On the Water and in the bar.
The stories of the H28's on the Swan River in 2025
The stories of the H28's on the Swan River in 2025
Sunday the 5th of October.
Opening Day from an H28 viewpoint.
Well done Andrew Minto and helm Steve! In fact, to all the H28's that competed.
A chilly day and a spinnaker start with two of the four H28's competing electing to put up a kite and it paid off in spades.
Given that it was a shortish course with a dash up to Deepwater, across to Dolphin West and thence around to Como and around again via Robins and Dolphin East with Como and the outer rounding buoy coming into play midway, it was always going to be a hard task for the little Red Witches, but they sailed the course dutifully and were unfortunately put aside by the quicker boats. Many thanks to Guy Gibson who provided a few pix from the course and of course the important winners smiles at the end of the day.
The photos are of all the boats competing, as the mix was fascinating with the H28's all the way through the fleet, but as the end came along, the H28's were at the front end. Unfortunately we couldn't get Brian to sail today and Dave Locke was flat out as head bosun on the day and had lost Rita who was working as a volunteer on the Centreboards course. No matter, the H28s did well.
The dash for the finish led to a lot of the div one boats crowding the finish line and I'm glad to say that I wasn't in the finish box calling the line. But the camera was working hard. Many thanks to Theo and Ted who took me out on the marshal boat to get some images.
Enjoy the photos
Opening Day from an H28 viewpoint.
Well done Andrew Minto and helm Steve! In fact, to all the H28's that competed.
A chilly day and a spinnaker start with two of the four H28's competing electing to put up a kite and it paid off in spades.
Given that it was a shortish course with a dash up to Deepwater, across to Dolphin West and thence around to Como and around again via Robins and Dolphin East with Como and the outer rounding buoy coming into play midway, it was always going to be a hard task for the little Red Witches, but they sailed the course dutifully and were unfortunately put aside by the quicker boats. Many thanks to Guy Gibson who provided a few pix from the course and of course the important winners smiles at the end of the day.
The photos are of all the boats competing, as the mix was fascinating with the H28's all the way through the fleet, but as the end came along, the H28's were at the front end. Unfortunately we couldn't get Brian to sail today and Dave Locke was flat out as head bosun on the day and had lost Rita who was working as a volunteer on the Centreboards course. No matter, the H28s did well.
The dash for the finish led to a lot of the div one boats crowding the finish line and I'm glad to say that I wasn't in the finish box calling the line. But the camera was working hard. Many thanks to Theo and Ted who took me out on the marshal boat to get some images.
Enjoy the photos
Wednesday Sailing 1st of October
Lockie & Rita are back &
The rustle of new Dacron.
It’s a sign of a new season beginning, when there are half a dozen boats being prepared to go out, Rita is seen on the jetties and Lockie's ute is parked in the jetty four carpark.
We knew it wasn’t far away, as his boat was up on the slips last week being given a new coat of anti-foul while Aloha lingers there still. But the sight of Rita wandering her way down the jetty was enough to make all stop to welcome her back and then ponder the results of the day. Where will we end up?
The rustle of new Dacron? Well, we’ve heard it on Alma now for the last week or two and Brad Sheridan came down to check out the sails for himself. But the surprise for the day was Nerrima and Les and Greg Allen came down with a new sail and did a hoist to see how it fitted. The sail is a Hills Sail.. interesting as we now have at least 3 sail makers represented on our boats.
To the day and a sou westerly of medium strength came in and all fleets were sent away on a Northerly start with a course one. We had half a dozen boats on the go and with the addition of David Locke, there was no way that we were going to be top puppy, far from it.. our competition was going to be Bill on Swiftsure Saga with Mark Wimshurst returning for summer. Alma piloted by Ralph Newton was a definite threat as well.
Where to begin on the line; top middle or bottom? Observations of the other fleets told us that there were gaps in the breeze and getting away quickly would help. So closer to the top with Phil Lammonby on the stick, we aimed at getting the boat to the line on the mark, which we did, but we weren’t at speed. Below us, Lockie was away with a surge and Ralph was sailing really well. A good crew helped. So, to Sampson and Mariner rounded third with the other three Swiftsure Saga, Wynella and Anna close behind. But Lockie and Ralph were already away.
Up to Print with Alma sitting on our face, forcing us to tack away and then try to return in a good enough spot to hold third. Which we did. But again, the front two were increasing their lead, so the battle remained mid pack. Down to Addison and back up to Robins for the long haul. The choice was to run up the centre on a losing breeze or cross the creek to Heathcote and then aim up the sou wester to Robins. We didn’t go deeply into the bay, but the option was there. Still found ourselves outside the mark, getting us to tack back to Robins hoping that we had caught up with the leaders. But no. No improvement.
Down to Addison again with a long poled out run. Gybe a couple of times as we tried to sail the angles, but no improvement noted. Then around and aim at Robins again as the boats assumed a train carriage procession over to Heathcote and then made our various ways up to Robins. We found ourselves under serious attack by Swiftsure Saga on the crosses and eventually they got to us.
So, the next downwind run had us separate from SSS and then make our way inside their transom to ensure we were first around the mark at the bottom. On the way, we had noted that the flags were out and sure enough the radio crackled. Div three and H28s.. shortened up. Well, that made it ok for the Commodore to get a brief shower before presentations.
Over the line in third place, but on handicap a dismal sixth.
Over the line: Corella, Alma and Mariner. (Alma and Corella separated by a minute)
On handicap: Alma, Corella and Wynella (Alma and Corella were separated by 3 seconds)
This was the first day of the spring season.
Lockie & Rita are back &
The rustle of new Dacron.
It’s a sign of a new season beginning, when there are half a dozen boats being prepared to go out, Rita is seen on the jetties and Lockie's ute is parked in the jetty four carpark.
We knew it wasn’t far away, as his boat was up on the slips last week being given a new coat of anti-foul while Aloha lingers there still. But the sight of Rita wandering her way down the jetty was enough to make all stop to welcome her back and then ponder the results of the day. Where will we end up?
The rustle of new Dacron? Well, we’ve heard it on Alma now for the last week or two and Brad Sheridan came down to check out the sails for himself. But the surprise for the day was Nerrima and Les and Greg Allen came down with a new sail and did a hoist to see how it fitted. The sail is a Hills Sail.. interesting as we now have at least 3 sail makers represented on our boats.
To the day and a sou westerly of medium strength came in and all fleets were sent away on a Northerly start with a course one. We had half a dozen boats on the go and with the addition of David Locke, there was no way that we were going to be top puppy, far from it.. our competition was going to be Bill on Swiftsure Saga with Mark Wimshurst returning for summer. Alma piloted by Ralph Newton was a definite threat as well.
Where to begin on the line; top middle or bottom? Observations of the other fleets told us that there were gaps in the breeze and getting away quickly would help. So closer to the top with Phil Lammonby on the stick, we aimed at getting the boat to the line on the mark, which we did, but we weren’t at speed. Below us, Lockie was away with a surge and Ralph was sailing really well. A good crew helped. So, to Sampson and Mariner rounded third with the other three Swiftsure Saga, Wynella and Anna close behind. But Lockie and Ralph were already away.
Up to Print with Alma sitting on our face, forcing us to tack away and then try to return in a good enough spot to hold third. Which we did. But again, the front two were increasing their lead, so the battle remained mid pack. Down to Addison and back up to Robins for the long haul. The choice was to run up the centre on a losing breeze or cross the creek to Heathcote and then aim up the sou wester to Robins. We didn’t go deeply into the bay, but the option was there. Still found ourselves outside the mark, getting us to tack back to Robins hoping that we had caught up with the leaders. But no. No improvement.
Down to Addison again with a long poled out run. Gybe a couple of times as we tried to sail the angles, but no improvement noted. Then around and aim at Robins again as the boats assumed a train carriage procession over to Heathcote and then made our various ways up to Robins. We found ourselves under serious attack by Swiftsure Saga on the crosses and eventually they got to us.
So, the next downwind run had us separate from SSS and then make our way inside their transom to ensure we were first around the mark at the bottom. On the way, we had noted that the flags were out and sure enough the radio crackled. Div three and H28s.. shortened up. Well, that made it ok for the Commodore to get a brief shower before presentations.
Over the line in third place, but on handicap a dismal sixth.
Over the line: Corella, Alma and Mariner. (Alma and Corella separated by a minute)
On handicap: Alma, Corella and Wynella (Alma and Corella were separated by 3 seconds)
This was the first day of the spring season.
Wednesday Sailing 24th of September.
A clean pair of heels &
A shortened course for the last of the winter series.
The beginning of the afternoon and bright sun beating down on us. A good number of boats with five on the water and the promise of Nerrima to join us as she still rests on the slips undergoing her re fit.
A nor wester moving into the west greeted us and the promise was that it might fade away. The RO was for once, predictable and gave us a course two that made our day begin with a run up to Sampson on a fair reach. Alma had new sails on the boat and the crackle of new Dacron announced their presence. Yes, we knew that they were coming, but for some reason I wasn’t allowed to make a comment on it.
Oh, and Ralph had cleaned the bottom of his boat. Alma was going to be quick. Brian was in a bit of bind today, so we rigged the boat in his absence, snagged a spare crew member (Simon) off the jetty and took off with Kate installed in the driving seat. The excuse was that with the new rigging, he wanted to see what changes needed to be made. John Wright had his usual crowd as did Wynella and Bill had co-owner John P on the boat with Eric (the octopus) running around doing everything else.
We missed the start by 20 seconds, but were still 2nd over the line. We did well to get to Sampson with only Bill in front of us and the battle then began on the way up to Hall Mark. When to tack and which side of the river should you be on? We were chasing the lifts and certainly we were jousting with Swiftsure Saga for the lead all the way. When to tack? A good question and on occasion we went deep into a knock to make sure we had a decent angle to come out on. A bit of tit for tat with SSS and we missed him on one side only to get past him on the next. Meanwhile Ralph was steadily improving and it was the challenge to make it to Hall Mark in one tack that had the four leaders battling to get there first. Tack and tack again and finally we got past the mark.
Only to go into the Nedlands side a bit more, then come out on a knock that took us well out the door as we watched John Wright sailing on his own breeze and very nearly causing us grief. But Alma and Ralph had managed to slip past us and was first around Armstrong with Bill behind him and Mariner third. John W was looking for that wind to get onto that would take him past us, but the breeze was dying as it was a long haul down to Como and the mutterings on the radio indicated that they were going to shorten the race. Curiously it was a bad day for the sailors of the club with at least 3 boats or more managing to find the putty. King Canute, Winsome and Cover Drive to mention them.
Down to Como and which side of the river do you want? Never to miss a chance, Brian had us sailing angles down the breeze and we were watching as Swiftsure Saga slipped away from Alma to take a good lead, while we closed up a little on the pair. To no avail as Swiftsure Saga kept her lead and all we could do was to get a little closer to Alma. John Wright on Anna wasn’t that far behind and Wynella had a handicap improving finish.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Alma and Mariner
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Alma and Mariner
The finish of the Winter series.
Congratulations to Swiftsure Saga who took the win from Wynella and Alma third. Our consistency let us down and we had too many DNC’s to make it even a chance.
The Frostbites ended without another comment. Blowing hard and showers as well.
Well sailed to Ernie and Wynella, they did a good job on consistency and managed keep in front of every one else with Bruce Uren's Wildfire taking second with Swiftsure Saga rolling up third.
A clean pair of heels &
A shortened course for the last of the winter series.
The beginning of the afternoon and bright sun beating down on us. A good number of boats with five on the water and the promise of Nerrima to join us as she still rests on the slips undergoing her re fit.
A nor wester moving into the west greeted us and the promise was that it might fade away. The RO was for once, predictable and gave us a course two that made our day begin with a run up to Sampson on a fair reach. Alma had new sails on the boat and the crackle of new Dacron announced their presence. Yes, we knew that they were coming, but for some reason I wasn’t allowed to make a comment on it.
Oh, and Ralph had cleaned the bottom of his boat. Alma was going to be quick. Brian was in a bit of bind today, so we rigged the boat in his absence, snagged a spare crew member (Simon) off the jetty and took off with Kate installed in the driving seat. The excuse was that with the new rigging, he wanted to see what changes needed to be made. John Wright had his usual crowd as did Wynella and Bill had co-owner John P on the boat with Eric (the octopus) running around doing everything else.
We missed the start by 20 seconds, but were still 2nd over the line. We did well to get to Sampson with only Bill in front of us and the battle then began on the way up to Hall Mark. When to tack and which side of the river should you be on? We were chasing the lifts and certainly we were jousting with Swiftsure Saga for the lead all the way. When to tack? A good question and on occasion we went deep into a knock to make sure we had a decent angle to come out on. A bit of tit for tat with SSS and we missed him on one side only to get past him on the next. Meanwhile Ralph was steadily improving and it was the challenge to make it to Hall Mark in one tack that had the four leaders battling to get there first. Tack and tack again and finally we got past the mark.
Only to go into the Nedlands side a bit more, then come out on a knock that took us well out the door as we watched John Wright sailing on his own breeze and very nearly causing us grief. But Alma and Ralph had managed to slip past us and was first around Armstrong with Bill behind him and Mariner third. John W was looking for that wind to get onto that would take him past us, but the breeze was dying as it was a long haul down to Como and the mutterings on the radio indicated that they were going to shorten the race. Curiously it was a bad day for the sailors of the club with at least 3 boats or more managing to find the putty. King Canute, Winsome and Cover Drive to mention them.
Down to Como and which side of the river do you want? Never to miss a chance, Brian had us sailing angles down the breeze and we were watching as Swiftsure Saga slipped away from Alma to take a good lead, while we closed up a little on the pair. To no avail as Swiftsure Saga kept her lead and all we could do was to get a little closer to Alma. John Wright on Anna wasn’t that far behind and Wynella had a handicap improving finish.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Alma and Mariner
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Alma and Mariner
The finish of the Winter series.
Congratulations to Swiftsure Saga who took the win from Wynella and Alma third. Our consistency let us down and we had too many DNC’s to make it even a chance.
The Frostbites ended without another comment. Blowing hard and showers as well.
Well sailed to Ernie and Wynella, they did a good job on consistency and managed keep in front of every one else with Bruce Uren's Wildfire taking second with Swiftsure Saga rolling up third.
Wednesday Sailing 10th of September
It’s been a long time between drinks at the bar.
No Poles required & Well done the handicapper.
A number of the faithful have been turning up and sailing while Mariner has rocked uneasily in her pen. Bereft of a skipper and crew, she languished until finally the 10th of September dawned and the familiar patter of the skipper’s feet on the deck announced to her that she was getting her bottom cleaned.
Finally, the crew assembled; from Vietnam, Rottnest, sick beds and whatever. A slow day to begin and we drifted about on the mouth of the Canning until the sign of the Ukraine like flag announced that we were going south to Martin-Weaver with the sea-breeze filling in on the water. A familiar sight loomed above us as we dashed to the start line and blow me down if Glen and Wynella didn’t take the spot closest to the breeze and run past us as we knocked un mercifully as we approached Martin. No quarter spared either as Swiftsure Saga and Bill came storming up behind us to tell us we were in a tight race no matter what. No guessing that John Wright wasn’t ready to go.. he was waiting, ready to pounce on any mistakes.
To Martin and we all had to tack, but for some reason Wynella went early and deep and simply lost the breeze. It was up to Mariner to keep Bill and Swiftsure off our tails which we did and managed to round first, but Bill had a head of steam up and simply rolled us between Martin and Weaver. Well sailed Swiftsure Saga.
It took a long time to get him back, but good trimming and a clean hull is magic when a little gust just leans on you, the boat heels and the pace picks up. 6.8 knots thanks very much and we managed to get to Sampson in front of them with Glen and John not far away. It was a course 4 and all we had to do was to make sure we stayed in phase and that final dig into the bay around Frenchies had us checking nervously at the water under our keel as the tide was fairly well out. Glen of course, had gone all the way under Heathcote and came out on a nice number that promised well, but Bill was stomping along in the freshets that were coming off the slopes above the bay and managed to keep John Wright behind him as he tacked for the mark as well.
