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The Beacon

June 2019 Issue: 141

COMMODORE’S REPORTFinishing my first term asCommodore, I must start by thankingthe many members who havecontributed so much during the 2018/2019 season. Many thanks to MarkO’Brien and Michael Paynter forinitiating and coordinating thedisability access and lift project which

is now at the drafting stage.For those who may not know, McCrae Yacht Club wasawarded a $147,000 grant from the Australian SportsFoundation to construct and install disability access,new amenities and a lift. Without the input and duediligence from these two outstanding members, thegrant may never have eventuated, thank you! Inaddition, at the AGM we will be putting up a motion forsome extra funds to complete the lift project andamenities upgrade.I would like to thank Akemi O’Brien for yet againanother season of hard work, effort and dedication toensure that every race day, (including regattas), thecanteen is always stocked and pristine.While on the subject of food and catering, I would alsolike to extend a big thank you to Jackie Loader andClaudia Jagger for their sterling efforts in organisingsome great, fun social get-togethers. I would also liketo thank Priscilla and Ros for the delicious rollsprovided every race day as well as all those memberswho turned up for their rosters of canteen, bar andhouse.It’s important to acknowledge the efforts andcontribution of the youth coming through the club, so aspecial thank you to Monica Mullens and Jarod Riley asYouth Club Captains and all their hard work throughoutthe season.The Training Centre, lead by Murray O’Brien wasextremely busy throughout the season and I would liketo commend them all on their hard work and dedicationto the cause. I wish to thank Trevor Knight for hisyears of service as administrator of the Training Centreand wish him and his family all the best for the future.

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTTER OF McCRAE YACHT

Jeff Owen, Shane Baker, Scott Watson and their teamof windsurfing enthusiasts also provided a terrificwindsurfing program which will continue on nextseason and by all accounts well into the future.A massive shout out to all the members of the SailingCommittee, lead by Richard Nicholson, which hasprovided all the on water skills and equipmentnecessary to keep us sailing from week to week. At thispoint we must also thank the tireless efforts of thepatrol boat crews who front up every sailing day toperform their magnificent race management skills. TheClub is indebted to your contribution.I would like to thank the yard master Guy Bancroft andhis crew for keeping our club looking so well-maintained. Special thanks to Joey Randall for hisbuilding skills and knowledge and also special thanks toScott Hailes for his precision mowing and precisionplacement of all things beverage in the bar.With regard to the General Committee, I would like tothank Joel Van Weel for his contribution throughout theseason, in particular his efforts with the ‘DiscoverSailing’ day in January. Another member I would like tothank is Andrew Barrett for managing Sailing forSchools over the past two years. Lauren Candy is alsodeparting the GC after one year of valuable service as‘new membership’ coordinator.

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ContentsContender News 2NSW Sabre Titles 2End-of-Season Yard and House Report 3Training Centre Report 4Laser News 5Club Captain’s Report 5

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CONTENDER NEWSStates at Paynesville

The Contenders and their State Championships atGippsland Lakes Yacht Club over 23-24 March and 11of the 26 competitors were McCrae sailors! Great effortguys!On the Saturday, we had three races in light conditionswhich saw McCrae boys Mark Bulka, ScottyCunningham and Joseph Randall showing everyonehow to sail in the light conditions. Joey has recentlypurchased Dan Kohlman’s old boat, and immediatelyput it to good use.The Sunday was also looking light early on, but thewind built steadily over the afternoon, ending up in the20 knot range. The last of the 6-race series saw a fewsailors hitting the beach early.Overall, it was a great regatta and a friendly club greatrace organisation. Big thanks to all at the GippslandLakes yacht Club.Positions were:1. Mark Bulka2. Scott Cunningham3. Matt Mulder (NSW)7. Joey Randall11. Scott Munro13. Jeff Owen14. Michael Hughes15 Scott Watson18. Steve Young19. Andrew Barrett22. Peter Bulka23. Neil Whitaker

World Champs in FranceOther big news for the Contenders are theupcoming World Championships in France. Wehave a full container load being shipped in April,with seven McCrae guys making the trip. Leadingthe charge will be reigning world champion MarkBulka.Jeff Owen, Joey Randall, Andrew Barrett, NeilWhitaker, Steve Young and myself are also making thejourney in July.

