From the Helm What's

ALBURY WODONGA YACHT CLUB Sail Away D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 To be a thriving place where people of all ages and abilities come to discover the joy of sailing. What’s On! From the Helm Stuart Richardson - Commodore Saturday, 6th DECEMBER Hi All, for those of us lucky enough to be at the club last 9.00am-1.00pm Start Sailing 2, Start Racing weekend witnessed a fantastic sight as the fleet left the club on 1.30pm-5.30pm Better Sailing, Tackers 2 Saturday for the annual Tallangatta cruise and returned on 1.30pm-4.30pm Sailability Sunday morning. They had good wind on both days with a nice Sunday, 7th South Easterly to sail into on the way up and nice Northerly on 9.00am Laser 4.7 “Intergalactic” C’ships and the way home on Sunday. Great to see so many participating in Opti Swamp Cup social sailing events. Hopefully we will have a lot more of it as 12.30pm Christmas Fun Races/Party/Santa our cruising/social sailing program matures. Well done Terry 1.30-5.30pm Tackers 1 Kerr for organising the event. Saturday 13th

9.00am-1.00pm Start Sailing 2, Start Racing I think organised social sailing is an aspect of our sport that is 1.30-5.30pm Better Sailing, Tackers 2 under emphasised in our club. My personal interest is in racing Sunday 14th but I’m glad to see members actively involved in cruising. As a 9.00am Club Championship Racing club we are very well geared for competitive sailing with 1.30pm-5.30pm Tackers 1 weekend club championship races and several members 2.00pm Introductory Racing regularly competing at State and National regattas. It would be Saturday 20th great to see the same focus and level of participation in regular 9.00am-1.00pm Start Sailing 2, Start Racing club social sailing. Wednesday 31st 7.00pm New Year’s Eve - informal social At the recent Yachting Victoria Conference, Alister Murray of gathering @ Club Ronstan Australia gave a speech to close the conference and shared a conversation he had with one of Ronstan’s largest Extended calendar later in this edition. international retailers. The retailer was saying he didn’t Full Calendar available on our website. understand why sailing continues to be referred to as a sport. He sells over $800m of sailing gear each year (that’s right, 800 CHRISTMAS PARTY million dollars worth) and only 2% of that is for racing. Gives you some idea of the scale of the recreational sailing market world Sunday 7th December 2014 wide.

What made Alister’s speech most interesting was his comments Come and join in the fun on how he thought Australia could improve its international races/party/Santa racing results – more Olympic Gold. It’s not about more funding and we don’t need more championship racing for our juniors and youth sailors. We have plenty of high quality structured Fun Racing from 9.00am coaching programs so we don’t need more of that. In Alister’s Party/Santa from 12.30pm view we need more participation in social sailing and I tend to agree. Social sailing is an ideal way to attract people to the

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SAILAWAY DECEMBER 2014

From the Helm cont… The Festive Season –

sport. It’s fun, less stressful than racing, cheaper Fun and Games! and does not have to be as formal or organised. Leanne Thomson – Rear Commodore Much more relaxing. Something anyone can do. Shrek and Princess Fiona will host the Intergalactic So how does this relate to our Tallangatta Cruise Championships (Laser 4.7’s), Swamp Cup (Int Optis) or other social sailing events we may run? By and Rainbow Reachers (Ozi Optis) on Sunday increasing participation. If all our members invited December 7th. two or three new friends to come along to a social This is a Fun Event open to all ages but restricted to sailing event just imagine how many people would members and guests, including AWYC Discover potentially come back to be involved in the sport. Sailing Centre students that have completed Better Some of these may want to do some training and Sailing as a minimum. maybe join in club racing. If they have some skills, some of them may travel to compete in State and The racing format will consist of Mini Sprints, National regattas. And who knows, one day, one of Windward/Return to finish (reaching course for them may even win an Olympic gold medal. Rainbow Reachers), 1 lap per race.

