Monday, 18 December 2017

CYCA's Onshore Newsletter

Message from the CEO

The first of the 11 Clipper boats arrived at the CYCA around 8.30am last Friday morning with the welcome for Wendy Tuck and the crew of Sanya Serenity Coast brighter and warmer than the welcome Mother Nature turned on.

By late Saturday night all 11 boats were safely ensconced in their CYCA berths on D Arm.   

At yesterday’s Clipper presentations in the Race Village, Sanya Serenity Coast took out 1st place in the Elliott Brown Ocean Sprint Series, 3rd in the Scoring Gate and 1st place in the leg to Sydney.

The Clippers have also raised around $AU360,579 for UNICEF so for.

Don’t forget about ‘open for inspection’ on the clippers Wednesday, 20 December to Friday, 22 December. The boats will be open for all to view from 1100 - 1800hrs on ‘D’ Arm

Temporary Clubhouse plan

Refurbishment Update # 5 - Temporary Clubhouse 2018

The latest Members Update focuses primarily on the temporary clubhouse during the refurbishment of the clubhouse from February to October 2018.

Details can be found at the bottom of this email and will be available on the club website shortly.

Car Park

The main members' car park is again in focus, especially as this time of the year with the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and Christmas Holidays.

We are not a long-stay car park!  Members are not allowed to leave their car in the car park overnight without CEO permission and certainly not whilst on holidays. Unidentifiable cars remaining in the car park are firstly reported to the police to ensure they haven’t been reported as stolen, and then they are towed away to free up the space.

Three other issues are currently of concern:

• People parking inconsiderately in the middle of two car spaces
• Members swiping in non-members 
• Car park rage

Adhering to CYCA By-Laws and being patient and considerate towards your fellow members is essential in the smooth operation of the car park. Please report any breach to management immediately to allow us to deal with the matter promptly.

CYCA Constitution - Use of Car Park

 7. A breach of the By-Laws regarding an Authorised Member’s parking privileges will result in withdrawal or suspension of those parking privileges in accordance with the following provisions:

 (a) Any Member found to have parked in a reserved space, without permission granted in advance by the CEO of the club, will have parking privileges automatically suspended for 30 days.

 (b) Any Member who allows his or her membership card to be used by or for another person to park in the car parks, without permission granted in advance by the CEO of the club, will have parking privileges automatically suspended for 30 days.

 (c) In all other instances of breach or repeated breach of the By-Laws regarding Member’s parking privileges, a Member will be asked to attend and explain to a meeting of the Disciplinary Committee why his or her parking privileges should not be suspended or cancelled for unauthorised parking.

Be mindful of your personal items and boat gear

Please be aware of unwelcome ‘visitors’ onto the site at this time of the year. The overnight K9 patrol has apprehended a couple of offenders in the past week, so please ensure you don’t make it too easy for thieves to steal visible items on your boats or around the marina.

And finally..

Past Commodores Fuller, Kellett, Sommer, James, Allen, Roxburgh (not pictured) and van Kretschmar (with apologies from Past Commodores Bush, Lavis, Brooks and Linacre) recently hosted a luncheon in honour of Christina Del Conte as a show of respect and gratitude for the 30+ years that she served the CYCA and the Boards chaired by them.

Other members will hopefully have the chance to see Christina on 26 December as she has been invited onto the VIP start boat by the Club.

Karen Grega

CEO

Which way up? Too Impetuous watches Kingurra struggle to stay on her feet   Robert Baker

“Just like old times!” The Admiral’s Cup 50th Anniversary Regatta – Sydney 2017

The CYCA and its members played a major role in the creation and staging of this unique event. David Salter reports

"Best regatta we’ve had for ages!” “Great to see all those wonderful old boats out racing again!” “When’s the next one?” Those were just a few typical remarks from sailors after the final race of the Admiral’s Cup Anniversary Regatta sailed on December 1, 2 and 3.

“The whole thing grew like Topsy”, says committee chairman David Champtaloup, CYCA member and owner of Caprice of Huon. “Initially, to mark the 50th anniversary of Australia’s first Admiral’s Cup victory, we thought of just holding a couple of informal races around the cans – and then enjoy a few drinks afterwards with old shipmates.