Not without surprise, we were also coping with the leading pack from Div three on this lovely spring day and they were interfering with the back markers of the H28 troupe. Be that as it may, the run to Dolphin East was uneventful and the next leg to Como was surprisingly another reach No pole required. So down to Como and around with the surety that we were doing the next lap.
Around and away again, trying to keep the boat flowing with Bill not that far away and John Wright had successfully managed to get past Glen and was looking dangerous. Once again div three became a nuisance for some with the SS27’s sitting on top of some of our fleets and the little blue boat that Nick drives was chasing the trailer sailor that Mark Landwehr sails so well, getting under foot at every opportunity.
Once again, the choice was to tack early or late for the run to King and we went later and found ourselves over standing the mark. That’s fine. We’ll get there faster. But perhaps precious seconds were lost here. You’ll know why shortly. Down to Print and a gybe with the boat pointing first at Como on a broad reach (still no pole) then a hard reach to Thelma with 7 knots showing up on the speedo. Fun! Along the beach with the tide out and simply waiting for the skipper to call chicken and tack. But we had another boat with a deeper draught than we had in front of us so we went when he did.
The skipper’s call was of sheer delight. We got a John Wright lift up to the finish line and ducked over the line just before two Division one boats came storming through the line calling for rights. We made it.
Over the line: Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Anna
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Wynella and Mariner.
On handicap: SSS by one second to Wynella with Mariner four seconds after Wynella. John still has to shake that handicap down a little.
As to the frostbites..... well the chances are that Wynella under Ernie Little will take the hamper home as they have an unassailable lead if things are abandoned this weekend, but under the current system he will still have to front onto the water if they decide to let Div 3 race this weekend.
For the first time, with the new buildings ensconced on the Applecross foreshore, we were looking for the lifts that you get quite often as the sou wester rolls over the hill. Yes, no, maybe? Probably a bigger breeze would give us a better indication, but there wasn't much to take us up to the mark this day.
It’s been a long time between drinks at the bar.
No Poles required & Well done the handicapper.
A number of the faithful have been turning up and sailing while Mariner has rocked uneasily in her pen. Bereft of a skipper and crew, she languished until finally the 10th of September dawned and the familiar patter of the skipper’s feet on the deck announced to her that she was getting her bottom cleaned.
Finally, the crew assembled; from Vietnam, Rottnest, sick beds and whatever. A slow day to begin and we drifted about on the mouth of the Canning until the sign of the Ukraine like flag announced that we were going south to Martin-Weaver with the sea-breeze filling in on the water. A familiar sight loomed above us as we dashed to the start line and blow me down if Glen and Wynella didn’t take the spot closest to the breeze and run past us as we knocked un mercifully as we approached Martin. No quarter spared either as Swiftsure Saga and Bill came storming up behind us to tell us we were in a tight race no matter what. No guessing that John Wright wasn’t ready to go.. he was waiting, ready to pounce on any mistakes.
To Martin and we all had to tack, but for some reason Wynella went early and deep and simply lost the breeze. It was up to Mariner to keep Bill and Swiftsure off our tails which we did and managed to round first, but Bill had a head of steam up and simply rolled us between Martin and Weaver. Well sailed Swiftsure Saga.
It took a long time to get him back, but good trimming and a clean hull is magic when a little gust just leans on you, the boat heels and the pace picks up. 6.8 knots thanks very much and we managed to get to Sampson in front of them with Glen and John not far away. It was a course 4 and all we had to do was to make sure we stayed in phase and that final dig into the bay around Frenchies had us checking nervously at the water under our keel as the tide was fairly well out. Glen of course, had gone all the way under Heathcote and came out on a nice number that promised well, but Bill was stomping along in the freshets that were coming off the slopes above the bay and managed to keep John Wright behind him as he tacked for the mark as well.
Not without surprise, we were also coping with the leading pack from Div three on this lovely spring day and they were interfering with the back markers of the H28 troupe. Be that as it may, the run to Dolphin East was uneventful and the next leg to Como was surprisingly another reach No pole required. So down to Como and around with the surety that we were doing the next lap.
Around and away again, trying to keep the boat flowing with Bill not that far away and John Wright had successfully managed to get past Glen and was looking dangerous. Once again div three became a nuisance for some with the SS27’s sitting on top of some of our fleets and the little blue boat that Nick drives was chasing the trailer sailor that Mark Landwehr sails so well, getting under foot at every opportunity.
Once again, the choice was to tack early or late for the run to King and we went later and found ourselves over standing the mark. That’s fine. We’ll get there faster. But perhaps precious seconds were lost here. You’ll know why shortly. Down to Print and a gybe with the boat pointing first at Como on a broad reach (still no pole) then a hard reach to Thelma with 7 knots showing up on the speedo. Fun! Along the beach with the tide out and simply waiting for the skipper to call chicken and tack. But we had another boat with a deeper draught than we had in front of us so we went when he did.
The skipper’s call was of sheer delight. We got a John Wright lift up to the finish line and ducked over the line just before two Division one boats came storming through the line calling for rights. We made it.
Over the line: Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Anna
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Wynella and Mariner.
On handicap: SSS by one second to Wynella with Mariner four seconds after Wynella. John still has to shake that handicap down a little.
As to the frostbites..... well the chances are that Wynella under Ernie Little will take the hamper home as they have an unassailable lead if things are abandoned this weekend, but under the current system he will still have to front onto the water if they decide to let Div 3 race this weekend.
For the first time, with the new buildings ensconced on the Applecross foreshore, we were looking for the lifts that you get quite often as the sou wester rolls over the hill. Yes, no, maybe? Probably a bigger breeze would give us a better indication, but there wasn't much to take us up to the mark this day.
Wednesday Sailing 6th of August 2025
A slow day &
Well sailed that man.
A course 4 and a really slow day on the water. Out of the Sou west of course, but only just, with Ernie (Wynella) telling all and sundry that there had been a lot of Westerly out there and the story was to stay in the middle of the river. So why did Wynella go into the bay I wonder? I digress.
The race got under way with 5 boats on the water and a decent start for Mariner for once. But to no avail. We were matching it with Ralph and Alma on the line and unlike the last time we were side by side, this time Alma just drew away and eventually slotted themselves in front of us quietly gassing us. To the point, that Anna and Wynella managed to get an inside overlap and took Sampson before we did. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the rear of the boat.
Eventually we found ourselves as the 4th in line and it was enough to make the skipper tack off as we simply couldn’t get the boat to speed up given what was in front of us. We were slow. However, we continued out in the centre, working our way through the Royal fleet near Foam and watched as Ralph and Alma who had continued further into the nor west worked their way through as well and made what was an excellent move, laying the boat over to aim at Robins.
Anna was already barrelling up the bay, aiming for the mark while Wynella and Swiftsure Saga continued their stately way around near Frenchmans with the lead changing between them as they progressed. Finally, we got to Robins with a bit of luck and we managed to get past a plastic fantastic who had been troubling us on the way. To Dolphin East with the leaders getting away and the next choice of a pole shown to us by Anna who had one out quickly. Again, the plastics got in the road and managed to split Swiftsure and Wynella letting Bill take the lead for a moment.
By Como, Wynella had managed to get past Swiftsure Saga, but the SS27 was lurking in the wings and gave Bill no comfort. There was no comfort at the Start box either.. ‘Go around again’ and surprisingly the skipper asked us if we wanted to continue; “Of course, we said” and away we went on the second lap.
There wasn’t much joy in this one either, with the boat doing well, but slow. The thought lies on the fact that the hull probably needs another scrub, even though we had one less than 6 weeks ago. This was brought home to us as we were heading to the finish line with the sound of Wynella steaming up behind us. We were in danger of being rolled by Glen. There goes our reputation of being a quick boat.
Over the line third, but not the most exciting day.
Over the line: Alma, Anna and Mariner.
On handicap: Alma, Wynella and Anna.
The four week hiatus away from the river while the effects of Efudix came and went has allowed me to recharge a little and the tales of the river will continue for a while.
However, the Frostbites have been a challenge with 3 sailed and 3 blown out.
Hopefully the H28s can continue to do well, but we only have 3 left.
A slow day &
Well sailed that man.
A course 4 and a really slow day on the water. Out of the Sou west of course, but only just, with Ernie (Wynella) telling all and sundry that there had been a lot of Westerly out there and the story was to stay in the middle of the river. So why did Wynella go into the bay I wonder? I digress.
The race got under way with 5 boats on the water and a decent start for Mariner for once. But to no avail. We were matching it with Ralph and Alma on the line and unlike the last time we were side by side, this time Alma just drew away and eventually slotted themselves in front of us quietly gassing us. To the point, that Anna and Wynella managed to get an inside overlap and took Sampson before we did. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the rear of the boat.
Eventually we found ourselves as the 4th in line and it was enough to make the skipper tack off as we simply couldn’t get the boat to speed up given what was in front of us. We were slow. However, we continued out in the centre, working our way through the Royal fleet near Foam and watched as Ralph and Alma who had continued further into the nor west worked their way through as well and made what was an excellent move, laying the boat over to aim at Robins.
Anna was already barrelling up the bay, aiming for the mark while Wynella and Swiftsure Saga continued their stately way around near Frenchmans with the lead changing between them as they progressed. Finally, we got to Robins with a bit of luck and we managed to get past a plastic fantastic who had been troubling us on the way. To Dolphin East with the leaders getting away and the next choice of a pole shown to us by Anna who had one out quickly. Again, the plastics got in the road and managed to split Swiftsure and Wynella letting Bill take the lead for a moment.
By Como, Wynella had managed to get past Swiftsure Saga, but the SS27 was lurking in the wings and gave Bill no comfort. There was no comfort at the Start box either.. ‘Go around again’ and surprisingly the skipper asked us if we wanted to continue; “Of course, we said” and away we went on the second lap.
There wasn’t much joy in this one either, with the boat doing well, but slow. The thought lies on the fact that the hull probably needs another scrub, even though we had one less than 6 weeks ago. This was brought home to us as we were heading to the finish line with the sound of Wynella steaming up behind us. We were in danger of being rolled by Glen. There goes our reputation of being a quick boat.
Over the line third, but not the most exciting day.
Over the line: Alma, Anna and Mariner.
On handicap: Alma, Wynella and Anna.
The four week hiatus away from the river while the effects of Efudix came and went has allowed me to recharge a little and the tales of the river will continue for a while.
However, the Frostbites have been a challenge with 3 sailed and 3 blown out.
Hopefully the H28s can continue to do well, but we only have 3 left.
Wednesday Sailing 9th of July 2025
Sitting on the sunny side of the boat &
A sailmaker goes for a ride on Alma.
It was another light breeze afternoon but at least a breeze had arrived. Out of the west with a hint of south. It promised a course two and sure enough it arrived just in time to confuse the heck out of the Div one fleet start. Half of the fleet were caught flat footed, going right and falling down, while the box end starters found the new breeze and took off toward Sampson. Interesting results at the end of the day.
Div 2 had a problem at the start with three boats out of the fleet that started called OCS, and only two went back.
But the H28’s had other plans and the box end was favoured. Mariner didn’t get the start she wanted with Alma in her duck’s egg blue paint leading the dash. Well done Ralph, but he had Brad Sheridan on board and its only to help him get the best out of his sails they say. Wynella predictably went low to keep the clean air while John Wright (Anna) and Bill on Swiftsure Saga did their best behind us.
Our race improved as we managed to get inside Alma’s transom to have an overlap at Sampson, but a surge of luck or good trimming took us past them and into the lead. Ralph’s no fool, he immediately swung up and tried to come down to us at the mark. However Wynella had been playing their own game and came rolling up from her low position and rounded slightly in front of Ralph effectively dumping bad air on him. Bill was on the other side and he too began creating a sandwich that wasn’t in Alma’s favour. Predictably Ralph tacked off and promptly lost any chance as he was that 100 metres out of sync with the rest of the fleet.
But there was a fair way to go and the breeze was rising a little, giving Bill and Swiftsure Saga a chance and the well-tried team had the boat flowing. John Wright wasn’t letting anyone get in front of him without competition and he managed to put himself in front of Wynella who didn’t have their good luck charm (Guy) on the boat.
Working our way through the Royal Perth fleet we noticed that the breeze was getting colder and when the boat was shaded by the sails it was positively freezing. In fact, some crew members were seen surreptitiously moving around so that they were on the sunny side of the boat. Nothing was said but next week, we are bringing a bottle of red wine or a half of port to warm us up. Further up the course we went with the boat lifting gracefully until we had to tack to get around Inner Dolphin or end up in the predicament that Sue Game found herself in. Stuck in the mud.
Away again and aim the boat at Hallmark watching a pair of RP quickies going deep into the north side to get a good angle at Armstrong as we were going to have to do. So tack after they did and then go barrelling out again. Counting the minutes that it took the next boat (Swiftsure Saga) to make it to Hallmark. May be, just may be.. at least 2 minutes. Try to pick the gap between the other boats flowing around Armstrong, get around and then listen to the noise and confusion as a horde of RP boats descended on the mark. Good luck to anyone in that lot.
Then the long down wind to Como. A pole, not a pole? …. a pole was eventually set and the thought of that red wine surfaced again. Definitely next week. The chatter on the radio alerted us to the fact that they may shorten up the racing and given that the breeze was dropping out it was a good idea. Around Como and then the battle with the fairly heavy outflow from the recent rain. Stick to one side of the current or the other, but the breeze had its own mind and we drifted across the current with perhaps 2.5 knots in forward motion. Just keep the boat in the breeze and then let the trimmers do their thing.
Eventually we crossed the line and looking up, the shortened course flags were fluttering. A hoot from the box and then pack the boat up.
Over the line: Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Alma.
On handicap: Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Alma
Sympathy to the Div 2 sailors who were sent around for the full course. Only three boats made it to the end, with the rest retiring, OCS or DNF’s.
The Frostbite last Sunday was abandoned due to wind and rain. Fair call.
Sitting on the sunny side of the boat &
A sailmaker goes for a ride on Alma.
It was another light breeze afternoon but at least a breeze had arrived. Out of the west with a hint of south. It promised a course two and sure enough it arrived just in time to confuse the heck out of the Div one fleet start. Half of the fleet were caught flat footed, going right and falling down, while the box end starters found the new breeze and took off toward Sampson. Interesting results at the end of the day.
Div 2 had a problem at the start with three boats out of the fleet that started called OCS, and only two went back.
But the H28’s had other plans and the box end was favoured. Mariner didn’t get the start she wanted with Alma in her duck’s egg blue paint leading the dash. Well done Ralph, but he had Brad Sheridan on board and its only to help him get the best out of his sails they say. Wynella predictably went low to keep the clean air while John Wright (Anna) and Bill on Swiftsure Saga did their best behind us.
Our race improved as we managed to get inside Alma’s transom to have an overlap at Sampson, but a surge of luck or good trimming took us past them and into the lead. Ralph’s no fool, he immediately swung up and tried to come down to us at the mark. However Wynella had been playing their own game and came rolling up from her low position and rounded slightly in front of Ralph effectively dumping bad air on him. Bill was on the other side and he too began creating a sandwich that wasn’t in Alma’s favour. Predictably Ralph tacked off and promptly lost any chance as he was that 100 metres out of sync with the rest of the fleet.
But there was a fair way to go and the breeze was rising a little, giving Bill and Swiftsure Saga a chance and the well-tried team had the boat flowing. John Wright wasn’t letting anyone get in front of him without competition and he managed to put himself in front of Wynella who didn’t have their good luck charm (Guy) on the boat.
Working our way through the Royal Perth fleet we noticed that the breeze was getting colder and when the boat was shaded by the sails it was positively freezing. In fact, some crew members were seen surreptitiously moving around so that they were on the sunny side of the boat. Nothing was said but next week, we are bringing a bottle of red wine or a half of port to warm us up. Further up the course we went with the boat lifting gracefully until we had to tack to get around Inner Dolphin or end up in the predicament that Sue Game found herself in. Stuck in the mud.
