Weekly Newspaper Article

By Bill Arthur

Sailing Report 10th November 2008

Sailing Report 20th October 2008

Sailing Report 13th October 2008

Sailing Report 7th September 2008 ( By Bill Arthur)

Sailing report Sat 8th March 2008

It was almost a repeat of last week on Lake Albert on Saturday 8th March – light winds, predominantly from the north-east but, as usual, swinging about a fair bit.

When the winds are light, the skill of sailing successfully changes a great deal, and it might be this special skill developed over years that has led Wagga Wagga to produce so many sailing champions over the years – all Australian sailors suffer light breezes from time to time, but in Wagga, particularly on Saturday afternoons around 2.30, it’s almost a tradition that previously strident winds fall away to almost nothing after the five-minute warning gun is fired prior to racing.

It is possible for a well-tuned sailing craft to continue sailing even when there is no perceptible breeze, though to do so requires intense concentration, and complete still ness both inside the boat and outside, on the surface of the Lake. The trick , or part of it, is to heel the boat so that the weight of the sails take up the shape of a sail full of wind, the aerofoil shape that drives sailing boats and keeps aeroplanes aloft.

The level in the Lake is so low that our friends the water-skiers are not allowed on the water because of the danger of striking an sand-bank, or accidents causing skiers to drive into the bottom of the lake… which leaves the Lake in its almost-natural condition – no wine? Then no waves. And so all conditions for sailing in zephyrs are there if the skipper has the wit to use them.

Nine boats again took the water, including Tony Henderson who’s Explorer, keel-plate freed after last week’s debacle.

Three laps of a triangular course were finally reduced to two, which was to be expected under the light conditions, and a great deal of relative position-changes were the feature of the day. At no time were the majority of the fleet completely becalmed, and a good deal of experience was gathered during the day.

1st was the Club Mirror Red Rover, (skipper Michel Dignand). Second was Trevor Jamieson in Elky J, and third was Cherill Zoutendyke, on her Wind Surfer Comet, who, it was said, also served (Milton).

More small-boat sailing next week, so now is your chance to learn.

Sailing report Sat 1st March 2008
On days when there is no formal racing, informal racing in sailboats can be great fun. That’s the way it was on Saturday 1st of March.

It was a cool day, you’ll remember, with a brilliant blue sky and gentle breezes from roughly north to north east… at least that’s the way it was at the start of the racing as 10 crews prepared their boats.

Tony Henderson found well before the start that he had a rope jammed up in the centre-board box, and try as he might he could not shift it, and that consequently he wouldn’t be able to sail.

The other nine crews headed for the start line expecting a headwind all the way down to the first mark, but seconds before the starting gun the wind changed its mind and suddenly blew from behind, allowing a few a lucky start and leaving the rest fifty metres behind, which was pretty much the position all the way down the lake until another sudden shift of wind favoured a different group, and changed the order of sailing.

Surprisingly, though, the fleet tended to sail on in one group, despite the fact that the potential speeds of the different boats varied greatly. When the breeze stiffened the faster boats leapt ahead, the Hobie and two corsairs, and, to some degree, the Hartley; but when the short-lived breeze softened again, the smaller, lighter boats crept back into contention

There were three new sailors in the fleet this week, with each of the three helping out as crew on different boats; two went on the club Corsairs, where an extra hand is an advantage if the wind-force increases. The third newcomer sailed in the Denniss, where unfortunately the extra weight wasn’t such an advantage. Newcomers, even those with no prior knowledge of sailing, can usually find someone to take them on as crew for the afternoon.

With the wind gradually reducing, the course was shortened from three laps down to two, and the fleet began to split up a little, and to allow little mini-races between similarly-classed boats.

The results were interesting, remembering that the whole fleet sailed as one class, while handicapping between types of boats persisted: first over the line came last on corrected time, while the second-to last over the line became triumphal first on handicap, and by a considerable margin.

So first was Jake Clayton and his brother, sailing Wave Rider, the smallest boat in the fleet – not the first time they have triumphed in this manner. Second was Michel Dignand in the Club Mirror Red Rover. Third was Dennis Davis and his trusty crew in the club Corsair Mud Lark.

