Sailing News

From Des' Desk

Blown away

The opening of the 2019-2020 sailing season at Princess Royal Sailing Club was ruined by the first of the beastly easterly winds. Club Commodore, Susette Evans, invited former commodore, Ian Howard to address the large gathering in the club house and to officially open the new season. Howard spoke of his experience in sailing both in South Australia and in Albany and wished all the skippers and crews an enjoyable year.

Racing was to commence soon after and it was apparent that with 25 knots of wind, not too many would venture out. Six skippers and their hardy crews began in short course harbour races. Two Vipers, two Division One and two from Division Two were the competitors. However four failed to finish due to rigging failures leaving Division One skipper, Murray Deere in Wild One to winning easily after Jack Spaanderman's Crunchtime suffered damage. Division Two skipper, Stephen Brown in Mary Maitland, was matched against Josh Hughes in Joker, which was forced to retire after rigging failure leaving Brown to sail alone and in fine style in the dreadful conditions.

The two Vipers that had started with Division One couldn't complete the course for various reasons. Overall a disappointing day sailing-wise but other members enjoyed the day with champagne and afternoon tea.

Next Saturday Division One will compete for the Jack Baxter Trophy and Division Two will do battle for the Terry Bridge Trophy. We expect a few more yachts on the water for these coveted awards.

Picture: The club rescue boat drags Murray Deere's Wild One out of its pen in a very low tide prior to racing.

Picture: Wonder what Josh got for Christmas?

Eligibility to Race

Just a reminder that at PRSC, every sailor shall register their crew and meet the Eligibility to Race criteria.

Potential crew can register and race at no cost the first three times. Thereafter, they choose:

• The new Crew Membership fee of $375
• An Australian Sailing Sail Pass at $15 per race.

Handy Links

Nominating a yacht to race at Princess Royal Sailing Club:

• PRSC Yacht Nomination Form; including
• Australian Sailing Equipment Audit form; and
• A copy of your own boat's insurance certificate

To stay informed of racing requirements, special events, set courses and much more:

•  PRSC 2019-2020 Sailing Program
• Racing Rules of Sailing

Weather tools:

• Southern Ports' new weather tool, here. The weather is derived from the beacon in the channel.