Away again and aim the boat at Hallmark watching a pair of RP quickies going deep into the north side to get a good angle at Armstrong as we were going to have to do. So tack after they did and then go barrelling out again. Counting the minutes that it took the next boat (Swiftsure Saga) to make it to Hallmark. May be, just may be.. at least 2 minutes. Try to pick the gap between the other boats flowing around Armstrong, get around and then listen to the noise and confusion as a horde of RP boats descended on the mark. Good luck to anyone in that lot.
Then the long down wind to Como. A pole, not a pole? …. a pole was eventually set and the thought of that red wine surfaced again. Definitely next week. The chatter on the radio alerted us to the fact that they may shorten up the racing and given that the breeze was dropping out it was a good idea. Around Como and then the battle with the fairly heavy outflow from the recent rain. Stick to one side of the current or the other, but the breeze had its own mind and we drifted across the current with perhaps 2.5 knots in forward motion. Just keep the boat in the breeze and then let the trimmers do their thing.
Eventually we crossed the line and looking up, the shortened course flags were fluttering. A hoot from the box and then pack the boat up.
Over the line: Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Alma.
On handicap: Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Alma
Sympathy to the Div 2 sailors who were sent around for the full course. Only three boats made it to the end, with the rest retiring, OCS or DNF’s.
The Frostbite last Sunday was abandoned due to wind and rain. Fair call.
Wednesday Sailing 25th of June 25
Ruffles on the water &
A bad start with a good finish.
Half a dozen H28’s gathered on the water with possibly 5 knots out of the Nor-west and it was fluctuating prior to the start. However, the starters got lucky and sent us away on a course 3 on something resembling a breeze that switched as we hit the line. As it was a northerly, we all knew that we would be working our way up to Sampson, but we kept an eye on the Div one/two boats as they progressed up to the mark.
But we suffered a loss of breeze as we approached the start and had to cross the line in 4th or 5th place. Not an auspicious beginning. Then of course the choice had to be made, go left, go right. Nothing on the freeway and little hints out on the right. But tacking with 1.5 knots on the speedo was going to be a killer, so we hung on and began to climb out of the shadow of the fleet, moving forward in the lineup. Ralph Newton had played the wild card and had gone to the Nor West and picked up a little ruffle on the water that took him to Sampson ahead of all of us. We had second spot by now and not surprisingly, the master of light breezes John Wright was on our tail with all three remainder (Swiftsure Saga, Wynella and The First Jindarra) forming a tight group behind him.
We were in a fine position to make King and then watched as Alma drew away. Crickey, how do we catch them? Ralph took Alma all the way past Applecross Jetty and then some. And yes, he was deep. We though that the obvious result would be a bump stop as he slid onto the mud under the old Hotel Majestic site. But they made it and crossed in front of us to Robins. Then the run to Print began and it was trimming, no more or less, than got us past him. We went for an overlap for the next mark that turned into a lead. From then, away to Foam with the bit in our teeth.
Rinse and repeat, Robins -Print and then to Como with a pole to give Kate something to do as well as run the main. By then we knew that they had shortened up so the aim was to get to the line first. Behind us the fleet had settled down with Bill on Swiftsure Saga wondering why he had spent the money on cleaning the boats hull. Oh well, that’s life and of course Phil on the Jin having discovered that the jib he was using was the smaller one had up graded to the larger jib. Still didn’t help. And I think Wynella was regretting loaning Andy to help John Wright who was down a man. Anna was doing a fine job with him on board.
Unfortunately the results are still not up, so the finishing order cannot be discussed.
Over the line: Mariner, Alma and Anna
On handicap: Alma, xxxxxx, Mariner
By the way: Bill has finally splashed out and bought a new cover for the boat and by gosh, it’s a beauty. Long skirts and heavy rope trim with the access panel where it should be. At the cockpit.
As for Sunday and the frostbite. Reading courses is a prime requirement and while Mariner did a fine job and got to the lead, they forgot to include Print in their travels and by the time they found out, they had travelled way too far and retired in disgust. On reflection they reckoned they could have gone back and unwound the mistake. Perhaps the thought of a glass of red wine on a wet day was enough to get them to pack up and head for the bar. Ernie on Wynella was delighted and thanked them for letting him take the lead.
Ruffles on the water &
A bad start with a good finish.
Half a dozen H28’s gathered on the water with possibly 5 knots out of the Nor-west and it was fluctuating prior to the start. However, the starters got lucky and sent us away on a course 3 on something resembling a breeze that switched as we hit the line. As it was a northerly, we all knew that we would be working our way up to Sampson, but we kept an eye on the Div one/two boats as they progressed up to the mark.
But we suffered a loss of breeze as we approached the start and had to cross the line in 4th or 5th place. Not an auspicious beginning. Then of course the choice had to be made, go left, go right. Nothing on the freeway and little hints out on the right. But tacking with 1.5 knots on the speedo was going to be a killer, so we hung on and began to climb out of the shadow of the fleet, moving forward in the lineup. Ralph Newton had played the wild card and had gone to the Nor West and picked up a little ruffle on the water that took him to Sampson ahead of all of us. We had second spot by now and not surprisingly, the master of light breezes John Wright was on our tail with all three remainder (Swiftsure Saga, Wynella and The First Jindarra) forming a tight group behind him.
We were in a fine position to make King and then watched as Alma drew away. Crickey, how do we catch them? Ralph took Alma all the way past Applecross Jetty and then some. And yes, he was deep. We though that the obvious result would be a bump stop as he slid onto the mud under the old Hotel Majestic site. But they made it and crossed in front of us to Robins. Then the run to Print began and it was trimming, no more or less, than got us past him. We went for an overlap for the next mark that turned into a lead. From then, away to Foam with the bit in our teeth.
Rinse and repeat, Robins -Print and then to Como with a pole to give Kate something to do as well as run the main. By then we knew that they had shortened up so the aim was to get to the line first. Behind us the fleet had settled down with Bill on Swiftsure Saga wondering why he had spent the money on cleaning the boats hull. Oh well, that’s life and of course Phil on the Jin having discovered that the jib he was using was the smaller one had up graded to the larger jib. Still didn’t help. And I think Wynella was regretting loaning Andy to help John Wright who was down a man. Anna was doing a fine job with him on board.
Unfortunately the results are still not up, so the finishing order cannot be discussed.
Over the line: Mariner, Alma and Anna
On handicap: Alma, xxxxxx, Mariner
By the way: Bill has finally splashed out and bought a new cover for the boat and by gosh, it’s a beauty. Long skirts and heavy rope trim with the access panel where it should be. At the cockpit.
As for Sunday and the frostbite. Reading courses is a prime requirement and while Mariner did a fine job and got to the lead, they forgot to include Print in their travels and by the time they found out, they had travelled way too far and retired in disgust. On reflection they reckoned they could have gone back and unwound the mistake. Perhaps the thought of a glass of red wine on a wet day was enough to get them to pack up and head for the bar. Ernie on Wynella was delighted and thanked them for letting him take the lead.
Wednesday Sailing The 11th of June 2025
Sailing on a whisper &
Reflections.
You would have to be just unlucky to sail at this time of the year. Cancelling races because it’s blowing its backside off or the starters hold their breath and send you out to race on a dying nor easter that turned into a sou wester of 2 knots. Not a good day and the river looked like glass.
But we had had our hull cleaned that morning and there was a chance. The start was interesting as we had all the rights on the box end pin and another boat decided to fit in between us and the pin. There wasn’t the room. And the other helm actually pushed our boat down off our course. Politeness be jumbled.
However we managed to get past the other boat and once past him, we were clear to run for the next mark with a train of yachts on our tail. As a matter of fact, Anna, helmed by John Wright did a very good job of rolling over the yacht, slowing him down further and then the plastic fleet did the rest. They too were sailing on a whisper and making it around Sampson, they had caught up with the back end of the fleet.
Swiftsure Saga with two of her owners on board was doing well and Ernie with Wynella was working hard to make headway with the dying breeze as was the First Jindarra who had slowed right down. Probably needs a good bottom scrub, but that’s the helm's concern.
Half way to Sampson. The breeze was non existent, but we still progressed and even the sight of a jelly fish going past us slowly, from stem to stern was enough to encourage. .8 of a knot but the sails still held their shape. The skipper called for a beer and we settled in for some nibbles on the boat and a bevvy. Fine. Soon enough, three horns from the start box sounded the death knell for the race but we elected to continue for a while to finish the guacamole and the olives. Then turned the boat around and rolled up our sails to have the boat tidy before we hit the pens. The rest of the fleet had done so a little earlier so we had the privilege of being last boat packed and away.
No results (that’s two weeks worth)
Sunday Frostbite. A southerly of 3 knots. Thanks to Guy who took a few pictures.
After the last frostbite when Ernie took the cake, it was still good sailing for all, though again very slow indeed. Wynella took a 2nd on handicap with Brian Cross third across the line but given 4th on handicap. Alma took a 6th and 6th with Bill on Swiftsure Saga retiring and Aloha as a DNF. (they had big problems at Sampson apparently) But to Aloha’s day on the water.. they weren’t the only ones who had a bad day. 2 DNF’s in div 1,3 DNF’s in div 2 & 1 ret, div 3 - 2 Ret and 1 DNF.
Wednesday in the first picture show and Sunday Frostbite in the second one, courtesy of Guy.
Sailing on a whisper &
Reflections.
You would have to be just unlucky to sail at this time of the year. Cancelling races because it’s blowing its backside off or the starters hold their breath and send you out to race on a dying nor easter that turned into a sou wester of 2 knots. Not a good day and the river looked like glass.
But we had had our hull cleaned that morning and there was a chance. The start was interesting as we had all the rights on the box end pin and another boat decided to fit in between us and the pin. There wasn’t the room. And the other helm actually pushed our boat down off our course. Politeness be jumbled.
However we managed to get past the other boat and once past him, we were clear to run for the next mark with a train of yachts on our tail. As a matter of fact, Anna, helmed by John Wright did a very good job of rolling over the yacht, slowing him down further and then the plastic fleet did the rest. They too were sailing on a whisper and making it around Sampson, they had caught up with the back end of the fleet.
Swiftsure Saga with two of her owners on board was doing well and Ernie with Wynella was working hard to make headway with the dying breeze as was the First Jindarra who had slowed right down. Probably needs a good bottom scrub, but that’s the helm's concern.
Half way to Sampson. The breeze was non existent, but we still progressed and even the sight of a jelly fish going past us slowly, from stem to stern was enough to encourage. .8 of a knot but the sails still held their shape. The skipper called for a beer and we settled in for some nibbles on the boat and a bevvy. Fine. Soon enough, three horns from the start box sounded the death knell for the race but we elected to continue for a while to finish the guacamole and the olives. Then turned the boat around and rolled up our sails to have the boat tidy before we hit the pens. The rest of the fleet had done so a little earlier so we had the privilege of being last boat packed and away.
No results (that’s two weeks worth)
Sunday Frostbite. A southerly of 3 knots. Thanks to Guy who took a few pictures.
After the last frostbite when Ernie took the cake, it was still good sailing for all, though again very slow indeed. Wynella took a 2nd on handicap with Brian Cross third across the line but given 4th on handicap. Alma took a 6th and 6th with Bill on Swiftsure Saga retiring and Aloha as a DNF. (they had big problems at Sampson apparently) But to Aloha’s day on the water.. they weren’t the only ones who had a bad day. 2 DNF’s in div 1,3 DNF’s in div 2 & 1 ret, div 3 - 2 Ret and 1 DNF.
Wednesday in the first picture show and Sunday Frostbite in the second one, courtesy of Guy.
I will comment that the images below have not been photoshopped or edited in any manner and may benefit from the same.
Wednesday Sailing 21st of May 2025
A touch of the Master &
Rinse and repeat (another soft day)
The Seabreeze came in on order. A really soft wafting sort of a thing that never got above 7 knots with a steady 5 knots available. The starter acknowledged this and sent all the fleets away on a course four. Joining the fleet today Alma took to the water and with a new paint job (think duck’s egg blue) and a very different green on the deck, it was a very handsome boat indeed. Anna came out with John in fine form today, Wynella and Swiftsure Saga joined in with Mariner to make up the fleet for the day.
It was about the start today and Anna started from way back, but as can be expected it didn’t take him long to catch up and actually roll over Wynella and Swiftsure Saga who had managed to mask us with their sails on the way to Sampson. Alma had taken a lower line and was still very much in the hunt at Sampson where the fleet bunched up before spreading out again.
Alma went hard left and Anna, Wynella and Swiftsure Saga chose to go right for a while. Given that there was no future in following them, we tacked off and gave ourselves some room before continuing up the middle where there was a continuous supply of pressure. Before long, the rest of the fleet was over near Heathcote and Waylen Bay with the clear thought of bouncing in and taking the lift out. But not all the fleet, as Anna was keeping a loose cover on us and came out to taste the pressure we were enjoying.
Mariner had found one huge long leg that pointed us right at Robins and our biggest task was fighting off the boredom. We’d successfully negotiated the RP fleet and so long as the breeze remained constant, our aim was to get there with as few tacks as possible. John and Anna were still in the lead, but to our delight we managed to get past the rest of the fleet and found ourselves chasing John Wright. Wonderful, but with a seriously dirty bottom, we were limited in our ability to get that last .2 of a knot.
The fleet behind us was sorting themselves out with Alma getting a serious check at Robins from Tembeya who came in on starboard giving Ralph no chance, behind him both Swiftsure Saga and Wynella had their chances. The next leg was to Dolphin East and we had a moment with a Royal Perth boat who was having a bad hair day and tried to take us up, despite the Commodores flag sitting on the hoist. We had his measure and well said to our main trimmer who reminded him of his heritage. (and promptly apologised to the skipper for having done so)
As we made our way down to Como, the radio squawked; “Shortened course for Div 3 and H28s.” No chance of catching Anna now. He’s on his way home. Nothings for free though and the back of the fleet was catching up with us with the duck shell blue Alma closing on us and the blue boat Hellas had decided to shadow us. That turned out fine as somehow, he pooched the gybe and began to slow down. Happy with that.
Around Como and head for the line with the boat’s speed rising to a heady 4 knots. Well done to John and his crew, a well-earned win of first and fastest.
Over the line: Anna, Mariner and Alma
On handicap: Anna, Alma and Mariner
A touch of the Master &
Rinse and repeat (another soft day)
The Seabreeze came in on order. A really soft wafting sort of a thing that never got above 7 knots with a steady 5 knots available. The starter acknowledged this and sent all the fleets away on a course four. Joining the fleet today Alma took to the water and with a new paint job (think duck’s egg blue) and a very different green on the deck, it was a very handsome boat indeed. Anna came out with John in fine form today, Wynella and Swiftsure Saga joined in with Mariner to make up the fleet for the day.
It was about the start today and Anna started from way back, but as can be expected it didn’t take him long to catch up and actually roll over Wynella and Swiftsure Saga who had managed to mask us with their sails on the way to Sampson. Alma had taken a lower line and was still very much in the hunt at Sampson where the fleet bunched up before spreading out again.
Alma went hard left and Anna, Wynella and Swiftsure Saga chose to go right for a while. Given that there was no future in following them, we tacked off and gave ourselves some room before continuing up the middle where there was a continuous supply of pressure. Before long, the rest of the fleet was over near Heathcote and Waylen Bay with the clear thought of bouncing in and taking the lift out. But not all the fleet, as Anna was keeping a loose cover on us and came out to taste the pressure we were enjoying.
Mariner had found one huge long leg that pointed us right at Robins and our biggest task was fighting off the boredom. We’d successfully negotiated the RP fleet and so long as the breeze remained constant, our aim was to get there with as few tacks as possible. John and Anna were still in the lead, but to our delight we managed to get past the rest of the fleet and found ourselves chasing John Wright. Wonderful, but with a seriously dirty bottom, we were limited in our ability to get that last .2 of a knot.