But most importantly we all had a great deal of fun.
Newcomers welcome next week, too.

Sailing report, Saturday 23 Feb, 2008

It’s been a long time since Wagga Wagga Boat Club were able to hold a sailing race on Lake Albert; first there was the weed which infested the lake, stopping boats in their tracks, then there was the blue-green algae which caused WWCC to close the lake to all water-borne activities.

I guess it took some of the region’s sailors by surprise when Lake Albert was finally opened again for sailing only last Friday…

But what a day it turned out to be. Cool but fine, with a good breeze steady from the SW, varying only fifteen degrees or so in direction, and a decent force four on the old Beaufort scale, dropping occasionally to force three. You don’t get many better days for a sail in small boats.

Brushing away the red backs from a small but eagre fleet, and greeting faces not seen since last year, six boats assembled at the starting line, crewed by some unusual combinations: Glen Ross and David Neil joined forces for the afternoon on David’s TS 16 Blew; Denis Davis left his Paper Tiger on shore and joined Di Lippiatt in the Club Corsair Mud Lark, while Charles Oliver skippered the other Club Corsair Iceberg with Michel Dignand on the foredeck.

Cal Lippiatt sailed his Paper Tiger, Purrfection, and Rohan Nichol sailed Pu Foo, while Jon Clayton took Zamo, his Hobie 14, through her paces.

The race was a very casual and friendly affair, with Race Official and safety-boat driver Doug Gilson acting in all modes including race timer, and with a good and favourable breeze there was plenty of opportunity to compare sailing skills… amongst other things, which we’ll get to later.

The cats roared away and had a hell of a time, spray flying and sheets straining as they flew over the almost flat water, one of the benefits of sailing without motor-boats chopping the surface into haphazard waves.

The TS 16 was sailed very well with the two skilled skippers putting their heads together, and the two Corsairs battled it out neck and neck, first one in the lead, then the other.

It became clear, though, that ‘Iceberg’ was gradually slowing, and though Charles Oliver racked his brains to find a tactic that would return his lead, Mud Lark slowly  pulled ahead. With one leg to go, Iceberg rounded the penultimate mark 300 metres behind Mud Lark; in a last desperate attempt to pull glory from the brink of despair, Iceberg pulled out all the stops, sailing as close to the wind as a Corsair ever did, and gradually crept up on the leading boat. 20 metres before the finishing line both Corsairs tacked, Mud Lark heading for the line with the slightest of leads.

But as ‘Iceberg’ turned in pursuit, she suddenly stopped sailing and simply sank!

Sailboats have built-in buoyancy, and no boat should ever sink so low; but laughing like loons, the crew of Iceberg realized at last why she had sailed slower and slower as the race went on. In the most elementary of mistakes, someone had forgotten to put the plug in the buoyancy tanks.

A great day’s sailing which contained everything, including a good laugh all round.

Results: 1st, Rohan Nichol; 2nd David Neil and Glenn Ross; 3rd, Di Lippiatt and Denis Davis; 4th Jon Clayton; 5th, Cal Lippiatt. Charles and Michel were awarded the Submariner’s Trophy.

Sailing Report 21/1/08 (By Bill Arthur)

good rain over the weekend has seen some good inflows into Lake Albert.  I am not sure of how much water has flowed in.  However both the creeks at the southern end of Lake Albert were flowing at 4.30 p.m. on Sunday.

 The

The inflow of water will help kill off the Blue Green Algae problem and hopefully Sailing will be able to resume in the near future.

 

In the mean time Wagga Wagga Sailors are still doing some travelling away to enjoy their chosen sport.  Rohan Nicol and Garry Williams will be travelling to Lake Illawarra over the Australia Day Long Weekend to take part in the Paper Tiger New South Wales Championships  Garry's son Greg is the defending Champion.  However he is no longer resident in New South Wales and will surrender his title .  Don't be surprised if Garry comes up with a win.  He has a fire in his belly after a disappointing Australian Championships that were badly affected by extreme weather and controversial Race Committee Decisions.

