Untitled Document

2004/5 Irwin Sails Victorian State Championships
Feb 26                 - Chelsea Yacht Club
Feb 27                 - Beaumaris Yacht Club
March 5               - Elwood Sailing Club
March 11, 12, 13 - Royal Geelong Yacht Club

Heat One - Saturday 26^th of Feb - Chelsea Yacht Club

A mild summers day with light breeze greeted the fleet of Jav's for the first heat at Chelsea. This fine reporter was unable to attend due to the terrible scheduling of a wedding of an ex Jav sailor who really should have known better! Not that this will make much difference to the accuracy of the report, as hearsay and a very creative imagination are normally all you need for these reports anyway.

The race started in 10-12 knots of SE, with the sea breeze predicted to come in at some point. Some bright spark in the tower decided that 5 long laps was the go, which could be explained as a very frustrated Taser -sailing OOD who just cant get enough of watching the Jav's amazing speed! At the top mark went Chianti, Wahooti Fandango and Unzipped, with Brett and Garmo taking the lead downwind for the first time. The breeze threatened to build with pockets of pressure to be found, but over the race duration never really got to a classic Chelsea sea breeze. Unzipped lead with Peter and Lachlan (I will need a 14 soon dad if I continue to grow) Sharp on Silly moo within striking distance, and a tight group of For Better, Spunout, Mojo, Wahooti and Chianti tussling for 3^rd. Strike they did at the bottom mark for the last time when they picked a great gust to ride down to the mark. The Silly Moo boys held the orange peril off until the last tack to the finish, with Unzipped taking the win by a couple of boat lengths, with Spunout getting away from the pack for third.

My sources were unable to produce results past 3^rd so you can all fight for 4^th. Other gossip for the day included cameo appearances by Wazza and Rash who had lots of difficulty getting his wetsuit zipped up inside out. Rash was further traumatised when he and Glennie failed to see the 125 about to T-bone the green machine. Also spectator and ex Jav sailor Tammy Ballard was caught up in the excitement of the start of the race and had her ‘waters’ break and labour begin sitting on the seawall. Rumours are rife that she will call her new baby girl Chelsea! Congrats Darren and Tammy!

Heat two and three - Sunday 27^th Feb - Beaumaris Yacht Club

Another lovely Melbourne day………. no really it was! The girlie goddesses set up on the grassy knoll or fat clack hill to enjoy the sun and light breeze. The fleet set off for the first of two longish short races in another light SE of 8-10 knots with Spunout taking a nice lead at the top mark, from a tight group of La Woman, Zipped and Silly moo following. The sea breeze started to appear by the end of the second lap with Spunout leading Unzipped around the bottom mark, and Silly Moo and the Woman tussling for third 30 seconds back. On the downwind to the finish , with the wind strengthened to 15knots, Unzipped gybed inside Spunout and took the win by 13 seconds, with the sneaky Woman pipping Silly Moo on the line by the barest of margins to take third and fourth. Houdini took fifth, For Better sixth, Wahooti 7^th and Mojo 8^th, with only 44 seconds separating the last four.

The sea breeze had finally arrived for the start of the second race, which did drop the ambience rating on the hill from perfect, to slightly less than perfect. Some idiot erected a shade tent in front of the viewing area, but most had well and truly lost interest anyway! Much excitement at the start with Spunout enciting a multiple boat pileup, and inviting For Better to ram his already holey wetsuit with their prodder! The same four hit the top mark on top of each other again with the Woman leading at the bottom mark from Spunout, Unzipped and Silly Moo. Greg took the motor out of his trap belt up the second work which saw the Woman lead by 40 seconds at the top mark again from the chummy next three. They all caught up again at the bottom mark to provide the hill with something worth looking up for as Spunout called starboard on Silly moo and Unzipped screaming down to the mark on port. Unfortunately for the spectators no-one actually fell over, but there was much kite flapping and boats on their ears. The wind got up to a nice 18knots for the last lap, with LA Woman taking the win. Unzipped slipped past Spunout downwind AGAIN, after Drew had an unsnap able wineglass on the gybe, with Silly Moo 4^th. For Better got 5^th, Mojo 6^th, Wahooti 7^th, and Houdini 8^th after a spectacular swim on the gybe.

So three out of three heats completed with the 4^th heat to be sailed at Elwood on Saturday with the soothing sounds of F1 cars racing at Albert Park just 3km away.

