Pigs might fly

I saw this in country NSW on my way to Airle Beach. Thought it could be our new trophy but wasn't happy with the number on it!!!! So I left it?

Peccadillo’s Three Peaks Race 2012 – Leg 3 Coles Bay to Hobart (finish)

Before leaving Coles Bay, the skippers and crews discussed the difficult options ahead. With strong cold south westerlies forecast most skippers were looking for good reasons to use the Dunalley canal option, although neither option looked inviting.

Peccadillo's choice was more straight forward. We would not be able to tack in a narrow channel against a strong current and strong wind, nor could we physically drag her 7 tonnes through if needed. Also, it would not be in our best interest to follow Big Wave Rider into the canal where they would have the double advantage of being ahead of us as well as having a better chance of  getting through, so off we go to round Tasman Island.

Soon after starting with the wind around 20 knots we set our flattie spinnaker and take off at 22 to 25 knots thinking we could scream down the lee side of Tasman Island at record pace. The plan worked a treat until Marion Bay when we had to get rid of it quickly as we were hit by worrying successions of 50 knot bullets followed by near dead calm periods as night fell.

This led to an amazing experience as the black storm fronts opened a small crevice in the sky to allow the full moon to gleam through producing moonlight cliff faces and an amazing rainbow in the darkness of the night. The East coast of the Tasman peninsula was surreal and awe inspiring in these conditions although we were under no illusion about what to expect when we break free of the shadow of Tasman Island.

After a few massive windshifts in the sheltered conditions with our double reef and staysail, we headed into the darkness meeting 35knot and bitterly cold southwesterly winds, huge seas and ripping current. This was a tough slog, handling was tricky and required helming from the outside cockpit.

With extremely high wind chill, a 4 hour shift left me with frostbitten fingers then with the oncoming shift, conditions were voted as too dangerous so we sailed into nearby Safety Cove at Port Arthur and anchored to refresh and wait for expected easing of conditions at daybreak.

After a much needed five hours rest, conditions had improved and we managed to beat our way out of Storm Bay, and up to the finish, still with strong squalls all the way. Our rest period had let two more boats slip past and finish ahead.

Our two athletes came through the ordeal in good shape, set the fasted time over snow-capped Mt Wellington, missing the record time by just 3 minutes.

After counting elapsed time for the whole race we were second placed in the multis, four hours 10 minutes behind Big Wave Rider, who deserve great credit for managing to physically drag their boat through the canal to take the podium. The monos were won by Advantedge, who sailed an excellent race in the conditions. In all, six of the twelve boat fleet finished this particularly stormy Three Peaks.

Video here: http://vimeo.com/46678879

MOD70's complete Transatlantic crossing New York to Brest.

All of the MOD70's have arrived in Brest.  Spindrift racing came in first followed by Edmond de Rothschild in second and Foncia in third place.  Oman sail suffered equipment failure when one of their float mounted lifting foils broke and the ended up having to shift their one remaining foil from port to starboard with each tack (their float mounted lifting foil weighs 100kgs!).  Race for water came in last they suffered damage when they hit a submerged container.

MOD70 Trimarans get ready to race

The MOD70 one design trimarans are preparing to race across the Atlantic from New York to Brest.  Prior to the race they are holding a regatta in New York.  There is also a virtual regatta style game on the website where you can match up against the MOD skippers and try to beat them round a course. 

Multi One Design website

Next meeting - focus on multihull cruising

The next meeting of the club will be held at the Caulfield RSL, 4 St Georges Road, Elsternwick, at 7.30 on Wednesday 27th June. The RSL has an excellent meeting room, and the bar and dining room (good, well-priced food) is open from 6.00.

After the usual brief club business, there will be three short talks on multihull cruising, with questions and discussion to follow. Lindsay Cuming will focus on cruising the north and west coast of Australia, Alex McNaughton on the east coast, and Al Bennet on Bass Strait and on cruising in smaller multis. You won't get three more experienced skippers than these, so come along and invite anyone else you think may be interested, as all are welcome (especially prospective new members!).

Peccadillo’s Three Peaks Race 2012 – Leg 2 Lady Barron to Coles Bay

After the wild survival conditions of the first leg, we survived with little damage and prepared to do battle with our catamaran rivals "Big Wave Rider", "Storm Bay" and "Degeullo". Heading into the rough current-torn Banks Strait, we took a high course aiming to seek some relief close to landfall. This proved to be a slower route allowing others including BWR to take the wider course and develop a lead around Schouten Passage by the next morning. Meanwhile we had some close battles through the night with the other two cats "DG" & "SB" in the light conditions.

