Read more - Royal Yacht Club of Victoria

June 2007
Flag Officers Reports
Lively Lady visit
Sailing Calendar
Tall Ships Victoria
Sydney to Melbourne, 2006
Spirit news
Sailing Academy update
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria

Front Cover :
Sayonara, taken in Janury 2007.
Enjoying sailing during the VOR In-Port Race
Photo by Sophie Nowicka
Disclaimer
Opinions expressed in Royals are not
necessarily those of the Royal Yacht Club
of Victoria. The Club does not guarantee
the accuracy or accept any responsibility for
the statements or comments made by the
contributors in articles submitted. The Club
reserves the right to amend, alter or delete
any items, statements or articles which it
feels is not in the best interest of the Club
or its members.
Advertising in Royals
Display advertising and inserts are available
in this newsletter by contacting the editor, ,by
telephone on (03) 9397 1277, by Fax on (03) 9397
8160 or e-mail editor@rycv.asn.au.
Royals Newsletter Editorial
Managing Editor David Seaman
Editorial Enquiries Kerri Murrell
Phone 03 9397 1277
Email
editor@rycv.asn.au
Royal Yacht Club of Victoria
120 Nelson Place
Williamstown
Vic 3016
Melway Reference 56 E9
37°51.7’S, 144°54.4’E wgs
Admiral
H. R. H. Prince Philip
The Duke of Edinburgh
Commodore-in-Chief
The Governer of Victoria
Professor David de Kretser AO
Commodore
Michael Smith
Vice Commodore
Tony Spencer
Rear Commodore
Ray Borrett
Club Captain
Justin Brenan
General Manager
Kerri Murrell
This edition of Royals was published on behalf
of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria by the Editors.
All content and images are copyright protected
by the authors and the RYCV and may not be
reproduced without permission.
Registered by Australia Post Print Post
Publication No. PP 347477/0019
General Office
Phone 03 9397 1277
Fax 03 9397 8160
Web www.rycv.com.au
Email rycv@rycv.asn.au
Postal PO Box 51
Williamstown
Vic 3016
ABN 26 311 625 307
Race Officer / Yard Manager
David LeRoy
Phone 9397 2898
Kitchen
Jo Farguson
Phone 9397 6507
Mobile 0409 238 998

COMMODORE’S REPORT
Michael Smith, Commodore
How nice to start a report with “It gives me great
pleasure to congratulate all of our skippers and crew
who sailed together for their club to win the Association
Cup.” It really is a club award too, as most of those
participating spend their year racing against all of
the other boats in the club, so the standard of racing
of all helps push that high standard. Well done to all,
and I look forward to collecting the trophy on behalf
of the club and returning it to where the trophy feels
at home.... Although I still seem to be waiting for the
phone call from Sandringham advising when to collect
it?
There has been a lot of activity on the marina
development and our lease details. It may seem like
not much is happening at times, but a lot is going on
in the background working the wheels of bureaucracy
which David Sterret shall elaborate on more in the
Development Report.
The way in which our club is funded has been under
review since February, and we are working on changing
the model on how we raise both working and capital
funding for projects today and in to the future. It’s
been interesting speaking to some of the other clubs,
particularly those who have been rebuilding club
houses to find how they have been funded - and much
of it is from substantial membership contributions. It
was said to me recently that “we must find a way to
raise funds without burdening the members” - but
really, upon whom else does the responsibility lie?
While we raise income where we can from functions
and seeking sponsorship, at the end of the day a club
exists for its members, and the club will be what we
make it.
Peter Abrahams and Ken Harrison have been doing
some fantastic work on alternate funding proposals for
the club, which would see us with cash reserves and
funding for continuous capital works. I for one would
like to see the bar and the bathrooms refurbished
sooner rather than later, and we will soon be launching
a campaign to assist with these projects.
I often here people say “These days, we’re past this just
being a club, it’s a business now” I don’t quite agree,
we must remain focussed on being a club, but aim to
run the club professionally. Changes in the office are
working very well, with the process still in progress.
It also means charging a fair price for services, not to
aim for a commercial price necessarily, but at levels
that will not just cover costs but allow for future
replacement. I believe we have slipped in a number
of areas, and you will see changes over the next few
months that are essential to not just maintain the club’s
future, but lift us out of the mediocrity of “getting by”
and raise standards for the current membership and
for attracting new members.
More details over the next several months as this is
implemented.
I dropped into Valenica a couple of weekends back
(conveniently) between work in Dubai and Rome to see
two days of America’s Cup racing. It was fantastic to
be there the day Prada, with Australian skipper Jamie
Spithill, sent the American BMW Oracle team home -
again proof that clear leadership and a cohesive team is
so important in a campaign. The town itself seemed to
be creaking at the seams, and that was only a semi-final.
I’ll go out on a limb - while I’d like to predict that Prada
won a close fought battle with New Zealand, to go on
and defeat Alinghi - the harsh reality is that Team New
Zealand were too good for Prada, and they went on to
beat Alinghi in a tightly fought contest. However, the
big upset was the announcement that the event would
not be returning to New Zealand, but rather to Dubai,
home of Emirates, and once again, the lure of foreign
dollars had folks back in the land of the long white
cloud cursing long and hard throughout the land!
Fair winds. Commodore.
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007

House & Social
Tony Spencer, Vice Commodore
New Member of Staff
The club has recently appointed Sandra Etheridge as the
new Functions Manager. Sandra comes to us by way of
the Pakuranga Rugby Club in NZ and also the Victorian
Racing Club and Mooney Valley Racing Club. Sandra can
help you with all your member and corporate functions
enquiries at the RYCV. Sandra’s first task was to run the
Lively Lady Project visit which was a huge success with
many members along with Lord Mayor of Melbourne
John So enjoying the reception.
New Laws
New non smoking laws come into effect in July 2007
members and guests are reminded that the club house and
deck area are already non smoking areas, please observe
the clubs non smoking policy.
Photo Exhibition
Some members have already brought in some amazing
photos for scanning for the Photo Exhibition, date TBA.
However quite a number more are still needed, if you
have any old photos of the club, our yachts, and members,
please bring them in to be scanned.
House and Social have added some new wines to the wine
list and arranged a Member wine offer of extraordinary
value.
# 1 The Fantastic Four Pack , just $60.00
# 2 The Royal Dozen
A great dozen for $190.00 with bonus Morris Rutherglen
Liqueur Muscat FREE (RRP $19.99) don’t miss out on
these sensational wines and fantastic value.
Development
David Sterrett
Negotiations on our rent, the use of our grounds and the
marina development have been keeping us busy over the
last few months. All three seem intertwined as they all
come back to our landlord, Parks Victoria.
The Marina is still at the permit application stage. DSE
requested a lot of information on various points which
have now all been compiled and answere d. However,
Parks Victoria, who need to sign off on our proposal
to DSE as our landlord have decided that a complete
review of all uses of the Williamstown foreshore of
Hobsons Bay needs to be undertaken prior to ruling on
our marina application. So they haven’t said no, but not
yes either. The promised review has been started, but
not moving at the pace we would like, however we are
following up on a regular basis. We are taking advice
on this as we go to press, and hope this last piece of the
puzzle can be sorted out soon.
The second Environmental Effects Statement for the
Channel Deepening proposed by the Port of Melbourne
Corporation has been issued for public comment. We
have made a strong written submission about the impact
of bigger ships in the channel. We have been granted a
personal hearing later this month to press our case for
protection from surges caused by ships speeding in the
Channel.
The use of the club for perceived commercial interests
has come under further scrutiny, with one of our
neighbours regularly complaining to Parks Victoria
that we are conducting work in the yard that we should
not be according to the terms of our lease. We have
again reviewed the activities of the yard, in line with the
wording on our lease and having taken advice and had
discussions with Parks Victoria we have determined
that the only boats that can be slipped and worked on
within the yard are non-commercial vessels, belonging
either to club members or members of our kindred
clubs.
The negotiations on our rent are ongoing, but on this
front we have finally made some progress. Parks
Victoria have now agreed that our rent should be
reviewed in line with the arbitration decision handed
in down in relation to Hobsons Bay Yacht Club and the
Royal Victoria Motor Yacht Club. Our landlords had
proposed to increase our rent from around 40k to nearly
100k, with a backrent that had accumulated to just over
110k. The arbitration decision specifically rules that the
club’s rent must be valued on the basis of the club being
a community entity, not on a best possible commercial
use of the land, and that improvemnets made by the
club over the years are not to be taken into acount.
For example - land that we have reclaimed should not
be subject to rent. Both the Club and Parks have now
appointed a valuer each to review this rental value,
and we are confident that we will be successful in our
position. This will take the interpretation of the lease
back to that which existed prior to 1994 when Parks
Victoria became our landlords

