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Venue Hire Info
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Club Moorings in Pittwater
Avalon Sailing Club hold a quantity of club moorings in Pittwater, located near to our home at Avalon.
Mooring availability is currently: AVAILABLE
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ASC take 2nd and 5th in MJ States Titles
February 10/11 saw our small but enthusiastic Avalon MJ team (“Full Throttle” Quentin & Lawrence, “Stingray” David and Flynn) head up to Sunshine, Lake Macquarie for the exciting concluding round of the NSW State Titles. Following the success of the first round proudly held at Avalon (thanks again all you volunteers and Couta Boats) the boys were keen to capitalise and put in another strong performance.
Avalon Series Race #5
On Sunday it was race #5 of the Avalon Series. A total of 10 yachts ‘participated’.
Firstly, a welcome to Araluen, helmed by Ross Butler, to the Avalon series. She is a Hunter 376. She weighs in at 6.8 tonne and was ideally suited to the conditions!
“Will we or won’t we”. That was what was going through the minds of most skippers and crew. With 30 knot gusts coming through the moorings, most were apprehensive. Ten brave teams signed on. Two of them stayed on their moorings. Two headed out but didn’t start. That included Just Magic II. She had to return when a track slide broke off the top of her main. Soon after the start the news came through on the VHF that High Jinks had torn her main, and was retiring. It was carnage! Next it was Araluen. She was going well, closing in on Goldfinger at the Rp mark. Then while doing a gybe around that mark, her gooseneck broke. Oh no. That left only four yachts in the race. After finally deciding to brave the conditions, Bangalla was a bit late to the start and even then only had her main up as she crossed the start line. Liberty, helmed by Ralf Moller, set up well for the conditions, pointed high and mowed down those ahead of her to take out victory. Goldfinger, helmed by Jan Evans, also did well in the conditions to take out 2nd spot. In the end, the BOM called it well with their forecast of 20-30kt, easing later in the afternoon. Just as it was time to return to the moorings, the wind did ease!
Retriever Race #4 and Couta Boat Race #2 Results
At ASC last Sunday we raced race #4 of Retriever and race #2 of the Couta Boats. A total of 10 yachts participated.
It was good to have the Couta Boats sailing with us again. They headed off 11 minutes before the remainder of the fleet, helping the yachts behind them to identify the best side to reach the first mark. In the end, however, the breeze died at Tp, and the yachts struggled to even turn around the mark when they eventually got there! The wind remained light most of the way on the next leg to Sp. Resurgent was the first to pick up the southerly breeze and she nearly caught the early front runner Wimmera. The Couta Boats also seemed to spend a long time getting to Sp, waiting for the breeze to reach them. From then on the breeze held and it was a nice day on the water. On the way back up to Tp, Wimmera, helmed by Glenn Barnes, clung to the western shore line and found good breeze and a nice lift as she came past Longnose Point. She held on to that lead for the rest of the race to take out both scratch and handicap. Bangalla took out 2nd place in both. The Coutas had a very close race, with less than 2 minutes separating the fleet. Cariad, helmed by James George, took out scratch. The winner on handicap, by only 9 seconds of corrected time, was Kathleen Mary, helmed by Kelly Holder.
Koolong and Blue Water Shield Race #4 Results
Last Sunday it was race #4 of the Koolong and the Blue Water Shield. A total of nine yachts participated.
It was a perfect day for sailing in the steady east-nor’easter. Those in the Koolong were kept busy with spinnaker work on the four downwind legs. Generally the left side paid on the way upwind with lifts off the shoreline. Resurgent got off to a good start, but Bangalla took her opportunity when on the first downwind leg Resurgent headed to Rp instead of T. Bangalla extended that lead to take out 1st place on scratch. High Jinks, with Barry Black back behind the tiller, took out the win on handicap. In the BWS, it was very tight with only two minutes of corrected time separating the top four yachts. Despite not flying her kite, Diablo, helmed by Jean Cross, did the best and she took out 1st place on handicap. First place on scratch was Element, helmed by Rob Slack.
Pittwater Australia Day Regatta Results
On Friday it was the Pittwater Australia Day Regatta race. A total of nineteen yachts participated.