 

Mark Hillis is taking his Magic 24 sports boat down to Skandia Race Week at Geelong on Port Phillip Bay to do battle with some of Australia's top sports boats.  Included in Marks crew will be Daniel McDonnell and Mark Rapley.  They will certainly get in some very good sailing over the week of races.

 

Keep an eye on the Wagga Boat Club we site for news of the possible resumption of sailing.  If you are on Trevor's Email list you will get a message.

Sailing Report 15/1/08 (By Bill Arthur)

Another Wagga Wagga Sailing team travelled to their Australian Championships over the Christmas break.  Glenn Ross and his son took their TS 16 Didgeridoo to Adelaide to sail in the Australian TS 16 championships.  They compete in a fleet of 30 plus boats and achieved a great result of finishing 15th overalll in both the scratch and  the handicap results.

 

The Fatter and Son team went to Adelaide with only one or two races under their belts for the Current sailing season.    The low level and weeding up of lake Albert severely hindering their preparation.

 

Talking of Lake Albert.  Over the Christmas New Year period the red weed that had been chocking the lake ran its course and died leaving the Lake Clear of weeds.  The depth is still low,   But sailing in smaller craft with shallow draft is certainly very possible.

 

Last Saturday a short course event was run.   The results are as follows.

 

Rory Pratt had a well deserved win in his Vagabond Dinghy.  Rory has shown some good improvement over the  past months.  Second was the ever green Cherril Zoutendyk who ably assisted by husband Johan piloted the corsair Dinghy .  Trevor Jamieson was able to find enough water depth to sail his Dennis 500 trailer sailor into third .

 

Denis Davis got the second of the Club owned Corsair dinghies home into 4th place  ahead of a well sailed TS 16 skippered by David Neal.

 

Whilst the Lake level is still very low there will be sailing for those craft that have a shallow enough draft to safely navigate the waters of the Lake.

Sailing Report 25.11.07 (BY Bill Arthur)

Not Lake Albert, Lake Weed.

It was a case of Weed 49, Sailors 51 last Saturday as the Wagga Wagga Boat Club Sailors battled the falling lake levels and the increasing weed infestation of Lake Albert to enjoy their Club race.

With a light variable North easterly breeze blowing there was enough breeze to keep the fleet moving.  But it was of vital importance to avoid the ever increasing clumps of weed as the fleet played dodgems with the weed.  This added(?) a new dimension to the sport of sailing.  So much so that the consensus of opinion after the race was that the Handicap and Championship programs be suspended until the weed dies off and the Lake water levels rise to a better level.

 

Novelty or Club races will be conducted where enough boats are prepared to battle the weeds.

 

Results from last Saturdays race where the fleet was combined into one division saw Glenn Ross on a sailboard first on corrected time followed by Garry Williams and Dennis Davis on "Mudlark" the club corsair with DamienCandusso on his sailboard third.

 

Looking further ahead, Garry Williams and Glenn Ross are preparing to Represent Wagga Wagga at their respective National Championships.  Garry will travel to Hervy Bay to contest the Paper Tiger Australian Titles whilst Glenn will head west to Adelaide to contest the TS 16 championships.  As well Paul Samuelson will Head off to Hobart on Boxing Day aboard "She" in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race.

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Sailing report 17.11.07

Championship race # 7 for 2007/2008 was sailed on Saturday 17th November in conditions that sometimes resembled the average Sydney to Hobart race…

With the whole fleet starting together, skippers had to keep a close eye on things as they approached the line, particularly with the wind was rising rapidly under a huge black thundercloud. Michel Dignand had a brilliant start in the club Mirror ‘Red Rover’, hurtling across the line in marvellous form, stop-watch in hand, sailing clear from the best possible position, and no other boat within a cooee… it took him a while to realise that he had crossed the line a full minute ahead of time!