Nationals in BrisbaneThe Contenders will be doing Nationals in Brisbaneearly January 2020 – so plenty to keep practicing for.

Second-hand boatsThere is currently a good supply of quality second-handboats on the market. So if you are thinking of gettingyourself a great Contender to sail, check out ourwebsite www.revolutionise.com.au/ICAA/home/Cheers

NSW SABRE TITLES9-10 MarchSeven Victorian Sabre sailors travelled to WallagootLake Boat Club near Tathra for the N.S.W. Sabre statetitles. It's a really beautiful venue in the middle of aNational Park right on the coast. The water is flat andlaunching is from a nice sandy beach. Unfortunatelythe breeze did not live up to its reputation but thesailing was pleasant nevertheless. From McCrae,Graham Mason, Liam O'Brien and Murray O'Brien madethe trip and competed in the 25-boat fleet. Winds weremainly in the 4 to 8 knot range with the odd 10 knotgust. One race on Sunday did peak at about 12 knotshowever.Murray won the event so is the new N.S.W. Sabrechampion. The real battle was for 2nd, 3rd and 4th

place. Going into the last heat, Liam was in fourthplace overall trailing Barry Eastgate and Bruce Abbott

by a couple of points. The wind got verylight and we were all wondering if it

would be possible to finish at all. Atthe last leeward mark Barry wasleading with Murray fourth andLiam in maybe sixth. Bruce wasback a bit further. Liam spottedsome breeze to the left and tookthe flyer out there which paid off,winning the heat from Murray

then Barry. This put Bruce andLiam on 11 points each but with Liam

winning on the count-back because hewon the last heat. Barry ended up on 11.5

points putting him into fourth... how close is that!Anyway, I would recommend the venue and the event.It was a lot of fun and we all intend to go back and

hopefully encourage some of the rest ofyou to come with us next year.

Victorians took the top six placeswith the first two N.S.W. boatsbeing Wendy Atkins and AuroraPatterson in 7th and 8th

respectively. Hopefully we canget some of our ladies to comeand challenge the N.S.W girls

next year! They would love to seeyou there.

Graham Mason at the Championships

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END-OF-SEASON YARD AND HOUSEREPORTAnd so another season closes witha successful working bee on 11May.Thanks to all those volunteerswhom braved the elements andcame along to help tidy up andwinterise the yard and premises.Thanks and cheers to all owners

that removed boats as requested and on time. Please,if you intend to leave your boat at the Club for winter,make sure you make contact with Alona regarding feesetc.Despite managing to squeeze a few additionalplacements, yard spots were again at a premium,particularly in the Cat yard. We expect the samesituation for next season. Early applicationcombined with good previousparticipation both on and off the fieldwill help you gain a place.Winter projects for a small teaminclude the installation of new racks forboards and kayaks etc. into the westcorner of the yard. This prime locationwill allow easier and quicker access thewater. These racks will be roofed for addedprotection.Keeping McCrae’s lovely sand outside the lawn isalways a chore and to this end our beach fence will befurther enhanced over the winter. There is also a planto replenish the world’s best yacht club lawn duringspring.Following the worthy grant from Greg Hunt MP, allthings House will be covered off by others in thisBeacon and further at our upcoming AGM.The Yardmaster reins will most likely pass to one DaveParker for the upcoming next season. With plenty ofpositive support and a return to form I’m sure he ismore than capable of assuming and improving the role.Thanks again to the squad of quiet achievers who havecontinued to help me keep yard and house in suchgreat shape over the past few years.Keep Sailing!

