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For the information of members we are including below a brief bio of the current Board.
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Commodore
Greg Martin
Joined: 1985
Club Captain 2006/07, 2007/08.
Committee 2008/09, 2009/10
Vice Commodore 2010/11, 2011/12
Rear Commodore and then Commodore 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2019/20.
Currently proprietor of Complete Outdoor Kitchens.
A late starter to sailing. Sailed on a J24 on Sydney Harbour in 1979. Moved to Melbourne and joined RYCV sailing on a J24 then the SS34 ‘Red William’. Joined
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Mornington and sailed on Chas Jacobsen’s Farr ‘Damel’ then the Farr 40 ‘Indian Pacific’. In ocean racing sailed on ‘Damel’ in the 1985 Melbourne Hobart then the Sydney Hobart in 1986 on ‘Indian Pacific’ (9th overall.) Also sailed in all the Victorian Coastal Ocean races.
Retired from sailing in 1988 and became President of the Frankston Softball Association. Lured back to sailing by Noel Heyes and sailed on the Sonata 26 ‘Crowded House’ winning the 1999 Division 2 Nationals.
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Vice-Commodore
John Underwood
Joined-2004
Board member 2010-2016-Chair of the Sponsorship and Slipway Committees, and member of the Finance Committee. Since 2019 Vice Commodore responsible for Governance,Grants and the Slipway. Also a member of the Future Directions Sub-committee. Retired Company director and owner ‘Leather by Design’ custom built contract furniture. Member Marina Consultative Committee of the East
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Gippsland Shire Council since 2017-berth holder Slip Bight Marina Paynesville. Sailing experience- Mirror dinghy, Hartley 18, Noelex 25, and Hunter 31.
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Rear Commodore
Bill Bennett
Joined-2009
Board Member since 2017. Club Captain 2017 to 2019. Rear Commodore since 2019. Chair of the Sailing Committee. Company Director. Sailing experience- self taught through hiring boats at the Jolly Roger Boat House in Albert Park in 1968. Sailed a bosun dinghy in the Navy in 1974 and then sailed for the Navy against the US Navy in Hawaii in 1977.
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Purchased his first boat a Cherub and sailed at Hunters Hill Sailing Club in Sydney in 1975, then sailed an International 23 (catamaran) at Drummoyne in Sydney in 1982. After joining MYC he sailed a Southern Ocean 32 ‘Three Ring Circus’ and crewed on various keel boats and trailables. Currently a part owner of ‘Phoenix’.
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Club Captain
Laurie White
Joined: 2010
Flag Officer and Club Captain since 2019
Sailing experience: Started in Sabots at Chelsea Yacht Club around 1955. Farming then took over his life so sailed a variety of boats outside of a Club on the farm lake or the Hume Weir- Fireball, Arrow Cat, Quickcat and Paper Tiger.
On joining MYC he has sailed a Sonata, a Beneteau, and now 'Obsession' a Sydney 38.
Laurie is just out to share the sport , fun and experience with others who are not so fortunate, and loves the genuine and friendly nature of the Club.
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Honorary Treasurer
Andrew Klose
Joined 2017.
Board member and Honorary Treasurer since 2017.
Finance Director.
Sailing experience- trailer sailers and keelboats. Currently the owner of the keel boat ‘Orlando’.
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Board Member
Stuart Gooley
Joined: 1958
B.Comm, Chartered Accountant.
Board membership 1965/66 to 1970/71, 2019/20 to the present.
Honorary Treasurer 1971/72 to 1975/76. Member of the Finance Committee and
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Chairman of the Mornington Yacht Club Foundation.
Sailing experience: Started in Sabots then moved onto Gwen 12's, Flying Fifteens, an s80 and finally 'YT2' a Sunfast 32.1.
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Board Member
Jo McKenzie
Joined -2008
CPA
Board member since 2018/19.
Prior Secretary VIODA, prior Secretary and current member of the Victorian 420 Association, Current Treasurer of the Australian 420 Association.
Sailing experience-regular crew on ‘Easterly’ with Joe Hall. Have undertaken ocean races and delivery trips to and from Tasmania, King Island, and Port Fairy.