The fleet behind us was sorting themselves out with Alma getting a serious check at Robins from Tembeya who came in on starboard giving Ralph no chance, behind him both Swiftsure Saga and Wynella had their chances. The next leg was to Dolphin East and we had a moment with a Royal Perth boat who was having a bad hair day and tried to take us up, despite the Commodores flag sitting on the hoist. We had his measure and well said to our main trimmer who reminded him of his heritage. (and promptly apologised to the skipper for having done so)
As we made our way down to Como, the radio squawked; “Shortened course for Div 3 and H28s.” No chance of catching Anna now. He’s on his way home. Nothings for free though and the back of the fleet was catching up with us with the duck shell blue Alma closing on us and the blue boat Hellas had decided to shadow us. That turned out fine as somehow, he pooched the gybe and began to slow down. Happy with that.
Around Como and head for the line with the boat’s speed rising to a heady 4 knots. Well done to John and his crew, a well-earned win of first and fastest.
Over the line: Anna, Mariner and Alma
On handicap: Anna, Alma and Mariner
Wednesday Sailing the 14th of May 2025
Smoke on the Water &
Wynella goes the other way.
The Starters were right. A Course 4 with a very light easterly drifting across the river, in fact there were moments where we didn’t know what was available to us. The first thought was to keep the boat near to the line in case of a drop out and then to see where the wind was going to be when we made that dash to Sampson. The hills were shrouded with smoke from the burn off's happening at this time of the year.
The First Jindarra with Phil at the helm, made it onto the start line with a sparkling set of sailors including the presence of Geoff who has been off the water for a while. Glen was at the helm of Wynella and he was full of cunning today. Bill had taken Craig on board as he had made his way down expecting a ride on Anna, but John W has had a couple of skin lesions taken off his face and wasn’t going to sail today. As for Corella, well Rita is on her way to Fiji and David is enjoying a winters break. We had the company of Vic Court who came down to the club today along with his son David to have lunch, I presume.
A steady start had Mariner doing well but the run to Sampson was a little dodgy with the breeze switching between the beam and a pole with Kate eventually hand poling out the jib to get us to Sampson, before we gybed and watched Swiftsure Saga move past us. Bother, a chase began to develop. However, Phil and Glen weren’t going to hold back and they kept a close watch on us as we progressed toward Robins.
There was a clown in a power boat on the water and while we couldn’t tell exactly where he came from, there was a chance that the boat was from SoPYC. He roared past us on the way to Robins and the fleet cursed as the wake set us rocking and rolling. But he hadn’t finished with us. He turned around a little beyond Robins and then came rocketing back setting the fleet bobbing once again. Hoon is the word you could use.
The river grew still and the crackle of the radio expressed the starters desire to know what was happening from the helm of the safety boat. We sailed on whispers and gasps of the easterly and the crew aboard our boat kept imagining the advent of a seabreeze down the river. Phil on the Jin had his crew up on the foredeck to keep the boats transom out of the water. Maybe it worked, maybe it didn’t. But the fleet had closed up, as had the fleet from div three. The smoke that was up in the hills was starting to roll down on the Easterly and within half an hour, the river was flooded with a haze of smoke. Not thick, but definitely there.
Around Robins and then to Dolphin East with both fleets in a melee that had us all cursing with the resultant actions at the mark getting us to tack away fairly quickly as there was too much interference from the placky boats. But Glen made his move. He slipped away to the north a little and then worked his way up the river towards Sampson. We were dealing with our own problems and the surrounding div three fleet made plenty of them for us. Along the way, the message came out on the radio. A shortened course.
We were ahead of the other two H28s, but our eyes were now riveted on Wynella. The jammy buggers had kept their boat flowing and she was approaching that point where they could tack and stay in the breeze from the freeway. A winning proposition. Sure enough, they tacked at Sampson then took off to the finish line. They crossed in front of us and we finally made it to Como and rounded it to go to the line as well.
Knock and knock again. Much muffled cursing and despite a really big attempt to lift the boat above Heathcote dolphin, we had to double tack. Ah well.
Complete that and then head off to the line again where the Canning knock held sway. We made it, but poor Swiftsure Saga had to tack again before the line. A real handicap improver.
Over the line: Wynella, Mariner and Swiftsure Saga
On handicap: Wynella, Mariner and Swiftsure Saga
Alma is up on the slips having her hull worked on, with Ralph belting around on his crutch while his hip heals. She’s in a fair condition and its only a matter of time that we have Ralph to contend with as well.
I’ve combined Guys photos in with the general run of pix and many thanks for his contribution.
Smoke on the Water &
Wynella goes the other way.
The Starters were right. A Course 4 with a very light easterly drifting across the river, in fact there were moments where we didn’t know what was available to us. The first thought was to keep the boat near to the line in case of a drop out and then to see where the wind was going to be when we made that dash to Sampson. The hills were shrouded with smoke from the burn off's happening at this time of the year.
The First Jindarra with Phil at the helm, made it onto the start line with a sparkling set of sailors including the presence of Geoff who has been off the water for a while. Glen was at the helm of Wynella and he was full of cunning today. Bill had taken Craig on board as he had made his way down expecting a ride on Anna, but John W has had a couple of skin lesions taken off his face and wasn’t going to sail today. As for Corella, well Rita is on her way to Fiji and David is enjoying a winters break. We had the company of Vic Court who came down to the club today along with his son David to have lunch, I presume.
A steady start had Mariner doing well but the run to Sampson was a little dodgy with the breeze switching between the beam and a pole with Kate eventually hand poling out the jib to get us to Sampson, before we gybed and watched Swiftsure Saga move past us. Bother, a chase began to develop. However, Phil and Glen weren’t going to hold back and they kept a close watch on us as we progressed toward Robins.
There was a clown in a power boat on the water and while we couldn’t tell exactly where he came from, there was a chance that the boat was from SoPYC. He roared past us on the way to Robins and the fleet cursed as the wake set us rocking and rolling. But he hadn’t finished with us. He turned around a little beyond Robins and then came rocketing back setting the fleet bobbing once again. Hoon is the word you could use.
The river grew still and the crackle of the radio expressed the starters desire to know what was happening from the helm of the safety boat. We sailed on whispers and gasps of the easterly and the crew aboard our boat kept imagining the advent of a seabreeze down the river. Phil on the Jin had his crew up on the foredeck to keep the boats transom out of the water. Maybe it worked, maybe it didn’t. But the fleet had closed up, as had the fleet from div three. The smoke that was up in the hills was starting to roll down on the Easterly and within half an hour, the river was flooded with a haze of smoke. Not thick, but definitely there.
Around Robins and then to Dolphin East with both fleets in a melee that had us all cursing with the resultant actions at the mark getting us to tack away fairly quickly as there was too much interference from the placky boats. But Glen made his move. He slipped away to the north a little and then worked his way up the river towards Sampson. We were dealing with our own problems and the surrounding div three fleet made plenty of them for us. Along the way, the message came out on the radio. A shortened course.
We were ahead of the other two H28s, but our eyes were now riveted on Wynella. The jammy buggers had kept their boat flowing and she was approaching that point where they could tack and stay in the breeze from the freeway. A winning proposition. Sure enough, they tacked at Sampson then took off to the finish line. They crossed in front of us and we finally made it to Como and rounded it to go to the line as well.
Knock and knock again. Much muffled cursing and despite a really big attempt to lift the boat above Heathcote dolphin, we had to double tack. Ah well.
Complete that and then head off to the line again where the Canning knock held sway. We made it, but poor Swiftsure Saga had to tack again before the line. A real handicap improver.
Over the line: Wynella, Mariner and Swiftsure Saga
On handicap: Wynella, Mariner and Swiftsure Saga
Alma is up on the slips having her hull worked on, with Ralph belting around on his crutch while his hip heals. She’s in a fair condition and its only a matter of time that we have Ralph to contend with as well.
I’ve combined Guys photos in with the general run of pix and many thanks for his contribution.
Wednesday Sailing 7th of May 2025
A long way up the breeze &
Winter’s here and the Rita bird is flying to warmer climes.
No doubt about it. Winter is about to hit us and the redoubtable Rita is about to head off to Fiji to spend time on a yacht as she has been doing for the last few years. It also means that David goes in to hibernation for winter, not a bad idea really, but it gives both he and the boat a break from each other. Sail well Rita, enjoy the island life.
As for the resident osprey that has been seen on top of the Cowden’s boat Ballina, he’s been seen munching on his fish recently and today was no exception, but horrors….. he dropped it into the water and then spent the next 10 to 15 minutes trying to get it back. It’s no mean feat, trying to land in a pen covered with mooring lines and the like, even if it was empty at the time. According to Phil Lammonby, he eventually he got his feed back but learned a valuable lesson. Dropping your lunch can be annoying.
Four H28s today with Anna up on the slips for a new propeller and a re-paint with Phil still looking for a crew for the Jindarra. Where are these people? However, ever the optimist, Ernie grabbed him to helm Wynella and away he went. A course 2 was on offer with a light easterly that was to play the devil during the day.
We started towards the city and Lockie went low and fast while the rest of us had to work to get past each other. Good trimming got us to second, but unfortunately deafness intervened and no one could hear the skippers call of 3 boat lengths clear at the mark. The other two boats got through, as he swung wide to avoid a collision and it made the day interesting as we had to chase them down the river to Hall Mark. Again, trimming was imperative with a poled-out jib and a constantly changing breeze.
Eventually with Corella well away in the lead, the three following boats were contesting the broad reach up to Armstrong. For some reason, we managed to get inside Swiftsure Saga and slip past them. But we still had Wynella with Phil on the stick. Nothings easy in an easterly. Down to Como on that long set of tacks that would take us there. Swiftsure Saga tacked off early, with Mariner putting a very loose cover on them. In the meantime, both Wynella and Corella progressed over to the south over toward Applecross. The run down to Como was always going to be a knocking process, so going back again was part of the deal.
Swiftsure Saga made it across a couple of times and then fell foul of a couple of SP boats running up the breeze. That pushed them further behind us and we had to dip the two boats rather than find a gap. Didn’t hurt all that much. At about this time, the crackle of the radio told us that it was a shortened course. Fine….. Como and home.
But Wynella still lay between us and Corella and it was the vagaries of the easterly that delivered. With memories of Phils urgings to “go a little bit further”, we went deep under Heathcote and tacked on a direct line to Como. Wynella hadn’t covered us properly and by the time they looked up, we were barrelling past them with the firm intention of getting around Como first. Second over the line, not too shabby a day.
Over the line: Corella, Mariner and Wynella.
On handicap: Corella, Wynella and Mariner.
A comment at results did make the point that when you have swapped in a new helm on the boat, you need to advise the OWG as sometimes the new helm has a better (or worse) handicap than the one nominated.
Thanks to Guy, who was very active with his camera today and I have another bunch of photos to include. I’m a little puzzled about the family who Guy had wandering around the Hill early on the day, but we were happy to adopt them for the day and thanks to Ralph Newton of Alma, who took them down to the start line and discussed what was happening. Get better Ralph.
The first lot of photos are mine, Guy's are next.
A long way up the breeze &
Winter’s here and the Rita bird is flying to warmer climes.
No doubt about it. Winter is about to hit us and the redoubtable Rita is about to head off to Fiji to spend time on a yacht as she has been doing for the last few years. It also means that David goes in to hibernation for winter, not a bad idea really, but it gives both he and the boat a break from each other. Sail well Rita, enjoy the island life.
As for the resident osprey that has been seen on top of the Cowden’s boat Ballina, he’s been seen munching on his fish recently and today was no exception, but horrors….. he dropped it into the water and then spent the next 10 to 15 minutes trying to get it back. It’s no mean feat, trying to land in a pen covered with mooring lines and the like, even if it was empty at the time. According to Phil Lammonby, he eventually he got his feed back but learned a valuable lesson. Dropping your lunch can be annoying.
Four H28s today with Anna up on the slips for a new propeller and a re-paint with Phil still looking for a crew for the Jindarra. Where are these people? However, ever the optimist, Ernie grabbed him to helm Wynella and away he went. A course 2 was on offer with a light easterly that was to play the devil during the day.
We started towards the city and Lockie went low and fast while the rest of us had to work to get past each other. Good trimming got us to second, but unfortunately deafness intervened and no one could hear the skippers call of 3 boat lengths clear at the mark. The other two boats got through, as he swung wide to avoid a collision and it made the day interesting as we had to chase them down the river to Hall Mark. Again, trimming was imperative with a poled-out jib and a constantly changing breeze.
Eventually with Corella well away in the lead, the three following boats were contesting the broad reach up to Armstrong. For some reason, we managed to get inside Swiftsure Saga and slip past them. But we still had Wynella with Phil on the stick. Nothings easy in an easterly. Down to Como on that long set of tacks that would take us there. Swiftsure Saga tacked off early, with Mariner putting a very loose cover on them. In the meantime, both Wynella and Corella progressed over to the south over toward Applecross. The run down to Como was always going to be a knocking process, so going back again was part of the deal.
Swiftsure Saga made it across a couple of times and then fell foul of a couple of SP boats running up the breeze. That pushed them further behind us and we had to dip the two boats rather than find a gap. Didn’t hurt all that much. At about this time, the crackle of the radio told us that it was a shortened course. Fine….. Como and home.
But Wynella still lay between us and Corella and it was the vagaries of the easterly that delivered. With memories of Phils urgings to “go a little bit further”, we went deep under Heathcote and tacked on a direct line to Como. Wynella hadn’t covered us properly and by the time they looked up, we were barrelling past them with the firm intention of getting around Como first. Second over the line, not too shabby a day.
Over the line: Corella, Mariner and Wynella.
On handicap: Corella, Wynella and Mariner.
A comment at results did make the point that when you have swapped in a new helm on the boat, you need to advise the OWG as sometimes the new helm has a better (or worse) handicap than the one nominated.
Thanks to Guy, who was very active with his camera today and I have another bunch of photos to include. I’m a little puzzled about the family who Guy had wandering around the Hill early on the day, but we were happy to adopt them for the day and thanks to Ralph Newton of Alma, who took them down to the start line and discussed what was happening. Get better Ralph.
The first lot of photos are mine, Guy's are next.
This is a video passed on to me by a person who was on a boat beside Nerrima when a black sports boat came through on the mark. No blame is appointed and its up to you the viewer, to make your own mind up.
Who is in the right?
All for the sake of 10 seconds.
The H28 is approaching the mark on starboard at about 2 knots and is probably within three boat lengths. The other boat is on port and travelling at between 7 to 8 knots and is probably outside the three boat length zone. As the boats progress toward the mark, the H28 skipper claims his rights, the helm on the other boat claims he had rights.
At 6 seconds into the video, the mark they are both going for, comes into view.
At 9 seconds the H28 helm begins to move his boat away from the mark as its clear that the larger boat is going to force their way through.
At 11 seconds someone shouts that they have an inside overlap.
At 13 seconds the black boat has their nose in front.
At 14 seconds the first thump can be heard as the port side of the black boats hull hits the H28 and then another clash at 16-17 seconds as the black hull hits the boat again, forcing the H28 over to port.
At 17 seconds the word Commodore can be heard.
18 seconds onward there is a serious discussion between the two boats culminating in a suggestion of a protest. But interestingly, no protest flag was flown by either boat during the length of the video.
The third boat, another H28, just happened to be in the right place at the right time as an observer.
All for the sake of 10 seconds.
The H28 is approaching the mark on starboard at about 2 knots and is probably within three boat lengths. The other boat is on port and travelling at between 7 to 8 knots and is probably outside the three boat length zone. As the boats progress toward the mark, the H28 skipper claims his rights, the helm on the other boat claims he had rights.
At 6 seconds into the video, the mark they are both going for, comes into view.
At 9 seconds the H28 helm begins to move his boat away from the mark as its clear that the larger boat is going to force their way through.
At 11 seconds someone shouts that they have an inside overlap.
At 13 seconds the black boat has their nose in front.
At 14 seconds the first thump can be heard as the port side of the black boats hull hits the H28 and then another clash at 16-17 seconds as the black hull hits the boat again, forcing the H28 over to port.
