Dear Skippers and Crews of our 2011/2012 Summer Series
Another serious disappointment to all the skippers and crew intending to start in today’s Summer Series Race 3 when informed today’s race was postponed.
My concern with the increasing number of races abandoned over the last year is the impact on our enthusiasm. Race after race we prepare and then comes another let down.
A decision to abandon a race is a decision of the last resort. Protest jury’s I sit with, rake over every fact made known to them, before an abandon race decision is made. This same process was applied by the conducting yacht club race director and your association’s handicapper regarding the race 3 postponement decision.
Our Sailing Instruction clause 10 states a race on the Bay, when existing and forecast wind conditions exceed 25 knots on the Bay, will not start. This wind speed base line is safety based and has evolved from the association’s Classic Yacht sailing experience on the Bay in wind gusts and rough seas.
Below are some items that I wanted to mention after our last race of the year BBQ.
Australian Register of Historic Vessels activity.
Maybe this news is already known, but the historic importance of our Classic Yacht racing fleet continues to be recognised. The Australian Register of Historic Vessels is a process used by the Australian Maritime Museum to place on record, the importance and the contribution that individual boats have made to Australia’s maritime history.
Recently Camerons Dorroughs, “Bungoona”, was included on this register. Cameron’s detailed and comprehensive presentation of “Bungoona’s” provenance allowed the ARHV Council to make a unanimous decision for inclusion of “Bungoona” on their register. This ARHV inclusion and recognition is not easily attained. Every boat on this register is special to Australia. Congratulations to “Bungoona” and to Camerons efforts. No doubt her previous owner, our great mate “Col Bandy”, who, in his long sleep still sails in her, was a guiding spirit to bring about this recognition. Cameron’s story behind the process to have “Bungoona” included on the register is told in a great article, included the current issue of the Classic Yacht Association magazine.
The second boat of our fleet to be included on the ARHV is a yacht that until “Australia II” came along was the most celebrated racing yacht in the country. This yacht came about from a combination of the best minds of associated with Australian ocean racing to take on the rest of the world in this endeavour. The culmination of this national effort was the winning of the 1967 Admirals Cup. This yacht was the lead in design for Ben Lexan of “Australia II’s” fame and history. The ARHV Council recognise this inclusion on their register would never happened had not her current owner applied the care and effort, over his 25 years of ownership, needed to sustain a powerful ocean racer to the condition she was originally built to.
The Classic Yacht Association offers their congratulations and the Australian Maritime Museum say thank you to Martin Ryan for his sustained efforts and affection to that still premiere Australian Ocean Racing Yacht, “Mercedes III”.
A search on the ARHV website for “Bungoona” and “Mercedes III” will show the full story on the importance to Australia’s Maritime History of each yacht. A presentation of the ARHV listing documents will take place at a later date.
So when we are out there competing in our Summer and Winter series of races, our fleet is not only an eclectic showing of yachts from the Golden Era of Classic Yacht racing, we are also a fleet that is representative of Australia’s Maritime History. We now have 7 yachts from our fleet on the ARHV. On going work with the ARHV curator, David Payne, will lead to several more of our fleet being nominated for inclusion on the ARHV.
Of note as well, is the recognition the Australian Maritime Museum place on Classic Yacht Association and the assistance the association provides, in the national promotion of the Australian Register of Historic Vessels. Damian Purcell of “Scimitar” and one of our association’s executive members is a member of the ARHV council.
Some other items I wanted to mention at today’s BBQ.
The scheduled date change for the first two 2012 summer series races.
We now enter the time of the Big Sleep. To awaken us, our 2012 first race is now on Feb 5 followed by Feb 19. These date changes will allow members to participate in the New Zealand Regatta on Feb 12 and will provide a better time lead into the busy 2012 March sailing activity. Our web site calendar has been modified to show these changes. The RYCV and HBYC sailing calendars also show these date changes.
The Geelong Wooden Boat Festival.
The story I put out this week to skippers regarding the start of the Festival passage race from Portarlington has been received with no negative comments. The GWBF people have been informed of this and will shortly issue a Notice of Race. This means the Classic Yachts will race as a fleet to the festival and generally will arrive as a group. How the fleet makes the sail to Portarlington can be worked out next year.
I’ve been informed the GWBF after dinner speaker for this event is Larry Pardy of the Lyn and Larry Pardy fame.
The postponement of Race 3 has caused a logistical problem for our onshore presence at the GWBF. I had arranged for a video to be made of this race. Hopefully we can obtain copy of sufficient quality, namely lots of sailing action, in the next 2 races. The GWBF people want us to make a big splash of our fleets sailing action.
So that’s it for the year.
As you read this, after the race that never happened, you’ll have to imagine you can hear the pipes of David McKenzie of “Mercedes III” providing us the tune of Auld Lange Syne, telling us to say goodbye to the old year of 2011 and reminding our boats to look after us in the year of 2012 with the words of that great Scottish melody, “Speed bonny boat, like a bird on the wing.”
All the best to our boats, skippers and crews for the soon to be Christmas Season and New Year
Regards
Peter Costolloe
CYAA (Vic) Handicapper