ORCV TWILIGHT BARBEQUE

Come and join the ORCV for our final Club Barbeque for 2018, at the ORCV and Australian Sailing Offices on Albert Park Lake. Visit our office, meet your fellow club members, and hear about what the ORCV has is store for the coming year. Kick off will be at 5.30pm on Friday, December 7th, with sausages,steak sandwiches and salads available for purchase. We will also have beer, wine and soft drinks for purchase. Hope you can make it!

Register here (free event) so we know how many of you are coming: ORCV Club BBQ

2018 - 2019 Offshore Championship

The NOR for this season's Offshore Championship is now published in the Races section of the main Sailing Menu. As announced at the AGM, a revised scoring system has been introduced to address the diversity of ORCV's offshore courses and fleet sizes. The new system includes a modified high point scoring system for each race and application of Race Weights when calculating a yacht's Championship Score. See http://www.orcv.org.au/sailing/races/offshore-championship for full details. There will also be a new perpetrual trophy awarded to the owner-skipper of the best performed Double Handed Yacht.

Westcoaster – The Cruise Home

For crew on fixed timelines, flights are cheap……  but for those in the know it’s the west coast cruise. Its not the “trip of a life time” but only because those who do it nearly always come back again.

After a boisterous 5 or five days in Hobart its best to start with a leisurely sail down the Derwent, into the D’entrecasteaux Channel and a sheltered anchorage along Bruny Island or perhaps Kettering which offers visitor berths and an excellent hotel. One could dawdle “in the channel” on the Huon River or perhaps at Dover, but the wilderness beckons and the real stepping off point is Recherche Bay some 37 miles from Kettering. Beyond that point its World Heritage country.

Arriving at Recherche Bay the main anchorage is not obvious. There is a small, picturesque lagoon at the eastern end of the Bay - its unceremoniously known as “the Pigsties” an is entered with care on the starboard side of Shag Rock. However, most of the fleet and the local fishermen are usually found in Rocky Bay with its pristine beaches at the Southern side of the Bay.

Recherche Bay

The next leg of the cruise, 65 miles, offers spectacular scenery – past  SE Cape, either around or to the North of Maatsuyker Island, past SW Cape , the Pyramids and into Port Davey, usually stopping before sunset at one of the numerous anchorages at the start of Bathurst Channel.  

South West Cape on a calm day	Approach to Port Davey

......... where extra supplies are sometimes available

The trip down the Channel to Bathurst Harbour must be seen to be believed ….  expect to stay a few days before heading North for a little civilisation.

Bathurst Channel	Bathurst Harbour

Port Davey to Macquarie Harbour is a full day’s sail (90nm) so its up anchor at first light.  Hell’s Gates, the entrance to Macquarie Harbour, was named to reflect the conditions at the Penal Settlements and Sarah Island in particular. Nonetheless the entrance is not suitable for yachts in all conditions so before heading North check the weather – S, SW or West are fine, but the entrance should not be attempted when there is a large swell running from the west (ie over 5m) or when the wind is from the North. Conditions are available on the web.

Cape Sorrell Shelters the entrance Macquarie Harbour from South and West	Hell’s gates – the entrance to Macquarie

 Once in Macquarie Harbour its Straughn for “fuel and refreshment” then across Macquarie Harbour to the Gordon River for a few days of rejuvenation. The Gordon is navigable without difficulty all the way up to the St John’s Falls (30 odd miles) – and the commercial tourist boats are not permitted beyond the lower reaches. A greenies and photographer’s paradise – Huon and Celery Top pine, tranquillity and the best reflections known to man.    

Leaving the river and Macquarie Harbour, one heads north  - perhaps the Hunter Islands if the wind is fair, or overnight to King Island (140nm) and then on to Port Phillip -  hopefully at 8kn–10kn with the prevailing South westerly breeze.

Allow 10 - 12 days for the trip if you want to do it in style

Women’s Skipper and Navigator Race Set For New Challenges

Once again, the ORCV are honouring the long tradition of the Women Skippers & Navigators Race for the return trip from Blairgowrie. There is no better race on the bay of this magnitude for enhancing your skills and doing a long passage race. It's not just the pre-race preparation, but it also having a full day of helming or navigating to test your skills and improve your race management, navigation options, weather, tactics, radio procedures and crew work and management.  

Following the Blairgowrie Passage Race the day before, the morning starts out with going over all of your equipment, doing your pre-race plan with the crew and considering your course options and weather conditions. Assigning your crew positions and holding your safety briefing before heading to the start line. It is simply the best feeling!

For the more novice sailor on board a cruiser or racing boat not currently engaged in racing, are encouraged to come along and develop skills in key roles. To qualify for the race your boat will need the women crew to cover the key positions of helm, Navigator and Radio Operator, which can also be shared positions.

Navigators are encouraged to submit a log of their passage and Radio Operators are required to conduct the mandatory sign on and radio schedules, as detailed in the Sailing Instructions, and in many cases the radio operator is also the Navigator if you are light on for crew.

Organise your crew for a fantastic event and consider the options of using technology to navigate or paper charts. They both have their benefits.

Teams can enter this fantastic event by SMS to the Race Director mobile on 0418 396 605, or during the Pre-Race Radio Sign On Sked, as per the Sailing Instructions.

Race Entry is free for all eligible teams. 

If you are wanting to skipper or navigate and have not secured a boat, please phone Lynne Wilton on 0418 157 222 for a placement.

By Lynne Wilton, ORCV General Committee.

New Transition Program: From Bay Sailing to Cat 2 Offshore Racing

For those who are ready for the challenge, the ORCV has developed a new program to assist experienced skippers who wish to make the transition from active Bay Racing to Cat 2 off shore events with a view to competing in the forthcoming Standley Race or the Christmas events .

The program recognises that although many of the Cat 2 racing requirements involve little more than the installation of equipment, there are other requirements where, in the absence of prior experience, compliance can be unnecessarily difficult.

The program includes a half day briefing on 29 July 2018 which reviews Cat 2 racing requirements and provides practical advice on how those requirements are best met.

Ongoing advice and support is also offered focussing on the practicalities of some of the more technical areas such as certification of construction standards and stability.

For full details of the program, for which entry is on a selective basis click here