Get ready for the MHYC 2022-2023 Season
With the opening of the new season less than a month away, it is time to make some plans.
The 2022-2023 Keelboat Sailing Handbook will be available in print shortly, but a digital version can be downloaded now from the website.
The overall schedule has also been posted to the web in Excel and PDF versions. The Excel can be filtered by series name or class to assist with planning. All the schedule documents and individual series Sailing Instructions can be downloaded from the racing schedule page.
The Season Notice of Race has been posted to the Keelboat Racing Noticeboard along with the Sail Past Instructions and Commodore’s Front Up! Cup Sailing Instructions for the first race of the new season on September 3.
Online entry is now open via the SailSys platform. Go to the Sailing > Online Entry on the website or click here.
MHYC Youth Sailing World Roundup
at Lake Como, Italy. Photo by Renato Tebaldi
Once again, our Middle Harbour Youth sailors have been spreading their wings in Europe and competing competitively in World Championship events. Will Wilkinson just finished top in the Bronze fleet of the Optimist Worlds in Turkey and now more of our youth sailors are making an impact on the world circuit.
49er Junior World Championships
Congratulations to both Max Paul and Jack Ferguson who came away with the silver medal at the 49er Junior World Championships on Lake Como in Italy. After a slow start they steamed home at the end and won six of the last seven races.
Max Reports “After a long week of sailing here in Lake Como we finished in second overall. Super proud of how far we have come since we teamed up in 2020, a little frustrated that we started on the back foot this week but happy to have shown what we can do over the last three days. We did all we could yesterday to close the gap, but it was a bridge too far in the end.
We will have a few days off then pack our bags to head to Canada to begin preparing for the Worlds, our last and most important event of the year.”
Also representing MHYC boat were Ryan Littlechild and Jack Hildebrand who were placed 22nd in the same 68 boat fleet.
29er World Championship
Just up the road in Barcelona, Spain were 242 boats competing in the 29er World Championships.
In the Gold fleet, Tyler Dransfield and Jamie Stodart representing MHYC were the first Australians home coming 20th overall in the gold fleet.
Also representing MHYC were Zoe and Jesse Dransfield who were placed 53rd overall and 13th in the silver fleet.
Ben Crafoord along with John Cooley were competing in the 29er worlds for the first time. They made their way up to the Bronze fleet and were placed 106th overall. Ben started out with our Opti fleet and was previously a FLYAS Award recipient.
Congratulations to all our young Youth sailors who are doing us so proud.
Julie Hodder
Picture 1 – Tyler Dransfield and Jamie Stodart at 29er Youth Worlds at Barcelona, Spain. Photo by Laura Carrau
Picture 2 - Max Paul and Jack Ferguson at the 49er Junior World Championships at Lake Como, Italy. Photo by Renato Tebaldi
Pictures 3 and 4 – Ben Crafoord and John Cooley at 29er Youth Worlds at Barcelona, Spain
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Women's Pre-Season Sailing Social
You’re invited to Middle Harbour Yacht Club's Women's Pre-Season Sailing Social.
Join us to meet some fellow female sailors, chat sailing, and learn how to get involved in different types of sailing in the upcoming season.
Date: Wednesday 17 August
Time: 6:30 - 8:30pm
Venue: MHYC Harbour View Room
Cost: $20 for members and $25 for non-members
RSVP: By Monday 15 August via TryBooking – click here
The cost includes canapes and a drink on arrival. We hope you can attend and look forward to welcoming you on August 17th!
Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race
It was a very slow start for the fleet of 61 boats in the 384 nautical mile race to the Gold Coast which got underway on Saturday. It was difficult to make progress with mainly light northerlies before the stronger, mainly NNW winds took over.
Then it was tacking all the way up the coast for the next couple of days, to take advantage of the more Westerly winds close to the shore. The strong weather conditions, the bitterly cold wind and sometimes choppy seas tested many of the boat’s gear and crews.
However on the fourth day the winds turned to the South, the sun came out and the finishes were rewarded with a beautiful kite ride to the finish.
Congratulations to the MHYC boats that made it to the finish - Gordon Ketelbey’s TP52 Zen was the 10th boat to arrive in Southport and 3rd Overall on IRC and 2nd in their division. They missed out on winning overall by 26 minutes and they were 2 min behind the second place boat after racing 384nm.