At 17 seconds the word Commodore can be heard.
18 seconds onward there is a serious discussion between the two boats culminating in a suggestion of a protest. But interestingly, no protest flag was flown by either boat during the length of the video.
The third boat, another H28, just happened to be in the right place at the right time as an observer.
Wednesday Sailing 30th of April 2025
A Crystal Ball was required &
Pack up and go home.
Everyone needed luck today. Ranging from the starters to the competitors and sometimes the breeze itself.
The starters were looking at a maybe when they set the courses and that maybe was the arrival of a seabreeze. So, with an ambitious call, they sent all the fleets away on a course one after a brief AP called that had us lingering. A freshet of something out of the north was enough to get the racing under way and the argument was raging. The freeway or down the middle. Crystal ball time.
With five in the fleet, Phil Lammonby joined David and Rita as he was a little short of crew for the day and they only had two. Down to the start line and we were wondering whether we would make the line in time, but it didn’t matter as everyone was behind us anyway. We turned at the outer start line and took off in a ghost breeze, straight at Sampson. Correla, Swiftsure Saga, Anna and Wynella all turned right to the freeway.
By Heathcote Dolphin, the skipper was convinced; we were sailing on a nothing but the best indicator was Cover Drive, a hundred meters in front of us. Lifting slightly and on the same ghost breeze. So long as he was doing ok, we’d stay out in the middle. By this time, the freeway riders had grouped up and were sorting out their precedence. John Wright was doing fine and showing his skills in light airs, but he had to pull back Bill on Swiftsure Saga who had leapt to the fore.
Sampson loomed and it was a case of where the breeze was, as we followed Olive Marie up toward Print. Eventually we had to tack over and they were just far enough ahead to let us slip through them and make our way down to Addison. The following fleet were almost neck to neck apart from Corella who was battling to catch up with the other three as he hadn’t recovered from the start.
Then the long haul began as we got around Addison. All the way to Robins with the RP fleet wandering around on the water, as equally befuddled as everyone else. There was nothing on offer and we watched as the speed on the GPS inexorably dropped from 2.5 to 2.3 to 2 knots and further south. We had a beer to wet the skippers throat and continued on. 1600 hrs came and went and the crystal ball was brought out again. The radio chatter had the starters looking up and down the river using Waylen Bay as a pair of eyes and the major indicator was when the yachts began to radio in, retiring from the racing.
Corella retired early (and we learned that they only had enough beer for one each) and the skipper hung on till the inevitable crackle on the radio announced that racing was abandoned for the day. Drop the heady, start the motor, roll the main and stow it with the boat being packed away as we travelled home. Put the cover on and have another beer while we chatted to the rest of the fleet.
There were no results and the mid year AGM was to happen that night. Nothing of great interest was indicated.
As to the Combined Keelboat Division Commodores Trophy on Saturday 26th of April.
26 boats sailed with 4 H28s in the game. Bill Richards did well to keep himself at the front of the H28 pack, though the handicappers did a fine job of keeping us in the middle of the overall fleet. Swiftsure Saga 14th, Wynella 18th, Mariner 19th and Aloha 25th. Thanks to Guy Gibson for the photos (the second lot of photo's)
By the way, it was lovely to see Drew (Andrew Minto's son) joining the fleet for a sail. Hope he can continue to do so.
A Crystal Ball was required &
Pack up and go home.
Everyone needed luck today. Ranging from the starters to the competitors and sometimes the breeze itself.
The starters were looking at a maybe when they set the courses and that maybe was the arrival of a seabreeze. So, with an ambitious call, they sent all the fleets away on a course one after a brief AP called that had us lingering. A freshet of something out of the north was enough to get the racing under way and the argument was raging. The freeway or down the middle. Crystal ball time.
With five in the fleet, Phil Lammonby joined David and Rita as he was a little short of crew for the day and they only had two. Down to the start line and we were wondering whether we would make the line in time, but it didn’t matter as everyone was behind us anyway. We turned at the outer start line and took off in a ghost breeze, straight at Sampson. Correla, Swiftsure Saga, Anna and Wynella all turned right to the freeway.
By Heathcote Dolphin, the skipper was convinced; we were sailing on a nothing but the best indicator was Cover Drive, a hundred meters in front of us. Lifting slightly and on the same ghost breeze. So long as he was doing ok, we’d stay out in the middle. By this time, the freeway riders had grouped up and were sorting out their precedence. John Wright was doing fine and showing his skills in light airs, but he had to pull back Bill on Swiftsure Saga who had leapt to the fore.
Sampson loomed and it was a case of where the breeze was, as we followed Olive Marie up toward Print. Eventually we had to tack over and they were just far enough ahead to let us slip through them and make our way down to Addison. The following fleet were almost neck to neck apart from Corella who was battling to catch up with the other three as he hadn’t recovered from the start.
Then the long haul began as we got around Addison. All the way to Robins with the RP fleet wandering around on the water, as equally befuddled as everyone else. There was nothing on offer and we watched as the speed on the GPS inexorably dropped from 2.5 to 2.3 to 2 knots and further south. We had a beer to wet the skippers throat and continued on. 1600 hrs came and went and the crystal ball was brought out again. The radio chatter had the starters looking up and down the river using Waylen Bay as a pair of eyes and the major indicator was when the yachts began to radio in, retiring from the racing.
Corella retired early (and we learned that they only had enough beer for one each) and the skipper hung on till the inevitable crackle on the radio announced that racing was abandoned for the day. Drop the heady, start the motor, roll the main and stow it with the boat being packed away as we travelled home. Put the cover on and have another beer while we chatted to the rest of the fleet.
There were no results and the mid year AGM was to happen that night. Nothing of great interest was indicated.
As to the Combined Keelboat Division Commodores Trophy on Saturday 26th of April.
26 boats sailed with 4 H28s in the game. Bill Richards did well to keep himself at the front of the H28 pack, though the handicappers did a fine job of keeping us in the middle of the overall fleet. Swiftsure Saga 14th, Wynella 18th, Mariner 19th and Aloha 25th. Thanks to Guy Gibson for the photos (the second lot of photo's)
By the way, it was lovely to see Drew (Andrew Minto's son) joining the fleet for a sail. Hope he can continue to do so.
Wednesday Sailing 23rd of April 2025
Phil's still got the knack &
Hit the mark – should have gone home there and then.
A grumpy day with the PFD flag hung out early in the piece. It was a sou wester sort of day but the gusts had us guessing as to what we wanted on the front. Both Wynella and Mariner went for one and halves, the rest went out with number ones.
Phil Lammonby has been working on the First Jindarra for the last few weeks, redoing frames, fixing bilge pumps and generally getting the boat into good shape. He even found the Perspex we cut for Len a few months ago. Today was show time and he had a couple of ringers with him on the day. Otherwise, Mariner, Corella, Wynella and Swiftsure Saga were players.
A northerly start had Mariner hit the mark well and higher than most, giving them the chance to aim right at Sampson on a course one. We were able to drop bad air on to those below us, as did Swiftsure Saga who was doing it to Lockie on Corella. Phil meanwhile had taken a low line and was free of the fun and games above him.
Around Sampson and off to Print, Wynella and The Jin tacked off early with the hope of coming back on a better angle. No they didn’t, but it wasn’t a bad try. Around at Print and no one set a pole, with the breeze far enough in the west to let us run without it. All the way to Addison and then the work back up to Robins with Corella and Swiftsure on our marks. Pleasant sailing and the boat was running well, all considered with Kate doing the main and doubling on the foredeck as well. It kept her busy on the downward to Addison.
Some smart work had the foredeck clear and we set for the gybe, knowing we had to shut the door with Corella and Swiftsure Saga on our tail. We hit the mark. Well, the skipper said so, and 90 seconds of madness ensued as we spun around and had to avoid a very large Cole 32 who was looming at us. We missed him as well, but only to see Dave and Bill disappearing into the distance and Phil’s grin as he discovered he had a new play friend nearby.
Up to Robins again where we had to avoid a Foundo who wedged themselves into the column of H28’s and gassed us off the line with a double tack required to make the mark. It was no laughing matter as Phil had the Jin going like a train, even though she was pouring water out at a rate of knots. He’s still got the knack and with a bit of fine tuning as she sailed, they were doing well. We managed to stay in front to Como and then headed for the outer-start line, pretty much resigned to the idea of another lap. Bill and David weren’t that far away and we might catch them.. may be?
To Sampson and go out for a while, probably over standing the mark by a lot. Phil tacked early and lifted all the way to King and rounded the mark in front of us. Much cursing and gnashing of teeth was heard at the back of the boat.
“Where’s Wynella, how far away are they”, was the question in our minds as if they rolled us, we should have gone home when we hit the mark. Down to Print in a hurry and then away to Thelma via Como with the skipper playing ducks and drakes with Phil on the Jin, swerving the boat all over the place to stop us from getting an inside overlap. He did well! No overlap.
Harden up at Thelma and aim at the line, no one was making it, so we took a punt and tacked away to make a better angle. Phil got there first.
Over the line: Corella, Swiftsure Saga and The First Jindarra.
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Corella and The First Jindarra.
Mariner came home last by one second on handicap.
As you may have noticed, I’ve been away for a while, but on the 12th of April the last H28 Championships were sailed with no less than 6 boats starting and Phil Lammonby drove Mariner to a win on the day, just letting David Locke know that the old brigade is back.
Over the line: Mariner, Corella and Wynella
On handicap: Wynella, Aloha and Mariner.
Well done to Andrew Minto who took Aloha to the Saturday consistency win this year and to David Locke who took out the H28 club Championships.
Phil's still got the knack &
Hit the mark – should have gone home there and then.
A grumpy day with the PFD flag hung out early in the piece. It was a sou wester sort of day but the gusts had us guessing as to what we wanted on the front. Both Wynella and Mariner went for one and halves, the rest went out with number ones.
Phil Lammonby has been working on the First Jindarra for the last few weeks, redoing frames, fixing bilge pumps and generally getting the boat into good shape. He even found the Perspex we cut for Len a few months ago. Today was show time and he had a couple of ringers with him on the day. Otherwise, Mariner, Corella, Wynella and Swiftsure Saga were players.
A northerly start had Mariner hit the mark well and higher than most, giving them the chance to aim right at Sampson on a course one. We were able to drop bad air on to those below us, as did Swiftsure Saga who was doing it to Lockie on Corella. Phil meanwhile had taken a low line and was free of the fun and games above him.
Around Sampson and off to Print, Wynella and The Jin tacked off early with the hope of coming back on a better angle. No they didn’t, but it wasn’t a bad try. Around at Print and no one set a pole, with the breeze far enough in the west to let us run without it. All the way to Addison and then the work back up to Robins with Corella and Swiftsure on our marks. Pleasant sailing and the boat was running well, all considered with Kate doing the main and doubling on the foredeck as well. It kept her busy on the downward to Addison.
Some smart work had the foredeck clear and we set for the gybe, knowing we had to shut the door with Corella and Swiftsure Saga on our tail. We hit the mark. Well, the skipper said so, and 90 seconds of madness ensued as we spun around and had to avoid a very large Cole 32 who was looming at us. We missed him as well, but only to see Dave and Bill disappearing into the distance and Phil’s grin as he discovered he had a new play friend nearby.
Up to Robins again where we had to avoid a Foundo who wedged themselves into the column of H28’s and gassed us off the line with a double tack required to make the mark. It was no laughing matter as Phil had the Jin going like a train, even though she was pouring water out at a rate of knots. He’s still got the knack and with a bit of fine tuning as she sailed, they were doing well. We managed to stay in front to Como and then headed for the outer-start line, pretty much resigned to the idea of another lap. Bill and David weren’t that far away and we might catch them.. may be?
To Sampson and go out for a while, probably over standing the mark by a lot. Phil tacked early and lifted all the way to King and rounded the mark in front of us. Much cursing and gnashing of teeth was heard at the back of the boat.
“Where’s Wynella, how far away are they”, was the question in our minds as if they rolled us, we should have gone home when we hit the mark. Down to Print in a hurry and then away to Thelma via Como with the skipper playing ducks and drakes with Phil on the Jin, swerving the boat all over the place to stop us from getting an inside overlap. He did well! No overlap.
Harden up at Thelma and aim at the line, no one was making it, so we took a punt and tacked away to make a better angle. Phil got there first.
Over the line: Corella, Swiftsure Saga and The First Jindarra.
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Corella and The First Jindarra.
Mariner came home last by one second on handicap.
As you may have noticed, I’ve been away for a while, but on the 12th of April the last H28 Championships were sailed with no less than 6 boats starting and Phil Lammonby drove Mariner to a win on the day, just letting David Locke know that the old brigade is back.
Over the line: Mariner, Corella and Wynella
On handicap: Wynella, Aloha and Mariner.
Well done to Andrew Minto who took Aloha to the Saturday consistency win this year and to David Locke who took out the H28 club Championships.
Wednesday Sailing 2nd of April 2025
A cracker of a start. &
I thought you said Thelma.
You don’t often get to watch Kate sail a brilliant race as we did today, it was that or David Locke fell asleep at the helm (highly unlikely).
But on Wynella, I was part of a brilliant start as Ernie Little rolled across the line on time and highest boat on the line. In fact, we were so close that Ernie on hearing the starters horn, though he heard it twice and was about to return. But a glimpse at the starters box, told us we were good.. no flag. So away we went.
It was a knock down drag race to Sampson on a course three with an easterly pushing through. Hard work on anyone’s call, but good trimming and a bit of confidence had the boat humming and while Corella predictably got away well and was first to the mark, much to Ernie’s pleasure we were second with a chance to get back to King in preparation for the run to Robins. Mariner with Kate on the helm, did a fine job and managed to slip past us, but that left three boats on our tail, none of which could be ignored.
So with Anna, Swiftsure Saga and Nerrima following, we watched as Kate then began to take David Locke on. All the way to Robins with a pole, then not a pole then perhaps a pole. Arrrgggh. Stow the pole and get ready to swing around Robins before the pair behind us and then watch Mariner get past Corella as the easterlies swung relentlessly. Sometimes you had it, sometimes you didn’t and Kate took advantage of the variations, then continued to build on it.
At the same time, we had two boats on our tail and it was great racing between the three of us. Ernie managed to keep them at bay for the two rounds of Robins and Print and even on the run down to the outer start line, we held our own. The Royal Fleet and the S80’s were playing on the water around us and unfortunately, we had to duck them as well and that probably cost us a few meters.
Mariner was well away by now and Corella could only chase them. Kate was going for a well-deserved first and fastest and with a world champion, Lillo (Graeme Lillingston) trimming for her, she was doing fine. Around the outer start line and head back to Sampson again.. no worries. Just try and keep the pair behind us out of reach. But somewhere along the line between Sampson and King, Anna found a gust that took them past us. Damn……. Just when we were doing fine. However, we held our own and then made it down to Addison and geared up for the run to Como and the outer start line.
We seemed to be drifting higher that everyone else and the question was raised as to where we were going. “Oh, we’ve got to go to Thelma” was the reply. The crew revolted and told the helm where to go, politely of course.
But Swiftsure Saga had slipped through. Oh, the shame of it !!! Ah well, that’s that, but we had had a good race and some fascinating tussles along the way.
Over the line: Mariner, Corella and Anna
On handicap: Mariner, Corella and Anna
Saturday racing. A course four and a light sou wester.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Wynella and Aloha
On handicap: Wynella, Aloha and Swiftsure Saga
It’s getting close to the wire now and Aloha has put in the hard yards.. well-done Andrew.
A cracker of a start. &
I thought you said Thelma.
You don’t often get to watch Kate sail a brilliant race as we did today, it was that or David Locke fell asleep at the helm (highly unlikely).
But on Wynella, I was part of a brilliant start as Ernie Little rolled across the line on time and highest boat on the line. In fact, we were so close that Ernie on hearing the starters horn, though he heard it twice and was about to return. But a glimpse at the starters box, told us we were good.. no flag. So away we went.