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The McKenzie fleet currently comprises the Holland 25 ‘Easterly’, an Etchell, 1.5 420 and a laser.
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Board member
Trevor Neate
Joined- 1965
Board member 1989/90, 2009/10,2010/11,2011/12 and since 2019.
Club Captain-1990/91,1991/92
Rear Commodore-
1994/95,1995/96,1996/97,1997/98,2007/08,2008/09
Vice Commodore-1998/99, 1999/2000
Commodore-2000/01,2001/02
Sailing experience- Started in sabots then fireballs and catamarans. He then crewed for many years in his fathers keelboats , five ‘Morning Mist’s, then
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‘Seaquesta’. Extensive ocean racing experience in the Melbourne Devonport, the Melbourne Hobart , the Sydney Hobert, and In Hawaii. Now sailing a Couta Boat.
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Board Member
Andrew Young
Joined-1985
Fellow Institute of Transport and Logistics, Master of Business Administration.
Company Director. Past Operations Director Jacobs Engineering, Managing Director , Life member and President Kew Tennis Club, Chairperson Transport Industry Council.
Board member 2019/20 to the present. Member Infrastructure Sub Committee.
Sailing experience: Mirrors, Paper
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Tigers, Trailer Sailor, J24, Flying Fifteens, s80, Sunfast Jeanneau 32.1
Yacht rallies in Sweden, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Singapore.
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What a relief to be able to launch the keelboat fleet on Saturday 13 November following the relaxing of Covid restrictions that had delayed the start of the second consecutive sailing season. The week before the launching we had experienced one of the worst storms in the States history causing significant damage to trees and property on the Peninsula. In retrospect the delay in launching was a blessing in disguise as the conditions in the harbour were extreme as is shown in the attached photographs supplied by Jamie Robertson. Imagine trying to berth the proposed Port Phillip ferry in these conditions!
Start time for the launching was at 7am when the weather was wet and cold but at least the sea state was suitable for us to proceed. We are all extremely grateful for all those volunteers who turn out year after year to assist and make the process run smoothly. Whether it be Laurie and his Tag team who prepared the yard so well, to Al on the winch, John in the tender, the BBQ team who fed us so well during the day, the crane crew and everyone else who helped; we say thank you. Also thanks to John Underwood who had organised the latest stage in the slip repair enabling the Club to retain what is a very valuable asset.
So with the boats in the water the keelboat fleet could commence the 2021/22 season. The first race held on Saturday 20 November saw winds of 17-20 knots enough to blow out the cobwebs and provide ideal conditions . The weather for the Geelong Long Distance race was also fresh with the first boat in the small fleet reaching Geelong at 1-13pm an elapsed time of 4hours 13 minutes which must be close to a record for this race. And then on the next Saturday a 20 to 25 knot south westerly; some of us are now looking for a nice 10 knot breeze in sunny conditions. Our wish seemed to be granted at the start of the Navigators Trophy however by mid day the breeze had again freshened for the sail home.
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AUSTRALIAN SAILING 2021 YOUTH SAILOR OF THE YEAR
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Congratulations to James Jackson and his crew Harrison Chapman, the current National 420 Champions, on winning Australian Sailing’s National and Victorian Youth Sailor of the year award. As outlined in our previous Newsletter James has had an outstanding career to date and was a very worthy winner of the award. It is unfortunate that he was unable to compete in the Youth World Championships this year due to COVID restrictions.
James is an active member of our Youth Sailing squad at Mornington and a mentor for our 420 fleet and all youth and junior members of the Club. James is the latest member of the Jackson family to win a National Title, sister Sophie having won the World Aero Title in 2019 and father Chris winning the Australian Championship in the 470’s in 1989/90 and the National Fireball Championship in 1996/97.
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THE 75th ANNIVERSARY PARTY FRIDAY DECEMBER 10
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The Club turned 75 on February 8 2021 but due to the COVID restrictions we had been unable to celebrate the occasion at that time. So it was great to be able to belatedly get together to celebrate the occasion and to meet as a Club in a social environment. The event attracted a capacity crowd of just over
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one hundred who sat down to an excellent two course meal provided by the Rocks which was followed by Dave Campbell’s very popular music and dancing.
