26th February 2021 Mudlark

NO SAILING THIS WEEKEND
 

NO TRAINING OR RACING THIS WEEK.
Enjoy this bumper edition newsletter instead!

CLUB CHAMP HEATS - ALL FLEETS REPORT  


LASER RADIALS

Rob Hermans leads the points race in Water Taxi #176155.

The Laser Radial ‘Rag’ fleet skippers are enjoying some close racing in the Club Championship heats. Rob ‘Dutchy’ Hermans leads the series with a couple of wins and some consistent pointy end places.
Alan Benn ‘10 out of 10’ (for his knowledge of the sailing rules) and Jerome ‘keen to beat them Sabres home’ are close behind Rob in the series. Ken Patterson is enjoying his new ILCA 6 Radial ‘rag’ which he finds a bit more forgiving in the heavier stuff than the bigger ‘rag’ on his old Standard rig. He seems to find it easier to keep the mast pointing skywards. Les Mack ‘on any tack’ lives up to his reputation as a ‘light wind specialist (LWS)’. In a recent light breeze race LWS jumped to the lead and sailed out of sight (although a couple of boats caught up to him just before the finish). Bob ‘the builder’ has opted for a 4.7 size ‘rag’ for more windy races to help him keep the mast pointing skywards.
On the few occasions that Julian Bolleter gets down to the Club he has shown that he is fast on the water!

By Jerome 'Stuffabout' Toonen        

SABRES

Good to see Steve Rose's red Candour #1713 and Anne Gaunt (#1902) right up on the start line recently!

Bruce Lee in 'C3PO' #2042 heads the table with 2 wins and 2 seconds counting against him. Terry Gaunt Jnr in 'Scimitar' #1870 and Chris Holyday in 'Fuse' #2023 are tied in second place overall, three points behind Bruce. We have had four different heat winners in a tight contest this year. Barry Newell has had a win and a second - and is sailing fast, but two missed races will count against him now. Mimi Secco has been consistent in coming home just behind the main podium finishers. Light winds to come could see her moving closer to the top. 
It has been great to see six regular starters in the championships, including two women sailors - Mimi Secco and Anne Gaunt. Steve Rose sails when he is in town and Bruce Wood has been a visitor at times. We are expecting two Sabre visitors from a new Sabre club soon - Yanchep Sun City Yacht Club! Vince Rogers has purchased (#2144) and Wayne Hartas has bought (#1800) and they will come down in the next few weeks to sail with us.

By Chris (Fuse) Holyday


MYC SABRES FOR SALE - JOIN THE GROWING FLEET!

Sabres are always scarce in Perth. However, at present,  a choice of timber or fibreglass is available at MYC for a short time only ---- These are the best-for-value priced Sabres in Australia!
 

• Bruce Wood is selling his Sabre #1901 - a well built timber boat and good dolly for only $2,500. Contact Bruce on 0498 741 444.

• Chris Holyday has Estoile #1671 for sale to a Maylands sailor only. This is Bruce Lee's previous boat, a proven fast and competitive Botterill fibreglass hull Sabre with laminated Botterill foils, two sails and on a good dolly. Only $3,750 if sold into MYC. This boat has won a WA State Heat in the past and also has the bonus of Maylands club storage paid for this year.
  Hurry - contact Chris on 0403 328 933.

MIRRORS

Another tight start - Doug/Haro (2 Pudd #70853) and Rolna/Nick (Kalibo Express) lead the way with Duke/Glenn (Atlas) close behind in the points race.

Mirror Musings
The competition in the Mirror fleet has been heating up over the 2020/21 season with only a few points between 1st and 4th place.  Doug and Haro hold a 2 point lead ahead of Rolna and Nick in their new Mark 3 Vasco Kalibo Express. Duke currently holds 3rd place in Atlas. Seth and Mace in Twixta have been placegetters in recent heats and seem to be peaking at the right time. Connor and Lucas have shown good speed and skilful sailing to be in the mix. Callum and Andrew have also improved in Quickstep and have been in good positions during the race. Rod in Voiles Rouges (Red Sails) has been training hard and sailing well. The current fleet of Mirrors is looking very strong and competitive and should put lots of pressure on the leaders. This is the largest fleet of Mirrors for many years and we look forward to the training fleet moving into afternoon racing. Bring it on!

By Glenn (Atlas) Secco


 BRONZE FLEET

The school of Bronzies post-Xmas break have had the perfect start to launching spinnakers. The weather man has been very generous sending us 3-7 knots which has allowed the fleet to rig, pop, and gybe their spinnakers very successfully. This has allowed several windward return races to be held with different skippers being successful. We spent some time on gust response and survival when we are overpowered and under kite Andrew, Rod ,Hayden, Anna, Lucas and Finn all coped exceptionally well with all that is thrown at them. Kiah, Paddy, Julian, Vincent and Eddie are going to be excellent crews in the near future. 
The club looks forward to all of these crews presenting themselves to the start line for the next handicap event as well as the next two short course races held in the afternoon. They will all be a threat to 2 Pudd who missed the start by 30 seconds last Sunday. So the sky is the limit after a little more starting practice and some understanding of basic racing rules.

By Doug Pianta

Doug and Haro #70853 sailing in a States heat at Albany recently - Doug and Haro won that race, and were third overall in the series.

Rumour has it that Doug is looking for even more downwind speed - here is his latest experimental rig, photo courtesy David Ponton:


LASER FULL RIGS

David Ponton sailing away to yet another win ......

We have been hearing the following a lot at presentations this season:

1. David Ponton
2. Trevor Rabey

All Progressive Points scores, after worst race drop (thanks Alan Benn):


RADIO CONTROLLED SAILING

Radio Sailing on Saturday afternoons has resumed after the Christmas / Holiday period. We have been greeted with nice sea breeze conditions on some weekends and easterlies on others. Most weekends we have been welcoming between 6 and 12 boats to the starting line, which is a good number for our type of sailing.
Typically, a radio sailing afternoon comprises between 8 and 12 races, each of which takes about 10 minutes to complete. We kick off at 1.30pm and are usually finished somewhere about 4.30pm. With all those races, a bad start in one isn't the end of your afternoon! We allow 1 discard after 4 races and 2 discards after 8 races.
Radio sailing racing is fairly competitive at Maylands, but we are always looking to help improve the overall standard of the fleet. Everyone is willing to provide advice and input into the setup of others. And after the day is done, the stories in the beer circle get taller and taller!
 
By Glenn (Radio) Dawson

Mimi Secco

Commodore