that built to 20-22 and shifted left over the afternoon, a pattern that was repeated each day. The prescription for success was start at the pin, and/or in clear air, continue to the port layline and tack into the lift along the shore in the fast lane to the top mark. It was immediately clear that the heavyweights could generate the power and height necessary to win the race to the left, Matt Mulder especially was awesomely fast with over 100kg on a tall frame swinging from the trapeze. All three WA sailors tip the scales in the low 80s and were overpowered Clay finished 9th in the first race and then retired with mast step issues during the second. The second day was heavier with the second race sailed in winds consistently over the 25 knot class limit with

gusts recorded over 30 knots. Rescue crews were kept busy as many boats succumbed to the extreme conditions and half the fleet retired. The reaches were somewhere between exhilarating and terrifying, you know there’s trouble ahead when the six boats ahead capsize, one after the other, attempting a gybe at the wing mark. Clay went ashore and fiddled with his settings between races that led to him losing a fast pin and being towed ashore again.

The first warning signal on the final day of racing was an hour earlier at 1pm and the race started in a relatively benign 15-18kts and enjoyed great racing although the Lake was busier than on previous days with it being a Saturday, picking a course through the keelboats felt a bit like club racing at home. Clay’s woes continued as he broke his mast step between the races and returned to shore with only two finishes for the regatta.

The second day’s casualties tragically included Matt Mulder’s halyard in the first race that ultimately cost him the title as he was clearly the fastest winning three of the four races he finished. Mark Bulka, Andrea Bonezzi and Jonathon Neate were all in the mix and ended the regatta in that order with Mark claiming back to back Australian titles.

Ross sailed consistently and finished 26th overall and was third in the Masters division. I was pleased to have scored consistent mid teen places and came in 16th overall.

With the pre-Worlds over we are repairing battered boats and bodies for the main event starting in two days and will be joined by two more WA sailors, Chris McDonald (RFBYC) and Adam Brett (HYC).

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

BY BASIL TWINE Our ultimate aim is to have records of membership, boats and activities all complementary and cross referenced; a massive task.

Master John Hobbs whom we knew as “Tally”. I plan to hang this in the Athol Hobbs Room as part of the ongoing project.

• We are using a computer program called “Archive Manager” to which we have added a basic list of present members. Paul Reiffer has now started to add information from an “Old Boat Register”. Neither of these two lists was complete but they do give us a starting point which we can add to progressively.

• Jenny and Basil Twine are steadily going through old photographs and documents, adding “Provenance” details as far as possible. Where these are suitable they are being copied with the copy framed for display and the original stored to minimise deterioration.

• Rae Cronin is working on offshore sailing history and partner Roy Shannon who is a calligrapher is working on the Sir Douglas Kendrew Trophy.

• Further to the development of the Athol Hobbs room I recently acquired from the Royal Australian Artillery Historical Society a remarkable photo of three generations of Hobbs: Lt Gen Sir J.J. Talbot Hobbs in the centre rear, on his right Lt Col Athol Hobbs, on his left Maj Mervyn Hobbs and in front

Learn to Sail Classes at RFBYC

School Holiday Fun RFBYC will be running childrens’ holiday courses during the coming summer school holidays.

Week 1 - Monday 14 April – Friday 18 April Week 2 - Monday 21 April - Friday 25 April Conducted on the safe, sheltered waters of Mosman Bay, the Club offers a range of courses designed for children 6 years and upwards, for complete novices to learn to race.

Fees start from $150 for Little Tackers (10 hours) including use of Club boats and safety equipment.

Recreational Skippers Ticket courses available for children 14 years and over. Participants must be able to swim and be 44 confident. water

VALE: EDWIN JAMES WHITAKER 4th Feb 1928- 20th Dec 2013

BY BASIL TWINE architectural practice which later took in partners Gordon White and George Winning.

His cherished field was church architecture which led to his most stunning achievement: The design and construction of the Anglican Cathedral in Geraldton.

Toward the end of his career he was asked to design a small cottage for a vineyard near Margaret River. This led to a partnership and eventually his acquiring the whole property.