Invite a friend out to have a sail. Share our great Club training Lasers and Ozi Optis (Tackers boats) sport. are available for hire for the morning @ $30 each. Be sure you book prior to the day. Junior Run Regatta For more details and boat hire contact Donald or Member Contribution – Laura Thomson Leanne Thomson. Email: [email protected] The juniors are holding a Junior Run Regatta on Mobile: 0467 355 258. the 31st of January and the 1st of February. This event is completely run by the juniors of AWYC and Stay and party after the sailing with the AWYC is their major fundraiser of the season. Money raised Christmas party. Bring a plate and relax on the lawn will go into the junior fund to be saved towards with members, family and friends. Santa will arrive something to improve junior facilities at the Club. around 2pm with presents for the kids. (Parent deliveries to training room desk prior to 1:30pm The event will run over the entire weekend with please). registrations on the day from 11 am (Saturday.) The cost of regatta entry will be $20. There will be an New Year’s Eve at the Club this year will be an invitation race beginning at 2pm that day. At the informal event. The cafe will be closed but members conclusion of that race our very talented juniors will are invited to join other members in celebrating the be doing performances for your entertainment as arrival of 2015. Weather permitting the wood-fired part of a talent show. A dinner will also be available oven will be lit, otherwise BBQ facilities are that evening and the menu and cost of the meal will available. Camping is free for members and any be advised closer to the date. guests staying over are to pay $10 per person per night. Sunday racing will commence at 9am with a briefing at 8 am. The course will be a windward return and we will be aiming to get in as many sprint races as possible before 11am. There will be one division and results will be on corrected time. A presentation will commence as soon as possible after racing.

This event was run two years ago by the juniors and was quite successful and A LOT of fun! The juniors organise the whole event, from manning the on water boats, being race officer and working in the galley, it is a great way to get everyone involved. This year we are hoping it will be bigger and better than ever! To be added to the junior roster, or for more information about the event, please speak with our current Junior Rep Alex Bejsta or Laura Thomson. 2

SAILAWAY DECEMBER 2014

Discover Sailing Day Leanne Thomson – Rear Commodore

Thank you to all the members who helped out at our Discover Sailing Day (and to those who could not attend but helped promote the event with their family, friends, neighbours and schools). We had 95 visitors register and go for a sail, with many others viewing the action from the shaded lawn whilst enjoying a pizza or cold beverage. Once again our youth members shined - taking kids for sails in the Tackers boats and others out in the Pacers. The day was a success with new members signing up and others enrolling in sailing courses.

Below are some comments from happy customers.

Hi Leanne, Emma is very much looking forward to the Little Tackers program. We came out for the open day and had a great time. Had to drag her away at 4pm after having been on boats non stop for 4 hours! The open day was fabulous, many thanks to those involved. Anna Sullivan

Hi Leanne, I think I met you at the Discover Sailing Day last Saturday. Thank you for that, my husband, Peter, son, Kobi, and I enjoyed it very much, and appreciated the opportunity to find out about your club. Peter and Kobi (who is 13) would like to attend your start sailing 1 course……... Thank you Kathryn Wood

The galley was humming ! Junior members of our Club gathering Thanks to owners and crews who to help out at the Discover Sailing Open made trailables available. Day.

Thanks to junior members who Getting ready to welcome visitors to the Cooking up a storm at the pizza oven. provided sailing experiences - great Discover Sailing Open Day. work team! 3

SAILAWAY DECEMBER 2014

Discover Sailing Day cont…

Left: Helping out in the galley.

Right: Many families enjoyed the experience of sailing together

______

Sailability Neil and Toni Payn – Sailability Coordinators

Hi Everybody from the Sailability team.

We have now had our second session of the season, the weather was not the greatest resulting in a few cancellations on the morning, however this was positive for the 18 participants who did brave the cooler weather as they had longer on the water.

We are enjoying Sailability, getting to know our regulars and making sure they enjoy their sailing experience. It’s great to see everyone smiling. A declaration this week that put a smile on everyone’s faces, was from 9 year old Reuben who had just soloed for the first time. On coming ashore he declared with great conviction “I’m good at Sailing I think I’ll make the best adult”.

Another positive was a parent who brought his son for the first time and is now enquiring about getting him onto the tackers program. This is great news as this is what Sailability is all about, a pathway into sailing for all.

Once again the sessions only work so well because of the committed volunteers, so a big thank you to all of you who keep giving up your time to support the program.

