Jibsheet January 2024

Kids Sailing & Centreboard Racing Dates

We are running a four day sailing camp from the 15th-18th January. The camp will run two streams concurrently; one for beginners and the other for those who want to improve their skills. The camp is open to members and non-members alike and is at capacity. If you are available to lend a hand, please contact Kingsley on 0405 290390.

The normal sailing program will resume on the 28th January, and we’d love to see you all at this year’s Australia Day Regatta, which is likely to be bigger than prior years as we are presenting the Founder’s Honour Board and expect to see many past and present members attend the celebrations after racing.

All dates are on the website: https://www.revolutionise.com.au/avalonsailingclub/events/

Australia Day Regatta - 26th January

The Australia Day Regatta is the oldest continuously run regatta in the world, and Avalon Sailing Club is once again hosting it on Pittwater the country of the Garigal clan, who are part of the oldest culture in the world. This is always a fun family day out for centreboards and yachts. You can find the official program by clicking here.

Centreboard and Yacht entries are via the website: https://www.revolutionise.com.au/avalonsailingclub/events/

Foundation Members Honour Board - 26th January

Avalon Sailing Club will be dedicating a new honour board that, for the first time, commemorates the office holders from 1944 -1957 who were instrumental in building the actual club house and laying the foundation for generations to come. The board will be presented during the Australia Day Regatta Celebrations on January the 26th. We warmly welcome all former members, competitors and friends, particularly those who sailed in those formative years to join us for a celebration of all who have enjoyed this wonderful club over the decades - spread the word !

Guests are welcome anytime in the afternoon. The presentation will take place once all sailors have returned to the club which is expected between 3:30pm - 4:30pm. Drinks and snacks will be available from the bar, tables and chairs available with guests encouraged to bring a picnic and something to put on the BBQ.

We very much look forward to seeing former members, and providing an opportunity for old friends to catch up. Enquiries info@avalonsailingclub.com.au

Pittwater Classic Yacht & Dinghy Regatta - 2nd & 3rd March

Following hot on the heels of last year’s successful Couta Nationals, we are very excited to announce that Avalon will be hosting the inaugural Pittwater Classic Regatta with BYRA. This fabulous concept is a passion of Larry Eastwood whose aim is to create an event that will become a staple on the season’s calendar for classic boats.

We are in the early phases of planning, but can confirm that Avalon will be hosting the yachts with BYRA hosting the dinghies on their lawn. Saturday will be a series of races around courses on Pittwater, with a pursuit race around Islands on Sunday. A concourse display of the dinghies will be held at BYRA on Sunday morning. BYRA will host the main event on Saturday evening with Avalon providing the entertainment on Friday and/or Sunday. We will be running tender services with the big RIBs between clubs.

Further details to follow and will be posted on our website.

ASC Spiral in the Nowra Marathon

Spirals have been a successful class at Avalon for over 20 years bolstered by an active Association that builds new boats and provides for quality competition in state and national championships along with a well contested Travellers Trophy series. One of these events is the Nowra Marathon, a true test of endurance over the 22km round course from the Nowra bridge to Shoalhaven heads where the fleet stops for a civilised catered lunch before jumping back into the boats and navigating back to Nowra.

The forecast for the first day was for a rapidly building north easterly from the 10.45am start to a 25 plus knots howler as the day progressed. Jeff Conly provides the following report.

"I had not done this race before and found the pre race briefing a bit concerning with the locals outlining the many hazards that exist in the river with the navigation marks no longer in the correct places from the last flood and uncharted new shoals in the most unlikely of places. Compounding this was the discoloured water and overcast day making shoals impossible to see”

"We started in the tried and true way near the Nowra bridge between a flag on the old wharf and a gum tree on the opposite bank, working our way down the river in a rapidly developing 15 knot breeze. The race committee had anchored several large plastic drums near ‘things that you don’t want to hit’ so it was quite a challenge to play the many shifts whilst staying clear of these. Navigating to the north of the eloquently named Pig Island, the angle eased to a near endless tight reach with bullets out of the hills and frequent groundings before rounding a final clearance mark and making the long work up into the Shoalhaven Heads with the wind having built to the 18-20 knot mark. I was pretty well knackered pulling up on the beach at the mid way point only to be met by a truly welcome amazing lunch put together by the host Nowra Sailing Club. At this stage I was pretty happy with being around mid fleet although a little concerned as to how the afternoon would go with a furious breeze building and the return to Nowra being largely downwind.

