Spiral Class Association of Australia

October 2019 Newsletter

Hi Spiral sailors,

Just a short note to mention the next heat of the Travellers’ Trophy (T.T.), the ACT Championships, are on this weekend, and all the information details and how to access the N.O.R. and how to enter on line is on the Spiral website as is the list of upcoming program of events for our future T.T. events and the Nationals. Take the time to check the dates and lock into your calendar. Where a regatta is listed please note the TT heat will always be the first race in each championship/regatta.

ACT Dinghy Championships 2-3 November and the Manning Point Regatta 16-17 November are great value for money events. The reward for the travelling, in addition to the TT competition, are the four and five races over the two weekends, and the prizes on offer.

CRSC at the Australian Masters Games, Adelaide

It seemed like a long way to go for a sail. But in open water, in a mixed fleet on single-handed in the Australian Masters Games was an opportunity too good to miss. So, the call went out to all dinghy sailors to join Team Spiral in Adelaide.

Nine Spiral sailors entered. Christine Carew, Renee Rawson, David Bennet, Geoff Nash, Graeme Baker, Grahame Tindall, David McClean, Tim Vandervoort and Troy Lewis entered to take on the challenge of nine races over three days in open water. Unfortunately, Grahame pulled out for family reasons and Troy had torn his Achilles heel just before the games.

The main topic of conversation in the lead-up to the Games was how would flat water sailors sail off the Adelaide coast. Ultimately, ignorance was bliss.

Sailors teamed up to transport bodies and boats to Adelaide. Some via the Jervis Bay LWE Regatta. One by plane. Travellers met up along the way for meals and everyone arrived in Adelaide the day before racing. Geoff Nash, David McClean and Grae Baker decided to have a bit of acclimatisation in the prevailing 20 knots.

The first day of racing, dawned with gloomy clouds, a solid wind from the sou-west and white caps for as far as the eye could see. So, it was time to launch in the protection of the break wall and head to the start. Adelaide Sailing Club, the hosts for The Australian Masters Games, set-up a true course with the top about 800m from the start. Spirals, Lasers, Impulses and Liberty’s started together.

The fear of all, was being capsized frequently, by the waves. Remarkably, the flat water sailors handled the 20 knots, with 25 knot gusts, and the 2 meter swell with very few capsizes. Almost all the sailors had only one capsize through the whole series. The high winds allowed us to drive up and down across the waves, keeping the Spirals surprisingly stable. The reaches were a blast for everyone. Even on the runs, the length of the waves in the open water, allowed us to surf down waves and made reasonably controlled gybing possible.

Adelaide Sailing Club set two courses – a triangle course of two laps, and a windward-leeward of two laps. Each day we sailed two races of the triangle course and one of the windward-leeward. The total sailing time each day was about two hours.

So how did we go?

Well, there were 62 entrants with Finns, OK Dinghies, Impulses, Sabres, Lasers, Liberty’s and Spirals with some elite sailors in the Finns, OK’s and Sabres. Across all the classes, the Spiral sailors went very well on day one. Grae Baker was running in tenth place overall. Christine Carew was first in the Ladies division. David Bennet was in fourth place in 70+.

The first race was Heat Two of the Spiral Travellers Trophy. Grae Baker managed to keep up amongst the Lasers and finished first, just ahead of a fast finishing Tim Vandervoort and the rest of the Spiral fleet close behind.

The second day’s start was delayed until the sou-westerly breeze came in and built to about 17 knots during the day. Grae picked the right side of the course in the first race. In the second and third races, David McClean broke away from the fleet and had two clear wins.

The third day started with a gentle but increasing sou-westerly which was capitalised on by Renee and Christine, finishing second and third in the Spirals. There is an excellent photo on the Spiral Facebook of Tim, Christine and Renee at the top mark. Tim and Geoff got into their sailing mojo with good performances. Tim had two good wins. Geoff was flying on the reaches, and was in the lead in the last race, until he was passed just before the final mark by Grae.

Team Spiral was recognised on Presentation Night, for the distance we had travelled, and for looking so good. David Bennet took out bronze in the 70+ division through good, consistent sailing. Christine Carew got silver in the Ladies division, second to an elite sailor. David McClean won bronze in the Spirals division, much to his great delight. Tim Vandervoort took out the silver in the Spirals, and 8th in the 50-59 division. Grae Baker won the gold medal in the Spiral division, and 5th in the 60-69 division. A good day out for Team Spiral.

So, was it worth going a long way for a sail, in unfamiliar conditions, for so much fun…..you bet!

Let's hope we can inspire more sailors to join Team Spiral when we head to our next interstate regatta.

Enjoy the sailing. Bill Jauncey. [email protected]

Find us online • Follow us on social media! The message was sent to [email protected]. If you do not want to receive these emails from Spiral Class Association of Australia in the future, you can unsubscribe.

This is an authorised email sent by Spiral Class Association of Australia using revolutioniseSPORT.

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Spiral Class Association of Australia. Finally, the recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. Spiral Class Association of Australia (and revolutioniseSPORT) accept no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.