Safety Beach Sailing Club NEWS 26th April 2023
What's On
Meet the Committee
Treasurer
I’m Di Allan, the Treasurer of SBSC. I moved to Dromana in July 2020, and was keen to get involved in the local community. Mem Mackie invited me to the club, and I felt this was a place where I could meet people and experience the offerings of a seachange. I learned the club was looking for a new Treasurer and with my accounting background, and ceasing full time work, was happy to take on this role.
I became Treasurer in July 2021 and have worked with the Executive Committee taking on the duties required, to meet all financial requirements. This has given me the opportunity to meet a group of likeminded people, who are all volunteering their time to give back to the community.
Things constantly change, and now I have with three granddaughters that I am looking after on a permanent basis, while their parents return to work. This requires me to drive to the Eastern suburbs and I find myself with less free time. As a result, I will be stepping down as Treasurer at the AGM in July and ask for expressions of interest for someone to take on the role. Ideally, someone who has access to a computer, as much of my time is spent updating Xero, our accounting system, and paying bills. I would be happy to chat with anyone who wants more details. Please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Rear Commodore Mutterings
Dear members,
As we approach the end of the summer season, please note that Presentation night has been locked in for the 3rd of June. Please keep an eye out in the news for further updates.
Last weekend many of our youth entered the AS Vic State Youth Championships held at SSCBC, preceded by two days of coaching. The event saw 142 competitors from around the country descend on the southern tip of the peninsula to contest what was a very disappointing regatta, through no one’s fault apart from Mother nature. She really let everyone down. Our contingent of 420’s sailed/raced a total of 20 minutes for one shortened course race which saw 7 of the 11 420’s OCS due to the strong 4knt tide, pulling the majority of the fleet over the line prematurely during U flag. That however was enough to see our sailors finish 1st, 4th and 5th respectively and was enough to see Abbey Everett and Matt Whitaker win the 420 division after AS changed the sailing instructions to allow for a 1 race series. The entire 420 Youth Squad who travelled from Sydney managed to return home with tail between their legs, with not much more than a brass razoo. It really was a big disappointment for all involved. Happily and quite incredibly, we enjoyed 5-12knts from the SE on Sunday for 2 beautiful races just 15km away from Sorrento.
This Winter the sailing committee is looking at holding a winter series for OTB to coincide with the KB Brass Monkey Series. This series will only proceed if we get volunteers to help run the races. With Geoff away, we will need an RO and 4 Volunteers each week to ensure we get all the infrastructure we need to safely run racing. If you can help please reach out to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . If no-one reaches out then this quite simply won’t happen. My aim is to run 3 races per session and invite neighboring clubs to join us to ensure viable numbers on the race course. The start time will be at 10.30am each day. The race schedule will be: Sunday June 18th Sunday July 2nd Sunday July 16th Sunday July 30th Sunday August 13th Sunday August 24th (Re-sail if Required) A reminder that there will be a skipper and crews meeting at the club this Sunday for all Keel Boat members. This will be a forum to discuss the new sailor app, MOB, Volunteers etc…… Please be at the club by 10.00am.
We are still seeking a sponsor to help with the youth training program for next year. Juniors and youth are the grass roots of our clubs future, so if you can help support our youth and are willing to sponsor the appointment of Matilda Richardson as coach for 2023/24, then please let me know. Sponsorship is $5000.00 and I’m pretty sure that’ll include membership. All and any offers will be gratefully received at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Cheers! Mono
Off The Beach News
Hi gang, just a quick one this week.
A really nice sail was had last Sunday by those that were there, about eleven SBSC boats and five visiting Javelins checking out the waters prior to us hosting their upcoming Nationals at Christmas. The wind was fairly light but better than we thought it was going to be so that was a bonus. As usual there were plenty of shifts to lure in the unsuspecting and a change of finish direction for the second race lured in the whole fleet as we all finished a lap too soon! As per the course instructions, if its an offshore wind and we change to a windward finish, it means that we sail an extra half a lap as we are going to have to sail back to shore anyway so why not add the extra leg. Simples says Geoff, but we all played follow the leader and shortened by a leg instead of lengthening after the first boat crossed the line and headed for home. Instead of disqualifying us all, Geoff said as we all sailed the same course, he would let it slide this once, but don't do it again!
Those Javelin guys have a good sense of humor too. After rounding the top mark on one leg one of the skippers fell off the back of his boat while the spinnaker was up. By the time his crew pulled up the skipper was about fifty metres back and had to swim to catch up. Just as he was about to put his hand on the transom, the boat took off and left him marooned again! I'm sure the crew had nothing to do with it either, real sure!
