Thursday, 28th February 2019

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Feature article in this edition - read about an

incredible voyage organised by David Ponton from Fremantle to Guildford in the

footsteps of Captain James Stirling.

See Messing About in Mirrors below.

Also in this newsletter, don't miss:

1. City of Bayswater Regatta - 10th March, full details

2. Tackers Tales - some great photos

3. RC sailors - Gold Coast National Champs Report

4. Upcoming Events Notices

CITY OF BAYSWATER REGATTA -

SUNDAY 10TH MARCH 2019

(NOTE: NO RACING OR TRAINING

THIS LONG WEEKEND)

Maylands Yacht Club will host the 2019 City of Bayswater Regatta on 10th

March on the Swan River in front of the Maylands Clubhouse on East Street,

Maylands.

The schedule for the day will be:

9:45am Official Opening and Welcome.

10:00am sign on and race briefing

10:30am Race 1 Start (in the order Mixed Fleet; Sabre; Laser; Hartley)

2:00pm Race 2 Start (in the order Mixed Fleet; Sabre; Laser; Hartley)

3:30pm approx racing completed

4:30pm Presentations;

Food and refreshments will be available

The course map will be shown during sign-on.

Racing will be held on a course in front of the Maylands clubhouse. There are

good vantage points to watch the racing from the jetty, the clubhouse and the

foreshore.

Cash prizes will be awarded in each class for first and second places plus a

surprise placing (“Splash for Cash”).

Cash prizes will be awarded for the first and second novice (those who started

racing this season).

There will be an additional prize for the overall first over the line sailor who

successfully retrieves the pennant from the finishing buoy (“Dash for Cash”).

Once racing is complete there will be presentations in the clubhouse, with food

and refreshments (no charge for food, and drinks can be purchased at the bar).

ALL MEMBERS ARE REQUESTED TO ATTEND AND SUPPORT YOUR

CLUB IN THIS IMPORTANT EVENT.

Many thanks to our sponsors:

City of Bayswater, and

CSA Global for sponsoring Full Turtle and the club shirts.

Steve Rose

Commodore

TACKERS TALES

Having completed the skills set for the Basic Sailing 2 Certificate course the

LTS group has been working on acquiring some racing skills. One of the very

important moments of any race is when the hooter sounds and the class flag

drops to start a race. The first boats across the line have the best chance of

catching undisturbed wind and of holding a front position. Beginning with a

three minute countdown we have now progressed to the standard five minute

routine that will be used at the City of Bayswater Regatta. To have a boat a long

way from the startline at the start is now an unusual event for the group –

something that is often lacking in the afternoon racing fleets.

Short races around a triangular course have necessitated tacking, gybing and

reaching, sometimes running. In almost all cases the group manages these

points of sail with skill and confidence in both light and strong breezes.

Some of the group currently demonstrates sailing capacity that would allow

them to quite easily manage afternoon racing. Andrew Bickley and his son

Callum form one such team, Kapani Cleave and Max Barsley another. Luke

Koay and friend Lucas Yang and Evan and Daniel McKay also make good

teams.

Andrew and Callum

Evidence of Kapani’s enthusiasm is clear – he is the proud owner of a lovely

Mirror dinghy. Congratulations Kapani!

Kapani (crew) and Max (skipper)

Other members of the group are showing interest in sailing Minnows – Nick

Winterbourne and Ben Maine are both showing growing confidence in these

boats and having good fun in them.

BRONZIES

The Bronze Fleet members have been working on the use of a spinnaker on the

Mirror dinghies. It has been a delight to have witnessed their obvious success

when we have seen a number of them with spinnakers set perfectly running

down from Bunbury Bridge and then reaching across in front of the Club. Well

done all and well done Doug Pianta for getting them to this point.

Matt and Olivia

We have been blessed this season with the continuing help of Andrew Carter

and Brendan Maine in sourcing the food materials for the wonderful BBQ

lunches we have available at the end of each session. Thanks too to Brett

Barsley for his help, with Brendan and others in doing the cooking.

Ken, Alan, Andrew, Bob, Doug, Jerome, Les & Nathan

MESSING ABOUT IN MIRRORS

(Or Mirror Madness as mentioned by one of the intrepid explorers)

In an effort to relive some childhood memories and to experience the pleasure

of exploring the Swan in small boats, six hardy sailors gathered on a beach

near Fremantle.