The light breeze provided pleasant if sometimes frustrating sailing. With the wind turning east, a late decision was made to sail course #9. Division 2 (spinnaker) & Division 3 (non-spinnaker) started together and were combined for the results. Revolver helmed by Michael Ritchie shot off and was never again seen by the rest of the fleet (except when going the other way!). She won easily, with the lowest elapsed time for the 2nd year in a row. In second place on scratch was Force 8, helmed by Peter Gale. Rounding out the fleet was Cygnet. She was helmed by her yacht designer Will Hardcastle, who also contributed to the design of the first place yacht, Revolver! At the top of the table for handicap was The Green Boat, an Elliott 7 from RPAYC. She was helmed by the team of Rod Tanks and Katherin Booth. In second place was Free Spirit, an Eastcoast 31 from PBYC, helmed by John Buggy. Norm and Wendy Field will be glad to hear that third place was taken by Young Generation, with David Tallis on the helm. Division 4 (wooden boats) was won on scratch by Antares, helmed by Martin Cross. The handicap winner was Cariad, helmed by ASC’s own James George.
Australia Day Regatta
Avalon Sailing Club are proud to again host the Australia Day Regatta on Pittwater. A cordial invitation is extended to owners of all yachts - including centreboard classes, one-design keelboats, gaff-rigged and classic yachts plus multihull yachts, to enter the oldest continuously conducted sailing regatta in the world on Australia Day, Friday 26th January 2018.
Quartet Bowl Race #5 Results
Last Sunday is was the Quartet Bowl Race #5. A total of eleven yachts participated.
It was a fast race. The race was handicapped for a ‘slowboat’ of 185 minutes. In the last ten races the median is 183 minutes and the mean 188 minutes. Goldfinder helmed by Jan Evans, previously known as the ‘slowboat’, was finished in 126 minutes! She was heard to be on her mooring and packed up, well before some of the ‘fast boats’ had even finished. Laura, helmed by Jonathon Knox, continued her strong recent performances with a well sailed 2nd place. Beau Soleil, helmed by Bob Batchelor, also had a strong showing to finish in third spot. Down the back of the field there was plenty of carnage.
Crew's Race Results
On Sunday is was the Crew’s Race. A total of seven yachts participated.
Well, what a race. In the 40 degrees of heat, and with sons and daughters and even a Tahitian backpacker on the helm anything was possible! It is called the Crew’s Race, but it should have been known as the Navigator’s race. Finding your away around the holes on Pittwater and sailing in breeze was what made the difference. Often boats less than 20m apart were sailing in a different breeze. Overall, it was a pretty good and contested start for a Crew’s Race. It remained close upfront until the second ‘S’ rounding when Chaos Theory, helmed by Brett Stapleton, sneaked through on the right shoreline picking up a strong breeze out of Careel Bay. Meanwhile, other yachts watched on whilst stationary. By the last time around ‘S’, Chaos Theory had a big lead of around 1.0 nm. She too, however, found a huge hole on the way back to the finish line. Just Magic II, helmed by Jodi Moore, took the wide right route, found some pressure, and nearly caught up to Chaos Theory, with less than a boat length separating the yachts at the finish. Handicap honours in the Crew’s Race also went to Brett Stapleton as the helm of Chaos Theory. Well done, especially as Brett decided to sweat out a 3-day flu!
Amended Sailing Instructions for Yachts
With Couta Boats joining us for sailing on Sundays, please find link SI to the amended Sailing Instructions. These Sailing Instructions are effective from 30 November 2017.
The key changes are:
• For scratch starts in Koolong and Retriever, Couta Boats to sail under Division 3, number 3 pennant in a separate scratch start (at 12:45pm first signal, subject to postponement), using the same course as rest of fleet.
• For handicap starts for Avalon, Quartet Bowl and Winter Series, Couta Boats to sail under Division 1 with all of the other yachts.
• Rule 44.1 applies without amendment when sailing in Division 1. For Division 3 only, rule 44.1 is amended with part penalty turns if taken voluntarily (this will only apply to Couta Boats in Division 3 of Retriever and Koolong)
• Eligibility to race requirements have been added with clauses 2.2 and 2.3 in SI
Yacht Sailing Instructions (as amended Nov 2017)
Please note, as set out in amended SI, that the Division 3 will start before Division 1.
MJ State Titles - Round 1 Report
23 Nov: MJ's - NEW updated photo link on page
Wow! A HUGE weekend at Avalon Sailing Club. In its 57th consecutive year the Manly Junior State Titles drew boats from Wauchope through to Port Kembla with seven clubs represented. 72 enthusiastic sailors, 50 ASC volunteers and well over 200 people filling the deck set the scene for a fabulous weekend of sailing and having fun on and off the water.
With a forecast easterly of 6-8 knots all fingers were crossed for breeze as Saturday morning turned on blue skies and crystal clear water. With many helping hands from the MJ, F11 and ASC yachting fleets it wasn’t long before all competitors had wriggled their boats onto the rigging deck, the BBQ was running and Col Chidgey, our Race Officer, calling the briefing. Lunch done, green flag hoisted and 20 open boats and 16 novice boats took to the water.