During the night the Foundation ran a raffle and a silent auction raising some $4,000 which will greatly assist in providing further support to Club activities. A special thanks to all who contributed.
Among the crowd were a large number of Past Commodore’s as well as crews who had to be back at the Club by 8 am the next morning to compete in the Navigators Trophy race; the longest on the Club’s program.
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A special thanks to Sarah, Tayla and their support staff for the amazing effort in organizing a party that everyone voted a great success. Also to Jane Storey for suggesting that we could run a Silent Auction with an interesting range of sporting memorabilia.
For those who missed out or want more Save the Date for the Foundation’s Member/Business lunch on February 18 2022. This event has had to be cancelled twice due to COVID but we are determined to go ahead this time. We have an excellent speaker lined up to make this an occasion not to be missed.
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JUNIOR AND YOUTH SAILING
A lot has happened in this space since the last Newsletter. The Victorian Dinghy Championships were held as a part of Sail Mordi on 20 and 21st November. Our two top Laser sailors Jack Eickmeyer and Lachie Weber competed in a combined fleet on yardstick with the Tasers and Finns. Lachie was third and Jack fourth with Lachie being the first Laser Radial and Jack the first Laser Standard (full sail). Given his size Jack has grown out of the Radial rig.
This was followed by the Victorian Open, Youth and Masters Laser Championships hosted at Mornington. The series had 72 entries between the Standard, Radial and the Youth 4.7 rig with the Radials having over 41 boats; over half of the fleet. The Laser class caters for a wide range of ages with participants ranging from 13 to 70 years old.
We had six MYC members competing: Jack Eickmeyer was 2nd Radial and first youth (U19). Lachie Weber 4th Radial and second youth, and Dan Laverty 9th Radial, 3rd youth and first junior (U17). To give some perspective Simon Merritt from McCrae won for the 4th time, and in 3rd place was an Olympian; the rest of the top 10 were all adults. In the 4.7 fleet Heath Jones and Jack Vermeer competed in their first Laser Regatta, learnt lots, and did well, and with a smile at the end.
A huge thank you to our volunteers. MYC has a great reputation. This Regatta though wasn’t about parents of kids sailing, most of the volunteers were there for their Club. We have such an amazing team with strengths in so many different areas. That’s what makes such a strong team. Led by the Flag Officers, as an example with the Commodore on pin boat yet again all weekend. Rear Commodore Bill Bennett sailed back from Geelong late on Saturday and fronted up to help on ‘Retreiver’ on Sunday, and Mr Everywhere Legend Laurie there at dawn on both days and leading TAG during the week. It was for sad reasons that we couldn’t have Bolts on the Sunday, but with the work that he has put in teaching over the years, and in the last month with the new buoy zone app for mark laying, the team pivoted to bridge the gap. The mark layers, the rescue boats, the guys bobbing up and down on the finishing boat with all of the fleet finishing at once. Then there is the TAG, the BBQ crew, the welcome committee at the back gate, the tower, office and beach helpers. There are too many to mention but we were wrapped to have so much new help from all areas of the Club, including keelboats, trailables and social members. Even if its just a day, a few minutes, an hour or two on the BBQ, in the yard setting up, or packing up. It is all contributing to the team effort and the attention it gets is all positive for the Club. For example new members approached us to join during the weekend seeing the activity and all the happy faces.
The Victorian Laser Association were a part of the success and they did make it easier to run than many Regattas. It was even easier with no protests and no scoring enquiries all weekend.
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The next Regatta at the Club will be the Schnapper Point and Victorian Junior Carnival In February. We are expecting many of the Lasers back givne that they had such a great experience at the Club.
In the first week of December we had members competing at Sail Sydney. Sail Sydney, held in December, and Sail Melbourne (January) are Olympic Class Regattas held over four days with an intention of sailing 10-12 races. As well as Olympic Classes they will invite other Classes to compete thus providing some of the best competition available in Australia. Last year due to COVID Sail Melbourne was cancelled and Sail Sydney became the last big lead up Regatta for the Tokyo Olympics. This year Sail Sydney wasn’t as big with competitors limited to NSW,Victoria, and Queensland due to the COVID restrictions.
