The role of the duty boat is now less than in past years.

It may have to contribute 1 crew member to Clarence and if Clarence is unavailable it may have to start the race. The Committee is finalising changes to the sailing instructions so as if the duty boat has to start the race this can be done over the radio with a sound signal as Accolade did last year when Clarence’s starter motor failed. Past experience suggests this will be an infrequent happening.

The Committee has decided that:
(a)  A role of a duty boat should be to start a race when the Club’s start boat or the Race Officer is unavailable;
(b)  the duty boat may compete in the race that it is required to start;
(c)   if the race be a Bay Cup, a course should be chosen from Bay Cup course A, B or L with a start between the Caseys Beach mark and the Caseys Beach Cardinal mark and self-timed finish at Casey Beach, rather than rounding the Caseys Beach mark before the finish; and
(d)  there should be no adjustment of a duty boat’s score for starting the race.

Skippers and crews should read the amended Notice of Race and amended Common Sailing Instructions giving effect to the Committee’s decision. This will be posted soon on the Club’s web site.

A new program incorporating the names of duty boats for the remainder of the season has also been posted on the Club’s web site.

               It was a great day for sailing on Saturday 5th November when Batemans Bay Sailing Club held the annual Lady Skippers’ race. This was a sternchaser start where the smaller boats got a headstart based on past performances. There was less than 5 knots of breeze at the starting line off Caseys Beach. The first boat off the start, “True North” (Debbie Cockle) had only covered a few hundred meters by the time the quickest boat in the fleet “Apostrophe” (Jackie Jansse) started 22 minutes later. “Wishful Thinking” (Julie Phelps) soon ghosted into the lead. The sea breeze arrived helping “Wishful Thinking” and “Accolade” (Lara Phillips) extend their lead on the work to Chain Bay. The next leg was a broad reach to Wimbie Beach. “Accolade” was first to set her spinnaker and powered over the top of “Wishful”. “Accolade” held onto her lead on the last reach back to Caseys Beach to win from “Wishful Thinking” and “Attitude” (Sonja Gasser).
 
                Lara Phillips was stoked with the win but there was little time for celebrations with the Bay Cup race starting shortly afterwards. For this race race officer Dave Magill and his trusty crew Jude Brown aboard “Clarence the Clocker” set an excellent line with a slight pin end bias. There was an impressive fleet of 12 BBSC yachts out on the water. The sea breeze had built to 10 to 20 knots. “Hobo” (Peter Withington) attempted an ambitious port tack start but it was “Avior” (Tony Sutton) which got away the best. The majority of the fleet went left into Chain Bay on the work to Yellow Rock. This was a poor move as the wind was much stronger out in the middle. “Apostrophe” (David McNichol) capitalised on this but was underpowered for the conditions having reefed the mainsail. Shaking the reef out took a long time which allowed “Accolade” (Lachlan Brown) into the lead. “Accolade” extended her lead on the following reaching legs, hitting speeds of up to 13 knots. She sailed conservatively for the remaining windward and return legs to get line honours from “Apostrophe” with a 5 minute margin.
 
                On AMS “Accolade” won from “Attitude”(Simon Byrne) and “Wishful Thinking”(Andrew Bain). James Gardiner was able to get the mighty “Xanthia” moving nicely to win on PHS from “Accolade” and “Attitude”. “Hobo” won Division 2 in a welcome appearance by the popular Witho. Full results are up at www.bbsc.org.au .
 
                The Commodore’s dinner held at On The Pier restaurant that evening was a great evening. Harry Watson Smith gave an excellent presentation full of practical information on making long distance cruising easier and safer. Thanks must go to Simon Byrne for providing the projector and screen and for setting up all the equipment even though he was unable to stay for the function.
 
Lachlan Brown

TopYacht Software: Batemans Bay Sailing Club - 10/29/2016 5:56:01 PM

RACE 1 Lady Skippers Series 2016-17

Lady Skippers Race 2016-17

Printed on : 10/29/2016 5:56:01 PM

Vital Spark  - 0:00

True North - 0:00

Start Offset Times for Race 1 on 11/5/2016

BOAT	SAIL NO	AHC	Bt Strt
Xanthia	4536	0.676	0:00
North Star	6803	0.710	0:05
The Shed	3279	0.760	0:11
Avior	2970	0.777	0:13
Wishful Thinking	6189	0.837	0:19
Attitude	8150	0.839	0:19
Accolade	M201	0.850	0:20
Out Wide	4114	0.862	0:22
Apostrophe	6007	0.867	0:22

There was an excellent fleet of 11 boats out last Saturday for the first race of Batemans Bay Sailing Club’s Bay Cup series. It was a cold and not particularly pleasant day, but the 15 knot southerly breeze made for good sailing conditions. Race Officer Dave Magill and his trusty offsider Terry Paton set a pin end favoured start line. The skippers were a bit too eager with about half the fleet over the line at the start resulting in a general recall. This was unfortunate for “Avior” (Tony Sutton) which had easily the best start. On the second attempt “Out Wide” (Peter Schwarz) was away on the one minute signal and never came back despite an individual recall. The rest of the fleet got away cleanly with Tim Davis steering “Apostrophe” to a Mark Richards style pin end start. Further up the line “Accolade” (Lachlan Brown) sailed over the top of “Avior” and high enough to get the gas on her sister ship “Attitude” (John Reed). “Avior” tacked off to the right along with “Xanthia” (James Gardiner) and “North Star” (John Drummond).
 
The first leg was a work up to the Wimbie Beach followed by two reaches to the wing mark at the Toll Gates and hence the leeward mark off Snapper Island. “Apostrophe” led early and was about to sail over the top of “Accolade” approaching the Quarter Deck, but tacked away letting “Accolade” off the hook. “Accolade” then sailed the wind shifts to lead around the top mark. The second lap was a windward and return followed by a short reach to the finish line inside Snapper Island. The Wimbie Beach mark was sheltered from the southerly breeze. “Accolade” parked there while “Apostrophe” found some breeze just off the sand at Surf Beach to sail through to the lead. “Apostrophe” held on to finish 48 seconds ahead of “Accolade” over the line with “Attitude” a further 9 minutes back. The fading breeze was unkind to the remainder of the fleet which finished over the following 50 minutes.
 
In Division One the placegetters on both AMS and PHS were “Accolade” followed by “Apostrophe” and “Avior”. In Division Two (which is for smaller yachts and sailed over a shorter course than Division One) “Vital Spark” (Richard Dunne) and “True North” (Greg and Debbie Cockle) had a close race. “Vital Spark” finished 55 seconds ahead, but “True North” was well ahead on PHS calculations. Full results are available at www.bbsc.org.au. The next BBSC event will be a coastal race on October 22nd.

2016 AMS Handicap ratings can be downloaded HERE.

Thankyou to Terry Paton and Simon Lowth for bringing these together.