This week there was only one Taipan on the water and as he didn't need to follow anyone, Taipan Tony actually went around ALL the buoys. Tony also mentioned that he was sad that I didn't state in a previous Enews that he actually went around some of the buoys upside down one week and that should count for extra points.
Ok, we are getting to the pointy end of the season now, only two sailing weeks left, so if you want to get your mitts on one of those shiny trophies you had better make the most of the next two Sundays. Next week is the last round of the Club Championship series, so I'm sure the will be a flurry of last minute argy bargy for that one so pleeease get your bum in a boat and join in.
Thanks this week to our epic race team. As usual, Geoff and Deirdre in start, while in the rhibs we had Gingerbread Bill Manning, Dapper Duncan McColl, fiery Phil Woolly and mellow Muzza McNeil. They even had to rescue the start boat after the anchor chain got caught up in the prop!
That will do for this week, see you on the water next Sunday, the weather will be perfect!
Cheers, Pete Chippy
Youth States News
Last week, the 420 juniors had a cracker of a time at Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club with a two day training event and a two day regatta. For the training, the coach was oddly obsessed with the bridle and we did so many spinnaker drills that we never want to do them again. For the regatta, there was extremely patchy, light winds and a strong tide. On the Saturday, little wind meant we jumped off the pier and completed one race at sunset. On the Sunday, there were two races started and both abandoned, both of which Aurelia and Kristen were thrashing most of the fleet. The last windward mark had all but four 420s unable to go around it due to the tide! Nick and Jess managed to round the mark before the wind died off completely, leaving me to hit the mark and do penalties (literally every single regatta I have to do a penalty). This day was abandoned at around 2.30pm, yet Zac, Finn, Matt and I did not get a tow in for around an hour and were past Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron by the time they picked us up!
Overall, we completed 1 race for the regatta (the SI changed so 1 race could be a regatta) and there were eleven 420s including the Australian Youth Squad (consisting of all NSW boats):
- Aurelia and Kristen did extremely well coming 2nd for Girls Teams and 4th overall.
- Zac and Finn came 3rd in the Boys or Mixed Teams and 5th overall.
- Nick and Jess were unfortunately over the start in that race, yet they raced extremely well and were beating the Australian Youth Sailing Team the majority of the time.
- Abbey and Matt came 1st in the Boys or Mixed Teams and 1st overall. This was only because the six boats in front of us in this race were all disqualified because they were over the start, so we won the only race by luck!
Overall, it was a great adventure and I look forward to winning again in the future.
From the current Vic Youth Champion, Abbey!
Abbey and Matt - Current Vic Youth Champions!
OTB Club Championship Results and Scoring
Recently I understand there have been a few questions about the results of the Club Championship changing. About a month ago Ewan Campbell did a review of the results and we realised there was a problem with them.
For the Club Championship, because ultimately we are comparing all boats regardless of the Division they sail in against one another the scoring system has to do a bit of mathematical gymnastics to calculate a result. We have 2 courses we use for the Club Championship to cater for the different sailing characteristics of the boats in the fleet. Course 1 is a triangle and Course 2 a windward/leeward. On each of these courses Divisions sail different numbers of laps.
When Ewan and I looked at the results a month ago we realised the first couple of races had the number of laps correct for each division and that a number of races just had 1 lap for a Division which skewed the results. We therefore corrected the number of laps where they were wrong in races run to date and re-processed the results.
Geoff Eldridge
National Race Officer
First Aid Course
Hi Everyone,
The Safety Beach Coast Guard is running a 1st Aid and CPR course on Sunday 7th May starting at 8:00am and going through to 4:00pm. This is a one day course, no pre-reading required, with written and practical exams on 1st Aid / CPR/ Defibulator use with a marine focus. It is accredited by the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard Academy Registered Training Organsation.
The full day course will allow plenty of time for questions, practical demonstrations and any knowledge gaps to be addressed before participants sit the written and practical exam. The cost of the course is $175, paid at the door on the day by cash or credit card. Morning Tea and Lunch will be provided. Please bring your mobile phone as you will be encouraged to download some helpful apps.
To attend you will require a Unique Student Identifier (USI) number. The USI number is a requirement of the government and allows the provider to issue a certificare and record your qualification. To obtain a USI number please go to www.usi.gov.au. USI numbers are free.
Please RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. specifying your name, USI number and phone number.