But attention was immediately drawn to the chaos that arose when Glen Ross in Didgeridoo, quite legally, snuck into the windward position on the line, causing the boats to leeward to luff up, stall, run backwards into following boats, ride up onto the decks of smaller boats and in one case, ram a length of aluminium through the hull of Tony Henderson’s ‘Shot N Sprung’, turning his boat’s name from a humorous quip to a prophesy.

While skippers were disentangling and clearing the decks a vicious squall from the southwest rocketed across the lake, causing further confusion and a few casualties in the form of capsizes… all classes of boats suffered at least one knockdown, and the majority of the survivors were left struggling to stay upright, sheets flying, sails cracking like whips.

These conditions persisted for most of the afternoon, easing from time to time, then returning full blast at the least profitable moment. A day when everyone learned a thing or two.

In Division A, Garry Williams in ‘Characin 3’ beat Kerry Spalding in ‘Bobby Dazzler’, while Jon Clayton retired his Hobie 14 ‘Zamo’ to rescue his sons in ‘Wave-Rider’, the smallest boat in the fleet.

In Division C, Meredith Oliver ably coached her father to a win in the club Mirror ‘CU’ , followed by single-handers Glenn Ross in ‘Didgeridoo’, then Michel Dignand in ‘Red Rover’, both of who had difficulty in surviving the squalls.

D Division saw Cherril Zoutendyk once again take first place in the club Corsair ‘Iceberg’.

Next Saturday, a novelty race will be held at the usual starting time of 2.30, rather than the advertised night-race.

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Sailing report 10.11.07

Championship race # 6 for 2007/2008 was sailed on Saturday 10th November in a pretty god breeze for most of the afternoon. In fact, it was almost a repeat of the weather experienced last week, except that it was predominantly from the south rather than from the north.

The continuing lack of decent rain has finally sounded the death-knell for B Division, which is largely comprised of the trailer sailers – this is a term used to describe the bigger boats, but still small enough to be carried on a trailer. Generally they have some sort of fixed keel, and a second retractable keel.
Lake Albert is now too shallow and weed-filled to allow these boats to sail without constantly running aground.

The second problem at the moment is the increasing weed, which has a nasty habit of catching on centre-boards and slowing boats to nothing. In fact, running into a large clump of weed, often invisible in the murky waters, is very much like running aground.

So B Division has been terminated, and a new D Division created made up of the B boats that can still sail – the two club-owned Corsairs and a few other privately owned boats.

So the results this week were as follows:

A Division, all Paper Tigers this week, saw Garry Williams win in ‘Characin 3’, with Bill Arthur second in ‘Johnson’s Aeroplane’ and Kerry Spalding third in ‘Bobby Dazzler’.

C Division saw a sparkling effort from Rory Pratt in ‘Blue Streak’, who led from the start and gradually increased his lead so smoothly he was almost out of sight of the other boats. Trevor Jamieson, David Neil and Michel Dignand battled it out for second place, with Michel Dignand in ‘Red Rover’ pipping the others at the post. Third place went to Trevor Jamieson in ‘Elky J’.

The new D Division ran its first race with just three boats taking part. The two Corsairs ‘Iceberg’ and ‘Mudlark’ are club boats, and can be sailed by any members free of charge on a first-come-first served basis. We also have a number of other boats available to members, which is a pretty good deal consider annual membership is only $10. Cameron Fitzgerald sailed ‘Mud Lark’ very well to leave ‘Iceberg’, skippered by Cherril Zoutendyk, in her wake. Third, badly effected by the bottom of the lake, was the trailer sailor ‘Ringleader’ with Col Boyland at the helm.

All in all, it was the sort of day where if you were in the right spot you could strike it lucky with an advantageous breeze; and if you were very unlucky everyone else would get the breeze leaving you scratching your head.

Sailing Report 4/11/07

Because of the low water it was decided not to hold the passage race that had been programmed. Instead, it was decided to hold a novelty race consisting of a number of triangles round the buoy.

It was a blustery afternoon and threatening rain, but that didn’t stop the nine sailing boats from competing. Five catamarans sailed, three of them Paper Tigers, one Hobie 14 and a Maricat 4.3, but it was no surprise to learn that Garry Williams in ‘Characin 3’
took the honors, followed by Rohan Nichol in ‘Pu Foo’
and Bill Arthur in ‘Johnsons Aeroplane’, an order of honours that could almost be taken for granted.