Membership Committee
Deanne Colledge, Membership Committee
With the summer sailing season coming to an end,
Members have the time to turn their attention to other
matters. What the Membership Sub-Committee would
appreciate is whether Members have thoughts on any
new categories? From your associations with other
Clubs, what categories have worked & similarly, what
categories haven’t? Would Members like to see any
changes or enhancements to the existing categories? All
thoughts and comments (both positive and negative),
are most welcome.
A reminder that the 2007/08 subscriptions will be
invoiced shortly and to all Senior & Family Members,
there is the option of quarterly repayments. Formal
arrangements need to be confirmed with the Office
prior and a small surcharge is added to cover additional
administrative overheads, if this option is exercised.
If Members are not receiving the weekly e-news, a
quick telephone call to the Office can easily update your
personal records.
The Royal Yacht Club of Victoria extends a warm
welcome to the following new members:
April 2007 Category Proposer
S&M News.
David Seaman
No, you have not misread the title, ES&M is now S&M.
Events have moved to H&S.
We are busy planning the sponsorship for the coming
summer season, especially the Lipton Cup Regatta,
more news on that in the coming weeks.
Shortly you will receive the first of regular updates on
what is going on in the committees of the club. One of
the problems of reporting these activities in ‘Royals’
has always been the timelag, we hope to rectify that
soon. The updates will be coming out by email and
hardcopy for those who request it. Copies will always
be available from the office and Bar.
We are always looking for new articles for Royals and
of course sponsors. If you would like to participate
please contact the office.
Brett RIDDLE Senior Robin Hewitt
Erin PETERS Crew Max Peters
Pip TODD Crew Roger Dundas
Antoine JACOB Crew Arch Burns
Neil STEYN Crew Tim Olding
March 2007
Gary PRESTEDGE Senior Max Scalia
Erin PETERS Crew Max Peters
Amber WRIGHT Crew Wayne Cullen
Troy CROFT Crew Peter Dusting
Terry GRAYSO N Crew Leo Cantwell
Tim HARRISON Crew Andrew Brown
Declan LAWRENCEJunior Peter Edwards
Ben WILSON Junior Tim Olding
February 2007
MEYER Elizabeth Senior B Woodward
DOULL Alexander Senior B Woodward
LAMB Scott Senior Michael Smith
BAGLEY Tobi Senior Marilyn O’Brien
BOWLES Terence Senior Scott O’Hare
RIGHTON Kari Crew A Jacho
NOLAN Ross Crew L Cantwell
McKENNA John Crew Peter Shell
ELLIS Guy Crew Brett Hahnel
MAYNE Kerry Crew Arch Burns
HUIBERS Emma Junior Bas Huibers
ANDERSON Blake Intermediate Colin Anderson
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007

Sydney to Hobart 2006
Laurelle
Ray Borrett, Rear Commodore
With a new yacht being built, and in anticipation of
a competitive IRC handicap, discussion started long
ago about the possibility of competing in the Rolex
Sydney to Hobart (S2H) in December 2006.
The formal planning process began with a crew
meeting to discuss all the factors involved and to
delegate preparatory tasks.
My primary concern (and all others involved) was to
get the boat out of the factory and across to the club in
a timeframe that would allow for detailed, controlled
preparation. My midyear retirement from full time
work enabled me to spend weeks at the factory while
final construction was underway and full time on the
boat after it arrived in Melbourne.
Skippers who have done ORCV races in boats they
have owned for years know what it takes to get
ready. With an all-new yacht, and all-new safety gear,
refrigeration, galley, bunks, etc.- plus the process of
certifying to CYCA requirements,- it was a full time
job for at least eight weeks.
While we could have qualified with the delivery trip
to Sydney, being the safety conscious person that I am,
I set the Melbourne to Stanley race as the hurdle we
had to achieve, or we would not do the S2H,
The crew I selected had a balance between young and
old, male and female, veterans and S2H initiates. It
consisted of; Michael Keough (the builder), Frank
Hammond (sailmaker), Dr. Geof Vercoe, Delian Mills,
Lynda Christopherson, Mary Jane(MJ) Denton, Greg
Rowlings, Chris Webster, Tim Olding, Peter Murphy
and myself.
The rules require 50% of the crew to complete the
Sea Safety and Survival course:- I insisted on 100%. I
believe all the crew are glad that they have done this
course, and I highly recommend it to all. The rules also
require two Level 2 first aiders on board:- I insisted
on 50%.
We also had a trained medico in Geof, and a chiro in
Chris, we felt we were well-covered in that area.
The navigation /-electronics /-computer /-systems
were entrusted to Tim and Delian, with Geof’s
knowledgeable experience balancing between the two
“system” experts.
As yacht Laurelle had not yet received an IRC
certificate, we decided to treat the Stanley race as a
training exercise and went with the delivery sails. As
we were still waiting at this stage for the oven to be
approved, it was a cold-food race.
Although we were the first boat out the Heads, the
cracked-sheets reach across Bass Strait rapidly became
a race of waterline length.
We managed to finish fifth over the line and, with
a generous handicap, won the PHS category. We
finished ahead of Terra Firma, so were pleased with
the performance. We had some seasickness, but I was
assured that this was an isolated incident and expected
we would be OK for the S2H.
Detailed preparation for the S2H now began in
earnest. Catering for 11 people for four days, plus the
delivery trip, was delegated to Lynda and MJ. They
did a great job arranging for the food to be delivered
to the boat in both Melbourne and Sydney vacuum
packed and frozen in individual meal packs ready
for heating. (I can recommend Pete across the road at
Breeze Café for the Melbourne catering. He provided
a good variety of tasty food covering three meals a
day plus snacks for the delivery trip.)
Tim looked into the historical weather and race
strategy data as a basis for our final race strategy. We
engaged the services of a weather guru, the same one
used by Lou Abrahams, to assist our understanding of
the race weather forecast.
Finally, we had to get the boat to Sydney and ready
for the race.
With the excitement of a daughter coming home
from Germany to get married on December 10th, the
delivery was set for December 13th.
When we set off at 18:30 smoke haze from bushfires in
eastern Victoria limited our visibility to a few

hundred metres. Without much breeze, motor sailing
was the go. We called up Point Lonsdale as we neared
the Heads to see what shipping movements were
likely, as we certainly could not see anything. We then
established radio contact with the Tassie ferry, and
they confirmed they had us on radar - comforting, as
we had no reflector up and a carbon rig. We also had
a visit from Club Member, Dave Ellis on a pilot boat
going out to a ship outside the Heads. Nice to know
that he knew we were there.
The delivery trip was very easy. The wind was never
forward of the mast, and it was only as we approached
Sydney Heads that we got into winds less than 15kn.
It took just over two-and-a-half days, and we set a
new speed record for Laurelle of 18.6kn.
What a great place Sydney Harbour is to sail into on a
warm Saturday afternoon, just a magic sight.
In Sydney, we cleaned the boat up and developed a
job list before some of the crew departed for home
that night, and then completed the work Sunday.
I stayed on for a safety inspection I had scheduled
for Monday. It was not possible to have the safety
inspection done in Melbourne as our safety inspectors
are not recognised in NSW, even though I had an
inspection done for the qualifying race only week’s
prior.
The CYCA inspector said that as I was a Melbourne
boat I would need a full inspection and not just an
audit. This was a serious activity. The inspector picked
up a few items that were subject to interpretation of
the Blue Book, and some items that did not comply,
and I did not argue. The big issue for me was how to
fix these things in Sydney where I did not have my
workshop, contacts or transportation. Amazing how
$$$$ seem to fix most things.
Most of the crew flew in to Sydney late on Christmas
Day, having spent at least some time with their
families.
Race day was busy with briefings, final preparations
and agreeing the basic race strategy following receipt
of the latest weather and ocean current advice.
However, I just wanted to get out and on with it.
We had a SSE at about 20kn in the Harbour, and
headed out as early as we could just to settle down and
get sailing. A few minutes before the warning signal,
an improperly-installed batten started coming out of
the main, but we dropped the sail, too late and
it went over-board.
We had a good start, third boat in from the committee
boat along side Nips & Tux and AFR Midnight
Rambler. After AFR went across out of control trying to
set a shy kite, we settled down and put up a fractional
asymmetrical and reached to the first turning mark.
There we dropped the kite and went for the No 3 to
beat through the slop out to the next mark. As the
breeze moderated we changed to the Heavy No.- 1 and
pushed on.
By nightfall we were well down the coast and punching
into a short, sharp wave pattern that brought on some
seasickness and caused our whole watch system to be
changed. This is a serious issue in such a race because
the workload on the rest of the crew increases and
important tasks have to be dropped – in our case,
monitoring currents and other boats in the fleet.
By midnight that first night we were ahead of the pack
we started with, ahead of the eventual winners, and
twelfth overall on IRC, so we were happy with the boat
speed. The wind was 20+kn and the seas sloppy.
Sometime before dawn, when I was asleep, the crew
decided with a softening breeze to tack inshore. This
was a departure from the previously agreed base race
strategy. The decision had two effects: - first, it caused
us to head West, away from the desired course South,
and second, it took us out of the southerly current.
(That we had been enjoying.) The yachts around us,
Challenge, Chutzpah, Bacardi and AFR, - all continued
on starboard tack and with the southerly current (up to
4.5kn offshore). By the 07:30 sked it became apparent
that we had lost between 30 and 45 miles to these
yachts. So in one tactical decision our race was run.
The seasick crewmembers were not improving and one
of them was throwing up blood. This really concerned
me, and I was all for taking him to Eden and getting
him to hospital. Our onboard Doctor said that it was
probably only some burst blood vessels in his throat
from all the throwing up, and not to worry about it,
but monitor it. He was right, as it came good over the
next days.
As we had lost the stronger southerly current and
seemed to be in more variable winds, the yachts that
had continued offshore were now more than 60 miles
ahead of us. This was very disheartening. On top of
all this, the head blocked up and had to be unblocked
several times. Finally, we had to resort to the “bucket
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007