Our next session is with the Belvoir School who will be bringing 30 year 9 and 10 students out to the Club on the 27th and 28th of November. These 2 days are supported by a grant from Yachting Victoria and is the first time the school have used Sailability. We will be running sailing and shore based activities for the 15 each day including archery. We will let you know how it all went in the next newsletter.

Before we go just a quick reminder our next Saturday session is the 6th of December, we will be getting the mail chimp out before the end of the week. And finally a quick request for help. We will be in Tasmania in January so cannot attend the Jan 17th Session. If anybody would be available to coordinate the day’s activity please let us know, we would ensure all of the e mails are out before we go.

Cheers

Neil and Toni

SAILAWAY DECEMBER 2014 Discover Sailing Centre Donald Thomson – Training Principal

Congratulations to the following students who will complete a training course this Saturday (29/11).

TACKERS 3 START SAILING 1 Eva Attwood David Amery Tess Buckley David Gilmore Harriet Case Lynn Hardy Jack Dale- Webb Jon Retford Benjamin Demeo Alexy Saliba Emily Payn Rachael Webb Jacob Scully Sarah Willcox Sarah Vickers Kobi Wood Peter Wood

Hopefully some of the Start Sailing 1 students will continue on with their classes and flow in to the Start Sailing 2 course that commences on Saturday 6th of December. We still have places available in that class for those who have completed Start Sailing 1 previously, or for anyone wanting to refresh what they covered a previous time in Start Sailing 2.

Yachting Victoria will be conducting a Power Boat INSTRUCTORS course on the 13 – 15 of March 2015. This course is for people wanting to become accredited as an instructor in the YA Power Boat Program. The ability to safely skipper a powerboat is assumed and is a requirement to successfully complete the course.

The course is run over an evening and two full days. Course cost is $360. Additional requirements for qualification as an Instructor are: - Powerboat Handling Certificate - Apply First Aid Certificate - Working with Children Check – You must be 16 yrs old (must be 18 yrs old to be the head or lead instructor at a centre) - Comply with relevant State Maritime Licence requirements.

Spaces are limited to 4 participants and Yachting Victoria generally only run one or two of these courses a year. To register or for more information visit http://ayf.yachtingaustralia.com.au/event.asp?ID=69642&format=popup&Template=blank&Format=blank

Wondering how to keep the kids entertained over the School Holidays? Our Discover Sailing Centre is once again running school holiday learn to sail classes. We have Tackers 1 and 2 running for the week of the 5th of January and an additional week of Tackers 1 and 2 on the week of the 12th of January. There will also be an Under 25’s Dinghy Start Sailing Package for the week of the 5th of January. The Better Sailing course on the week of the 19th of January is fully booked (unless you have your own Laser 4.7).

All our courses for the start of 2015 are now available for registration via our course schedule on the AWYC website at www.foxsportspulse.com/assoc_page.cgi%3Fc=1-10069-0-0-0%26sID=301928

From all of the instructing team of our Discover Sailing Centre we wish you all a Happy and Safe Christmas and New Year and a personal “Thank You” from me to those instructors who have volunteered in the first half of our season. Welcome to Our New Members

The Commodore and members would like to welcome the following new members to the Club: *Alan Eddy *Anne and Ray Henderson *Rachel and Mark Webb and Matthew, *Roger Fiedler *Jodie, Colin, Lily and Sabella Spice Andrew and Jessica Greenwood

SAILAWAY DECEMBER 2014

Recreational Sailing Terry Kerr – Club Captain Recreational Sailing

This issue sees the last part in the series on Crew Overboard, I hope you’ve enjoyed and gained something from the series. The next topic isn’t on the drawing board as yet so if you have an area of interest please let me know. The Tallangatta Trip and Christmas are next on the agenda; I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Recreational Sailing Team, hope to see you at Tallangatta.

CREW OVERBOARD – 3

Retrieving Crew

Once the boat has been brought back to the crew member, and the crew member is secured to the boat, the next problem is to retrieve the person from the water. Often the person will be able to make their way to a Swim or Boarding Ladder and climb back aboard by themselves. If the person has been in the water for even a short time however, they may not be able to help themselves.