The experienced ‘fat clacks’ will bring ear muffs!

Heat four-Elwood Yacht Club-Sat 5^th of March

This is Melbourne. The good weather just could not last. Woke up to a howling westerly of 30-40 knots. Settled slightly in the middle of the day to send everyone up to Elwood but went right off again by race time with huge squalls coming through. There is provision for resail on the long weekend, but a shame not to get the four heats in to ensure a series before we head off down to Geelong.

Leader board as it stands after 3 heats:

Unzipped Brett & Craig 1,1,2

Spunout Mitch & Drew 3,2,3

Silly Moo Peter & Lachlan 2,4,4

LA Woman Jamie & Greg 6,3,1

Royal Geelong Yacht Club – 11^th-13^th of March

This is Melbourne. The bad weather just could not last. Great trolley dolly weather forecast for the whole weekend with 28-32C and light breezes from wherever it wanted to come from. Most arrived on the Friday night. The traditional HUGE drinking night was replaced by a few quite ales with lots of baby monitors littering the table as there seems to be more babies/toddlers than P-plates these days. Adding to this phenomenon was the Gallands official announcement of Melissa’s pregnancy with the baby due in September.

Heat five was scheduled on the Sat arvo with the weather man perfect in his prediction. The boats were towed out to the start with 3-5 knots from the NE allowing a start. Unfortunately the start was about 2000 miles from the shore in an attempt to find what wind was present in Corio Bay. To add to this reporters difficulties they then proceeded to float away from us, although it took us about 20 minutes to decide this. Luckily Billy Williams was there to keep the chicks focused. Who knows what happened up that first work, but Glen and Lynnie in Mojo stormed around the top mark with a huge lead of 5 or 6 minutes, followed eventually by a tight bunch of Spunout, For Better and Silly Moo. The fleet then drifted downwind, but at least we could make them out as tiny coloured dots on the horizon. After 16minutes separating 1st from last at the first mark, the fleet went round the bottom mark within 3minutes, with the flying Mojo back to 5th, and For Better or Worse leading. Back up the work and with a shortened course, Mojo charged through the fleet but could not catch Spunout who took the win. Glennie & Lynnie celebrated their 2^nd place and certain handicap win, with Silly Moo 3^rd and the Kemps having shown their renowned light air speed in 4^th.

Sunday morning dawned as another perfect day, but with even less movement than Sat. The resail of Heat 4 was scheduled for the morning, and again the boats were towed out. They started in 2 or 3knots, with a daydreaming Unzipped left 100 feet from the start line in a pocket of no wind to start with the 125's 5 minutes later. At about the time the drifting fleet got near the top mark, the entire ‘Wooden Boats Festival’ fleet did their sail past and produced even bigger pockets of no wind! The comment from fat clack hill was ’oh look at those lovely boats sailing past’. At the top mark of the ‘short course’ race went Colin and David in Chianti, followed by Spunout, and For Better. The breeze continued at very light levels, and at the bottom mark For Better or Worse was leading with La Woman 2^nd, and Chinati 3^rd. Peter and Allison on For Better or Worse took a great win, after being unlucky in heat 5, with Spunout getting through for a consistent 2^nd, Chianti 3^rd and La Woman 4^th.

Spunout showing great consistency with 3,2,3,1,2 now took the lead from Unzipped by 3 points with1,1,2,7,8 who were going to have to carry one of those bad ones. LA Woman 6,3,1,6,4, Silly Moo 2,4,4,3,6 and For better or worse 5,6,5,4,1 were all tussling for third.

Heat six was scheduled for the afternoon, and much to the displeasure of the newspaper reading fat clack hill, the sea breeze started to drift in at lunchtime. By the start of the race a beautiful 18-20 knots of sea breeze graced the course, much to the relief of the crews who had spent way too much time wallowing on the bottom of boats. With the sea breeze ‘off-shore’ in Geelong, it produced a beautiful flat windy course even those Swan boys would be proud of. It also meant the course was set on our side of the equator and viewing was spectacular! At the top mark Unzipped had the lead by 2 minutes over LA Woman, with a big gap back to Spunout and Silly Moo. LA Woman had a big swim on the gybe which left Unzipped ahead by 11 minutes at the top mark for the second time. The fleet spread out as the wind gusted up to 25 knots and many had swims, but all were having a fab ride! Just before the top mark for the third time Unzipped were forced to tip over to re-rig a jib after the halyard broke, with LA Woman taking the lead from Spunout. LA Woman kept the lead for a win, with Unzipped getting past Spunout upwind to the finish for 2^nd, Spunout 3^rd, and Silly Moo 4^th.