Now the season has passed I hope all membersenjoyed the great sailing conditions andcongratulations to all winners during the season.Since the last Beacon, hockingstuart Rosebud-Dromanahas been extremely busy with in excess of 100 saleslocally since Christmas. Many great results in McCraeinclude;51-53 Armstrong Road, McCrae – vacant land -$1,050,000

2 Murray Street, McCrae - $1,203,00014 Bentley Road, McCrae - $605,000

4 Fairway Crescent, McCrae - $970,00013 Matthew Street McCrae - $800,00013 Henry Court, McCrae - $515,00047 Bayview Road, McCrae - $1,020,000

13 Catherine Street, McCrae - $870,000 There has been some positive signs in the market

place since the coalition won the Federal election.The buyers now have a sense of confidence withfurther support of the recent interest rate drop.The forecast for property in the coming months seemencouraging for both home owners and buyers with afurther interest rate drop predicted prior to Christmas2019.So if you are looking at moving to the Peninsula orsimply looking to invest, there has never been a bettertime to get into the property market.This winter we are running a promotion to go in thedraw to win a $2,000 travel voucher for any homeowner that receives an appraisal with hockingstuartRosebud-Dromana until the end of August.Just a reminder to all members, if you are consideringselling and you list and sell your home withhockingstuart Rosebud-Dromana we donate $500 backto the Club.On behalf of everybody at hockingstuart we thank allmembers who have made contact with us over the pastfew months in obtaining free appraisals of theirproperties, your support is very much appreciated.A special thank you to Club member Trevor Knight whohas listed his McCrae holiday home for Auction at theend of June. (Best of luck Trevor for a great result)We look forward to our ongoing relationship and lookforward to seeing you at the club later in the year.

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TRAINING CENTRE REPORTThe Training Committee has alreadybegun planning for the coming 2019-20 season. We are hoping to introducethe new Structured LearningMethodology system from October andwe are continuing to take advice fromDon Elks regarding its implementation.Sailing is at a crossroads. The bulk ofus who still participate actively in thesport came to sailing during the boom

of the 1960s, 70s and 80s but our numbers arebeginning to thin out. Sailing as a sport was in thenews with consistent Australian America’s Cupparticipation and the kids of the plywood homebuilt kitboat revolution continued to follow in their parent’sfootsteps. These points drive people into the sport.Boats are now primarily professionally built fibreglassso the homebuilt concept and the commitment tosailing that it engendered has ceased to be a force indriving our sport. A new way has to found to bring anew generation of sailors in. At this point we see nobetter option than to commit to the only programavailable that achieves the end of creating a whole newgeneration of club members, which is StructuredLearning Methodology. Constant improvement in skillsand competence by providing great trainingopportunities are the key it seems to gaining newsailors and keeping them.If you care for the future of sailing and all the benefitsit brings to those who participate, and the broadercommunity as a whole, I would encourage all membersto support us in what we are trying to achieve. Helpingnew families settle in to the sailing life will be a majortask that will need careful management.Club PacersThe last of the club Pacers that were for sale has beensold to club member Tim Morris. Tim intends to teachhis young daughters to sail. Thanks Tim! This meansthe club now has four Pacers left which will still beused for our extensive club and schools program.Training Centre AdministratorWith Trevor Knight vacating the role of Training Centreadministrator, we are still in need of someone to stepinto this role. It is and extremely important role whichincludes some data entry, set up of courses andkeeping the Principal on track. Please call me if you areinterested in this really important part of the successfulfunctioning of our club!Thank you Trevor Knight!Trevor has been an extremely valuable member of theTraining Committee for a number of years and we allowe him a great debt of gratitude. He has been apleasure to work with and contributed so much. He hasbeen a great all-rounder, setting up coach boats,driving the tractor, and undertaking TrainingCommittee building projects as well as administrationcommitments. We will all miss him in the role.

Training Centre Principal

Commodore’s ColumnThe paid staff is also invaluable to the Clubs’management, and I would like to extend a big thankyou to all of them.Thanks to my ‘wingmen’, Vice Commodore Jon Knorrand Rear Commodore Scott Cunningham for all theirsupport and advice throughout the season and I lookforward to working alongside them again during theseason 2019/ 2020. Presently, the finances of the clubare in a healthy state and I have enjoyed working withMicheal Paynter and our accountants throughout theseason.Many thanks to Prue, Hugo and Freya for their support,patience and for always being there with endlessencouragement and wisdom during my time asCommodore.Last but definitely NOT least, a huge thank you to ClubSecretary Lyn Johannessen for her professionalism anddiligence, and who has tirelessly offered me support,advice and direction to a very ‘wet behind the ears’Commodore. It is with regret, however that I announcethe departure of Lyn as Club Secretary and thank heragain for all her encouragement but don’t despair asLyn will be still be involved with club activities.And finally to all our stalwart members who may betravelling overseas or interstate to escape some or allof the Melbourne winter, travel well and return safely.