and chuck it” process. It turns out there was nothing
wrong with the head, it was all a matter of technique.
On day three we were inshore East of Gabo Island,
expecting a SW to W change that we would ride across
Bass Strait and down to Tassie. When the change came
we were on a good heading with good speed and
thought we would regain some ground as the others
offshore were beating back in. The wind even headed
W and briefly NW but not for long enough to set a
kite.
The first of our seasick crewmembers appeared back on
deck and started to get back into the watch system, the
other two remained bunk-bound.
As we neared the Tasmanian coast on Day 4 we were
gaining on some boats ahead, and in fact passed a
couple. The second seasickie came on deck, and we
were starting to feel a bit more positive.
Later that day the wind went NE so we set an asymmetric
kite and pushed on. The final seasickie appeared and
we were back to a full crew.
We rounded Tasman Island early on the morning of the
fifth day, having passed Terra Firma and several other
yachts. We were able to hold the asymmetrical longer
than other boats around us and so passed another
Beneteau 44.7.
From there we had a reach across Storm Bay and up the
Derwent to the John Garrow Light having caught and
passed another Sydney 38.
We appeared to have a clear run to the finish, although
the breeze was fading. About 500m from the finish line
the breeze died totally and we stopped.
Slowly the boats that we had passed came over the
horizon saw our plight and sailed over to the east
side of the river to slowly cross the line ahead of us.
We sat in that windless hole for more than an hour. An
incredibly frustrating experience. We finally finished at
about 11:30am
At the end, we can look back and say we finished with
no damage and no injuries. It was the first S2H for the
boat, the skipper and some of the crew; we came 36th
overall out of 78, and learned a lot in the process.
I know we could have achieved a better result. Would
I go back? Don’t know, but I can now understand why
people do keep going back for more, as I am sure you
keep learning each time.The boat performed well. It
is a very dry boat, easy to steer, great bunks, and the
galley works well. Any improvements? A brace for the
navigator when on port tack, and clearer instructions for
the head.
Ray Borrett, Rear Commodore.
Christmas functions.
Royal Yacht Club of Victoria is the perfect venue to hold
your next function. The Club can cater for business
meetings, seminars, conferences, product launches,
weddings, parties, anything. The flexibility of the
dining room and covered deck area, combined with the
outstanding views of the city of Melbourne create an
outstanding atmosphere for your event.
Without compromising general members’ use of the
Club we will organise a function to meet all your
requirements.
Take the hassle out of your next corporate or personal
event and talk to Sandra Etheridge, the Club’s Function
Coordinator (ph: 9397 1277 email events@rycv.asn.
au) who will be your point of contact and finalise all
arrangements.
Winter Lunches
The dining room is now open for lunch on the first
Friday of the month over winter; June, July, August and
September.
Impress your colleagues, staff, family or friends with
the Club’s facilities.
Utilise the parking and enjoy the open fire during a
relaxing Friday lunch.
Bookings can be made at the office on 9397 1277.

Top: Laurelle just outside Sydney Heads, Bottom: Laurelle crew in Hobart, author front right.Both photos by Crosbie Lorimer.
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007

Tripe and Onions Summer
Series 2006/2007
BobMcGregor(Past Commodore)
Sadly the Summer is over and so is the Sunday morning
series of races and fun.
This series was again sponsored by John Fitzgerald,
the local Optician in Douglas Parade, Williamstown.
His donation of $400 of Vouchers was split up between
the place getters.
Wayne Cullen’s “Kasam” was the overall winner
with John Gausden’s “Special Delivery” a close second,
followed by Rick English’s “Magic” third and Clark
Forbes’ “Caprice” fourth.
Twenty four boats entered and sailed at least one race,
with an average turn out of fourteen over ten races.
Unfortunately two races were cancelled on account of
very strong winds and the last WAS strong . Nine yachts
were washed ashore in Hobsons Bay that afternoon
and luckily no club boats! A lesson to be learnt----
check your mooring chains and ropes regularly and
know your deck fitting is capable of withstanding a
storm..
Wayne had an all girl crew who worked well together,
had fun and came out winners. Many boats in this
series started their racing in this event and now also
race on Wednesday evening series. The confidence
in their boat and crew and their increased skills have
brought them up the front of the pack on Wednesdays.
Hopefully more will enter Saturday races, but the
fun we have on Sundays sailing competitively but
discouraging aggressive behaviour, is why we have a
successful series.
You must have noticed the forty odd sitting down
together on Sunday after racing, having a bbq
and sharing cakes and desserts. Probably women
outnumber the men but everyone gets together and
nobody is allowed to be a stranger.
For those that need a bit of confidence or have few or
no crew join us next October. Your boat must be less
than 35feet, and a performance handicap of less than
.760. We encourage family sailing and having a fun
social bbq together afterwards.
For the coming winter I shall be sailing Wednesday
evenings in the UK (their summer) mainly on a 120
year old gaff rigged Oyster boat, or cruising the
Suffolk rivers on my friend Kathys Bilge keeler . Finally
cruising Croatia on a 53ft yacht with my Tripe and
Onion friends in September should have me nearly
relaxed to return to Royals for Opening Day!!
Editors Note. The Club would like to thank Bob and his
group in running the Sunday series, it goes from strngth
to strength, and is an excellent way for new members to try
their skills.
Group Sailing Program- “Let’s
Sailaway”
Mary O’Brien
The first, of what we hope will be a series of sailing
programs, got underway at the beginning of May.
The 8 students come from the Sunbury and Macedon
Specialist School and all have learning difficulties.
Sailing is a completely new experience for these
students, and one which presents them with the
opportunity to develop new skills, self esteem and
social connection. The program aims to challenge the
students and develop problem solving and decision
making skills, leadership and teamwork.
“Let’s Sailaway” is an 8 day program run over 8 weeks
which teaches basic sailing techniques, water safety
and ultimately competitive sailing. Students with
special needs will be selected from Western Suburbs
schools to participate in the program in Terms One,
Two and four over the next twelve months.
The program was developed by Paul Bartley – Sailing
Academy RYCV and Club Member Mary O’Brien
– Special Education teacher, Travancore School.
Ed: Paul’s Sailing Adademy full article appears later in this
issue.