Inspired by Nick Burningham’s delightful book “Messing About in Earnest” we

prepared to navigate the Swan River to the limits of the craft and our

enthusiasm.

Although the voyage was not officially a MYC event we are very grateful for the

support of the Commodore and the general membership.

Ken, Jerome and David left the tranquil shores of Maylands in the hands of the

capable and ever helpful Brendan Maine and spent a lovely time towing the

three Mirrors on their downstream voyage.

Brendan Maine and David Ponton

Arriving at the beach near the Leeuwin boat ramp we rigged our boats and

helped Tony, Matt and Bruce unload theirs before retiring to the Zephyr Cafe for

a prelaunch coffee.

Waving our supporters goodbye we found ourselves moving under tidal

influence which fortunately transported us past the Swan YC towards our

intended destination. With next to no wind the direction that the boats faced

seemed to make little difference to the overall movement.

Overseeing our progress was our other support boat with Rod at the helm and

we were soon joined by the delightful Irene, a converted wooden Queensland

pilot boat with owners Nelson and Julie.

The pretty fleet of red sailed Mirrors made slow but steady progress until mid

morning when we all beached at Point Walter for another caffeine break.

Spirits were high and after a perusal of Irene’s finer features we took advantage

of the faint hint of a sea breeze and made off in the direction of Matilda Bay

where we would stop for lunch.

The delights of Mirror sailing cannot be underestimated as we bobbed, swerved

and wobbled our way upstream to the amusement of anyone who like us was

enjoying the Swan River at its morning best.

In a freshening breeze we made good speed. At lunch we found our

expectations of hospitality exceeded as we dined on a fine banquet aboard

Irene. The peaceful shores of Matilda bay were once again graced with the red

sails of Mirrors swaying in the breeze.

The skill set of the sailors was tested in a fresh S-Wester as we bounced

towards the Narrows, glanced off Elizabeth Quays and planed under the

watchful buzz of a drone before carrying the Mirrors on their sides under the

Causeway. Note to adventurers: not advisable for those with ageing backs.

The voyage took on a more sedate atmosphere as we briefly stopped at

Claisebrook before mixing it with the MYC

Wednesday afternoon fleet in an invigorating downwind romp.

Feeling tired but satisfied that we had made it this far we all settled into the

BBQ feast arranged by master chef Jerome.

With the light fading behind the city those who slept at the club were entertained

by the string magnificence of the duelling guitars of Ken and Jerome as our

voices filled the hall of MYC.

Wonderful twilight photo at MYC, courtesy Belinda Munday

At several points during the night I was drawn to consider the effectiveness of

the security lighting in preventing people from sleeping at MYC.

Morning eventually arrived and after a tasty breakfast the Mirrors were re-rigged

and in a light SW breeze we floated past “Racecourse” and the Ski area into

what is a delightful section of the Swan.

At several points the conversation turned to not just the natural beauty of the

river but how few people were about. Our Mirror journey like that of Nick

Burningham was providing us with the slow enjoyment of a secluded sanctuary

in the middle of a busy city.

A refreshment stop including scones with jam and coffee was made at Tranby

House. Note was made of the historical significance of the site as we steeled

ourselves for the challenges of the Garratt Rd Bridge.

With a strong bond developing between the adventurers the boats were

successfully floated (not carried) beneath the bridge and we were soon on our

way to the nights destination at South Guildford.

In favourable breezes we arrived at Phil and Jill’s place and lifted the Mirrors

from the water before enjoying the local hospitality in the form of a good cup of

tea.

In the sunshine of a perfect afternoon on the river a few of the group spent

another couple of hours chasing a breeze that refused to reveal it’s direction.

Our goal was ultimately achieved as we arrived at the Guildford Rd bridge.

At this point Matt’s boat was loaded onto his Ute and sent packing while he and

David successfully experimented with sailing two up back towards the night

camp on the grassy banks of the Swan.

With a sense of achievement and a few mutterings of descent about the

comforts of Mirror sailing the group was joined by their partners at the Guildford

Hotel for a delicious meal.

Ken, Jerome, Rod and myself camped in tents and enjoyed an early night

before the mornings sail/drift back towards Maylands. With the schedule of our

other lives ticking in our minds we abandoned the sailing program at the Ascot

Kayak Club and enjoyed a relaxing and comfortable cruise in Rod’s boat with

the Mirrors obediently following in tow.

