2018 Victorian Sailing Awards

Last Friday at the Victorian Sailing Awards evening, the ORCV was awarded, jointly with Royal Geelong Yacht Club, the annual award for Media and Publicity. This award recognised the considerable efforts over many years of those who have produced material for all of our media outlets; the ORCV website, Facebook Page, newspapers, radio and TV and of course of all of our members who have contributed articles, photos and video content associated with our various events.

Thanks to all who have helped and well done!

Offshore Championship…..  further information

 Our previous article reported that although the racing is all done, and a few boats placed  themselves out of contention during the Apollo Bay race, we still do not have a result for the Offshore Championship and scoring procedure is under review. The problem to be addressed has its origins in changes made by ORCV during the past year.

First, the Offshore Championship was changed in two ways.  Competitors were encouraged to participate in longer distance events  - the Westcoaster, Melbourne Osaka and Noumea by introducing Championship eligibility requirements. In parallel with this, emphasis was placed on measurement handicap results where available. Specifically, if a yacht competed in Performance, IRC and/or AMS handicap categories, her score in that race would be drawn from the best measurement handicap result. This requirement is covered in Clause 2.4 of the Offshore Championship NOR.

In a separate initiative the Club also encouraged participation in Double Handed racing in all of our events. This was in part a precursor to the then upcoming Melbourne Osaka race but also reflects ORCV’s desire to support the growing interest in short-handed sailing. Short-handed boats have always been able to compete against fully crewed boats, but we created an additional entry category exclusively for Double Handed Boats.  Racing in the double handed division was however restricted to Performance Handicaps  -  reflecting IRC advice to race organisers and the fact that AMS ratings for Double Handed Boats were still not supported by adequate data.

The key issue is whether the NOR for the Offshore Championship permits results from the Double Handed Division to be included in the scoring. Can the Performance Handicap only Double Handed Division Results be used if a boat also competed as part of the main fleet ? Putting this another way, does a skipper’s decision to put in an extra entry against fully crewed boats rule out use of the Double Handed results for Offshore Championship scoring ? ….and this is where Clause 2.8 of the Championship NOR comes in.     

The wording is definitely “ticklish” and any ambiguity will be removed next year.

In the meantime the Club has to deal with the documentation as published.  Initial Rules advice has been received and the question is to be further considered by the Committee at its meeting next month, but the chances are that the matter will end up before the Jury to secure an independent decision.            

Offshore Championship….. so who won the award ?

Well the Racing is all done and a few boats, including Alien, took themselves out of contention with poor tactical decisions during the Apollo Bay race but……. we still don’t have a result and the scoring arrangements are under review.

The key issue is whether the NOR for the Offshore Championship permits results from the Double Handed Division to be included in the scoring. Can Double Handed Division Results, which are Performance Handicap only, be used if a boat also competed as part of the main fleet ? Putting this another way, does a skipper’s decision to put in an extra entry against fully crewed boats rule out use of the Double Handed results for Offshore Championship scoring ?      

In some races the question is irrelevant. In the case of the Westcoaster, Maverick scored fifth in both the Double Handed division and against the main fleet. In the King Island Race Maverick won the Double Handed Division and a 3^rd in IRC against the fully crewed boats. However not all conditions suit Double Handed racing and in the Stanley race Maverick came 9th against the fully crewed boats.

Which score counts? For those who are interested, the relevant clauses in the NOR for the Offshore Championship are 2.8 and 2.4. Initial Rules advice will be considered by the Committee at its meeting next month but the chances are that the matter will end up before the Jury.          

Vale Pauline Lister

Many members will be saddened to learn of the passing of Pauline Lister who was ORCV office manager for some years when we were based at Nott St. Port Melbourne. Following a successful career with ORCV she moved on to a position as Manager with RMYS before moving up-country and interstate, then returning to Melbourne. Pauline kept in touch with her many yachtie friends and will be sadly missed.

The Funeral will be held at Royal Melbourne Yacht Sqadron 

Thursday 24th May 2018

10:30am

ORCV Offshore Championship - Leading Contenders with one race to go.

The Offshore Championship will be determined on each yacht’s best 4 measurement handicap results (where applicable) including either the Westcoaster or Melbourne – Osaka or, if neither of those races were completed, both the Stanley and Port Fairy Race.

After the first 4 offshore races, 6 skippers from 5 yachts would now appear to be in contention for the award and their preliminary scores are shown below.

                                                                                                                                    Score to Date                    

                                                (best 3 Races)

                  Maverick               Rod & Tyson Smallman                                                           8

                  White Noise         Daniel Edwards                                                                         9

                  Shimmer              Steve Twentyman                                                                     9

                  Alien R880           Justin Brenan                                                                          10

                 Jaffa R39             Terry Posma                                                                             10

The outcome will be determined by Maverick’s results in the Melbourne – Osaka and the outcome of the Apollo Bay Race.  At the time of writing Maverick was still some 400 MN short of Osaka and it may still be some time before the Osaka results are finalised.  

With three weeks before the start, the Apollo Bay Race has already attracted a competitive but diverse fleet of 18 yachts. Weather will therefore be important - is April’s unusually dry and warm weather a harbinger of another long autumn with light conditions for the race “favouring the small boats”  ….. or will a wintery cold front greet the fleet as it heads of at 03.30 on 19 May?