Out new Commodore Rob Aldis and Sandy Farquharson’s boat Khaleesi was 19th on line honours and 3rd on IRC Division 2 while Tempo (Michael Smith) was 21st and Flying Cloud (David Myers) 40th top cross the line.
Retired with all crew safe were Farr N Away (Graeme & Chris Lee), Highly Sprung (Mark Spring), Shearwater (Guido Belgiorno-Nettis) and Popeye (Craig Douglas).
For more news and detailed results visit https://goldcoast.cycaracing.com
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MHYC Senior Members Lunch
After a wait of 3 long years, last Sunday MHYC members who have been members of our club for 20+ years were eventually able to catch up once again.
Everyone agreed it was a fun day and the new caterers did a fantastic job providing us with a delicious 3-course meal that (currently) they had to cook at one of their other venues. I am looking forward to eating at the club again, when the new kitchen facilities open up.
As always, we present MHYC badges to those that reach another decade of membership. This had to be backdated for the last 3 years to catch up since our last Senior’s Luncheon in 2019. Next year we will also need to purchase a 70+ badge for the longest member at our club William Regan.
We recognised the 25 longest members of our club, 12 of which attended the luncheon. I was able to catch up with 3 more at the Cruising dinner function on Monday night and have inserted their photos.
We usually have a guest speaker, however this year it was a little different, we looked at historical changes to our yacht club premises since its beginning. Our Commodore, Peter Lewis gave a sneak preview of proposed future changes. A more detailed report will be presented at the AGM.
Numbers were down this year due to late notice, the ongoing COVID/Flu problem, and people escaping the cold weather, however, I feel confident that we will be back to normal next year. I really want to encourage more of our younger 20+ members (there were 45 members this year) to get involved and come along and possibly reunite with old friends.
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Would You Like More Fun With Your Yacht?
Are you like many of our members, who want to be more involved and sail more?
Christmas in July
The last MHYC Feature Race for the 2021-22 season, Christmas in July, was sailed on Saturday in a light north-westerly. It was also the finale of the Beneteau Race Series. As the breeze failed fill in as forecast, the fleet completed a shortened course.
First home in Division 1 was Jack Stening & Colin Gunn’s Stormaway, just half a boat length ahead of Georgia Express (Andy Forbes) with Contentious (Brian Lees) third.
Neil Padden’s Wailea claimed the Beneteau Division win from Farr’n Away (Graeme Lee) and Currawong (Graham Raspass). With two wins and a second place in the three race Beneteau Series, Wailea finished 6 points clear of Freedom (Steve Smith) with Farr’n Away third.
To view the Christmas in July results – click here
To view the Beneteau Race Series results – click here
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Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting was held on Wednesday 27 July in the Harbour View Room.
Life Members
Jack Stening and Neil Padden received the honour of Life Member for their long-standing service to the Club at last night’s AGM. Jack and Neil were humbled by the honour with both reflecting on the work performed by the many unsung volunteers that make the Club work.
Flag Officers
The new MHYC Flag Officers certified at the AGM and the meeting acknowledged the service to the Club of the retiring Flag Officers, Peter Lewis - Commodore, Geoff Charters - VC Racing, Evan Hodge - VC Cruising and Karen Ewels - Club Captain.
The new MHYC Flag Officers are…
Commodore - Rob Aldis
Vice Commodore Racing - Vacant
Vice Commodore Cruising - Susanna Westling
Vice Commodore Youth - Rob Sangster
Club Captain - Bryan Moore
Sprints in the Winter Sunshine
After a very gloomy couple of weeks, the sun was shining and a moderate south westerly made for some very enjoyable sailing on Saturday. Races 5 and 6 of the Winter Sprint Series were sailed from Spring Cove toward Middle Head.
Tracy Richardson and the crew of Artemis were fast out of the blocks, winning the first race from Stormaway (Jack Stening & Colin Gunn) and Dania (Peter Charteris). With Artemis retiring from the second race with a broken backstay, another Adams 10 rose to the challenge. Brian Lees’ Contentious took the win – again from Stormaway and Dania. Many thanks to RO Toby Gursanscky and the Race Management Team for some great racing.
