2014 Aspiring Navigators Needed- Stars and Compass Trophy

For all navigators, novice or experienced, here is an opportunity for you to get an introduction to traditional navigational methods and try your hand at a navigational challenge.

Royal Brighton Yacht Club (RBYC) has been running an annual examination the “Stars and Compass “Trophy since 2000. The trophy was established in 1998, the International Year of the Oceans, by Richard Hawkins to encourage the use of traditional navigational skills by yachts at sea. A magnificent hand blown glass trophy was commissioned and crafted by Leisa Wharington from Mornington Peninsula as the Perpetual Trophy, which resides at RBYC.

In recent years, several women sailors from RBYC have taken out the honours, with Pam Merritt from Andalucia in 2008, owner of Bonnie Lass Dori Parkin in 2012 and general committee member and owner of Allegresse, Kathy De Garis in both 2011 and 2013.

And for 2014, the challenge has been expanded to encourage ‘navigation novices’ with the introduction of a new Stars and Compass Trophy novice paper, for which there will also be a prize awarded. To get you started, a short forum is being held on Friday 16 May at 6pm in the RBYC Committee Room. The full Stars and Compass Exam Paper will also be available at the forum.

Entry is open to all sailors holding a Yachting Australia (YA) membership and the winners will be announced at the RBYC Presentation Night on 11 July 2014.

And for all aspiring female navigators, don’t forget the on-water navigational challenge run by the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (ORCV) on Sunday 7 September. The ORCV Women Skippers & Navigators Race is on again this year, as the return race from Geelong to Melbourne following the final race of the ORCV Winter Series, the Melbourne to Geelong (M2G) passage race on the preceeding day.

So to get started on your pathway from novice to expert navigator, come along to the Stars and Compass trophy Forum. Stay on and have dinner in the Members Bar or join the RBYC Cruising Group’s monthly dinner meeting to hear guest speaker Dr Dustin Marshall from the School of Biological Sciences at Monash University speaking about the sea life in the Bay and especially around the RBYC Marina. Please book with the RBYC Office by Wednesday 16 May 2014 if you wish to attend the dinner.

Further information about the Stars and Compass Trophy can be found at www.rbyc.org.au

Rosemary Colahan