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COMPOSITE FABRICATION
INSURANCE WORK
SS FABRICATION
SURVEYS
MAINTENANCE PROGRAMMES
Robert Hick 93992210 rhick@hickmarine.com.au
HICK MARINE Factory 4 - 13 Darbyshire St Williamstown 3016
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007
11

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Single Handed to Port Fairy and
return
Doug Bews,‘Warrin Bunjil’ Roberts 36
In March of this year I decided that my visit to the Port
Fairy Folk Festival would, on this occasion, be by yacht.
I missed going last year because of my cruise up the
East Coast and the usual house accommodation in Port
Fairy was re-allocated.
While some of my friends were interested in going to
the Festival, they were either put off by Bass Strait or
they could not afford the additional days that might
be required by inclement weather. So I decided to go
single handed.
Not having much experience with this mode of
yachting I gave myself a number of training sessions
on the Bay perfecting my safety and tacking techniques
in different wind conditions. These mainly consisted
of setting tethers attached to jackstays on either side of
the boat (in addition to my lifejacket tether fastened to
the cockpit u-bolt), lowering and securing the staysail
from the cockpit, practice in setting the radar alarm
and tacking using my autopilot-time delay-automatic
tacking. I did feel a bit naked not having lifebuoys or
MOB recovery gear fitted to the stern, but who was
going to throw them to me.
So: to catch the ebb tide I set off at 0530 on Tuesday 6th
March, and with a 20 Knot East South Easter blowing
it wasn’t a very auspicious start as I managed to prang
the pile of my pen on the way out. Then with a reefed
main and staysail I had a good reach up to Queenscliff
and arrived at the QCYC at 1030 to be greeted by the
owner of a motor boat who had just extinguished a
fire in one of his engines and the news that there was a
yacht aground on the Swan Island Beach. Parks Victoria
were assisting him. I stayed there, enjoying a talk to
Daryl Morrison(Club Memeber,& Commodore QCYC)
about his Cruise in Company, until 2300 waiting for
the forecast wind change to the North and its damping
effect on the sea. It didn’t arrive and when I exited the
Rip at the 2330 slack water there was still a 15 knot SE
but the sea had dropped to 2.5m. It was a beautiful full
moon and a great reach on the Genoa with the wind
changing to NE at 0500. The NE would have given me
a good passage through to Port Fairy but because I
could not get any sleep during the day in Queenscliff, I
was feeling quite tired. Having contacted the Harbour
Master Apollo Bay and allocated a berth I entered there
0830 on Wednesday.
Apollo Bay is a good place for me to stop as Peter and
Esther Lalor ex- Williamstown own a B&B there and
after a good sleep they invited me for a shower and
dinner.
The wind had changed to SW by early Thursday
morning when I left Apollo Bay at 0600 getting the ebb
tide through the Harley Point – Henty Reef passage
and motoring until I rounded Cape Otway at 0830. I
thought I had left plenty of room to pass around the
Cape and miss the shore induced waves, but staying
outside the 30m line wasn’t quite enough and I had
a fairly bumpy passage until Moonlight Head was
sighted. By this time I had the genoa unfurled and
was reaching nicely at 7.5 Knots.
I should explain that I didn’t head this article ‘sailing
single handed’ as I am not an orthodox sailer. Having
been a marine engineer at one time I believe the
engine is a fundamental tool and that the rhumb line
is as good as it gets. So there wasn’t one leg when the
engine didn’t assist.
The approach to Port Fairy is quite clear with a port
hand buoy keeping you clear of the reefs to the South
East before entering the well demarked river mouth
training walls. I arrived there at 1830 and was lucky
to be allocated a berth on the West side of the River
Moyne closest to the Festival venue and the centre
of this picturesque town. The Harbourmaster Max
Dumnsey is a very obliging fellow.
Also alongside the west bank was the Yacht ‘Epsilon’
just completing its circumnavigation of Australia
to obtain contributions for the Epsilon Foundation.
The Owner/Skipper Richard Buxton had completed
the whole trip over 2 years and the other two crew
had joined in Fremantle. They were very neighbourly
yachties and good company at the Caledonian Hotel
(Owned by Williamstown identity Philip Elg).
Garry Stewart the local Boat Builder and also on the
West river side was very obliging in assisting me with
a couple of items needed for minor voyage repairs.
The Festival lived up to its usual reputation with
great acts, good food and great wine and Guinness.
If you wish to hear some of the concerts you can do
so by opening the website www.liveband.com.au
and downloading complete concerts recorded at the
largest tent, Stage 3, for $15.
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007
13

I was joined in Port Fairy by Lieutenant Commander
Steve Gibson and Karen who stayed on the yacht Saturday
and Sunday nights while attending the Festival. Steve
had planned to sail back with me but after the weather
turned bad on Sunday and continued into Monday I
couldn’t see departure being before Wednesday and he
had to get back for work commitments.
The yacht ‘Youth’ came in on Saturday with a crew
of three heading to Hobart via Currie and the West
Coast of Tas. Alan Quigley the skipper did a world
circumnavigation in this boat in the late sixties and
early seventies. This included his steel boat being
crushed and the beam reduced by 250mm by an out of
control merchant ship in the Canary Islands. He carried
out temporary repairs with canvas and sailed the boat
home via the West Indies and Panama. It took him 3
years to fix it on his return and it still looks in extremely
good condition. They also were good company.
Departed Port Fairy at 0500 on Wednesday 14 March
with a NE 15 knot wind behind me for the first 5 hours
when it dropped off to nothing and then came in from
the South East at 12 knots. Instead of tacking out into
Bass Strait I continued on the engine with the idea that
once I rounded Cape Otway I would reach up the coast
to Port Phillip. There was a 2m SW swell and 2.5m SE
sea at this time and I started to get knocked back from
around 4 knots to 1.5 every big wave.
I also thought I smelt something burning, scouted
around down below, couldn’t see anything but thought
the engine seemed a bit hot. So I went up top raised
the staysail and hove to while I stopped the engine and
checked it out. The oil was down a bit so I added some
but couldn’t find anything else wrong. Started engine
propulsion again, dropped and secured the staysail and
continued on. Later heard on the radio that there was
a fire in the Otways. Perhaps that was what I could
smell.
As usually happens SODS Law came into effect as I
rounded the Cape at 2100 and the wind changed the
NE , again on the nose. There was not chance of me
reaching the heads in a short time so once again I
headed for Apollo Bay. Coming in through the Henty
Reef/ Harley Point passage I could see the top green
lead but could not see the bottom sectored white/red
light very often.
I think it was because of my low , height of eye. Having
checked the location of the reef on the hard chart and
then confirmed it on the Chart Plotter and located my
past track on the Chart Plotter I was confident of my
course over the ground. This was 10 degrees off my
compass course as I was being pushed by a 1.5 knot
ebb tide.
Coming into the Bay the bright lights of an Offshore
Supply Vessel anchored there dimmed the harbour
inlet lights. The leads to the entrance shine over the
groyne and it is important to have them lined up before
attempting the entrance. I was alongside at 2300.
Next day after a shower at the public toilet/shower
that is kept very clean by the Harbourmaster/s
department, and lunch at the pub with Peter Lalor, I
left the harbour at 1540 and reached up the coast with
genoa , being driven by a 15 knot SW and the engine
at around 7 knots.
As I drew closer to the Heads I came into the sea-lane
and sighted 2 large ships. The first I had seen since
Port Fairy except for one fishing boat off Warnambool.
After moving over to avoid a large ship overtaking me
I contacted Point Lonsdale Light and found that there
were three large ships due to exit the bay around the
time I planned entering, 0030. Although one of these
turned East when I had been told it would turn West
and caused me a moment of anxiety I kept well out of
their way by entering on Four Fingers West.
Once through the Heads I had to make up my mind
whether to go to QCYC for a sleep or continue up the
Bay. As there was a North wind forecast for Friday I
decided to continue to Williamstown. A SWester, at
one time up to 18knots, pushed me along and I berthed
without incident at 0530. Had a sleep and shower and
then made my usual Friday lunch engagement.
Thanks to Kerri and her team at the club for tracking
me throughout the journey

‘Warrin Bunjil’ moored in Port Fairy, alongside ‘Youth’
www.webstermarine.com.au
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jim@webstermarine.com.au
Elan Yacht Dealers
1 King St,Paynesville (03) 5156 6700
sales@webstermarine.com.au
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007
15