Next Saturday, July 16, is the Christmas in July Feature Race. Let the Sailing Office know if you are sailing (spinnaker or non-spinnaker) and dig out your Santa Hat and Christmas Costume.
For the Winter Sprints Results - click here
MC38 Swish trumps Act 5
The lottery that is winter sailing in Sydney toyed with the MC38 fleet for act 5 on Sydney Harbour. At the shortened series end, Steven Proud’s Swish held the narrowest margin win over the defending team, Marcus Blackmore’s Hooligan (RPAYC).
A countback separated the top two boats and third place, Shaun Lane and Quentin Stewart’s Lazy Dog (MHYC), was one point off.
Saturday brought biting south-west to south-east winds and rain and Sunday delivered stunning winter sun - a rare sight in Sydney due to La Niña’s firm grip on eastern Australia - but only enough knots to produce a single set of scores.
Middle Harbour Yacht Club race officer Steve Tucker attempted a fifth race but had to abandon when the sou’wester dropped from six to three knots, making it impossible for the one design fleet to sail the course within the time limit.
“Even though there was a smaller number of boats than usual, the best in the fleet were out there - and it was so close,” said the winning skipper. “The guys and girls crewing did a great job and so did Steve and his team, in what were trying circumstances. We all know that holding regattas in Sydney between April and July is a lottery,” Proud added.
Several MC38s are being trucked north for Hamilton Island Race Week, the main reason for this weekend’s smaller fleet.
The full complement will reconvene for act 6 back at Middle Harbour Yacht Club over the weekend of September 17-18.
The culmination of the class’s 2022 season is the three-day Australian Championship which will be hosted by the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron November 4-6.
Lisa Ratcliff
Australian MC38 Association media
Photos by Marg Fraser-Martin
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Marina News - Storms and Mooring Lines
After a big 3 days of an East Coast low, the 3rd in as many months, the issue of mooring lines on vessels in the marina is of paramount importance to all members using the marina.
The East Coast Low earlier this week created extreme conditions on the marina. Extra mooring lines were urgently needed on several boats and quite a few lines broke and were replaced. During my forced absence, I would personally like to say a huge thank you to Staff and member volunteers who kept boats safe on the marina during the storm. David Fairclough, Steve and Nick Thorowgood, Mitch White and the OSM Team, Gus and George from Pacific Rigging and the many club members that assisted, Jack Stening, Jeremy Clarke, and Bryan Moore to name a few. Your efforts, and all others involved in keeping everything in order is much appreciated.
During the storm it became obvious that some boats do not have effective spring lines for extreme weather. There were incidences where mooring lines are UV damaged or of a substandard material or fibre and need to be replaced. Spring lines need to be as long as possible and have a certain amount of give in them to allow the boats to move without snatching, dock cleats can be adjusted to accommodate if needed and all owners or persons responsible should ensure that adequate lines and positioning of such lines is correct.
In normal sailing conditions most mooring lines are adequate, however in a storm all mooring lines need to be in the right place and strong for 3 main reasons:
- the protection of your boat
- the protection of boats around you
- Most Importantly - The safety of Club Staff and Volunteers who may need to provide additional lines to secure your boat in a storm.
This should not be under-estimated; it can be life threatening. We often work at night in these conditions ensuring the safety of vessels and the marina.
The marina is a very intimidating place to be given how much it is affected by swells and wind waves in the conditions we experience in these lows. Trying to replace lines in such conditions is almost impossible. It is with this in mind that we always try and alert berth holders when we have bad weather approaching. This is primarily to inform you that you need to be sure your vessel is safe. If you are unable to get to the vessel, please contact us and we will assist in any way we can. It’s much easier to remove a cover or put on extra lines before a storm arrives than trying to wrestle with one or the other in 45 knots.
Over the coming weeks myself and team will be conducting a check on all boats mooring lines and a request will be issued to owners where it is considered their lines need to be replaced or improved.
Owners may choose to employ the services of a rigger or purchase lines commercially. I am happy to discuss any requirements you feel necessary if you have any uncertainty about what your vessel may require.
Safely Yours
Andrew Forbes - Marina Manager