Jack Eickmeyer and Lachie Weber sailed in the 16 strong Laser Radial fleet. The winner was Sylie Stannage, daughter of Chris Stannage of Hunters Hill Sailing Club, known to MYC who has helped us with the introduction of Trysail and our Discover Sailing operations. Jack was 2nd and Lachie 3rd; Lachie having broken his tiller extension on the first day which impacted two races and led to him having to use the tail of the mainsheet to hang out. Jack then had on OCS (On Course Start) on the second day. On the third day the racing was effected by an East Coast low which meant that racing was moved up the Harbour to avoid the 5 metre ocean swell and on the fourth day a very shifty wind was experienced. Our competitors learnt a lot and had great experience.
Also in NSW in the same week Leigh Harvey sailed his Optimist in a fleet of 50 boats at the Georges River. Leigh picked a big windshift in race 2 winning the race which was a highlight for him and those interested in his progress. Another MYC member Olivia Cameron (her home Club is Davey’s Bay) was also going well until illness shortened her Regatta.
At the same time Australian Sailing was running a ‘futures’ camp in Adelaide for 470’s. Sophie and James Jackson were participants also gaining valuable experience and local familiarization before the Nationals to be held there in January. Sophie has now put her 470 into a container bound for Europe next year; the new boat having already travelled from Queensland to Victoria then South Australia before being loaded in the container in NSW. We wish Sophie all the best of luck in the three or four Regattas she plans to compete in the March to May period next year. We will follow her progress with interest.
It is great that with all of the above happening that given our depth of young instructors that our Trysail/SLM program can keep going while some of the more experienced sailors are away. The week end of December 18 is the last week for our 2nd group of Trysailors this season with the 3rd group scheduled for January. A big thanks for the volunteers who have managed the program over this period with particular thanks to Ben Jones.
Andrew Weber and Chris Jackson
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'YEULBA' A LOGAN 30' LINEAL RATER BUILT IN 1901
This historical yacht which is lying in a poor condition in Tim Phillips yard in Sorrento awaiting restoration is an important part of our marine history; if I won Tattslotto I would restore it myself. Unfortunately Australia does not have distributions from our lotteries allocated to various activities as is the case in the UK and no syndicate has yet to be found with the funds to commence the restoration.
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'Yeulba' (originally named 'Culwulla') was built by the famous Logan yard in New Zealand in 1901 for Walter Marks in Sydney during a period of growing popularity of the 30ft lineal rater class that had developed on Sydney Harbour. 'Yeulba' has an LOA
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of 42 ft 6 inches, a beam of 7'10" and a draft of 5'. She is planked in double skin New Zealand Kauri on laminated floors and ring frames with a lead keel. Her rig is that of a staysail cutter with a jackyard topsail. 'Yeulba' has no motor.
The lineal rule was devised in the 1890's to formulate a rating for boats that took into account beam, sail area and the mid-section profile. A mathematical formulae was used to calculate a rating, based on waterline length, and a time allowance was given to yachts for calculating Regatta results. The intent of the rule was to encourage a return to yachts which were more seaworthy. The lineal rating system was eventually superseded by the meter boat system. At the peak there were 11 30' lineal raters in the Sydney fleet and to my knowledge no others survive. Interestingly one of the fleet 'Heather' was unfortunately wrecked in a storm at Mornington.
During her first season in Sydney 'Culwulla' won the Championship. Walter Marks was a Member of Parliament and was referred to in yachting circles as the Sir Thomas Lipton of Australia being invited to sail on "Shamrock IV' in the 1914 America's Cup races which had to be cancelled due to the advent of the First World War. In 1909 'Culwalla' was sold to a Mr A.Mullins who renamed her 'Yeulba' and successfully continued her successful racing career in Sydney winning a number of important trophies including the Basin Cup a 60 nautical mile ocean race around Lion Island and back to Sydney Harbour. Later 'Yeulba' was sold to Frederick Doran General Manager of the Manly Ferry Compnay who owned a fleet of yachts including three Logan yachts.