“Five months later that simple idea became a full-blown regatta. Yachts sailed to Sydney from interstate ports to join the fleet and sailors flew in from overseas just to be part of the celebrations.

“Many of Australia’s most famous boats and skippers wanted to be here. Old crews re-assembled and plenty of new sails and gear were bought just for the Regatta. Suddenly we had a major event to organize and conduct.”     

Springing from an informal suggestion by the Classic Yacht Association of Australia, the Regatta was a joint venture between the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. It attracted 21 entrants for a three-race series raced on Sydney Harbour and offshore.

The event had three co-patrons, each with special connections to the Admiral’s Cup: Syd Fischer, who competed eight times in his various Ragamuffins and captained the Australian team on six occasions; Gordon Ingate, skipper of Caprice of Huon for her incredible three-in-a-row wins in 1965; and Sir James Hardy, who contested the Cup in his own yachts and also as a helmsman on Impetuous during the Australian team victory in 1979.

Entry was open to any yacht that represented Australia in the Admiral’s Cup or had sailed in the selection trials. Among the famous offshore racers taking part were Caprice of Huon, the first Ragamuffin, Salacia II, Love & War, Mister Christian, Mercedes III and IV, Pacha and the original Wild Oats. In addition, Anitra V and Lorita Maria were invited to participate in recognition of their distinguished roles in the development of offshore yachting in Australia.

The task of assembling the fleet and ensuring that they complied with the safety regulations for offshore racing fell to CYCA member and Admiral’s Cup veteran Peter Shipway.

“To be frank, it looked like a bit of a shambles early on”, he recalls. “But as the weekend of racing drew nearer the blokes started to get their act together. In the end I reckon it was the prospect of some really good fun – and healthy competition – that made it all happen. It was just like old times.”

Weather conditions for the regatta could hardly have been better with a brisk Nor’easter for the opening Harbour race. Another solid Northerly arrived for the offshore return sprint to a mark laid two miles off Long Reef. (The CYCA provided race management for the offshore race, using the start/finish lines it had set for the Bird Island Race on the same day.) A typical Sydney Summer mixture of challenging breezes tested the fleet in the concluding Harbour race.

The racing was fair and spirited throughout, but a regrettable starting-line incident in Race #1 sadly put an end to Impetuous and Caprice of Huon’s regatta before it had begun.

The sight of traditional displacement yachts thundering down the Harbour under their huge symmetrical spinnakers stirred the souls of anyone familiar with the spirit of Australian sailing a generation ago. For one nostalgic moment Too Impetuous and Salacia II flew their bloopers – sails that can’t have been out of their bags for 20 years or more.

There were social occasions after each day of racing, the most formal of which was a welcome dinner at the RSYS. More than 260 guests attended, including the three co-patrons.

The surprise guest of honour at the dinner was the Admiral’s Cup itself, kindly lent to the regatta by Royal Ocean Racing Club and secretly flown out to the CYCA from London. The Cup was carried into the room by the sons of the skippers of the victorious yachts in 1967 – Balandra, Caprice of Huon and Mercedes III.

Results:

Race #1 – Harbour – Balandra Trophy

1. Ragamuffin
2. Love & War
3. Lorita Maria

Race #2 – Offshore – Caprice of Huon Trophy

1. Sagacious V
2. Wild Oats
3. Mercedes IV

Race #3 – Harbour – Mercedes III Trophy

1. Uptown Girl
2. Syonara
3. Mister Christian

Overall 

1. Wild Oats
2. Sagacious V
3. Uptown Girl
4. Ragamuffin
5. Mercedes IV
6. Fare Thee Well
7. Mister Christian
8. Syonara
9. Salacia II
10. Vittoria
11. Love & War
12. Lorita Maria
13. Camille
14. Too Impetuous
15. Mercedes III
16. Auric's Quest
17. Anitra V
18. Kingurra
19. Pacha

 (Impetuous and Caprice of Huon were retirements)

Below: Pacha relives the magnificence of the big IOR yachts   Robert Baker