So with the second last race run, Spunout retained its overall lead but by a reduced margin from Unzipped, with LA Woman taking a clear lead for the 3^rd place. With the forecast for a foggy morning for the last race, the chances are it would stay this way. Just to add some intrigue, Mitch had to ring around Sunday night after failing to secure a crew for the Monday race.

Although again the next morning there was NO wind out they went to be towed to the start line. Someone on the start boat must have passed wind as they put up the flags and started the race, only to abandon it after 10 minutes much to the relief of all concerned. Congratulations all around for Spunout and much discussion on the tight tussle to be had in the overall handicap race! Another March long weekend proving that Melbourne does have beautiful weather, and it is best enjoyed sitting on your fat clack on a hill, under a palm tree, with the weekend papers, a knowable sailor in Billy Williams to keep you updated, the gelati van a short stroll away, and the entire menagerie of ankle biters asleep! Well 6 out of 7 ain't bad!

FINAL PLACING'S

1^st SPUNOUT M.Galland & D.Wilson 3,2,3,2,1,3 11

2^nd UNZIPPED B.Williams & C.Garmston 1,1,2,7,8,2 13

3^rd LA WOMAN J.Thompson & G.Parsons 6,3,1,4,6,1 15

4th SILLY MOO P&L Sharp 2,4,4,6,3,4 17

5^th For Better or Worse P&A Kemp 4,6,5,1,4,5 19

6^th CHIANTI C.Williams & D.Boyle 5,dnc,dnc,3,5,6 29

7^th MOJO G.Marshall & L.Williams 9,8,6,5,2,dnf 30

8^th Wahooti Fandango M&W Sharp 8,7,7,8,7,7 36

9^th HOUDINI M.Halton & T.Fountain 7,5,8,dnc,dnc,dnc 41

Many thanks to Narelle Williams for the above commentary.

