PSYC 2023 - Issue #7
Port Sydney Yacht Club 2023 - Issue #7: Mary Lake drifter or just enough wind?
Commodore's Corner
Edward Gledhill, Co-Commodore
Ahoy, members!
I'll try to keep my comments brief this week as there is a lot to digest below! Read on for: this week's race/party, (lots of) 'Nautical News', a Logowear Update, Race Reports & results.
Very light winds and scorching sunshine met the nine boats that raced on Saturday. After a flawless and timely start, racers spread out across the course, with our first non-Albacore class (me, in a Laser Radial) seeking out wind in the - at times - windless afternoon. Nonetheless, all sailors enjoyed a gentle race and the party which followed.
A massive 'thank you' goes to Gail and Peter Tabbitt for hosting a fantastic sailing party on Saturday, with 63 attendees. It was great to be out on the lawn and to see everyone there, with a very special awards presentation (more below). Thanks, too, to Sharon Vance and Mary Ann Hand (Race Committee), Tom and Nancy Laurie (Crash Boat & Photography), Warren & John (Mark Setters) and Dean (VC/Scorekeeper). We couldn't do it without you! A fuller list of volunteers and contacts is here.
My family and I have been delighted to be back at the lake and enjoying the racing and parties. I hope you will join us in the coming weeks.
See you on Saturday,
-EG ⚓
A well-attended party at the Tabbitts'.
☀️ This Week
⛵ Race #5 will take place at 2:15 on Saturday, 29 July in the usual location. As agreed at Saturday's skippers' meeting, the race format will be at the discretion of the mark setters/race team and publicised ahead of the start. We had great attendance last week, and it would be great to smash some records!
🎉 The Sailing Party next week is very kindly being hosted by Linda Kangas and Alan Hilliard. Address: 230 Edgemere Road East, 4:30pm. Docking here is difficult and arriving by car is recommended. However, their neighbours to the south are also members so docking there may be possible. See you there!
📰 Nautical News
Commodore Team
PSYC wins an award! Raines Koby, occasional PSYC sailor, from the Canadian Albacore Association visited on Saturday. He presented Co-Commodores Edward & Stephanie with a 'Clinger' award for "decades of dedication to sailing and Albacores". We are currently planning to hang it in Port Sydney Community Hall. It was fantastic to receive this recognition, and we look forward to working with the CAA in future.
Canadians 2023: Raines Koby from the CAA would like to publicise the Canadian National Albacore Championships in Georgian Bay this year. See their website for more details.
Also on Saturday, Raines mentioned the exciting prospect of PSYC potentially hosting the Ontario Albacore Championships in a year or two. Stay tuned!
New members: in recent years, the club has grown quite a lot! Apologies if your name is missed off here, but we would like to welcome:
Fraser Horn & family, Chris Tabbitt & family, Bruce Hay, Michell Reive, Delfina and Larry Onisto, Sandy Bevan, Andy de Man and John Morgan.
We would also like to recognise (new-ish members) the Lauries who over the last few years have contributed enormously, hosting a party, crash boating, racing and photographing. Thank you!
If you are not a member and would like to join, click here.Mary Lake Association (MLA) newsletter: the MLA's Spring Newsletter is published on their website and can be found here. Do have a look at some excellent articles and photography, including a guide on 'Choosing a Sailboat for Mary Lake'. Congratulations to all PSYC members who were involved and especially to Nancy Laurie, the publication's editor. To join the MLA, contact details are here.
Advanced notice: Port Sydney Regatta Weekend: as is tradition for the Port Sydney Regatta Weekend beginning Saturday, August 5th, we will race on the Sunday, August 6th. The sailing party will also follow on the Sunday, at the Douglas property. Enjoy the Saturday if you are attending the regatta!
Do you have any Nautical News? Let us know for next issue.
👕 Logowear Update
Brian Howell, Logowear Co-ordinator
Logowear orders needed! All items are excellent quality and highly recommended! Current orders are below.
We are planning to order 12 hats and 6 1/4 zip sweatshirts. It is unlikely that we will receive a critical mass of any other item. If we reach close to the minimum of 12 (or 6 for 1/4zips), the club can buy the remaining to complete the order.