SAILING CALENDAR
FOR Winter 2007
Sailing Committee
Please refer the racing calendar on the RYCV website for
further details and updates to the sailing calendar.
All events are RYCV unless specified.
May 07
Wed 16 1440 Laura Gloria Series
Thu 17 Level II First Aid Marine Based
Sat 19 1330 Brass Monkeys Heat 2 HBYC
Melbourne Apollo Bay ORCV
Sun 20 1030 Classic Yacht Race 1 & BBQ
Tue 22 Level II First Aid Marine Based
Wed 23 1440 Laura Gloria Series
Thu 24 Level II First Aid Marine Based
Sun 27 0945 Starts Training Day
Tue 29 Radio Operators Course
Wed 30 1440 Laura Gloria Series
Radio Operators Course
Thurs 31 Radio Operators Course
June 2007
Fri 01 Friday Evening Talk 1
1800 Safety Boat Certificate
Sat 02 1330` Brass Monkeys Heat Three HBYC
0830 Safety Boat Certificate
Sun 03 1030 Classic Yacht Race 2 RMYS
0830 Safety Boat Certificate
Wed 06 1440 End Laura Gloria Series A
Sat 09 1000 17th Annual Womens Keelboat Regatta
Sun 10
RMYS
1000 17th Annual Womens Keelboat Regatta
RMYS
Mon 11 1000 17th Annual Womens Keelboat Regatta
RMYS
Queens Birthday
Sat 16
1330 Brass Monkeys Heat Four HBYC
National Powerboat Handling Certificate TL3
Sun 17 1030 Classic Yacht Race 3
National Powerboat Handling Certificate TL3
Mon 18 National Powerboat Handling Certificate TL3
Wed 20 1440 Laura Gloria Series B Comences
Sun 24 0945 Mark Rounding Training day
Wed 27 1440 Laura Gloria Series
Sat 30 1330 Brass Monkeys Heat Five HBYC
July 2007
Sun 01 1030 Classic Yacht Race 4 RMYS Club
Winter Series Heat 1 ORCV Laid
Wed 04 1440 Laura Gloria Series
Fri 06 Friday Evening Talk 2
Sat 07 1000 Match Racing Heat One
Wed 11 1440 Laura Gloria Series
Sat 14 1330 Brass Monkeys Heat Six HBYC
Sun 15
Winter Series Heat 2 ORCV
Wed 18 1440 Laura Gloria Series
Sat 21 1000 Match Racing Heat Two
Sun 22 1030 Classic Yacht Race 5
0945 Tacking and Gybing training
Wed 25 1440 Laura Gloria Series
Sat 28 1330 Brass Monkeys Heat Seven HBYC
Sun 29
Winter Series Heat 3 & 4 ORCV
August 2007
Wed 01 1440 Laura Gloria Series
Fri 03 Friday Evening talk 3
Sat 04 1000 Match Racing Final
Sun 05 1030 Classic Yacht Race 6 RMYS Club
Wed 08 1440 Laura Gloria Series
Sat 11 1330 Brass Monkeys Heat Eight
Sun 12
Winter Series Heat 5 Long race
Wed 15 1440 Laura Gloria Series B Ends
Sun 19 1030 Classic Yacht Race 7
0945 Training Day Overall Race
Strategy(combines content
of earlier sessions)
Sat 25 1330 Brass Monkeys Heat Nine
Wed 29 1440 Laura Gloria Series C Comences
Fri 31 Friday Evening Talk 4
“Race Rules Competion”
September 2007
Sun 03 1030 Classic Yacht Race 8
and BBQ RMYS/RYCV
Possible Resails ORCV
Wed 06 1440 Laura Gloria Series C
(Series runs to 17th October)
Sat 09
Winter Race 7 to Hastings ORCV

Photo: Ewen Bell
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007
17

Sailing Academy News
Paul Bartley
The past season has seen some interesting and even
surprising developments for the Academy. After
a couple of attempts to educate the schools in the
Western Region on the advantages of sailing in the
school curriculum, we have been able to attract new
schools to the Academy on a casual basis and we have
also started a Vocational Education and Training course
with a local school. Further we have begun programs
with some disadvantaged children in the region as
well as running some highly successful school holiday
programs. The adult training program continues.
We have now run two in-service training programs
for school teachers to demonstrate that sailing can
play an important part in the school curriculum and
that they can participate in any training that we give
to students. We have had some interest in providing
casual programs but also from Bayside Secondary
College to provide a Vocational Education and Training
(VET) program. This program is currently underway
and at this stage appears to be quite successful. At
another level we have been providing programs for a
number of disadvantaged young people ranging from
disturbed to mentally handicapped children. Mary
O’Brien, Club Member, has been working with these
people for a number of years through the Travancore
School and has been instrumental in securing funding
for these programs as well as participating directly in
the training. We are currently assisting in the pursuit
of funding for another group of young people at risk
in the supported belief that sailing, as an adventure
activity, can assist other larger programs in normalizing
the lives of these people.
At the other end of the spectrum we have, in what has
become an annual event, run a program for students
from St. Joseph’s College in Sydney. These students
come to Melbourne for a tennis camp during the
Australian Open and throw in some sailing for some
variety. Once again the students had a great time on
the water and in appreciation they presented the
Academy with a book on coaching which will find its
way to the club library as soon as our instructors have
finished with it.
We have ventured into the realm of school holiday
programs with a program last September and one over
the long summer holiday. The September program
had the specific goal of moving Club Juniors from
Extreme dinghies to Cadets. We had a number of other
participants who just wanted to keep up with their
sailing during the vacation. This program was most
successful and encouraged us to run one in January.
This time it was used to provide intensive training to
whoever wanted to attend. Once again we had great
success but in both cases the success was in large part
due to adult volunteers who were very generous with
their time. David Johnson, David Wallace and Peter
Roberts stand out in their contribution. Anybody
who has the time and would like to assist with school
holiday programs would be welcome.
Our adult training program continues but we have
lost the use of a vessel in survey for our Competent
Crew courses. If anybody can assist we would be
happy to enter discussions to see if an arrangement
can agreed upon. We would also like to see more
new, inexperienced members take on the Club Crew
Course. This course is conducted in the Elliott 5.9s and
concentrates on deck work generally but specifically
emphasizes spinnaker work. Your crew could be fast
tracked to race readiness for a modest cost. There are
a number of people on our list who have done the
Introductory Course and are looking to gain a little
experience, hopefully before doing the Club Crew
Course. If you can help out please let me know.
The Sunday Juniors have continued to produce a
number of fine young sailors and this season finishes
with a number ready to move on to Cadets. We have
also been experimenting with the rigs on the Extremes
and believe we have come up with a solution to the
problem of getting the sail to tack in light winds.
The cost of conversion is higher than we would like
but I believe that eventually all of our boats will be
converted. We are indebted to the Scalia Family for
their generous assistance in this regard.

I cannot conclude without reporting on our rather
tentative attempts to get team racing up and running.
An unofficial initial trial was arranged between
Williamstown High School students and Xavier
College Students. We transported the Williamstown
students and Extreme Dinghies to St. Kilda for the
racing where the Williamstown students proved to
be quite formidable. Discussions with Xavier are
continuing.
Paul Bartley can be contacted on 0411 314 687 or by
email royalsacademy@hotmail.com.
Members interested in sponsoring an Elliott should
contact Kerri Murrell at the office or email manager@
rycv.asn.au.
7 year old Louis Schofield tries to convince Dean Johnston
that sailing is a strenuous activity during the January
holiday program.
Above and right, Elliotts on the training ground.
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007
19

The view from the bridge.
The following shots have been taken from the bridge of a MEDIUM sized container ship exiting the Yarra recently. We
do not usually talk about these leviathians of the sea, but we want you to know the pressure that the Pilots are under
when taking these vessels in or out of the port. As you can see, there is little near visibility. In fact, on this vessel, if you
are nearer than 723 metres from the front of the ship, they cannot see you. Need we say more? Editor.