Where the person is starting to suffer the effects of immersion but is able to brace themselves, or if a ladder is not available, the Elevator Method can be utilised. The Elevator Method simply consists of a line secured on a bow cleat and led to a Cockpit Sheet Winch via a running block. The line is lowered into the water far enough to enable the person to stand on the line. When the line is winched in the person is elevated to a point where they are able to roll under the Life Line. In reality, it is quite difficult for the person to hold themselves in place, while standing on a line, particularly in rough weather. This method is only really suitable for relatively calm waters.

If the person is unable to assist in their retrieval, they will have to be hauled on board by means of a suitable halyard. Some PFDs have a built-in rescue harness to which a halyard can be attached otherwise a Rescue Strop; see Figure 8.7 or similar device will have to be used.

Figure 8.7 – Rescue Strop

The halyard can be attached directly to the person and a winch used to haul the person from the water. Alternatively, as Figure 8.8 illustrates, a block and tackle can be suspended from the halyard and this in turn used to haul the person aboard. Utilising a block and tackle allows the rescuer to be closer to the crew member and enables them to assist the crew member to traverse the Life Lines. Figure 8.8 – Block And Tackle Method

SAILAWAY DECEMBER 2014

Recreational Sailing cont…

Effects of Hydrostatic Pressure

Hydrostatic Pressure is the pressure exerted on a person, when immersed, by the surrounding water. Among other things Hydrostatic Pressure artificially increases the person’s Blood Pressure by squeezing blood upward from the lower extremities. This increase occurs during the first 30 to 40 minutes after immersion and lasts only as long as it takes for the body’s regulatory processes to lower the Blood Pressure back to normal.

So long as the person remains in the water the effects of Figure 8.9 – Lifting a Person Horizontally Hydrostatic Pressure are of little concern. When the person is lifted from the water however, the sudden removal of the effects of Hydrostatic Pressure can result in a sudden decrease in Blood Pressure. A sudden decrease in Blood Pressure will lead to dizziness but may also result in a rapid loss of consciousness or, in severe cases, Cardiac Arrest.

Although the overall effects of lifting the person from the water are unavoidable the risk can be minimised by lifting the person from the water in a horizontal position as illustrated in Figure 8.9 and keeping the person lying for at least an hour after recovery.

FIRST AID TREATMENT Secondary Injuries

With all the structures on the deck of a modern boat, there is plenty of opportunity for a person to be injured while falling overboard. These injuries could be as simple as minor cuts and bruises, as involved as a broken bone or as life threatening as a Head Injury. Always be mindful of Secondary Injuries when handling the crew member and particularly if the person appears confused or disorientated or if they are unconscious.

Hypothermia

As well as Secondary Injuries the crew member will most certainly be suffering some measure of Hypothermia, particularly if the person has been immersed for some time. Hypothermia is not dependent on water or ambient temperature, an immersed person can suffer from Hypothermia on a relatively warm day or in tepid water. DROWNING

Most people expect drowning to be a violent, splashing event with the person calling for help, in reality this is rarely the case. The yelling, splashing and commotion seen on television is far from the truth; in reality, drowning is almost always a surprisingly quiet event.

Instinctive Drowning Response

The Instinctive Drowning Response (identified by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D.) is a set of physiological responses that are characteristic of a drowning person, these responses are:

1. The Respiratory System is designed for breathing, speech is very much a secondary function; breathing must be completed before a person can talk. 2. A drowning person’s mouth is alternately above and below water. The person’s mouth would not be above water long enough for them to exhale, inhale and then yell for help. 3. Nature instinctively forces a person to extend their arms horizontally to enable them to press down on the water to lift their mouth above the water to breathe.

SAILAWAY DECEMBER 2014 Recreational Sailing cont…

Instinctive Drowning Response cont…

4. When drowning a person will be overwhelmed by a sense of survival and will not be able to stop themselves from struggling to perform voluntary actions like waving for help, moving towards a rescuer or reaching for a rope or floatation device. 5. The person’s attempts to keep mouth above water will result in their body remaining vertical with no evidence of kicking or horizontal movement.