Your trainers on the day will be Neil Thomson and Mario Cocola.
Many Thanks
Tony
Keelboat News
With light winds forecast and a lack of sailing last weekend, we saw 13 boats take to the water for the last of the Sunday Summer Series Races for the 2022-23 season which was absolutely brilliant.
As forecast, the winds were light so short courses were selected for both Div 1 and Div 2. From our viewing point in the tower, it looked like there were multiple lead changes to keep everyone on their toes and luckily we had sufficient wind to get all boats finished within the time limit, so another great day was had at SBSC.
As forecast, the winds were light so short courses were selected for both Div 1 and Div 2. From our viewing point in the tower, it looked like there were multiple lead changes to keep everyone on their toes and luckily we had sufficient wind to get all boats finished within the time limit, so another great day was had at SBSC.
As always a big thankyou to our Race Officer for the day Amanda Malin.
For all the race results and series scores please go to here. However, we would like to congratulate the following race and series winners;
Last Weeks Results:
Race 11 Results: Division 1
|
1st PHD
|
Marrakesh | Neil Hawker |
| 1st AMS | Mr Bojangles | Pauline Cleaver |
| 1st ORC | Mr Bojangles | Pauline Cleaver |
Race 11 Results: Division 2
|
1st PH
|
Rells | Mal Winder |
Series Winners:
Division 1:
|
1st PHD
|
Vamonos |
Fiona Jones
|
|
1st AMS
|
Mr Bojangles
|
Pauline Cleaver
|
|
1st ORC
|
Mr Bojangles
|
Pauline Cleaver
|
Series Winners:
Division 2
|
1st PHD
|
Rells | Mal Winder |
This Weeks Race:
Sunday 30 April – Club Championship Series (Race 10)
| First Warning Signal: | 13:25H Boat Start | |
| Race Officer: | Judy Champion | |
| Tower Assistant: | Tom McCullough |
13 Boats heading off for the last race of the Sunday Summer Series
Skipper & Crew Meeting
Sunday 30 April 2023
10.00am
SBSC (upstairs)
Please note the main purpose of this meeting is to update you all on the new Sailor App. The App will be implemented for all Keelboat Races through winter (in parallel with Top Yacht), and then ongoing into next summer season (replacing the Top Yacht system). Please download the Sailor App onto your phone prior to the meeting (iphone App example below). After this meeting you will be ‘up and running’ – all ready to use the App during the Brass Monkey Winter Series. Meeting Agenda found here.
ORCV News
70th Anniversary Apollo Bay – Saturday May 27th
"Sail in company" in the season finale Ocean Race and be part of history and join this 70th-anniversary race. This popular category 3 event is a short coastal race starting off Queenscliff and is an ideal race for those new to try ocean sailing. Stay over and enjoy Apollo Bay. https://www.orcv.org.au/apollo-bay-about-the-race
ORCV Training
Winter is a great time to build your skills and increase your knowledge. There’s a range of courses on: Navionics, fundamentals of navigation, bowman essentials, practical hands-on radio workshop and safety and sea survival courses. Click out the options here https://www.orcv.org.au/calendar/orcv-training-calendar
Double Handed & Team Racing – Sunday May 21st
The most fun you have sailing is how some see short-handed sailing. The course travels across the bay and has longer legs to allow for variety and experience when sailing short-handed. Sail as part of a team entry or as an individual boat, entries are open here https://www.orcv.org.au/double-handed-about-the-race
Keelboat Introduction to Sailing Savvy (KISS) and ORCV Supported Program
Queenscliff Cruising Yacht Club is excited to announce the second running of their successful “Keelboat Introduction to Sailing Savvy” (KISS) program is back for 2023. Buoyed by positive feedback from the graduates of the inaugural class of 2022 and with a wait list for those who missed the cap of 25 participants last year, preparation for the program is well underway with roll out from 16 May through to 26 August. https://www.orcv.org.au/club-blog/5411-2023kiss
Dredging
Dredging in the channel inside Martha Cove will commence on or about the 26th April. There will be a dredge in the channel inside from the Coast Guard boat down to the second set of pens. Pipes will be running out of the marina to pump the sand. There will also be some equipment in the rigging area for a short period of time. The dredging is expected to go on for a month but should not inhibit yachts entering and exiting the marina.
Save The Date
Club Merchandise
Club Merchandise is now ready for order. Contact Marg Fleming on her email
Photo Of The Week
David Lloyd of Berwick Jaguar Landrover (Major Sponsor of Sail Pen) captured this photo from his drone about a month ago
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