		*Victorian Championships*
Previous Winners Previous Winners 2000 Results 2001 Results 2002 Results 2003 Results 2004 - Vic States Notice of Race (MS Word) Entry Form (MS Word) Sailing Instructions (MS Word) Results Results (MS Excel) Photos Home		2004/5 Irwin Sails Victorian State Championships Feb 26 - Chelsea Yacht Club Feb 27 - Beaumaris Yacht Club March 5 - Elwood Sailing Club March 11, 12, 13 - Royal Geelong Yacht Club *Heat One - Saturday 26^th of Feb - Chelsea Yacht Club* A mild summers day with light breeze greeted the fleet of Jav's for the first heat at Chelsea. This fine reporter was unable to attend due to the terrible scheduling of a wedding of an ex Jav sailor who really should have known better! Not that this will make much difference to the accuracy of the report, as hearsay and a very creative imagination are normally all you need for these reports anyway. The race started in 10-12 knots of SE, with the sea breeze predicted to come in at some point. Some bright spark in the tower decided that 5 long laps was the go, which could be explained as a very frustrated Taser -sailing OOD who just cant get enough of watching the Jav's amazing speed! At the top mark went Chianti, Wahooti Fandango and Unzipped, with Brett and Garmo taking the lead downwind for the first time. The breeze threatened to build with pockets of pressure to be found, but over the race duration never really got to a classic Chelsea sea breeze. Unzipped lead with Peter and Lachlan (I will need a 14 soon dad if I continue to grow) Sharp on Silly moo within striking distance, and a tight group of For Better, Spunout, Mojo, Wahooti and Chianti tussling for 3^rd. Strike they did at the bottom mark for the last time when they picked a great gust to ride down to the mark. The Silly Moo boys held the orange peril off until the last tack to the finish, with Unzipped taking the win by a couple of boat lengths, with Spunout getting away from the pack for third. My sources were unable to produce results past 3^rd so you can all fight for 4^th. Other gossip for the day included cameo appearances by Wazza and Rash who had lots of difficulty getting his wetsuit zipped up inside out. Rash was further traumatised when he and Glennie failed to see the 125 about to T-bone the green machine. Also spectator and ex Jav sailor Tammy Ballard was caught up in the excitement of the start of the race and had her ‘waters’ break and labour begin sitting on the seawall. Rumours are rife that she will call her new baby girl Chelsea! Congrats Darren and Tammy! *Heat two and three - Sunday 27^th Feb - Beaumaris Yacht Club* Another lovely Melbourne day………. no really it was! The girlie goddesses set up on the grassy knoll or fat clack hill to enjoy the sun and light breeze. The fleet set off for the first of two longish short races in another light SE of 8-10 knots with Spunout taking a nice lead at the top mark, from a tight group of La Woman, Zipped and Silly moo following. The sea breeze started to appear by the end of the second lap with Spunout leading Unzipped around the bottom mark, and Silly Moo and the Woman tussling for third 30 seconds back. On the downwind to the finish , with the wind strengthened to 15knots, Unzipped gybed inside Spunout and took the win by 13 seconds, with the sneaky Woman pipping Silly Moo on the line by the barest of margins to take third and fourth. Houdini took fifth, For Better sixth, Wahooti 7^th and Mojo 8^th, with only 44 seconds separating the last four. The sea breeze had finally arrived for the start of the second race, which did drop the ambience rating on the hill from perfect, to slightly less than perfect. Some idiot erected a shade tent in front of the viewing area, but most had well and truly lost interest anyway! Much excitement at the start with Spunout enciting a multiple boat pileup, and inviting For Better to ram his already holey wetsuit with their prodder! The same four hit the top mark on top of each other again with the Woman leading at the bottom mark from Spunout, Unzipped and Silly Moo. Greg took the motor out of his trap belt up the second work which saw the Woman lead by 40 seconds at the top mark again from the chummy next three. They all caught up again at the bottom mark to provide the hill with something worth looking up for as Spunout called starboard on Silly moo and Unzipped screaming down to the mark on port. Unfortunately for the spectators no-one actually fell over, but there was much kite flapping and boats on their ears. The wind got up to a nice 18knots for the last lap, with LA Woman taking the win. Unzipped slipped past Spunout downwind AGAIN, after Drew had an unsnap able wineglass on the gybe, with Silly Moo 4^th. For Better got 5^th, Mojo 6^th, Wahooti 7^th, and Houdini 8^th after a spectacular swim on the gybe. So three out of three heats completed with the 4^th heat to be sailed at Elwood on Saturday with the soothing sounds of F1 cars racing at Albert Park just 3km away. The experienced ‘fat clacks’ will bring ear muffs! *Heat four-Elwood Yacht Club-Sat 5^th of March* This is Melbourne. The good weather just could not last. Woke up to a howling westerly of 30-40 knots. Settled slightly in the middle of the day to send everyone up to Elwood but went right off again by race time with huge squalls coming through. There is provision for resail on the long weekend, but a shame not to get the four heats in to ensure a series before we head off down to Geelong. Leader board as it stands after 3 heats: Unzipped Brett & Craig 1,1,2 Spunout Mitch & Drew 3,2,3 Silly Moo Peter & Lachlan 2,4,4 LA Woman Jamie & Greg 6,3,1 *Royal Geelong Yacht Club – 11^th-13^th of March* This is Melbourne. The bad weather just could not last. Great trolley dolly weather