Cherril Zoutendyk sailed ‘Iceberg’ to first place in B Division, and though she was the only entrant in that Division, her position on corrected time would have given her 2nd place overall if all the yachts had sailed in one division.

David Neil in the Hartley 16 ‘Blew’ took first place in C Division, with Trevor Jamieson in the Dennis TS500 ‘Elky J’ placed second and Zac Anderson in the Mini Cat ‘Zac-a Tac’ ran third.

Next Saturday should see race # 6 of the Summer Championship take place, weather and depth of water permitting.

 

The Cock of the Lake series is a series of three races that are held throughout the sailing season.  In this event the entire fleet sail the same course, no matter how fast or slow they may be.

 

The times of the finishers are calculated according to performance data established by the Victorian Yachting Council .  The boat with the lowest corrected time wins the race.

 

Last Saturday's Westerly breeze that came in at a maximum of around 15 Knots over Lake Albert made for some very fast and keen sailing.  The conditions suited the Paper Tiger Catamarans to a tee.  The three top Tigers in the Club staged a race long duel finishing within three minutes of one another.  After the results had been Calculated it was Garry Williams ahead of Rohan Nicol with Kerry Spalding third.

 

an minute or so away in 4th place was one of the slowest boats in the fleet.  Tony Henderson's Trailer Sailor "Shot and Sprung" .  They sailed the heir boat right to its handicap to be the first mono hull on corrected time.  Joining Tony and his son on Shot and Sprung for the day was former Wagga Wagga Sailor Charles Webb Wagg who was on a quick visit to Wagga Wagga.  He turned up at the Boat Club at race start time and found himself on the crew.

 

Col Boylan made an appearance on the water with his RL24 and took out 5th place in the event.  Good to see Cols RL24 on the water again this season.

 

Next weekend will see the next heat of the Club Championships sailed.

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Sailing Report 23/9/07 (BY Bill Arthur)

Heat two of the Wagga Wagga Boat Club's Championship series was sailed last Saturday.  Twelve sailing craft took to the water to do battle with  light to very light north west to westerly breeze

 

Although the light winds made for some very slow sailing there were some great performances.

 

Special mention to the C division fleet who persisted completed there course.  In the end Trevor Jamieson was first home in "Elky J"just holding out Greg Hodges in the Mirror Dinghy "Demolition Vamp" by a mere seconds on corrected time.  Greg is a product of last years learn to sail classes.  He handled the difficult sailing conditions well.

 

In B Division sailboarder Damian Candusso had a comfortably victory over Cherrill and Johan Zoutendyk in the Club Corsiar dinghy.  Damians ability to pump his big sail in the light conditions made the difference.

 

A Division saw Garry Williams have the biggest winning margin in his Paper Tiger catamaran "Characin 111"..  After rounding the first mark just in the lead Garry built on his advantage to finish nearly 27 minutes ahead of Dennis Davis "Pondscum" who was a further 5 minutes ahead of Bill Arthur;s "Johnsons Aeroplane"

 

Garry Williams along with Rohan Nicol travelled to Concord/Ryde Sailing Club in Sydney the previous weekend to contest the first round of the Paper Tiger Travellers pointscore series.  After not even being able to start the first race, Garry went on to win the regatta with Rohan finishing 5th in the hot 12 boat fleet.

 

Next weekends sailing will start at 2.30 p.m. or when starter Doug Gilson decides.  The racing will be a series of short course races.  These events sharpen up starting skills and boat handling skills.

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Sailing Report 18/9/07

Firstly, the missing results for the Passage Race held on 8th Sept:

Only two Catamarans completed the race, with Jon Clayton on the Hobie 14 'Zamo' taking the race with nearly six minutes to spare from Greg Williams sailing his Tornado 'Ten Bears'.