The Black Bottle - A Personal
Reflection on the Law of natural
Order.
Tony Beck
The ancient philosophers in developing an
understanding of the complex world around them
proposed a law of natural order. As opposed to the law
of the Gods, Divine Law or the Positive Law sourced
from the authority of government, the law of Natural
Order derives its moral authority from the immutable
and ever-present natural relations of beings to one
another.
The question is does yacht racing have a natural order?
On a recent Sunday one of the Club’s signature
races, the Black Bottle (single handed race), was
conducted and I competed in my S80, Escape. There
was a good selection of boats ranging from a Club
Elliott, Diamonds, Spirit of Down Under and Doug
Hem in Tamesis, touted as the red hot favourite.
The wind started at 15 knots and built to 20 as the
afternoon progressed.
The other S80s to enter were Kasam(Wayne
Cullen) and Serious Yahoo(Tony Spencer). I had
the number 3 jib and full main, Wayne has a small
number 2, and Tony a number 3 and a reefed main..
Wayne and I missed the start (due to some self
induced confusion) by a couple of minutes but I
managed to cross ahead and to windward of Wayne.
The first mark was a beat to the pipeline channel
marker off Altona and Serious Yahoo had opened up a
big lead on Escape, and I held a good lead on Wayne.
My speed seemed slightly better upwind than Kasam
with the smaller headsail providing better balance.
The next leg was a long beat/shy reach over to
Sandringham. I held onto my lead over Wayne and
closed marginally on Serious Yahoo. Then a problem as
a commercial ship departing the Port crossed, requiring
me to point, allowing Wayne to close the margin by a
minute or so. I rounded the next mark ahead but with
Wayne closing. The next leg was a long run down to
Port Melbourne. Slowly and inexorably Wayne closed
and I tried everything to prevent the inevitable.
As Wayne closed, my concentration started to falter
and my mood darken. My disposition not at all assisted
by Wayne’s now clearly audible stream of laughter and
commentary.
We both slowly made up some ground
on Serious Yahoo as Tony steered a shyer
course before gybing to the bottom mark.
In my desperation to keep Wayne out I tried everything
from my seating position, altering and fiddling
with all available sail and rig controls and finally to
goosewing the headsail. This meant sailing by the lee
(as I couldn’t go forward and hold the sail out and as it
was sheeted on the inboard tracks it collapsed quickly).
Of course, as Wayne’s harassment intensified and his
laughter became more maniacal, my concentration
deteriorated and the inevitable eventually happened
as I crash gybed, and just avoided knocking my block
off. As I gybed back, the inevitable happened and
the pole (suspended from the boom) snagged in the
halyards at the mast, trapping the boom centreline. I
then had to go forward to disentangle the mess and
the inevitable happened as the boat, without any helm
did a complete 360. By the time I sorted out the mess
Wayne had passed and was now 100 metres or more
ahead.
The inevitable then happened, I had a mental
breakdown!.
I eventually calmed down, regained some measure of
composure and set about catching Wayne. I rounded the
final mark on port tack with Wayne clear ahead. With my
set up I felt I was able to point higher with good speed.
Half way up the final leg Wayne tacked to starboard
and I crossed ahead on port clearing him by only feet.
I had regained the lead, victory would surely be mine.
I then tacked to starboard and coming to the
layline crossed Wayne, by only the smallest
margin. Tacking onto port for the race to the
finish Wayne was below and slightly ahead.
While I gradually closed, we crossed the line together
with his bow only feet ahead. I had some how manage in
one manoeuvre to convert a narrow lead to a narrow loss.
Serious Yahoo finished a minute further in front.
Final elapsed times.- Serious Yahoo 146..73, Kasam
147.73 and Escape 147.88.
After 2.5 hours of sailing, only a minute serparated the
three boats.
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007
21

On reflection the law of natural order was indisputably
proven;
Doug Hem, as he has done so often before, was a clear
and deserving winner.
Among the S80s, Serious Yahoo won yet again, as it
does week in-week out.
Wayne and Kasam refused to accept defeat at the
hands of Escape and managed to overcome a late start
and a significant lead to win when in all reasonable
probability he should not have.
And Escape, true to form manages to snatch defeat
from the jaws of victory.
.-What did I learn?
The S80s had almost identical straight line speed when
set up similarly.
technically covered the course we went an extra nautical
mile or so, cruelling any chance of a win and allowing
the slower boats to clean up on final results as they
could see the error from behind and cut the corner.
I followed the lead boats assuming they knew where
they were going. Must not rely on others to determine
our navigation.
Need to fix the spinnaker pole .
Conclusion.
All in all a valuable learning experience, plenty of fun,
very close racing with some dramatic moments for
contrast.
And the natural order prevailed.
There is a very fine line between pointing, speed and
leeway.
The degree of mainsail twist is quite critical and
needs to be adjusted regularly for wind speed and
sea-state (smoother water/less breeze - less twist and
vice versa). One day I hope to unravel this mystery.
There is a distinctly different mental psychology to
defending a lead as opposed to attacking; each with its
own propensity for making mistakes under pressure.
Wayne rattled me as he tracked me downwind and
forced me into error.
On the final beat with close racing, the decision when
to tack is critical and lost me the race when I could
have/should have won. Overlaying the lay line by
a couple of boat lengths was a critical error. Wayne
took a calculated risk to tack right on the layline that
paid off. In retrospect, as I could point higher I should
have lee bowed him regardless of the position of the
lay line to force him to tack or drop away. The reason
I didn’t, was tacking single handed was difficult and
if I messed it up he would have sailed over the top.
Crossing him was the safer but ultimately the wrong
option. Sometimes calculated risks pay off.
It is simply inexcusable to miss a start.
The GPS should be carried at all times, or you should
always know the course. All the fleet except the
slower, smaller boats sailed around the wrong mark
(somewhere off Brighton/Sandringham). While we
The good ship ‘Escape’, on a fully crewed day.
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Tall Ships Victoria
Peter Harris
Tall Ships Victoria Inc. (TSV) was established nearly
a year ago to promote, coordinate and facilitate tall
ships’ activities within Victoria. RYCV is a founder
member of TSV and the Club’s continued support for
TSV is greatly appreciated.
TSV Website – A comprehensive website (www.
tallshipsvictoria.org) is being developed with links
to affiliated organizations and a link to TSV is now
included on the RYCV website.
The Melbourne premiere of the film will be shown at
the Sun Theatre, Yarraville on 7 June and will then be
screened at the Sun for the following week.
Tickets at $20 for the Gala Launch of the documentary
can be booked online at –
www.suntheatre.com.au/tickets/php.
Tickets include drinks, finger food and an opportunity
to talk with tall ships enthusiasts.
‘One and All’ visit 4-8 May 2007 – The brigantine One
and All, South Australia’s sail training ship, arrived
in Williamtown on 4 May with 24 Carey Grammar
sail trainees on board. The sail training voyage from
Port Adelaide to Melbourne has been a tradition for
Carey Grammar students for many years and judging
by the enthusiasm of the youngsters on their return
this tradition is bound to continue in the future. One
and All is interested to hear of any other school that
would like to use the ship for its students on the return
voyage to Adelaide, which takes 7 days. Please contact
Peter Harris or Robert Vandestadt (contact details on
the TSV web-site) to explore this opportunity.
RYCV offered the ship’s crew temporary membership,
with use of the club’s facilities. A dinner was held on
the evening of Friday 4 May to welcome the crew – as
well as new members to TSV and Royals members
interested in tall ships. The evening included an
entertaining address by Captain Bill Fenelon of the
One and All and included a showing of a DVD received
from Sail Training International covering the 50th
anniversary in 2006 of Tall Ships Races in Europe.
TSV provided assistance on Saturday 5 May in guiding
visitors through the ship. The Peninsula Ships Society
and RYCV coordinated the sale of tickets for a day
sail on board One and All on Sunday 6 May. The ship
departed for Port Adelaide on Tuesday 8 May. TSV
is grateful to Parks Victoria and the Williamstown
Maritime Association for their support with berthing of
the ship at the Maritime Precinct adjacent to Royals.
James Craig restoration documentary – TSV together
with the Sydney Heritage Fleet has organised a
showing of a documentary of the restoration of James
Craig from her miraculous refloating in Recherche
Bay, Tasmania in 1972 until the present day.
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007
23

Club Captain’s Notes
In this the Centennial year of the Challenge Trophy, the
Association Cup is back where it belongs and when all
is said and done racing and sailing at Royals seems to
be going OK. Its clearly a good time to move on and
after three years at the wheel, this Club Captain has
called for a change of watch.
I am very pleased to announce that I will be nominating
Captain David Ellis for the position of Club Captain
at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. I am
confident that he will, if elected, bring new ideas and a
fresh approach to the development of the Club’s racing
and sailing program and thereby the benefit of the work
which has been done over the past few years. Such is
the nature of progress.
This is also time to formally thank Past Commodore
Graeme West for his unstinting and relentless work as
Club Coxswain. Graeme joined the Club in 1962, serving
his 4 year apprenticeship through the Committee system
to become “Commodore without a Clubhouse” in 1970
after the fire of 6 September. Never a man to be daunted
by a bit of smoke, he quickly set about the task of coordinating
the construction of the current club house
before completing his term in 1972. After a brief respite,
or possibly reincarnation, “Westie” was to be found
participating and eventually leading the on water race
support team. Initially providing his own boat Lancer,
then helping to secure sponsorship for others and more
recently overseeing the maintenance of the whole fleet.
Its not a part time job and we owe Graeme a lot. Thank
you.
Alistair McBride has generously agreed to accept the
position of Club Coxswain and has already assumed
duties. Alistair is an experienced seaman who was
heard to mention that “he wanted to give something
back to the sport” ...... have we got an opportunity for
you ! Alistair, who acquired a Master’s Ticket Class 1
during his time at sea, spent a number of years driving
somewhat larger ships than we have on offer but has
also clocked up an enviable number of passage miles in
Yachts. He joined Graeme West’s on water race support
team last year and will be a worthy successor.
Welcome aboard.
The Race just past
The editor insisted that we had to have proper
coverage of the Association cup – and so we
shall.(Ed, thanks Justin)
Race Director, David LeRoy and I, who drive
the selection process always receive numerous
questions... why did you choose that team and
“what’s Toe Cutter doing in the IRC A team when
she is unbeatable in AMS” and “What is this
doing racing in the AMS B team when Executive
Decision and Top Gun are an unbeatable in IRC
combination”.... and so on.
Well, the Association Cup is an altogether
unusual trophy...
Over the 4 races, the weather typically ranges
from drifters to blows with some of the races
favouring big boats (wind dropping out
syndrome), small boats (wind strengthening)
and possibly small boat disasters (not enough
wind to finish.)
Each Club has four teams of three but:
In any race only three of the teams count
In each team only the best two boats count.
In some of the divisions its effectively a two
horse race, in others there may be four effective
competitors.
Neither Sandringham YC nor RYCV has boats
which can dominate three divisions but the
winning Club has to pick teams such that its
best two boats in three of the 4 divisions beat the
competitions best two – across the full range of
weather conditions. As it happened RYCV was
able to win three of the divisions in two of the
four races and it was “Royals - 2, Sandringham
– 2” in the others.
Confusing, sure is, and team selection is definitely
not a task for a defence committee.
While poor team selection can cause the best team
to loose the opposite isn’t true. One has to start
with good boats and crews and in this connection
we were very well served this year. The Cup is
an occasion for new sails, sail measurement and
updated certificates and all skippers made a
special effort for the event.