It was a knock down drag race to Sampson on a course three with an easterly pushing through. Hard work on anyone’s call, but good trimming and a bit of confidence had the boat humming and while Corella predictably got away well and was first to the mark, much to Ernie’s pleasure we were second with a chance to get back to King in preparation for the run to Robins. Mariner with Kate on the helm, did a fine job and managed to slip past us, but that left three boats on our tail, none of which could be ignored.
So with Anna, Swiftsure Saga and Nerrima following, we watched as Kate then began to take David Locke on. All the way to Robins with a pole, then not a pole then perhaps a pole. Arrrgggh. Stow the pole and get ready to swing around Robins before the pair behind us and then watch Mariner get past Corella as the easterlies swung relentlessly. Sometimes you had it, sometimes you didn’t and Kate took advantage of the variations, then continued to build on it.
At the same time, we had two boats on our tail and it was great racing between the three of us. Ernie managed to keep them at bay for the two rounds of Robins and Print and even on the run down to the outer start line, we held our own. The Royal Fleet and the S80’s were playing on the water around us and unfortunately, we had to duck them as well and that probably cost us a few meters.
Mariner was well away by now and Corella could only chase them. Kate was going for a well-deserved first and fastest and with a world champion, Lillo (Graeme Lillingston) trimming for her, she was doing fine. Around the outer start line and head back to Sampson again.. no worries. Just try and keep the pair behind us out of reach. But somewhere along the line between Sampson and King, Anna found a gust that took them past us. Damn……. Just when we were doing fine. However, we held our own and then made it down to Addison and geared up for the run to Como and the outer start line.
We seemed to be drifting higher that everyone else and the question was raised as to where we were going. “Oh, we’ve got to go to Thelma” was the reply. The crew revolted and told the helm where to go, politely of course.
But Swiftsure Saga had slipped through. Oh, the shame of it !!! Ah well, that’s that, but we had had a good race and some fascinating tussles along the way.
Over the line: Mariner, Corella and Anna
On handicap: Mariner, Corella and Anna
Saturday racing. A course four and a light sou wester.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Wynella and Aloha
On handicap: Wynella, Aloha and Swiftsure Saga
It’s getting close to the wire now and Aloha has put in the hard yards.. well-done Andrew.
Wednesday Sailing 26th of March 2025
A view from the back &
An end to the summer season
Back on the water again and sailing with Nerrima on invitation from Mark Wimhurst her skipper while Les Brooker recovers. Kate has taken Mariner to task and stacked the boat with girlfriends and even had hubby Phil on the main renamed to Philomena (well that’s what the Vice called him). The presence of the old fox John Wright was a pleasant surprise with the heat being a concern for all. Wynella sailed with their usual crew and Andy was noted for an extremely husky voice.. get better Andy. Swiftsure Saga lent Corella one of their crew Graeme, to take a new man on board and give him a run.
A nor easter in evidence and perhaps a seabreeze later on. All was well and the usual manoeuvring for the line began with a course one on offer. Sod it… the work up and down to Print and Addison was going to be a stinker with the slightly dodgy breeze we had. As can be expected Corella got away well and the sight of Kate driving Mariner on the other side of the fleet with the invigorated Wynella on her transom had me looking around.. Where were we after the start?
Umm, last.
No matter, keeping in the mix was the thing and despite no radio or GPS we were determined to make it count. After all, we had the redoubtable Geoff on the boat and he’s a legend in tactics isn’t he? So away we went and our rounding at Sampson was positive. Up to Print with a pole, stow it before Print and round the mark hoping to do alright on the work to Addison. Damn it Wynella and Anna went way out to the left while Swiftsure Saga was following Corella and Mariner on a tacking work up to Addison.
We met up with Swiftsure and Anna at the mark and it was quite interesting for a moment as we hustled past the pair momentarily as they negotiated the mark. But as we found out, a faster boat will just slip away and on the trip up to Robins, we saw the fleet begin to diminish in the distance. Lockie and Kate were in their own zones and Wynella and Swiftsure Saga were in a separate battle. We were following Anna.
Up to Robins, around and down to Addison again, the nor easter fluctuating all the time, a puff here and a lull there. It wasn’t easy to deal with and Mark had Geoff sitting on the main, calling the breezes from up top.
We saw Corella momentarily as they headed back up to Robins again and Kate was still there with Lindy Norris and Amanda Watson decorating the boat far better than our motley crew would ever do. Though Lindy was complaining furiously about the heat when she arrived, she could make the winch do what she wanted to.
The betting was on that they would shorten up the race and we started to hunt for the best line for the run to Como and again Geoff ground out the obvious. Keep close to the breeze. But the breeze was changing and as we made our way down to Como, swirls on the water indicated that the sea breeze was trying to make its way in. Ahead of us, Lockie was already crossing the line with Kate on his tail.. but he was well ahead. As for Wynella and Swiftsure Saga, they were at it all the way with Bill on Swiftsure Saga slipping over the line 7 seconds ahead of Ernie. And John on Anna was less than half a minute behind them. Seven minutes later we slipped over the line, congratulating ourselves to have completed the race in one piece.
Over the line: Corella, Mariner and Swiftsure Saga
On handicap: Corella, Mariner and Wynella.
The end of the Summer season.
Congrats to Swiftsure Saga who took the win on a count back from Corella (four firsts to three firsts) with Anna proving that they could and would do well. The rest of the fleet suffered a little. Wynella broken rudder, Mariner (its hard to be a skipper and a commodore) Nerrima (buggered starter motor). The Jin.. leaky boat, Alma .. in the process of restoration. Aloha – needs a helm.
Saturday Sailing:
Aloha still holds the lead in consistency and if she can keep on sailing should take the season. Swiftsure Saga is doing well, though another retirement would make them very chancy.
The Championships:
In Corella’s hands, only Swiftsure Saga could cause them grief and it’s only if David blinks.
A view from the back &
An end to the summer season
Back on the water again and sailing with Nerrima on invitation from Mark Wimhurst her skipper while Les Brooker recovers. Kate has taken Mariner to task and stacked the boat with girlfriends and even had hubby Phil on the main renamed to Philomena (well that’s what the Vice called him). The presence of the old fox John Wright was a pleasant surprise with the heat being a concern for all. Wynella sailed with their usual crew and Andy was noted for an extremely husky voice.. get better Andy. Swiftsure Saga lent Corella one of their crew Graeme, to take a new man on board and give him a run.
A nor easter in evidence and perhaps a seabreeze later on. All was well and the usual manoeuvring for the line began with a course one on offer. Sod it… the work up and down to Print and Addison was going to be a stinker with the slightly dodgy breeze we had. As can be expected Corella got away well and the sight of Kate driving Mariner on the other side of the fleet with the invigorated Wynella on her transom had me looking around.. Where were we after the start?
Umm, last.
No matter, keeping in the mix was the thing and despite no radio or GPS we were determined to make it count. After all, we had the redoubtable Geoff on the boat and he’s a legend in tactics isn’t he? So away we went and our rounding at Sampson was positive. Up to Print with a pole, stow it before Print and round the mark hoping to do alright on the work to Addison. Damn it Wynella and Anna went way out to the left while Swiftsure Saga was following Corella and Mariner on a tacking work up to Addison.
We met up with Swiftsure and Anna at the mark and it was quite interesting for a moment as we hustled past the pair momentarily as they negotiated the mark. But as we found out, a faster boat will just slip away and on the trip up to Robins, we saw the fleet begin to diminish in the distance. Lockie and Kate were in their own zones and Wynella and Swiftsure Saga were in a separate battle. We were following Anna.
Up to Robins, around and down to Addison again, the nor easter fluctuating all the time, a puff here and a lull there. It wasn’t easy to deal with and Mark had Geoff sitting on the main, calling the breezes from up top.
We saw Corella momentarily as they headed back up to Robins again and Kate was still there with Lindy Norris and Amanda Watson decorating the boat far better than our motley crew would ever do. Though Lindy was complaining furiously about the heat when she arrived, she could make the winch do what she wanted to.
The betting was on that they would shorten up the race and we started to hunt for the best line for the run to Como and again Geoff ground out the obvious. Keep close to the breeze. But the breeze was changing and as we made our way down to Como, swirls on the water indicated that the sea breeze was trying to make its way in. Ahead of us, Lockie was already crossing the line with Kate on his tail.. but he was well ahead. As for Wynella and Swiftsure Saga, they were at it all the way with Bill on Swiftsure Saga slipping over the line 7 seconds ahead of Ernie. And John on Anna was less than half a minute behind them. Seven minutes later we slipped over the line, congratulating ourselves to have completed the race in one piece.
Over the line: Corella, Mariner and Swiftsure Saga
On handicap: Corella, Mariner and Wynella.
The end of the Summer season.
Congrats to Swiftsure Saga who took the win on a count back from Corella (four firsts to three firsts) with Anna proving that they could and would do well. The rest of the fleet suffered a little. Wynella broken rudder, Mariner (its hard to be a skipper and a commodore) Nerrima (buggered starter motor). The Jin.. leaky boat, Alma .. in the process of restoration. Aloha – needs a helm.
Saturday Sailing:
Aloha still holds the lead in consistency and if she can keep on sailing should take the season. Swiftsure Saga is doing well, though another retirement would make them very chancy.
The Championships:
In Corella’s hands, only Swiftsure Saga could cause them grief and it’s only if David blinks.
Wednesday Sailing 12th of March 2025
From the side lines &
An offer.
On a very soft westerly three boats slipped out out onto the water while the fourth, (Nerrima, of which I was part) lay at the jetty with her RH winch in pieces on the seat. Begging didn't get me a ride so I wandered over to the start box and watched Wynella with her brand new rudder and a slick hull charge over the line in third place. Mind you, no-one was quick and Rita driving Corella did well to make the line as did Bill on Swiftsure Saga, But as they disappeared down to Sampson on a course two it was clear that they were going to shorten up the race.
There is a boat up on the hardstand, who may not be there on Friday. I cant make any comments at this stage but when I have it confirmed I'll know for certain. But from what I've heard, its a bloody pity.
The results will speak for themselves, but I'd like to thank Guy Gibson for the photos of the work on Wynella on Monday when they put the rudder on.
Results are in. As thought, it was shortened.
Over the line: Corella, Wynella and Swiftsure Saga
On handicap: Wynella, Corella and Swiftsure Saga
As to the boat up on the hard.
Koomela has been written off. It was a hard call by owner Mark Walters but under advice from shipwrights. it was deemed to be "too bloody hard to fix". So he has very generously sold the mast to the H28 Association for an undisclosed sum and the H28s will have a spare mast for when the inevitable happens. See Ernie for details. However, the H28s would like to thank Mark for his kindness and wish him well in the future.
From the side lines &
An offer.
On a very soft westerly three boats slipped out out onto the water while the fourth, (Nerrima, of which I was part) lay at the jetty with her RH winch in pieces on the seat. Begging didn't get me a ride so I wandered over to the start box and watched Wynella with her brand new rudder and a slick hull charge over the line in third place. Mind you, no-one was quick and Rita driving Corella did well to make the line as did Bill on Swiftsure Saga, But as they disappeared down to Sampson on a course two it was clear that they were going to shorten up the race.
There is a boat up on the hardstand, who may not be there on Friday. I cant make any comments at this stage but when I have it confirmed I'll know for certain. But from what I've heard, its a bloody pity.
The results will speak for themselves, but I'd like to thank Guy Gibson for the photos of the work on Wynella on Monday when they put the rudder on.
Results are in. As thought, it was shortened.
Over the line: Corella, Wynella and Swiftsure Saga
On handicap: Wynella, Corella and Swiftsure Saga
As to the boat up on the hard.
Koomela has been written off. It was a hard call by owner Mark Walters but under advice from shipwrights. it was deemed to be "too bloody hard to fix". So he has very generously sold the mast to the H28 Association for an undisclosed sum and the H28s will have a spare mast for when the inevitable happens. See Ernie for details. However, the H28s would like to thank Mark for his kindness and wish him well in the future.
Wednesday Sailing 19th of February 2025
A heavily over subscribed crew list. &
A farewell to Len for the moment.
A number of people down at the Geographe Bay race week, on holidays, going into surgery or just plain busy.
There were three boats on the water today, instead of the usual half a dozen and thank goodness John Wright came down, otherwise it would have been two boats on the water.
The seats on Herreshoff Hill were full, with spare crew (of which I was one) hanging about. Aubrey (the new fella), Mark the pom, both Phil and Kate and the welcome sight of Craig Balmer, back from surgery (and yes it has been a while) Nerrima wasn’t going out with the engine playing up, (where’s Geoff the electrician when you need him?) Mariner isn’t going out, with the skipper busy being a commodore and of course Wynella is still waiting for a rudder.
A soft start with a light sea breeze that built during the day, a course one and the need for a good start. Well Corella got one and that was it. Swiftsure Saga was next, but we had the old fox in pursuit and Anna wouldn’t slow down for anyone. It wasn’t long before Anna was challenging us and by the time we had got to the top at Robins, it was neck to neck. Then of course the down wind to Addison where we picked up a little with a good rounding to boot but he got past us on the second leg to Robins and again we were staring at his boat’s transom. Quite disappointing and of course a slug had come out of the main sail and this was blamed for the poor performance on the day.
So we sailed along, bemoaning the speed of the boat and the choice of sails on the day. Then the unexpected happened. Aubrey was on the foredeck along with Guy and it was a learning experience for him. Make sure you were on the right side of the sheets and get ready to hug the mast on a gybe or a tack. A tack and he was on the wrong side of the jib (and sheets) I was busily bringing the jib and the unexpected reluctance of the sheet to come in had me look up and I waited till Aubrey found his way back inside the jib with a salutary lesson learned.
On we went and the RO decided to give us the full length of the race. So around we went again. The small lap gave us a chance to look at the afternoon and the boat was reviewed as to her performance. A change of sails was thought necessary and the order to pack the jib when we had made it to the pens was given.
Over the line, second last boat on the river and we quietly packed the boat away, while Anna and Corella congratulated each other.
Over the line and on handicap: Corella, Anna and Swiftsure Saga
Saturday’s Sailing. 15th of February
Encouraged by a light days breeze, the fleet managed to get five boats out for the photographer/writer Nick. They received a course 3 which meant a slight variation to the pounding seabreeze course and Jim Spittle managed to get his boat’s hull wet for the first time in a long time. However, she had to retire… the boat wasn’t wet enough it seems. John Wright took Anna out and took first over the line, but wasn’t recognised as he hadn’t registered to race on a Saturday. A pity as he did well. Glen Stanley took Alma out with Ralph’s blessing to make up the fleet.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Aloha and Alma.
On handicap: Aloha, Swiftsure Saga and Alma.
A farewell for the moment:
Len Randell was feted when he joined the fleet at the start of the season on the First Jindarra, however he has made the decision to cease sailing her. The story is, he may return to Division one, but this is a case of wait and see for this nearly 99 year old. At his age and venerability, it’s his choice.
A heavily over subscribed crew list. &
A farewell to Len for the moment.
A number of people down at the Geographe Bay race week, on holidays, going into surgery or just plain busy.
There were three boats on the water today, instead of the usual half a dozen and thank goodness John Wright came down, otherwise it would have been two boats on the water.
The seats on Herreshoff Hill were full, with spare crew (of which I was one) hanging about. Aubrey (the new fella), Mark the pom, both Phil and Kate and the welcome sight of Craig Balmer, back from surgery (and yes it has been a while) Nerrima wasn’t going out with the engine playing up, (where’s Geoff the electrician when you need him?) Mariner isn’t going out, with the skipper busy being a commodore and of course Wynella is still waiting for a rudder.
A soft start with a light sea breeze that built during the day, a course one and the need for a good start. Well Corella got one and that was it. Swiftsure Saga was next, but we had the old fox in pursuit and Anna wouldn’t slow down for anyone. It wasn’t long before Anna was challenging us and by the time we had got to the top at Robins, it was neck to neck. Then of course the down wind to Addison where we picked up a little with a good rounding to boot but he got past us on the second leg to Robins and again we were staring at his boat’s transom. Quite disappointing and of course a slug had come out of the main sail and this was blamed for the poor performance on the day.