In hindsight the journey was a great success in that we achieved our objectives

and developed new friendships.

The fraternity of people who love sailing on the Swan is stronger and we have

created memories that will be the source of tall tales for years to come. Much

interest was shown by other users of the river and the profile of MYC was justly

enhanced.

Our thanks go to all the people who helped us on our way. Without the support

of MYC, Irene and her crew, Brendan, Rod and our long suffering partners this

wonderful experience would have remained a dream.

Where ever we adventure next, it might involve vessels a little more appropriate

to our age.

David Ponton

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Map of Captain James Stirling's exploration of the Swan River in HMS

Success, 1827.

An earlier full navigation of the Swan River was completed by the Dutch

explorer, William De Vlamingh, who named it Swan River, after the black

swans sighted, in January 1697, some ninety one years before the First

Fleet landed at Botany Bay on our East Coast.

ED - Thanks to David Ponton for his great article, and thanks to David and also

Phil Newland for the wonderful photos. I happened to be crossing the Narrows

Bridge when the red-sailed fleet of intrepid navigators was coming across

Matilda Bay in a building sea breeze, and it was an awesome sight in the early

afternoon sunshine. Nick Burningham would have approved!

Coming Up

Coming Up

TWILIGHT SAILING EXTENDED TO END OF

MARCH - EACH WEDNESDAY FROM 5PM.

SUNSETS ARE STILL AS LATE AS 6.45PM, SO

LET'S USE IT!

PROPOSED RST COURSE

Call for expressions of interest in another RST (Skippers Ticket) Course. Please

contact Andrew Carter if interested.... mob 0412 097 506

Please support our next Club event: Sunday 10th

March

First race at 10am

STOP PRESS .....RC Sailing Report

Team WA put on a strong performance at the ARYA Australian

Championships held on the Gold Coast including a

championship win in the IOM Class.

Our IOM results were outstanding – 4 in the top 10 is the best

by any state by far. The conditions at the Nationals were

exactly what we had been practicing in at Maylands, and the

speed the guys were able to generate was clear to all.

The Australian Championships for the International One Metre

(IOM), A Class, Marblehead Class & Ten Rater were held at

Regatta Waters Lake on the Gold Coast from 04-16 February.

Western Australia was represented in all four classes with our

team performing well in each of them.

The championship started with the A class and early on in the

event anyone could have thought that the podium would be an

all WA affair, unfortunately this was not to be as the Eastern

staters, although slow to start, built up momentum and control

of the event. Roger Paul was best placed for our team finishing

the event 2nd overall behind Brian Dill (NSW) and while Roger

closed the gap on numerous occasions over the two day event

he was unable to overhaul the A class veteran.

Simon Ellis sailing the Sword of Glenn Dawson had some big

boots to fill and while having numerous top three placings was

unable to reach the podium finishing a commendable fourth

while Denton Roberts was nipping at his heels finishing fifth

and winning the Masters Division.

Rosco Bennett joined the trio of Paul, Ellis & Roberts as they

then competed in the Ten Rater Class. While the A class was

competitive, the competition in the 10R stepped up another

notch with formidable competitors such as Kirwan Robb,

Andrew Reid & Scott Condie all with their Trance designs.

Rosco was our top performer in the 10's with his Diamond but

he struggled against the dominance of the Trance finishing 5th

overall with the Trances and Stephen Sedgemen's Sanga

ahead. Roger finished 9th, Simon 13th and Denton 16th in the

20 boat fleet.

In the Marblehead Class, in came Sean Wallis with his Indie

and he along with Rosco were the sole Team WA sailors in this

fleet. Rosco finished 7th overall in the 20 boat fleet.

The final class sailed was the IOM. Team WA had seven sailors

compete in this class and four finished in the top ten of the 71

boat fleet. While our team finished well in the IOMs, Simon

50th, Peter 24th, Edgar 19th, Rob 10th, Rosco 8th, Roger 5th

and Sean claiming the championship title, all would agree that

there is plenty of room for improvement but should be

commended on their performance and representation of WA.

Overall results for all classes can be found on the nationals

website (aryanationals.com).

Sean Wallis making his speech after being presented with the IOM

Championship title Glenn Dawson

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Maylands Yacht Club · (Cnr Fourth Ave East & East St) · PO Box 5 · Maylands, WA 6931 · Australia

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