What To Look For

The signs to look for in a person that is in grave danger are:

1. Head low in the water, mouth at water level. 2. Head tilted back with mouth open. 3. Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus. 4. Eyes closed. 5. Hair over forehead or eyes. 6. Not using legs, the body is vertical. 7. Hyperventilating or gasping for air. 8. Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway. 9. Trying to roll over on the back. 10. Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder.

This doesn’t mean that the person yelling and thrashing isn’t in serious trouble, clearly they are. This person can clearly breathe and can perform voluntary movements so they can therefore assist in their rescue.

If a crew member is in the water and they appear to be all right, don’t be too sure. Often the most common indication that a person is drowning is that they don’t appear to be drowning. Regardless of appearances, always ask a crew member who has fallen overboard “Are you ok?”, don’t assume that they are simply waiting to be picked up. COB PREVENTION Preparation

The best technique to recover from a Crew Over-Board incident is to prevent it from happening in the first place or to expedite recovery when it does. The following measure will reduce the likelihood of a COB incident or assist in the prompt recovery of crew:

1. Always wear a PFD, with a built-in hardness, when underway and particularly in rising seas. 2. In heavy weather, and at times of heightened risk, always attach yourself to a Jack Line when on deck. 3. Warn crew of sudden changes in the boat’s attitude, particularly pitching and rolling.

Practice

The various COB techniques and procedures should be practiced and rehearsed on a regular basis and in differing weather conditions. Regular practice will ensure that the crew responds promptly and effectively to COB incidents.

Practice will also reassure the crew that if they fall overboard they will be recovered quickly and efficiently.

SAILAWAY DECEMBER 2014 Classifieds on AWYC Website Michael Cole – Webmaster

As mentioned in the last Sail Away we’ve added a Classifieds section to our website. It is located on our top menu bar.

There are three categories of advertisements available:

Items for sale at AWYC Here members will be able to advertise items for sale, for example boats and sailing gear. The ads will be placed in the classified section of the site for a period of three months. All you need to do is complete and submit the online form.

Looking for crew Here as the name suggests skippers can advertise for crew. Again you need to complete the online form in order to have your ad loaded to the site for three months. This is available to members only.

Looking to crew This is open to anyone who would like to be considered for crew at our club. There is a online form to complete and submit.

Instructions for placing an ad are contained in the “How to advertise” page for each category.

It costs nothing to advertise. All ads will have a three month time limit from the date it is published to the site. This can be extended by contacting the webmaster. If you no longer need your ad please contact the webmaster to remove the ad from the site.

These advertisements are in addition to the For Sale book located at the club house. If you have an item advertised in the For Sale book why not post it online too. ______Tallangatta Cruise

Left: Sunset at Tallangatta (photo provided by Leigh Caldwell)

Right: AWYC - Line Honours!

See more photos on Facebook and AWYC website. There will be a full report on the Tallangatta Cruise in our next newsletter.

SAILAWAY DECEMBER 2014 Duty Roster

Below are DutyMan duty rosters for December. If your name appears on the roster and you have not already done so please log on to DutyMan and confirm the duty for which you are listed and help out if you are able where there are still Volunteers Required.

We resume normal Club events from the weekend of 10th and 11th January 2015. Members have not yet been allocated duties for 2015 as we are giving you the opportunity to log on to DutyMan and volunteer for a weekend and duty that suits you. All unallocated duties will then be filled in at random after the 14th of December. So if you want a particular weekend or role get in quick.

During the below listed weeks we will be running holiday Learn To Sail programs. We are looking for volunteers to sell cold drinks and ice-creams and help cut up the Tackers fruit. If you may be available (maybe you have a child doing a course) please contact either Leanne on 0402 348 874 or Ilse (prior to 7/12) on 0423 978 145.