So we sailed along, bemoaning the speed of the boat and the choice of sails on the day. Then the unexpected happened. Aubrey was on the foredeck along with Guy and it was a learning experience for him. Make sure you were on the right side of the sheets and get ready to hug the mast on a gybe or a tack. A tack and he was on the wrong side of the jib (and sheets) I was busily bringing the jib and the unexpected reluctance of the sheet to come in had me look up and I waited till Aubrey found his way back inside the jib with a salutary lesson learned.
On we went and the RO decided to give us the full length of the race. So around we went again. The small lap gave us a chance to look at the afternoon and the boat was reviewed as to her performance. A change of sails was thought necessary and the order to pack the jib when we had made it to the pens was given.
Over the line, second last boat on the river and we quietly packed the boat away, while Anna and Corella congratulated each other.
Over the line and on handicap: Corella, Anna and Swiftsure Saga
Saturday’s Sailing. 15th of February
Encouraged by a light days breeze, the fleet managed to get five boats out for the photographer/writer Nick. They received a course 3 which meant a slight variation to the pounding seabreeze course and Jim Spittle managed to get his boat’s hull wet for the first time in a long time. However, she had to retire… the boat wasn’t wet enough it seems. John Wright took Anna out and took first over the line, but wasn’t recognised as he hadn’t registered to race on a Saturday. A pity as he did well. Glen Stanley took Alma out with Ralph’s blessing to make up the fleet.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Aloha and Alma.
On handicap: Aloha, Swiftsure Saga and Alma.
A farewell for the moment:
Len Randell was feted when he joined the fleet at the start of the season on the First Jindarra, however he has made the decision to cease sailing her. The story is, he may return to Division one, but this is a case of wait and see for this nearly 99 year old. At his age and venerability, it’s his choice.
Wednesday Sailing 12th of February 2025
Sailing with Len on a fair sou wester &
Short and wet.
Our chairman Ernie had been exhorting everyone to be on the water today to make the fleet look good. Unfortunately, both the elements and other circumstances came into play.
We lost three boats without a blink with Nerrima, Mariner and Corella not even making it out and of course Ralph and Lynne are in New Zealand so Alma didn’t get a run. Four boats made it out and three boats finished the race with The First Jindarra bowing out, having taken up a fair amount of water.
A heavy sou wester had the choice of headsail as a number two a no-brainer. We were 5 up with Amanda in a support role for anyone who needed it. The start was clean enough and we got away on the run up to Martin-Weaver in third place with the boat doing well enough. We made the mark comfortably and the crew acted in concert to get the boat moving quickly.
Ahead of us, John Wright had Anna behaving, and he mentioned afterwards that the boat had swallowed far less water than last week. The planks had taken up nicely. Swiftsure Saga on the other hand was going like a rocket ship with Guy on the foredeck, having jumped from Nerrima as they had signalled that they weren’t going out. Up to Sampson and then away to Print with a very wet tack on the cards as the chop at the top of the river looking more like Margaret River’s Main Break. Aloha was faring well with Glen driving the boat and Ernie, the owner Andrew and Ralph making up the crew. On the First Jindarra, the spray was coming over the top big time and despite the efforts of the crew on the bilge pump, the water in the cabin was building.
Len was driving the boat higher than most, we had more speed and height than Anna and effectively held her out till we were ready to tack and to make Print, around and away with a pole out to starboard which was dropped early to ensure that there were no problems at the mark. Then across the river aiming at Heathcote where a decision was made. The boat was taking too much water and the pump wasn’t getting rid of it. Retire!
A quick call to Race Control and they were informed that we were taking on water and that all bodies were well. Our retirement was accepted and we made it back to the pens, dropping sails as we went. We later discovered that the limber holes in the frames were blocked.
Behind us the other three boats raced on and yes, we might have continued, but the pump defeated us. Swiftsure Saga did very well and Anna, even though they slowed to take on board the visiting photographer – journalist from England, still finished second over the line. Well done to Aloha who worked hard through the race and kept up with the other two.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Anna and Aloha.
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Aloha and Anna.
There were number of retirements across the fleet, with most divisions losing at least one boat.
Saturday Racing: 8th of February 2025
A very light sou wester on a course four.
Three boats: Swiftsure Saga, Nerrima and Aloha.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Aloha and Nerrima
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Aloha and Nerrima
It needs be explained that Nerrima came into contact with a boat from another clubs fleet that caused them some grief. The incident is under review.
Sailing with Len on a fair sou wester &
Short and wet.
Our chairman Ernie had been exhorting everyone to be on the water today to make the fleet look good. Unfortunately, both the elements and other circumstances came into play.
We lost three boats without a blink with Nerrima, Mariner and Corella not even making it out and of course Ralph and Lynne are in New Zealand so Alma didn’t get a run. Four boats made it out and three boats finished the race with The First Jindarra bowing out, having taken up a fair amount of water.
A heavy sou wester had the choice of headsail as a number two a no-brainer. We were 5 up with Amanda in a support role for anyone who needed it. The start was clean enough and we got away on the run up to Martin-Weaver in third place with the boat doing well enough. We made the mark comfortably and the crew acted in concert to get the boat moving quickly.
Ahead of us, John Wright had Anna behaving, and he mentioned afterwards that the boat had swallowed far less water than last week. The planks had taken up nicely. Swiftsure Saga on the other hand was going like a rocket ship with Guy on the foredeck, having jumped from Nerrima as they had signalled that they weren’t going out. Up to Sampson and then away to Print with a very wet tack on the cards as the chop at the top of the river looking more like Margaret River’s Main Break. Aloha was faring well with Glen driving the boat and Ernie, the owner Andrew and Ralph making up the crew. On the First Jindarra, the spray was coming over the top big time and despite the efforts of the crew on the bilge pump, the water in the cabin was building.
Len was driving the boat higher than most, we had more speed and height than Anna and effectively held her out till we were ready to tack and to make Print, around and away with a pole out to starboard which was dropped early to ensure that there were no problems at the mark. Then across the river aiming at Heathcote where a decision was made. The boat was taking too much water and the pump wasn’t getting rid of it. Retire!
A quick call to Race Control and they were informed that we were taking on water and that all bodies were well. Our retirement was accepted and we made it back to the pens, dropping sails as we went. We later discovered that the limber holes in the frames were blocked.
Behind us the other three boats raced on and yes, we might have continued, but the pump defeated us. Swiftsure Saga did very well and Anna, even though they slowed to take on board the visiting photographer – journalist from England, still finished second over the line. Well done to Aloha who worked hard through the race and kept up with the other two.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Anna and Aloha.
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Aloha and Anna.
There were number of retirements across the fleet, with most divisions losing at least one boat.
Saturday Racing: 8th of February 2025
A very light sou wester on a course four.
Three boats: Swiftsure Saga, Nerrima and Aloha.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Aloha and Nerrima
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Aloha and Nerrima
It needs be explained that Nerrima came into contact with a boat from another clubs fleet that caused them some grief. The incident is under review.
Wednesday Sailing 5th of February 2025
The Lyn Rue Davey memorial trophy.
A bite to eat, a cold beer and a floor show &
Chasing Bill.
A building sou wester and an RO who decided to send us away straight to Sampson. All sounds good, but we could have done with the one and a half rather than the number one we had on. However, most of us were similarly kitted out, so it was a case of put up with it.
Five boats today with Aloha and Anna joining us, with the crews rocking up more or less just in time. Many thanks to Guy who wandered around with a camera pre start getting snaps. With Phil up on the farm again we were blessed with Kate who was running the foredeck on Mariner, giving Geoff a chance to run the main and give the skipper hell again. Welcome to a couple of visitors, Ralph and a nephew of Judith Magee who came out for a ride on Aloha with Ernie at the helm.
The start was to be the winner for all and we blew it. We wandered across the line a minute late and tail end Charlie. Our mission was to get past four boats. Yeah – Right!
So, chase them down and make our way to Sampson and round the mark at the tail of the fleet. Bill was in the lead with Nerrima and Aloha doing well and John W had Anna flowing well, but missing time on the water. There were some comments on the hieroglyphics on the foresail of Aloha as the patch work on the elderly sail led some to comment on the meanings of the strange devises on the sail.
We tacked out and made Print in one with the skipper exhorting the main to ‘lift me a little higher’, that got us good and close to the mob up the front. Then after Addison we decided to push our luck with a series of tacks that kept us in phase and driving up to Robins, but staying over on the eastern side kept us out of the slop that was pumping down the river. Fast was the call. A number of crosses told us that we were about to roll past Aloha and Anna and making the top at Robins with a squeaky rounding (well done Kate, she let the jib loose and we used the main to drive us past the mark). We had two boats behind us and our target was Nerrima.
Down to Addsion again, a little by the lee perhaps and the combination of a couple of Div two boats and a tidy put away of the jib had us around and the two div two boats took Nerrima away with them. We whipped around the mark chortling to ourselves. Aim for Robins again, this time we had to deal with a bunch of RP boats, but tack and aim for the top again. A clean rounding and at the same time we could see Anna making their way home. Hopefully they were ok. Down to Como this time and as it was close to four, we looked at the start box... no flags, so around we go again.
Short and sweet with the boat positively howling on the open reaches. 7 + knots and the trimming had me out on the edge of the boat running a well filled headsail. Alternatively, I was doing the same for Kate, but we just couldn’t catch Bill on Swiftsure Saga. During all this, Aloha put out a retirement call and a request for a tow in. They had the jib halyard part company with the jib and the sail fell to the deck. They may have also lost their propeller in another incident. We watched Swiftsure Saga hit the line and then finished the race in the same manner. Nerrima made their way over the line a minute or so later.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Mariner and Nerrima
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Mariner and Nerrima
Winner of the Lyn Rue Davey trophy.. Swiftsure Saga
The floor show arrived as Nerrima, who had suffered a motor failure, was towed back to the pen. A royal stuff up and I’ll only comment that the helm wasn’t at the right end of the boat. But it kept all the boats on jetty four and three entertained. The manner of taking the boat in under control was discussed and it was agreed that it could have been done better.
The 5th H28 Championship on the 1st of Feb. Sailed in a SSW beginning on 15 knots.
Over the line: Corella, Swiftsure Saga, Aloha and Nerrima.
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Aloha, Corella and Nerrima.
At this stage of the day Corella has a solid grip on the Championship, but Aloha is doing fine on consistency and should do well.
The Lyn Rue Davey memorial trophy.
A bite to eat, a cold beer and a floor show &
Chasing Bill.
A building sou wester and an RO who decided to send us away straight to Sampson. All sounds good, but we could have done with the one and a half rather than the number one we had on. However, most of us were similarly kitted out, so it was a case of put up with it.
Five boats today with Aloha and Anna joining us, with the crews rocking up more or less just in time. Many thanks to Guy who wandered around with a camera pre start getting snaps. With Phil up on the farm again we were blessed with Kate who was running the foredeck on Mariner, giving Geoff a chance to run the main and give the skipper hell again. Welcome to a couple of visitors, Ralph and a nephew of Judith Magee who came out for a ride on Aloha with Ernie at the helm.
The start was to be the winner for all and we blew it. We wandered across the line a minute late and tail end Charlie. Our mission was to get past four boats. Yeah – Right!
So, chase them down and make our way to Sampson and round the mark at the tail of the fleet. Bill was in the lead with Nerrima and Aloha doing well and John W had Anna flowing well, but missing time on the water. There were some comments on the hieroglyphics on the foresail of Aloha as the patch work on the elderly sail led some to comment on the meanings of the strange devises on the sail.
We tacked out and made Print in one with the skipper exhorting the main to ‘lift me a little higher’, that got us good and close to the mob up the front. Then after Addison we decided to push our luck with a series of tacks that kept us in phase and driving up to Robins, but staying over on the eastern side kept us out of the slop that was pumping down the river. Fast was the call. A number of crosses told us that we were about to roll past Aloha and Anna and making the top at Robins with a squeaky rounding (well done Kate, she let the jib loose and we used the main to drive us past the mark). We had two boats behind us and our target was Nerrima.
Down to Addsion again, a little by the lee perhaps and the combination of a couple of Div two boats and a tidy put away of the jib had us around and the two div two boats took Nerrima away with them. We whipped around the mark chortling to ourselves. Aim for Robins again, this time we had to deal with a bunch of RP boats, but tack and aim for the top again. A clean rounding and at the same time we could see Anna making their way home. Hopefully they were ok. Down to Como this time and as it was close to four, we looked at the start box... no flags, so around we go again.
Short and sweet with the boat positively howling on the open reaches. 7 + knots and the trimming had me out on the edge of the boat running a well filled headsail. Alternatively, I was doing the same for Kate, but we just couldn’t catch Bill on Swiftsure Saga. During all this, Aloha put out a retirement call and a request for a tow in. They had the jib halyard part company with the jib and the sail fell to the deck. They may have also lost their propeller in another incident. We watched Swiftsure Saga hit the line and then finished the race in the same manner. Nerrima made their way over the line a minute or so later.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Mariner and Nerrima
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Mariner and Nerrima
Winner of the Lyn Rue Davey trophy.. Swiftsure Saga
The floor show arrived as Nerrima, who had suffered a motor failure, was towed back to the pen. A royal stuff up and I’ll only comment that the helm wasn’t at the right end of the boat. But it kept all the boats on jetty four and three entertained. The manner of taking the boat in under control was discussed and it was agreed that it could have been done better.
The 5th H28 Championship on the 1st of Feb. Sailed in a SSW beginning on 15 knots.
Over the line: Corella, Swiftsure Saga, Aloha and Nerrima.
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Aloha, Corella and Nerrima.
At this stage of the day Corella has a solid grip on the Championship, but Aloha is doing fine on consistency and should do well.
Wednesday Sailing 29th of January 2025
A surprise seabreeze &
A drag race to Sampson.
39.5 degrees on the water and a fluctuating easterly had us all wondering whether we had enough beer and water on board. The numbers were down as well with four in our fleet and a total of 22 over all the boats sailing. Certainly, the Geographe Bay racing coming up next month has got a few people taking it easy, but I think the heat was enough to stop a number of the big boats in div one and two from competing.
Then a line appeared, coming up the river…. The seabreeze was in. Plenty of it as well. The RO, Lynne Newton took one look at it and threw an AP up in the middle of the div one start sequence. Stop, re adjust the flags and we went from a course four to a course one. Just like that.
Away we went with the decision to stay low leaving us competing with Corella and Swiftsure while Mark on Nerrima chose to start a bit higher on the line. A freshly scrubbed and painted hull gave Lockie the edge on the run and no matter what, we were going to be in strife. We made it to Sampson with skipper calling no overlap to Bill on Swiftsure Saga, but we went wide nonetheless and then tacked as soon as we could. Bill, David and Mark went right, we went out to a port ley and then set off to get back in front of Bill if we could.
Good trimming made it happen and a couple of tacks later we were around and setting a pole. Corella was a bit cheeky and didn’t bother doing a pole, just taking a deep angle and running out then gybing back to hit Addison, still well in front. Oh well, no catching him then.
With the breeze well set, we took off down the river and found ourselves looking at Applecross jetty and then dropping down till we were almost opposite Frenchmans before we tacked out again. Bill had the same problem and we managed to stay in front on the cross the first time but he slipped through on the second cross near Robins. Around the mark with David well in front and Mark and Nerrima sailing a lot more freely this time, perhaps the better breeze was to his liking.
A pole to Addison and we managed to keep up with Bill for a while, but he managed to slip away while the skipper called for a beer for consolation. A moments reflection and a chance to discuss the race. Stow the empties and then back up to Robins with a couple of the bigger boats slipping past for a photo op. No, we weren’t catching Bill either and Lockie was even further away. Around and down to Como with the skipper wondering whether we might find a shortened course flag in sight as we rounded the mark. Sure enough, the message was fluttering from the start box masts and we heard Corella pick up the win. Oh well, we got it last week.