Once into Coles Bay it was a beat upwind with enough wind to occasionally fly a hull on "Peccadillo" to reach Coles Bay in second position behind "BWR" with John & Chris well rested and fired up for a good run. This proved to be true as the boys set a new record time for the Freycinet run, getting us underway again before dark, a few hours behind "BWR" who was heading for the Denison Canal.

Video here:

http://vimeo.com/43871439

North Sails seminar on sail trim at Sandringham Yacht Club

Noticed on Sail World thought some members may be interested?

After an overwhelming response and a fully booked out first seminar, Sandringham Yacht Club Sail Committee has announced that on Wednesday 20 June 2012 the team from North Sails will be conducting another North Sails Australia ‘North U Trim Seminar’ at Sandringham Yacht Club.

The experienced team from North Sails including Noel Drennan, Aaron Cole and Michael Coxon will be conducting the seminar on the evening focusing on the detailed aspects of trimming and maximising your boats performance.

Whether you sail a small one design dinghies, cruising yachts, multihulls or high performance racing yachts. This is a great opportunity to learn how to trim your sails efficiently and fast with the seminar focusing on the key aspects of rig and sail set up, trimming techniques and some top tips for boat handling.

SYC Members = free
Non Members = Gold coin donation [funds raised will go to SYC Junior and Youth Development Fund]
Date: Wednesday 20 June 2012
Start Time: 7:00pm
Venue: SYC Training Auditorium

Places are limited so to confirm your booking click here http://www.syc.com.au/keelboat/wednesday-20-june-maximize-the-performance-of-your-boat-north-u-seminar/

by Dave O'Connor

Quarterly Meeting

On the 27th of June the MYCV is having its 2nd meeting for the year. This meeting will have a cruising feel to it with legends of the club Alex Macnaughtan and Lindsay Cumming talking about there experiences in cruising Bass Strait and beyond. Some of the pups of the club will also speak mainly Al Mustang Bennett, The doc and Rob and myself talking about sea sickness when crossing Bass Strait. Both experts in the subject?

Keep this date spare and invite as many people as possible. Time and Venue to be confirmed.

Stay tuned....

Peccadillo’s Three Peaks Race 2012 – Leg 1 Beauty Point to Lady Barron

After much hard work and preparation Peccadillo lead the sail past on the start line at Beauty Point in Tasmania for the 2012 Three Peaks race.

With zero wind at the start, our two runners Chris Wight & John Winsbury manned the specially-engineered pedal propulsion system to put us ahead of the pack coming out of the Tamar River.

Our tactic for this leg was to sail fast under our reacher directly out into Bass Straight to place ourselves ahead of the approaching weather front and wind change leaving a free run into Franklin Sound towards the finish at Lady Barron. This seemed to be working as most of the fleet opted for the inshore route, as we changed to headsail then spinnaker as the wind began to build to the expected 25-35 knots.

By dark we thought ourselves to be in the box seat to snatch a big lead travelling at around 20 knots and the perfect course, until with the wind building over 35 knots true we managed a complete spinnaker wrap locking up the forestay. This was starting to get dangerous with the wind still building over 40 knots, seas rising, screaming towards rocky islands and needing to work the boat to a higher course. After several jibes we managed to unwrap the mess and thought ourselves lucky to have the spinnaker safely back in the bag in one piece.

With the wind now over 50 knots true, and down to staysail & 2nd reef, Peccadillo was difficult to handle so down to 3rd reef then drop main. We were now sailing under only a reefed staysail – but still doing 17 knots!

Now recording true winds of up to 63 knots (reports of 76 knots from another competitor) with nasty seas throwing the boat around, we navigated a careful course through the surrounding rocks and islands into Franklin Sound hoping for some relief, however we still faced the difficult task of tacking upwind to Lady Baron and the finish line.

This was proving to be extremely dangerous with the reduced control resulting from only a small staysail and having to gybe if we didn't make the tack (winds always over 50 and gusting). Several other competitors elected to motor past us to the finish and take the time penalty. In the end, we were third multihull in.

Thankfully we managed to deliver Chris & John in good shape to do the Mt Strezlecki run against 50 knot winds and rain. Despite the conditions, they set the fastest time for this running leg.

The extreme conditions of last night had taken its toll with the retirement of three yachts including the grounding of Haphazard. The race committee had little choice but to postpone the start of Leg 2 till later in the day as conditions abated.

Until the Leg 2 instalment, have a look at our race video...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u423G3H4MoM

Due to the acquisition of a new boat, Quckskipskangabagemarineworld has to go. If you know anyone after a F9RX or similar boat please pass on my details. No reasonable offer refused; Price has been slashed.......

My wife wants a new house and if she finds out a new boat is on its way, I might never get to enjoy any of them. Please help!!!!