'Yeulba' was then sold to Lord Forster who became Governor General of Australia in 1920, He was an excellent all round sportsman and played cricket for England against Australia in 1893; he was also the fencing and tennis champion at Oxford when he was there. On arrival in Australia Lord Forster became the Commodore of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria. 'Yeulba' was shipped to Melbourne and won many races around the Bay and was present at a number of Regattas at Mornington as I have outlined in our history 'Sailing at Mornington'.
Lord Stradbroke, the Governor of Victoria, purchased 'Yeulba' in 1925 and he won the 1926 Geelong Regatta in her. Then in 1926 'Yeulba' sailed to Hobart taking 8 days for the voyage after being purchased by a prominent Tasmanian yachtsman E.H.Webster, who then onsold the yacht to King Cumming. The Hobart Mercury stated that "from a racing point of view there is at present nothing in Hobart to touch 'Yeulba', and she will open her career there as scratch boat of the first class yachts".
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King Cumming went on to win many races in 'Yeulba' including the Hobart Regatta twice. In a race around the buoys 'Yeulba' demoralised the new Sparkman and Stephens designed 'Landfall'. An argument arose that 'Landfall' was designed for racing in the ocean. A wager was set and a
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race around Maria Island was scheduled for Christmas Day . 'Yeulba' thrashed 'Landfall' by a whopping 4 hours. In 1931 at Woodbridge Rwgatta a new system for handicapping was introduced for the first time in Australia known as the percentage system. 'Yeulba' was the scratch boat.
In 1947 'Yeulba' returned to Port Phillip after being purchased by Neil McAllister in Geelong where she continued to win races before being again sold; this time to a syndicate in Western Australia. In Perth she again performed well in races on the Swan river but also in the Cape Naturalists Ocean race .
Looking at 'Yeulba ' today she needs a lot of work to bring her back to the condition of her heyday, but if this can be achieved, she would not only be a significant addition to our local Classic Yacht fleet, but would not be out of place in the European Classic boat Regattas at Cannes I n the Mediterranean or Antigua in the West Indies.
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THE SUBMARINES OF PORT PHILLIP
I recently came across an interesting article in the Southern Wooden boat newsletter that I thought may interest our members. Given that Australia has recently committed to a new submarine fleet it's interesting to look back a hundred years to our first submarine fleet.
The J-7, built for the British navy, the sub was one of the fastest in the world, built at the time of the First World War with a range of 8,000 kilometres. Following the war Britain gave to Australia as a gift its six remaining J Class submarines having lost the two that it had; one in the Dardanelles and the other off New Guinea. If the Australian Government thought they were getting a deal they must have been disappointed when the fleet limped into Australian waters in July 1919. After a three month voyage, during which several of the submarines broke down, they were found to be almost unusable. One of the subs was unable to dive, which was an issue for a vessel that was supposed to spend much of its time underwater, and they proved expensive to run.
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As a result the decision was made to sell the subs on the condition that the purchaser removed them within 42 days of purchase and would then destroy them with 18 months. Four of the subs were bought by the Melbourne Salvage Company and they were used for bombing practice outside Port Phillip Heads by Australian aircraft in 1926. The pilots must have needed the practice as it was reported in 'The Argus' that no direct hits were made but no bomb landed more than 200 feet away.
In the mid 1920's Sandringham Yacht Club had hoped to buy 'HMS Cerberus' which had been the depot ship for the six J-Class submarines, and sink it as a breakwater. They missed out and the 'HMS Cerberus' was sunk as a breakwater at Black Rock. Sandringham then purchased a J-7 which they sunk in 1930 as a breakwater for their harbour. Years later a stone breakwater was built , once again rendering the J-7 obsolete when all it was required to do was sit in the water and stop the waves crashing. When the Club's marina was built it was considered too expensive to remove the sub and anyhow many of the members were attached to it. The hull's pristine grey paint is long gone and the J-7 is now very much looking her age, peeling and crumbling slowly but surely into the mud surrounded by the yacht club members boats.
There has been a long running but largely unsuccessful campaign to get funding to restore the wreck of the 'Cerberus' the last example in the world of a breastwork monitor, but there's not much hope of that kind of effort for the J-7. Another of the subs lies in 6 metres of water at Swan Island near Queenscliff and is visible when you sail up the West Channel.
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NEWSLETTER EDITOR: STUART GOOLEY
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