After eating far too much and overdosed on desert slices we hopped back into the boats for a dead downwind start in 25 knots plus. Single sail boats are not at their most comfortable running square in a narrow waterway with almost all the fleet enjoying a swim. The gybe mark at the end of this long run was an event with absolute carnage evident. Those attempting to ‘granny’ invariably ran aground. I was pleased at myself having made the gybe. It wasn’t pretty but I was still upright and off on a truly epic screaming reach that went for kilometres. Spirals are at their very best on a three quarter reach in a blow and this one will be etched in the memory. Despite the speeds we were doing the racing was very close with only metres between boats.

I was in a pack vying for third place with the finish line in distant view when disaster struck. I hit a flood carved mud bank that went from deep water to almost nothing in an instant. The boat right next to me missed it completely. Travelling at warp 9, the boat stopped dead and cart wheeled over the bow. I found myself flying through the air only to end up wast deep in the Shoalhaven’s finest mud. Spirals are renowned for being well built and able to cop a lot of punishment but even so, after struggling back to the boat, I was relieved to find no damage. It took me about 15 minutes to unstick the boat from the mud and resume sailing by which stage the majority of the fleet was long gone. A very slight disappointment to a fantastic day sailing but what a story to tell! "

Image: No photos of Jeff’s somersault were available when going to print, but this sailor is clearly having a wild run down wind.

Congratulations to Josh Passafaro from Concord Ryde Sailing Club in Spiral 861 for showing us how it should be done in both legs, even beating a Hobie Cat and a Finn on the epic reach home.”

ASC will be hosting the Spiral State Championships in November this year. Anyone interested to have a go on these great little boats is encouraged to see Jeff and organise taking one of the two club Spirals for a spin. Even Commodore Ralf recently enjoyed a fun afternoon racing on a couple of occasions when his real boat was on the slip, quite definitively proving that yacht sailors can actually sail! 

By Jeff Conly

Spiral Captain 

Yacht Handicaps Explained - Jan 28th

Martin Hickling, our esteemed handicapper, will provide an overview of this dark art, and how he uses SailSys to calculate handicaps for yachts at Avalon. We will run this session once all sailors have returned from sailing the Avalon Series, which would typically be around 4pm give or take 30min to an hour.

Electric Motors, Bikes & Batteries 

It really is good to see electric motors replacing good old combustion engines. Your next car or outboard motor is very likely to be an electric one, and we are seeing that an increasing number of members have already gone electric, clean, quiet and sustainable !

With Lithium ion batteries becoming more common, particularly in bicycles and outboards, we all need to be mindful of the fire risk they pose to our wooden Clubhouse. Some of the more common variants pose a rare but very serious fire hazard due to their chemical composition rendering them susceptible to 'thermal runaway' that makes containment and extinguishing fire extremely difficult.

There are two specific risks with these batteries. The first is charging. They should only ever be charged with the manufacturer's recommended charger and preferably outdoors or in a non combustible area. Care should be taken to disconnect them once charging is completed. The second risk is characterised by the battery swelling, leaking or showing signs of obvious damage. These batteries should not be used, placed in a safe environment and the manufacturer contacted for advice.

To properly manage this risk, the Committee has decided that Lithium batteries are not to be charged or stored on the premises. Lithium batteries used in outboards are not to be stored on the premises and should be removed to return home with the owner. Electric bicycles should be stored outside and not charged or otherwise left at the premises for extended periods. No battery showing signs of damage should ever enter the premises.

information is available via the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission safety advisory.

https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/consumers-urged-to-use-and-store-lithium-ion-batteries-safely-to-prevent-deadly-fires

Meredith’s Holiday Art Workshop - Friday 19th January

Meredith's Landscape Painting and Wine Workshop is sold out, but there are still some places for the kids workshop (no wine involved) held at the club on Friday 19th January from 10am - 12 noon. It’s suited to kids from 5 to 12 years old, for $60 per child.

Contact Meredith: 0402 121184  meredith.rasdall@westnet.com

Some of the “kids” have done rather well of late.

It always makes us proud to hear how well some of “the kids” who learned to sail here are doing on the sailing scene. A couple that caught my attention are:

Alistair Read ,Sarah Parker and Will Dargaville onboard Pretty Woman for the Sydney to Hobart to secure 1st on Corinthian IRC, 2nd on IRC Div 2, 3rd on Corinthian PHS and 22nd in Line Honours.

Sarah Lee, skippering “Southerly” is currently 2nd in 16’ Skiffs Australian Championships with 4 races to go.

And finally, "do yourself a favour” by heading down to the harbour on 24th and 25th February to watch Nina Curtis and/or Natasha Byrant onboard “The Flying Roo” at SailGP Sydney. These F50s really need to be seen to be believed, regularly doing 40Kts with top speeds edging over 50Kts. The Australians will be looking to extend their lead to claim a 4th consecutive season title. 

Make sure to enjoy the club, our facilities and your boat during the summer break and to share our special space with your family and friends.

Ralf Moller

Commodore