Over the line: Corella, Swiftsure Saga and Mariner
On handicap: Corella, Swiftsure Saga and Nerrima.
Yep: Tail end Charlie. Won’t hurt the handicap at all.
There was a bit of fun earlier in the day when the boys on Swiftsure Saga replaced the two inner stays on SSS. One had gone pop the previous week and it was a case of having a new set made and put in place. Erich was sent up the mast.. welcome to the club Erich, thankfully you were doing it in the pen.
The start boat was still out of action this week.. apparently it was a dud battery but it seems to have become a bit worse that that. More to find out.
No Saturday Sailing. A long weekend.
A surprise seabreeze &
A drag race to Sampson.
39.5 degrees on the water and a fluctuating easterly had us all wondering whether we had enough beer and water on board. The numbers were down as well with four in our fleet and a total of 22 over all the boats sailing. Certainly, the Geographe Bay racing coming up next month has got a few people taking it easy, but I think the heat was enough to stop a number of the big boats in div one and two from competing.
Then a line appeared, coming up the river…. The seabreeze was in. Plenty of it as well. The RO, Lynne Newton took one look at it and threw an AP up in the middle of the div one start sequence. Stop, re adjust the flags and we went from a course four to a course one. Just like that.
Away we went with the decision to stay low leaving us competing with Corella and Swiftsure while Mark on Nerrima chose to start a bit higher on the line. A freshly scrubbed and painted hull gave Lockie the edge on the run and no matter what, we were going to be in strife. We made it to Sampson with skipper calling no overlap to Bill on Swiftsure Saga, but we went wide nonetheless and then tacked as soon as we could. Bill, David and Mark went right, we went out to a port ley and then set off to get back in front of Bill if we could.
Good trimming made it happen and a couple of tacks later we were around and setting a pole. Corella was a bit cheeky and didn’t bother doing a pole, just taking a deep angle and running out then gybing back to hit Addison, still well in front. Oh well, no catching him then.
With the breeze well set, we took off down the river and found ourselves looking at Applecross jetty and then dropping down till we were almost opposite Frenchmans before we tacked out again. Bill had the same problem and we managed to stay in front on the cross the first time but he slipped through on the second cross near Robins. Around the mark with David well in front and Mark and Nerrima sailing a lot more freely this time, perhaps the better breeze was to his liking.
A pole to Addison and we managed to keep up with Bill for a while, but he managed to slip away while the skipper called for a beer for consolation. A moments reflection and a chance to discuss the race. Stow the empties and then back up to Robins with a couple of the bigger boats slipping past for a photo op. No, we weren’t catching Bill either and Lockie was even further away. Around and down to Como with the skipper wondering whether we might find a shortened course flag in sight as we rounded the mark. Sure enough, the message was fluttering from the start box masts and we heard Corella pick up the win. Oh well, we got it last week.
Over the line: Corella, Swiftsure Saga and Mariner
On handicap: Corella, Swiftsure Saga and Nerrima.
Yep: Tail end Charlie. Won’t hurt the handicap at all.
There was a bit of fun earlier in the day when the boys on Swiftsure Saga replaced the two inner stays on SSS. One had gone pop the previous week and it was a case of having a new set made and put in place. Erich was sent up the mast.. welcome to the club Erich, thankfully you were doing it in the pen.
The start boat was still out of action this week.. apparently it was a dud battery but it seems to have become a bit worse that that. More to find out.
No Saturday Sailing. A long weekend.
Wednesday Sailing 22nd of January 2025
Will I, wont we. &
A tow back home.
On another day, forecast to be a stinker with nothing available in the way of a breeze, only four boats rocked up. Bill on Swiftsure Saga has blown the RH inner on the mast and isn’t sailing till its fixed. Must have happened between Saturday and Wednesday… he finished the race on Saturday.
I’d originally said no, (too hot) but dropped down to the club anyway on a different matter. As I did, the Sou westerlies were in and peaking at 30 knots OMG. Where did that come from? As a result, Len on the Jin made a choice and didn’t go. I decided to go as it was cooling down and shot home to pick up my kit.
Back onto the boat and three H28s set onto the water. Corella, Mariner and Nerrima. All were well staffed and it was to be a good race with a course 4 and the breeze down at 14 knots on the top. A lot of south in it as well and the Canning influence was to play a part in the race.
A fair start had Corella and Mariner playing together on the run to Martin with Corella marginally in the lead. But inexplicably they began to drop away and ended up deep into the moorings while our boat (and skipper) managed to stay up at the urging of Geoff on the foredeck. We left them behind from then on. Around Martin we went and it was to be a follow the leader sort of day.
Down to Sampson on a will I wont we run with a pole being thrown up to get us there. Then simply point the boat at Robins and watch the speedo. Corella wasn’t able to catch us, thanks to a quick scrub of the hull and it was the trimming that made the difference. There were no passing lanes today and the game was the same once we had rounded Robins and headed off to Dolphin East.
There was a slight problem with the breeze as it was becoming fickle, but so long as we stayed in front, then it was fine. Away to Como and then battle the Canning shifts as we aimed to get over the start line and around and away to Sampson again. I managed to sneak a quick photo in of Nerrima as Mark dealt with his own crisis (a leaky boat) But he managed to keep the crew on the boat and they were doing well enough with Guy who’s graduated to running the main.
Around the small triangle and various gybes thrown around and we made our way through a bunch of RP boats while avoiding some of the Foundation 36’s of our fleet. None of them phased us and we made our way across to Print and rolled around it, aiming at Como almost on the breeze, but ever so slightly cracked. To Thelma, tacking to cover Lockie who had had a chance to find a passing lane. Not enough to help him and we shot down to Thelma with a renewed purpose. Around and a reach to the finish line. Couldn’t stop the skipper from smiling as we passed the line. As Ron said, it’s a good win when it’s a first and fastest and it’s been a while.
Over the line: Mariner, Corella and Nerrima
On handicap: The same.
Of course, the big event of the day occurred when Waylen Bay, the club rescue boat broke down and Rita and Dave had to go and bring her back.. there’s a story in that. Hopefully they dropped a pick, so it didn’t drift onto a beach somewhere.
Saturday the 18th of January the club championship #4
Sailed on a frisky afternoon with a sou wester of 16 knots.
Over the line: Corella, Swiftsure Saga and Nerrima
On Handicap: Aloha, Swiftsure Saga and Corella
Geoff Reason has taken the Saturday helm on Nerrima while Les Brooker is horsd’combat and Mark Wimhurst has the helm on Wednesdays.
Talking about Les, they’ve put his op back 2 weeks. So he went out to lunch.
Will I, wont we. &
A tow back home.
On another day, forecast to be a stinker with nothing available in the way of a breeze, only four boats rocked up. Bill on Swiftsure Saga has blown the RH inner on the mast and isn’t sailing till its fixed. Must have happened between Saturday and Wednesday… he finished the race on Saturday.
I’d originally said no, (too hot) but dropped down to the club anyway on a different matter. As I did, the Sou westerlies were in and peaking at 30 knots OMG. Where did that come from? As a result, Len on the Jin made a choice and didn’t go. I decided to go as it was cooling down and shot home to pick up my kit.
Back onto the boat and three H28s set onto the water. Corella, Mariner and Nerrima. All were well staffed and it was to be a good race with a course 4 and the breeze down at 14 knots on the top. A lot of south in it as well and the Canning influence was to play a part in the race.
A fair start had Corella and Mariner playing together on the run to Martin with Corella marginally in the lead. But inexplicably they began to drop away and ended up deep into the moorings while our boat (and skipper) managed to stay up at the urging of Geoff on the foredeck. We left them behind from then on. Around Martin we went and it was to be a follow the leader sort of day.
Down to Sampson on a will I wont we run with a pole being thrown up to get us there. Then simply point the boat at Robins and watch the speedo. Corella wasn’t able to catch us, thanks to a quick scrub of the hull and it was the trimming that made the difference. There were no passing lanes today and the game was the same once we had rounded Robins and headed off to Dolphin East.
There was a slight problem with the breeze as it was becoming fickle, but so long as we stayed in front, then it was fine. Away to Como and then battle the Canning shifts as we aimed to get over the start line and around and away to Sampson again. I managed to sneak a quick photo in of Nerrima as Mark dealt with his own crisis (a leaky boat) But he managed to keep the crew on the boat and they were doing well enough with Guy who’s graduated to running the main.
Around the small triangle and various gybes thrown around and we made our way through a bunch of RP boats while avoiding some of the Foundation 36’s of our fleet. None of them phased us and we made our way across to Print and rolled around it, aiming at Como almost on the breeze, but ever so slightly cracked. To Thelma, tacking to cover Lockie who had had a chance to find a passing lane. Not enough to help him and we shot down to Thelma with a renewed purpose. Around and a reach to the finish line. Couldn’t stop the skipper from smiling as we passed the line. As Ron said, it’s a good win when it’s a first and fastest and it’s been a while.
Over the line: Mariner, Corella and Nerrima
On handicap: The same.
Of course, the big event of the day occurred when Waylen Bay, the club rescue boat broke down and Rita and Dave had to go and bring her back.. there’s a story in that. Hopefully they dropped a pick, so it didn’t drift onto a beach somewhere.
Saturday the 18th of January the club championship #4
Sailed on a frisky afternoon with a sou wester of 16 knots.
Over the line: Corella, Swiftsure Saga and Nerrima
On Handicap: Aloha, Swiftsure Saga and Corella
Geoff Reason has taken the Saturday helm on Nerrima while Les Brooker is horsd’combat and Mark Wimhurst has the helm on Wednesdays.
Talking about Les, they’ve put his op back 2 weeks. So he went out to lunch.
Wednesday Sailing 15th
of January 2025
A day for Mr Randell. &
A lesson learned.
Half a dozen H28s moved out of the pens this afternoon with the promise of a bit of a breeze out of the Sou-West. Two of the more competitive sorts had cleaned their hulls and some of us thought about it.
Wynella is still without a rudder as the shipwright went on holidays over Christmas and despite all thoughts of haste, the work has yet to begin on the rudder. At the moment, Aloha is playing host to the crew of Wynella with a number of them ready to keep the boat (any boat) on the go. Alma is getting a new deck I believe and is stripped of her gear in preparation for the event. Well done, Ralph. And Nerima… had a spare bilge pump put in and Les was quite pleased about that, but I don’t think the sparky will be paid as he forgot to hook the pump up. More about that later.
A southerly start with the boats lining up above the line preparing to swoop down. We had come in from a fair way out and then hung on our sails till the time came. We watched as Bill and Dave slipped past Mariner and set the early pace up to Martin. Our job was to get above the bad air, which we eventually did and made it around in 3rd place. Then it was a case of set to chase the pair in front while the rest of the fleet sorted themselves out. And it didn’t take long to see Len Randell begin to push Nerrima.
Up to Sampson with Lockie warding off attempts from his former crew member to get past him. They turned at Sampson and it was then a look up the breeze to see how close to the mark we could get. Not bad, but the lead boats were already well away.. clean bottoms help apparently. Around Print and a pole to Addison with the first cross over to Heathcote before heading down the river. The fun and games began as to who would pick the right path. Bill on Swiftsure had decided to tack away and probably did well of it as he came back a bit closer to Corella.
We however, had tucked ourselves in deep to the channel and then bounced out to see how we would fare, only to see Les retiring smartly with the stern quite low. It was later that we heard about the problem with the bilge pump.
Away we went, further up to Robins where Bill was closer than ever, but Len had already made his way past us with a good cross from out in the middle where he had picked up a lot of time. Around and away we went with a pole that was quite by the lee. Didn’t have to gybe but it was a dodgy run with Geoff on the boom to keep it there. Len on the other hand had an involuntary gybe that nearly took his foredeckie out, wedging him between the shroud and the boom. OOOPs!
But he was in the lead despite our attempt to get in under his transom at Addison, so we faced the ordeal of chasing Len for the next lap.
Up front, Bill had succeeded in getting past Lockie and I have to presume they were both wearing number ones where we had a one and a half. I guess Len must have had a number one as well.
Looking back Aloha was doing well enough, but a new crew and with Steve Hill at the helm they were happy enough to keep rolling along. So up to Robins again with the added fillip of the RP boats coming across on starboard. They pushed Len about a little and it may have cost him the win on handicap. However up and around then down to Como where we turned right and aimed at the line. We learnt to our pleasure that the course had been shortened and it was a honk from the horn that told us that Swiftsure had led the fleet home.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Corella, The First Jindarra
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, The First Jindarra, Corella
Poor Len.. second by 7 seconds….. those RP boats cost him his first win for the season.
Just briefly:
Les Brooker is going into hospital for a major op and will not be sailing for the rest of the season. Mark Wimhurst is taking the helm for Wednesdays. Geoff Reason will be taking the helm on Saturdays. We all wish Les well.
A day for Mr Randell. &
A lesson learned.
Half a dozen H28s moved out of the pens this afternoon with the promise of a bit of a breeze out of the Sou-West. Two of the more competitive sorts had cleaned their hulls and some of us thought about it.
Wynella is still without a rudder as the shipwright went on holidays over Christmas and despite all thoughts of haste, the work has yet to begin on the rudder. At the moment, Aloha is playing host to the crew of Wynella with a number of them ready to keep the boat (any boat) on the go. Alma is getting a new deck I believe and is stripped of her gear in preparation for the event. Well done, Ralph. And Nerima… had a spare bilge pump put in and Les was quite pleased about that, but I don’t think the sparky will be paid as he forgot to hook the pump up. More about that later.
A southerly start with the boats lining up above the line preparing to swoop down. We had come in from a fair way out and then hung on our sails till the time came. We watched as Bill and Dave slipped past Mariner and set the early pace up to Martin. Our job was to get above the bad air, which we eventually did and made it around in 3rd place. Then it was a case of set to chase the pair in front while the rest of the fleet sorted themselves out. And it didn’t take long to see Len Randell begin to push Nerrima.
Up to Sampson with Lockie warding off attempts from his former crew member to get past him. They turned at Sampson and it was then a look up the breeze to see how close to the mark we could get. Not bad, but the lead boats were already well away.. clean bottoms help apparently. Around Print and a pole to Addison with the first cross over to Heathcote before heading down the river. The fun and games began as to who would pick the right path. Bill on Swiftsure had decided to tack away and probably did well of it as he came back a bit closer to Corella.
We however, had tucked ourselves in deep to the channel and then bounced out to see how we would fare, only to see Les retiring smartly with the stern quite low. It was later that we heard about the problem with the bilge pump.
Away we went, further up to Robins where Bill was closer than ever, but Len had already made his way past us with a good cross from out in the middle where he had picked up a lot of time. Around and away we went with a pole that was quite by the lee. Didn’t have to gybe but it was a dodgy run with Geoff on the boom to keep it there. Len on the other hand had an involuntary gybe that nearly took his foredeckie out, wedging him between the shroud and the boom. OOOPs!
But he was in the lead despite our attempt to get in under his transom at Addison, so we faced the ordeal of chasing Len for the next lap.
Up front, Bill had succeeded in getting past Lockie and I have to presume they were both wearing number ones where we had a one and a half. I guess Len must have had a number one as well.
Looking back Aloha was doing well enough, but a new crew and with Steve Hill at the helm they were happy enough to keep rolling along. So up to Robins again with the added fillip of the RP boats coming across on starboard. They pushed Len about a little and it may have cost him the win on handicap. However up and around then down to Como where we turned right and aimed at the line. We learnt to our pleasure that the course had been shortened and it was a honk from the horn that told us that Swiftsure had led the fleet home.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Corella, The First Jindarra
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, The First Jindarra, Corella
Poor Len.. second by 7 seconds….. those RP boats cost him his first win for the season.
Just briefly:
Les Brooker is going into hospital for a major op and will not be sailing for the rest of the season. Mark Wimhurst is taking the helm for Wednesdays. Geoff Reason will be taking the helm on Saturdays. We all wish Les well.