Thanks to John Duffin for his last minute
measurer’s duties and also to Rob Hanna of
Shogun. Rob, who has been a member of RYCV,
gladly agreed to join the team again this year only
to discover a couple of days before the event that
a change in the working of the Notice of Race
required that he change all his sail numbers ! It’s
just as well he has a sail maker in his team.
Our strongest team Was IRC Division 2 –
Executive Decision and Surprise, who proved to
be the wining team in all four races while Michael
Hiatt’s Living Doll was the best performing
individual yacht, achieving three firsts and an
equal first. Perhaps the most interesting result
was in AMS Division A where the team of Wake,
Godzilla and Chutzpah achieved a first or second
in every race and the second best boat was either
3rd of 4th.
Many thanks to the teams including those who
raced in the wrong division to protect the Club’s
team result in designated conditions where we
would otherwise be vulnerable.
IRC A Team
Living Doll
Shogun
Toe Cutter
IRC B Team
Executive Decision
Surprise
Western Morning
AMS A Team
Chutzpah
Godzilla
Wake
AMS B Team
Espresso
Remedy
Top Gun
Michael Hiatt
Rob Hanna
Robert Hick
Grant Bottica
David Ellis
Justin Brenan
Bruce Taylor
Andrew Munroe
Scott Lidgett
David LeRoy
Greg Tobin
Max Peters
The season ahead
A Club Captain’s first year is never truly his own
and planning for the new season is already well
advanced. There are a few new initiatives and
some interesting developments.
Wednesday Night Summer Races
Following the discussion from “Skippers Night”we
have been working with Hobson’s Bay Yacht Club to
develop the new format. The fleet will be split into two
Divisions racing on separate courses. This will reduce
congestion at marks and enable the Race Director to
set course lengths appropriate for the fleets. Racing
will be in combined RYCV and HBYC fleets starting in
the following sequence:-
Small boats.
Diamonds and F15’s
Big boats
The divisional break points of the fleet are yet to be
finalised and will be based on the elapsed times of the
total fleet. Range Division 3 yachts and some of the
slower boats in Division 2 are expected to fall within
the “Small Boat” start. There will be an overall result
for each Division as well as separate RYCV and HBYC
trophies as at present.
A new Thursday Night Race
The Wednesday twilight fleet, although competing on
two separate courses, will still be big and competitive
and it is recognised that this may not suit everyone.
What happened to that relaxing Wednesday night
social sail ???
So, numbers permitting we are going to introduce
Thursday twilight races. The race will be open to
yachts from both HBYC and RYCV with a pursuit
start. Arrangements will be made to ensure that the
Wednesday night “after sail” social tradition will live
on.
Overnight Bay Racing Series
In recent years the popularity of overnight bay racing
has dwindled but it was not always so and the Club
Captains believe a resurgence of interest is at hand. An
ocean race experience without the “pleasure” of Bass
Straight .
The five “top end” Clubs have agreed to re-organise
their respective overnight races with a view to attracting
larger, and better supported, fleets comprising entries
from all 5 clubs. The series will open on 26 October
with the Livingstone Trophy which will have a revised
format.
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007
25

Racing will be subject to Category Cat 4 N+ so as to
encourage maximum participation.
Lipton Regatta Organisation
Organisation is now well underway for the Lipton
Regatta. John Burgess, Past President of Yachting
Victoria, is Chairman of the Lipton Regatta Organising
Committee which comprises David Seaman (Marketing
and Sponsorship), David Ellis (Sailing Committee),
Justin Brenan, Tony Spencer (House) and Kerri
Murrell(General Manager).
This will be a year of consolidation for the Lipton and
I am pleased to report that David Seaman already has
sponsorship arrangements well in hand. Our sister
clubs have indicated that the event will enjoy their
ongoing support.
The Flying 15’s.....are coming
Well, in fact they are almost here.
Following RYCV’s organisation, at very short notice, of
the State Titles in March, the Flying 15 Association has
asked Sailing to arrange an F15 race series towards the
end of the winter. This will be a nine race series over
three weekends. In addition it is expected that there
will be a small fleet of F15’s starting regularly with
the Diamonds in the next Wednesday Twilight Series,
sailing the short course.
In the meantime Past Commodore Bruce Taylor, as
Chairman of the Organising Committee, is driving the
planning for the Australian and World Titles in January
2009.
“The Worlds” is no small time event.
The Championships will involve a total of more than
100 boats over 11 days with a budget of $120,000 -
“plus frills” depending on how much sponsorship is
attracted. Tony Spencer and David LeRoy will shortly
be departing to Spain, which is hosting this year’s F15
Championship, on a “scouting and promotional”
expedition. The detailed planning later this year will
incorporate their findings. Our thanks to David and
Tony for this.
Bruce has a strong committee comprising:-
Ray Borrett – Deputy Chairman, Organising
Committee
Michael Clark – FFI Representative
Bas Huibers – Sailing Committee Oversight
David LeRoy – Principal Race Officer
Michael McLean–Shore Based Logistics&Race Support
Tony Spencer – House
Justin Brenan – Finance and Scheduling
David Seaman – Marketing and Sponsorship.
Noel Allen will be Chairman of the International Jury
while Ross Wilson and David Wallace will work with
David LeRoy and Race Officers.
Late Extra
Reflecting Dave LeRoy’s fine work on the water, we
have just been approached to Run the State Titles for
the Lasers next March. With around 100 boats this will
keep the Race Management team on its toes.
Good sailing.
Justin Brenan, Club Captain.
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Lively Lady returns.
David Seaman
On the 6th May 2007, the Lively Lady returned to
Williamstown after an absence of nearly 40 years.
It was in December 1967 when Alec Rose (later “Sir”)
sailed into Port Phillip to see his son and family. Sir Alec
went on to complete a solo circumnavigation, which
although commonplace now, was then a big event.
The Raymarine Lively Lady Project is a round the world
voyage helping young adults turn their lives around.
The brainchild of British ocean adventurer Alan Priddy,
The Raymarine Lively Lady Project offers young
people who, for whatever reason, have not had the
best start in life, a chance to turn their lives around. The
opportunity to sail a leg of the circumnavigation is the
icing on the cake - the real benefit lies in the training
they do to ready themselves for the trip. Through the
work done over the months before departure they
will gain valuable life skills, enabling them to set their
lives back on track and achieve their potential or their
personal goals.
Lively Lady is making 27 stops on her voyage around
the world. On each leg her crew changes and two more
young adults will come on board. They will already
have researched about the cultures and countries they
will experience on their journey and will have learnt
about sailing, nutrition, budgeting, provisioning,
organisation and team work in the build up to the trip.
On board they will have to put all of that into practice,
as well as learn the essential skills of trust, leadership,
anticipation, confidence and responsibility that are
essential to life on board.
For Alan and all involved, the project is also an
opportunity to continue the legacy left by Sir Alec
Rose. It was his wish that his much-loved yacht should
work out her days, helping to make a difference in the
lives of disadvantaged young adults. A chance meeting
with Sir Alec as a child, followed by a lucky break, kept
Alan’s life on track. His wish now is that, through this
project and together with all the others involved, he
can help many more to achieve the same thing.
got involved in sailing, so I feel very privileged to be
continuing where he left off.”.
Lively Lady will be a resident of RYCV for the next 6
months. Alan and his team considered that trying to
conquer the southern ocean going westwards in the
southern hemisphere winter was too risky, so she will
be at Royals, for our use until she starts the next leg
to Freemantle at the end of the year. Alan is planning
to arrive in Portsmouth exactly 40 years after Sir Alec
returned there in 1968.
For those of you wishing to look over her, contact Past
Commodore Graeme West. As we have been given the
OK by Alan to sail her, opportunities will be available
to go for a sail in this unique boat.
As a tribute to the crew, RYCV hosted a function on
May 8th attended by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne,
Mr John So, visiting officials from other clubs, the Rose
family, and club members.
Lively Lady at rest after arrival at Wiliamstown. Come
down and inspect this historic vessel.
BR & SM Webber Pty. Ltd.
Boat Builders & Marine Services
9 Orange St, Williamstown, Victoria 3016.
Bernard Webber
Mobile: 0418 331 850
“The Raymarine Lively Lady Project is a dream-cometrue
for me,” said Alan Priddy. “Sir Alec Rose was one
of my childhood role models and the reason I
Tel: 03 9397 4003
Fax: 03 9397 4446
email: webberbr@bigpond.net.au
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007
27