“Whitakers Wines” at Rosa Brook produced some good stuff which sold readily. However Ed was no longer a young man and the hard physical labour required took its toll, resulting in his retirement back to Perth.

His sailing days probably began with the White brothers Jack, Bob and Andy in sharpies and led to his partnership with Jack White in the building of their Hornet “Hai Loong”. It was one of the first at the club. Subsequently he launched “Wizbee” which he sailed well. This was followed by a Soling named “Claire de Lune” which David Jordan and John Galvin will recall.

Ed Whitaker is listed as joining RFBYC in 1959 however I suspect he was sailing at the club well before that.

His early education was at Christ Church Grammar School which was followed in 1946 by enrolment at the newly opened School of Architecture. It was there he began a life long friendship with Stuart Coll.

The Head of the School encouraged graduates to travel overseas for broader stimulating experience. He was invited to join a firm in South Africa where he worked for a year before continuing on to London. It was in London that he shared an Earls Court flat with Stuart Coll and John White. It was John who encouraged Ed to acquire a motor cycle and tutored him in how to ride and negotiate the intimidating London traffic.

Servicing of the machine had to be carried out in the kitchen of the flat – well it was too cold in the street!

Ed then embarked on a motor cycle tour of Norway and Europe with Stuart as pillion passenger, navigator and cook. They successfully travelled through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France despite having to rely on a tent with only three sides (no front).

On returning to Perth Ed joined Ean McDonald in an

One Cockburn Regatta Ed was short of crew and made the mistake of asking two other skippers to join him – no crew just three skippers in the boat: John Galvin, Basil Twine and Ed. Galvin and Twine talked Ed into the best start of his career – they led around the first windward mark. John then passed the spinnaker halyard back to Basil saying: “When I say pull, you pull - OK pull. No not yet! Oh sorry Ed I’ll fixit.” John then climbed the mast, retrieved the halyard and attached it to the spinnaker. “OK pull now”. Up went the spinnaker – sideways!

We were tenth around the bottom mark and finished dead last.

There was also life outside Architecture and sailing. For years he was a keen member of Claremont Apex some of whom still get together for lunch. It was at one of these lunches at the yacht club the day before Ed died that they last saw him. We are assured that there was nothing wrong with the food.

He also played Hockey with Christ Church oldboys and later with that bunch of renegades calling themselves “Soaks” (University Associates) led by Dr Ray George Following Apex he joined Claremont Rotary and served as President.

In later years he was active in the Self Funded Retirees Assoc; again President and in Probus.

In 1961 he married Helen Twine. They produced three children: Claire, Richard, an active member of the club and Michael.

Basil Twine (I always wanted a brother but it wasn’t until my sister married Ed that I got one.)

45 45

It will soon be time to dust off the clocks and get out your competition numbers.

All members and friends are invited.

Live entertainment and party atmosphere on the wharf.

2013 PROGRAMME 13:00 13:30 14:30 15:00 15:30

Sail past commences Short Time Trial Raft up on the main wharf Official opening on the main wharf Dock Party

Platters can be pre-ordered. Beverages can be purchased on the day.

Gourmet burgers on the BBQ and Pizzas available on the main wharf.

Nominate your boat today!

Email power@rfbyc.asn.au or phone 9286 8200.

46

TWILIGHT SAILING AT RFBYC

BY SEAN MARTIN

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1

2

3

4

5

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our national champions 1. Peter Chappell, Peter Nicholas and Luke Payne won the Sharpie National Championships.

2. Zac Littlewood won the National O’pen BIC Championships.

3. David Gilmour with crew Sam Phillips won the 49er National Championships.

4. Tessa Parkinson and Chelsea Hall won the 49er FX National Championships.

5. Willy Packer, Denis Cullity and Julian Harding won the Australian Dragon Championships.

6. Emerson Carlberg and Lachy Gilmour won the 420 National Championships.

7. Tristan Brown successfully defended his title at the Laser Radial National Championships.

7