Please email Brian by the end of today (Thurs 27th) if you would like to place or amend an order and have not done so already.
⛵ Sailors' Corner
Race Report: Race #4 (22.7.2023)
Orlando Gledhill, CAN8100
9 boats raced this past Saturday 22 July, which was a season’s high turn-out. Raines Koby made his annual appearance in Dean MacMurtry’s boat and Edward Gledhill joined in his Laser.
Notwithstanding the over-optimistic 'Windy' app forecast of 6 to 16 knots from the North West, in the hour before the race, the wind, when not flat calm, was recorded as coming from any of North, North West, South, South East and South West. Given this unpromising situation, we did well to get a race in in a pleasant, if typically patchy 4-7 knots from roughly the West.
The start proved to be critical, with the breeze filling in heavily on the right side of the course and also shifting right in the last minute before the start. This put a premium on starting as close as possible to the Committee Boat end of the line, to benefit from the breeze as it filled in and the right shift.
Raines Koby managed this and duly led by 150 metres 2 minutes into the race. For the rest, their position at the first mark depended essentially on how quickly they could tack after the start and head right. With a crowded start line, getting right early was not easy to do. Orlando, despite his contrary intention, ended up starting as far away from the Committee Boat as possible and was duly in a solid last place shortly after the start. With nothing to lose and no prospect of being able to tack for several minutes, he took the unconventional option of gybing around just after the start, to duck transoms and get right somehow.
At the windward mark, Koby/MacMurtry had a solid lead, from Gledhill/Tovee and Hall/Dibble. But on Mary Lake that means nothing. Over the 2 reaches, Gledhill/Tovee closed significantly and Hall/Dibble even more so, to the point where Gledhill/Tovee had to cover closely upwind to hold on to 2nd. On the next upwind the leaders extended again and the next downwinds were more processional. On the last upwind the breeze became very patchy and shifty: you could be sailing in 2 knots or 8 knots. In those conditions, the boats behind often have an advantage as the lead boat shows them what the wind is doing. So it proved, when at the very end of the race, Gledhill/Tovee managed to get their nose into a private gust and left shift and managed to tack and just cross Koby/MacMurtry and then, shortly afterwards, the finish line. Definitely a lucky sequence, but gratefully received by the surprised Gledhill/Tovee boat.
The top three finished within a minute of each other. The Hoggs reported a somewhat relaxing race, with no-one close ahead or behind. 5th to 7th (Beadle, Johnson/Bishop, Lobb/Tovee) seemed to have a good tussle, finishing within just over a minute.
Many thanks to the Race Committee (Sharon and Mary Ann) for flawless race management (including timings for handicap) on a tricky day. And to Tom and Nancy Laurie on Crash Boat duty. Also to the course setters, who were presented with a particularly tricky Mary Lake problem and produced the best race available.
Race Results: Race #4
Sharon Vance & Mary Ann Hand, Race Committee
Orlando Gledhill & Sue Tovee (44.22)
Raines Koby & Dean MacMurtry (44.53)
Warren Hall & Brad Dibble (45.20)
John & Laura Hogg (58.14)
Mark Beadle (65.02)
Ted Johnson & Nick Bishop (65.30)
Bill Lobb & Mark Tovee (66.24)
Edward Gledhill (Laser Radial) (71.58)
John Douglas & Brent Houlden (72.15)
The full scoring tracker can be found here.
Midweek racing
We are planning midweek sailing on an ad hoc basis. There is a sailors' email thread - hit 'reply all' to send a message to everyone when you plan to go out. This will enable us to get more practice in (especially in favourable conditions).
Skippers' meeting (22.7.2023)
Dean MacMurtry, VC & Scorekeeper
Please see our Sailing & Racing members' page on the website here for the minutes of last week's meeting. Password is 'psyc'
We agreed on late start timings, purchase of new mark(s), procedure for shortening a race and Edward (C) is drafting a club 'constitution' for consultation. Scoring tracker can also be found here.
Before you go...
Thanks for reading this very long issue! See you on Saturday.
Comments, questions, suggestions? Let us know. Please forward this email to anyone interested in the PSYC.
The Team ⚓
Photos in this issue are courtesy of Nancy & Tom Laurie.