5th - 9th Jan - Morning = Tackers 2 & Start Sailing Package / Afternoon = Tackers 1 12th - 16th Jan - Morning = Tackers 2 / Afternoon = Tackers 1 19th - 23rd Jan - Morning = Better Sailing

Sat 06 Dec 2014 Sun 07 Dec 2014 cont… Training, Sailability, Set Up for Sunday

Cafe Duty 10:00 Beth Dawson Onshore Duty 7:00 Volunteer Required

Cafe Duty 10:00 Anna Keedwell (Holdgate) Cafe Duty 10:00 Beth Dawson

Onshore Duty Anthony Johnson Cafe Duty 10:00 Anna Keedwell (Holdgate)

Onshore Duty Nic Holdgate (Keedwell) Cafe Duty 10:00 Volunteer Required

Onshore Duty Micah Holdgate Cafe Duty 10:00 Volunteer Required

Committee Rep Donald Thomson Onshore Duty Xeno Holdgate

Onshore Duty John Pimm

Committee Rep Donald Thomson Santa Visit & Christmas Party Cafe Duty 13:00 Alison Pimm

Onshore Duty 13:00 Anthony Johnson

Nic Holdgate Sun 07 Dec 2014 Onshore Duty 13:00 Intergalactic / Swamp Cup / Rainbow Reachers (Keedwell) Onshore Duty 13:00 Volunteer Required Race Officer 7:00 Donald Thomson Onshore Duty 13:00 Volunteer Required

Start Boat 7:00 Anthony Johnson Sat 13 Dec 2014 Start Boat 7:00 Nic Holdgate (Keedwell) Training & Set Up for Sunday racing Course Boat - 7:00 John Rodgers Start RR Onshore Duty Robert Minato Course Boat - 7:00 Chris Attwood Start RR Cafe Duty 10:00 Shirleen Minato Cafe Duty 10:00 Sinead Stone Safety RIB 7:00 Leanne Thomson Onshore Duty Lachlan Stone White RR Safety RIB Red Onshore Duty Matt Paris 7:00 Volunteer Required SC / IC Onshore Duty Volunteer Required

Onshore Duty Volunteer Required

Committee Rep Leanne Thomson

SAILAWAY DECEMBER 2014

Duty Roster cont… The Term ‘Yacht’ Member Contribution – Nico Van Nouhuys

After reading John Hawksworth’s (if I remember Sun 14 Dec 2014 correctly) impassioned story about his feelings Club Champ & Intro Racing and thoughts regarding the term and use of the word ‘Yacht’, the following could be of interest. Cafe Duty 10:00 Shirleen Minato Cafe Duty 10:00 John Pimm One of the two ships with which Abel Tasman in 1642-1643 made his famous voyage around Cafe Duty 10:00 Volunteer Required the south of what he called New Holland, now Cafe Duty 10:00 Volunteer Required Australia, was a ‘Jacht’ named ‘Duyfken’. Committee Rep Leanne Thomson

From the book ‘THE SHIPS OF ABEL TASMAN’: Club Championship Racing This small ship type was called ‘jacht’. During

Race Officer 7:00 Robert Minato the first years of the Pioneer Compagnies and the VOC [East India Company] it was Start Boat 7:00 Sinead Stone irreplaceable in the fleets, which sailed to Start Boat 7:00 Volunteer Required unknown destinations. Especially because of Course Boat 7:00 John Rodgers the unfamiliarity with the waters so far from Course Boat 7:00 Chris Attwood home these small manoeuvrable yachts served Safety RIB 7:00 Lachlan Stone to explore coasts and shoal waters. In this way, Onshore Duty 7:00 Matt Paris every new voyage produced new cartographic knowledge, which could be of vital interest to

the next expedition. In addition, their speed

Introductory Racing came in useful in sending messages to and from the mainland and between the different fleets. In fact, the name is derived from the Race Officer 13:00 Robert Minato Dutch verb ‘jagen’ that means ‘fast sailing’ and Start Boat 13:00 Sinead Stone has nothing to do with the luxury leisure vessels, which sail nowadays under this name. Start Boat 13:00 Volunteer Required Course Boat 13:00 John Rodgers And what about the following phrases? Course Boat 13:00 Chris Attwood Safety RIB 13:00 Lachlan Stone You sail on a ocean liner, a motorboat and on a yacht. It means that you travel on them. So Onshore Duty 13:00 Matt Paris sailors call their wind driven vessel/sailing boat, a yacht. Sat 20 Dec 2014 Training & Christmas Clean up Yours in sailing – oops! Yachting,

Cafe Duty 10:00 Susan Lefoe Nico Cafe Duty 10:00 Helen Kerr Onshore Duty Volunteer Required