Spirit Review, 2007
by The Crew of Spirit of Downunder.
Laurie Ford and his boat Spirit of Downunder have
found the perfect way to celebrate her 10th birthday.
This year Laurie and the Spirit are having their
most consistent year yet and are currently within
reach of taking out the ORCV’s Offshore Point score
Championship. With only the race to Apollo Bay
remaining they are currently in second place just 5
points behind the leader (Vapour Trail) and given the
structure of the point score system have the capacity
(given favourable conditions) to pick up 10 points for
the weekend.
A victory in the Apollo Bay race would be a fitting end
to a consistent Summer Series by Laurie and the crew.
Their campaign began with a victory in the Queenscliff
to Westernport race at the end of last years winter
series. Since then, the Spirit has shown her talent as an
offshore racer. Laurie said “The Spirit was never really
designed for races around the sticks, the objective
in her design and construction was to have a strong
performing offshore racer but specifically suited to the
Melbourne to Osaka Two Handed race”.
This pedigree as an offshore racer has proven true over
the past season where they have really come into their
own during long races off the breeze. The Spirits design
has excelled this year, breaking the race record for the
Sea Pilots Challenge, missing the race record to King
Island race record by just under an hour, arriving at
Grassy in time for lunch (and before the ORCV van to
take finishing times) as well as leading the Queenscliff
to Port Fairy race around Cape Otway (ahead of 97,
the former Farr 47 Sydney to Hobart line honours
winner) before unfortunately tearing 2 spinnakers and
snapping the backstay (20 miles from the finish) to still
finish 11 minutes behind the line honours winner and
once again only miss the race record by 28 minutes.
While finishing up the front in the line honours, Laurie
has also been getting the job done on handicap with
outstanding results not only in PHD but also in AMS.
It’s no coincidence that the excellent results being
achieved have coincided with Laurie being able to rely
on a regular crew each week.
The majority of the crew have now been sailing on
the Spirit with Laurie for over 12 months which has
allowed Laurie to share his knowledge of what it takes
to get her going.
Laurie has also been prominent in a number of club
races however has focused on the passage races. He has
also taken out two of the Sun Theatre Passage races.
Laurie and the Spirit will once again compete in the
ORCV Winter Series. Although traditionally doing
it tough around the sticks, Laurie said “we’ll take
the opportunity to further refine our crew work and
improve any of the gear we can. A lot of the crew are
relatively new to sailing and with every race they do,
they become more experienced. I run an inclusive boat
where I encourage everyone to have input and take
on challenges, this has resulted in us trying different
things, some which work and some which don’t but
I’m generally prepared to let the crew try things so
they can learn for themselves what works. Each time,
we narrow down what is working and the younger
crew become more experienced. This has allowed us
to improve over time and gives us all great enjoyment.
Next year we will have another assault on the offshore
championship.”
Safety is also paramount on the Spirit. This includes
compulsory safety briefings before leaving the dock
as well as requiring all crew to wear PFD’s at all times
while on deck, this includes in the bay, regardless of
the weather conditions. The policy is embraced by all
crew and never questioned.
In an attempt to keep Spirit of Downunder up with the
latest designs, Laurie is having discussions with her
designer, Gary Cameron, with a view to converting
the present keel, bulb and rudder to the latest design
shapes. At the moment he is having new instruments
fitted and it is interesting to note all the above results
were without wind or cockpit instruments save a
log which for one reason or another has just kept
working.
ed: What a finish to the ORCV season - a “spill at the top”
was always a possibility, and has occurred ! It all came down
to the last race, and Spirit of Downunder put in a great
performance to win PHD division, and the series. Well done
Laurie and the crew.

Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007
29

Dubai Offshore Sailing Club
Michael Smith, Commodore
You’ve come to a foreign city, got the work out of the
way, and with half a day up your sleeve, what do you
do but go looking for the local yacht club. You walk
into a yacht club in some other land, that you’ve never
been to before, this time the Dubai Offshore Sailing
Club, and someone asks casually “Oh hi Mike, are
you sailing today?”
It was Glen Raphael, who used to sail 49ers with
then Royals club member Duncan MacLeod out with
Kirwan Robb and Ryan Grieve, who all ended up
sailing with our Mumm 30 team in France in 2003.
He’s got a posting to Dubai with multiplex, as there’s
a building or two to be built. He has got himself one
of those awesome flying moths, the new McConaghy
built one that weights 7kgs, flies on foils and packs
into a box with it’s two piece mast smaller than a
windsurfer!
So then I wandered through the bar, with my host
Peter Forbes, an Emirates pilot, and there on the wall
is a large framed photo of John Duffin’s Emirates
(Enesay) sailing along with the Opera House in the
background. It is pointed out that the boat holds
a special place in history, by finishing the Sydney-
Hobart at 11.34pm on the 31st December 1999, and
with no one else finishing in the next half hour, they
officially became the “last boat to finish a yacht race
in the last millenium.” I’ve yet to see if our friends at
Guiness have picked up on that one.
There was also a couple of cruising boats, including
a quite stunning catamaran built in Perth and sailed
across, with a typically Westralian on board, certainly
well aged in the sun, but seemed to be missing the
corks from his hat.
Now take a look at the top of this areodynamic
multihull mast - yes, that is literally his crow’s nest.
He’s an offshore diving contrator, and after returning
after a stint on the rigs discovered the collection of
twigs and couldn’t bring himself to remove it!
DOSC is typical of most yacht clubs in these parts of
the world, a good quality floating marina, some very
expensive power boats owned by the locals, and a
fleet of various yachts from around 25’ to 45’, old and
small through to new and glamourous owned by the
expats. They also have a good fleet of dinghies, and
the kids were out training on their Opti’s
I was also taken down to one of the local boat building
yards, where old style timber trading vessels are still
built. The talent of the swarms of boat builders working
away was truly impressive, all cut by hand.
Picture above and next page

And when that’s all in, you may has well throw a
couple of old cars on top to keep it all in!
Pete explained that the reason the timber boats are
still popular is that the Dubai Port Authorities (which
like everything else, means THE family) consider steel
vessels, no matter what size, to be a Ship, and need to
take on a pilot when entering Dubai waters and port
- while a timber one, regardless of size, is considered
a Boat and the crew can bring her in and basically tie
up anywhere.
They have started building some pleasure boats this
way now, their ability to form those complex curves
really is something to see. Some boats get painted all
white, while others are just stained - which I imagine
creates even more employment, needing more
imported labour to keep it looking good for years to
come.
While Dubai is famous for the efficiency of it’s
container port, there is the secondary level of trade
for local deliveries to very fundamental ports around
the Gulf. As you can see, it’s shipping of old, with the
docks stacked with boxes to be hand loaded into the
hold of the boat.
I can highly reccomend dropping into Dubai for
a couple of days on your way through across the
continents, between the old city, the ports and the now
infamously excessive construction projects, it is a real
eye opener. Below is what, when finished will be the
worlds latgest building by 50% - 180 floors high! Oh,
and did I mention in the indoor snow ski field?
Photos by:Michael Smith, and
Peter Forbes.
Newsletter of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria • June 2007
31

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