5 yachts raced in Class B: Geof White skippered his Ross 650 'Hailstorm', triumphing in a very tight race with Danny Fitzgerald's Elliot 5.9 'Serious Fun'.
Third was D Candusso on his sailboard.

These results were delayed in what is usually described as 'A technical hitch beyond our control'.

This week saw 3 classes represented: Two Paper Tigers competed in Class A, with Bill Arthur on 'Johnson's Aeroplane taking the honours from Denis Davis'
'Pondskum' (how Denis expects a boat to do well with a name like that is quite beyond me, but there... it takes all sorts)..

Class B was dominated by Don Pembleton in his RL24 'Peer Gynt', with Geof White on 'Hailstorm' 2nd, and James Lindsay 3rd on 'Chaos'.

Class C started well but dissolved into a comedy of
errors: Tony Henderson sailed very well to take the race with nearly a kilometre lead after a lucky windshift saw him home before the breeze died to the slightest zephyr, leaving rookie skipper Lachlan Wright on the Mirror 'Red Roar', Trevor Jamieson on 'Elky J' and Jake Clayton on Wave Rider to cross the line in that order some time later; unfortunately all three were disqualified for crossing on the wrong side of the buoy!

Sailing Report 11/9/07

While Saturday dawned fine and quiet, the breeze gently firmed until by the start of racing at 2.30 a small but keen band of sailors were looking forward to the promise of a reasonable day's sailing.

Wagga Wagga is famous for producing a long line of sailing champions at State, National and International level, and it has been suggested over the years that the key, other than simply coming from Wagga Wagga, might lie in the valuable training we regularly receive in mastering the art of sailing efficiently in light and flukey airs: and so it was on Saturday.

The course this week differed from the usual 'round the buoys' sailing that is the usual fare of club sailing; this week, as it will on three other occasions during the year, the club sailed a 'passage race'.

Designed to emulate a realistic journey, a passage race uses the whole of the lake, sailing a figure-of-eight course along the northern bank, then diagonally down to the southern end, across the foot of the lake and back to the club house.

Only two classes of yachts sailed 2 laps of this course, A class being the multihulls, B class being the faster of the larger boats. Class C, the smaller dinghies and some of the cruising yachts, had no representatives this week.

The last report received was that Danny Fitzgerald left the others bobbing in the wake of his Elliot 7, Serious Fun.

Next week is race 2 of the Summer Competition - a 2.30 start as usual.

Use a club boat if you don't have one of your own!

Sailing report 1.09.07

A beautiful day for the first race of the 2007/08 series, clear blue skies and a forecast of a gentle 5 kph breeze from the west. Lots of other sailors obviously thought so too, for one of the largest fleets of the year set out for the starting line on Lake Albert on Saturday afternoon.

Or maybe, with the waterline being at more or less the same level as at the end of the last sailing season, skippers were keen to get in as much racing as possible before evaporation and the continuing drought brings sailing to a halt until the next rainy season.

Thirteen boats competed in three classes, but as sometimes happens at this time of the year the breezes slowly fell away to nothing, leaving the catamarans, Class A, including Paper Tiger champion Greg Williams on his new Olympic class Tornado "10 Bears" (soon to undergo a name-change to "Two Tigers", if rumours are to be believed), drifting to a halt in the early-evening airs. None of the three catamarans completed the course.

Class B saw the Laser "Chaos" with James Lindsay at the helm triumph after just over 2 hours on the water.
Second on corrected time was Cameron Fitzgerald in the Club Corsair "Mud Lark", and third was David Box in the
505 "Whale Tail".

Class C saw a close-run race with the diminutive Manly Junior "Wave Rider" skippered by the even tinier Jake Clayton taking the lead, followed by the two Club Mirrors "Red Roar" and "Demolition Vamp" helmed respectively by Cherril Zoutendyke and Greg Hodges.

Next week sees the first of four Passage races, a series spread over the whole season.

Did you know you don’t have to own a boat to sail with the club? Members can sail any of the club boats on a ‘first come, first served’ basis… more information from Michel Dignand on 0428974428, or from the club website: www.waggaboatclub.com.