forecast for the whole weekend with 28-32C and light breezes from wherever it wanted to come from. Most arrived on the Friday night. The traditional HUGE drinking night was replaced by a few quite ales with lots of baby monitors littering the table as there seems to be more babies/toddlers than P-plates these days. Adding to this phenomenon was the Gallands official announcement of Melissa’s pregnancy with the baby due in September. Heat five was scheduled on the Sat arvo with the weather man perfect in his prediction. The boats were towed out to the start with 3-5 knots from the NE allowing a start. Unfortunately the start was about 2000 miles from the shore in an attempt to find what wind was present in Corio Bay. To add to this reporters difficulties they then proceeded to float away from us, although it took us about 20 minutes to decide this. Luckily Billy Williams was there to keep the chicks focused. Who knows what happened up that first work, but Glen and Lynnie in Mojo stormed around the top mark with a huge lead of 5 or 6 minutes, followed eventually by a tight bunch of Spunout, For Better and Silly Moo. The fleet then drifted downwind, but at least we could make them out as tiny coloured dots on the horizon. After 16minutes separating 1st from last at the first mark, the fleet went round the bottom mark within 3minutes, with the flying Mojo back to 5th, and For Better or Worse leading. Back up the work and with a shortened course, Mojo charged through the fleet but could not catch Spunout who took the win. Glennie & Lynnie celebrated their 2^nd place and certain handicap win, with Silly Moo 3^rd and the Kemps having shown their renowned light air speed in 4^th. Sunday morning dawned as another perfect day, but with even less movement than Sat. The resail of Heat 4 was scheduled for the morning, and again the boats were towed out. They started in 2 or 3knots, with a daydreaming Unzipped left 100 feet from the start line in a pocket of no wind to start with the 125's 5 minutes later. At about the time the drifting fleet got near the top mark, the entire ‘Wooden Boats Festival’ fleet did their sail past and produced even bigger pockets of no wind! The comment from fat clack hill was ’oh look at those lovely boats sailing past’. At the top mark of the ‘short course’ race went Colin and David in Chianti, followed by Spunout, and For Better. The breeze continued at very light levels, and at the bottom mark For Better or Worse was leading with La Woman 2^nd, and Chinati 3^rd. Peter and Allison on For Better or Worse took a great win, after being unlucky in heat 5, with Spunout getting through for a consistent 2^nd, Chianti 3^rd and La Woman 4^th. Spunout showing great consistency with 3,2,3,1,2 now took the lead from Unzipped by 3 points with1,1,2,7,8 who were going to have to carry one of those bad ones. LA Woman 6,3,1,6,4, Silly Moo 2,4,4,3,6 and For better or worse 5,6,5,4,1 were all tussling for third. Heat six was scheduled for the afternoon, and much to the displeasure of the newspaper reading fat clack hill, the sea breeze started to drift in at lunchtime. By the start of the race a beautiful 18-20 knots of sea breeze graced the course, much to the relief of the crews who had spent way too much time wallowing on the bottom of boats. With the sea breeze ‘off-shore’ in Geelong, it produced a beautiful flat windy course even those Swan boys would be proud of. It also meant the course was set on our side of the equator and viewing was spectacular! At the top mark Unzipped had the lead by 2 minutes over LA Woman, with a big gap back to Spunout and Silly Moo. LA Woman had a big swim on the gybe which left Unzipped ahead by 11 minutes at the top mark for the second time. The fleet spread out as the wind gusted up to 25 knots and many had swims, but all were having a fab ride! Just before the top mark for the third time Unzipped were forced to tip over to re-rig a jib after the halyard broke, with LA Woman taking the lead from Spunout. LA Woman kept the lead for a win, with Unzipped getting past Spunout upwind to the finish for 2^nd, Spunout 3^rd, and Silly Moo 4^th. So with the second last race run, Spunout retained its overall lead but by a reduced margin from Unzipped, with LA Woman taking a clear lead for the 3^rd place. With the forecast for a foggy morning for the last race, the chances are it would stay this way. Just to add some intrigue, Mitch had to ring around Sunday night after failing to secure a crew for the Monday race. Although again the next morning there was NO wind out they went to be towed to the start line. Someone on the start boat must have passed wind as they put up the flags and started the race, only to abandon it after 10 minutes much to the relief of all concerned. Congratulations all around for Spunout and much discussion on the tight tussle to be had in the overall handicap race! Another March long weekend proving that Melbourne does have beautiful weather, and it is best enjoyed sitting on your fat clack on a hill, under a palm tree, with the weekend papers, a knowable sailor in Billy Williams to keep you updated, the gelati van a short stroll away, and the entire menagerie of ankle biters asleep! Well 6 out of 7 ain't bad! FINAL PLACING'S 1^st SPUNOUT M.Galland & D.Wilson 3,2,3,2,1,3 11 2^nd UNZIPPED B.Williams & C.Garmston 1,1,2,7,8,2 13 3^rd LA WOMAN J.Thompson & G.Parsons 6,3,1,4,6,1 15 4th SILLY MOO P&L Sharp 2,4,4,6,3,4 17 5^th For Better or Worse P&A Kemp 4,6,5,1,4,5 19 6^th CHIANTI C.Williams & D.Boyle 5,dnc,dnc,3,5,6 29 7^th MOJO G.Marshall & L.Williams 9,8,6,5,2,dnf 30 8^th Wahooti Fandango M&W Sharp 8,7,7,8,7,7 36 9^th HOUDINI M.Halton & T.Fountain 7,5,8,dnc,dnc,dnc 41 Many thanks to Narelle Williams for the above commentary.