Onshore Duty Volunteer Required

Committee Rep Volunteer Required

SAILAWAY DECEMBER 2014

Junior Schools Team Racing Carnival Leanne Thomson – Rear Commodore

On Monday 17th of November four of our AWYC Juniors headed to Melbourne, along with their parents and myself as coach, to compete in the Junior Schools Team Racing Carnival. Not having enough students from the one school to form a team (min 4), the Albury Wodonga region sent a combined team of the following students:

Oscar Henderson (Scots School Albury) Will Haberfield (Albury Public) Eva Attwood (Albury Public) Lara Johnson (Frayne College Baranduda)

Having never “Teams Raced” before, or sailed around a “Q Box Course” the team were in for a huge learning experience. The carnival was conducted in supplied Ozi Optis (Tackers boats) and the race format was a team of 4 sailing off against another team of 4. The team with the least points once crossing the line was the winner of that round, gaining a point for their team. With the aim of getting as many of your team over the line before the opposing team the racing becomes a challenge of using the rules of sailing to your advantage. With on water judges at the ready to hand out a penalty the sailors needed to be sure of both their own manoeuvres and any protests they called out against their opposition.

With Lara having completed Tackers 3 in April and Eva completing Tackers 3 at present I encouraged the kids to take away as much as possible from the carnival and to build on their knowledge of sailing. Whatever the outcome of the day they were to be proud of how they represented their schools, their sailing club, their families and most importantly how they represented themselves as sailors. In a competition that is focussed on ‘protesting’ (on the water) your competitors to gain an advantage it is important to be a good sport in doing so. With 5 school teams competing (Penbank, Brighton Grammar, Mentone Grammar, Paynesville and Country Kids Albury Wodonga) our team knew they had a challenge ahead of them when David White, VIODA and National Opti Coach, was the coach for Mentone Grammar. Half way through the day (after 10 rounds) Country Kids Albury Wodonga were actually leading the event. They were tied with Penbank, but as they had beaten Penbank in their round they were ahead on a count back.

After 20 rounds and an all in race around the island in the middle of the lake Country Kids Albury Wodonga finished second for the carnival. An early morning start and loads of excitement draining their energy our team fatigued and missed the gold medal, which was won by Penbank. Silver was an amazing result and they were most pleased with having beaten Mentone Grammar (David White as coach) who came in with the bronze. I was so proud of what these kids achieved and cannot wait to take this team (or hopefully 2 teams) back to Melbourne for the next carnival on Monday 23rd of February 2015.

Anyone wanting to read more about the November carnival can do so on the School Sailing website at http://schoolsailing.com.au/assoc_page.cgi?client=0-10078-0-0- 0&sID=303775&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=32312031

If you are under 14 and would like to be part of the Junior Schools Team Racing Carnival on 23rd of February please contact me so I can arrange teams.

SAILAWAY DECEMBER 2014

13 Albury Wodonga Yacht Club Inc 2014-2015 Contacts A full list of Committee & other Contacts is available on our website

Commodore Stuart Richardson 0409 386 516 [email protected] Vice Commodore Mitch Harris 0413 950 075 [email protected] Rear Commodore Leanne Thomson 0402 348 874 [email protected] Secretary Helen Kerr 0438 425 992 [email protected] Treasurer Stewart Cathie 0401 668 741 [email protected] DSC Training Principal Donald Thomson 0413 486 996 [email protected] Club Captain Racing [email protected] Club Captain Sailing Terry Kerr 0419 401 036 [email protected] Marketing / Promotion Mary-Anne Scully 0408 685 225 [email protected] Sailability Coordinators Neil & Antonia Payn 0459 754 841 [email protected] Galley & Entertainment Ilse Bejsta 0423 978 145 [email protected] Women & Girls in Sailing Rep Helen Kerr 0438 425 992 [email protected] Newsletter Editor Nan Astridge 0429 002 463 [email protected] Webmaster Michael Cole 0413 490 951 [email protected] Duty Roster Administrator Leanne Thomson 0402 348 874 [email protected] Assets Manager Club House Phone 0459 533 583

AWYC taken on the Sunday morning of Sail Country from a remote control helicopter with a go pro camera. (Photo provided by Neil Payn.)