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LASER NEWSMcCrae YC held the Laser States in February with 72sailors competing. Racing was cancelled on Saturday,so a Q&A session was arranged chaired by SimonMerritt with Brody Riley and Casey Imeneo in the hotseats. Listening to these young adults talk about theirjourney was inspiring. They are a credit to theirfamilies and the club.The race officer did a great job on the Sundaycompleting four races which allowed for a worst resultdrop. This always makes the fleet happy. McCraesailors took out the trifecta in the Radials with Brody1st, Simon 2nd and Casey 3rd. Well done.The Laser standard rigs were dominated by Melbourneclubs and in 4.7s, Blairgowrie YS with 50% of the fleetnumbers did very well although young Taj Duff from

Gippsland Lakes YCtook home thewinner’s cube.InternationalLaser NewsLast May, the WorldSailing executivedecided to dumpthe Laser from theOlympics. This wasa dumb move,dumber even thantheir previousdecision to dumpthe Finn. Thedecision applied toboth the men’s andwomen’s singlehander. It was in

response to a dodgyequipment eval-uation process thatthey authorised. TheWorld SailingCouncil, which

represents sailing in every region of the globe, votedvia secret ballot to overturn the executive decision 36to 5 and to keep the world’s most popular racingdinghies in Olympic sailing. Hooray for common sense.Lasers still may have a problem. Full approval for the2024 Games is now contingent on ILCA, the buildersand trademark holders agreeing to the terms of WorldSailing’s new Olympic classes contract by 1 August2019. This is not guaranteed given the ongoing disputewith the European builder.Volunteer help requiredLess than six months to go until the 2020 events!

The VLA is involved in running four world and twonationals championships. Over 1000 Laser sailors areexpected to compete. Please consider volunteering tohelp the VLA run the best ever Laser worldchampionships. Just click the link:https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YG8D5HN

McCrae YC Laser representative

CLUB CAPTAIN’S REPORT“A 15-knot South Westerly, a 15-knotSouth Westerly! My kingdom for a15-knot South Westerly!”Had Richard III been sailing atMcCrae, he could well have usedthese words to summarise season2018-19. Instead, we are left to

ponder a year during which we seemed to cop morethan our fair share of fickle sailing conditions. Maybeit’s just me… Nonetheless, we still managed to getaround 115 skippers to start at least one heat of 22completed in the Aggregate and Skipper of Skippers.RegattasIn last year’s report, Col Dods suggested that thisyear’s programme of additional events would beminimised in recognition of the heavy workloadsustained by our sailors and volunteers over theprevious two seasons.

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Casey Imeneo (left) receiving hercube awards from John D’Helin forher results in the Victorian StateLaser championships - first in theWomen’s competition and thirdoverall.

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Captain’s Report (continued)Although we hosted no Nationals, no Worlds and noStates, over the March long weekend, we still held anumber of regattas:● McCrae Catamaran Championships in November –

46* entries● Ronstan Australia Day Regatta in January - 86

entries● Laser State titles in February - 72 entries● Paper Tiger State titles in February - 20 entries● Musto Skiff State titles in March - 18 entries

* Entries down due to a clash with the A-Class Worldsin Hervey BayWith the support of Ronstan, we are aiming to makethe Ronstan Australia Day Regatta a permanent fixtureat McCrae in January. Limiting this regatta to two daysenables us to run the event every year, regardless ofwhen the public holiday actually falls.Both the Paper Tigers and Musto Skiffs joined in withclub racing as a separate division on Saturday, beforespending Sunday on their own. Sharing on-waterresources made these regattas cost effective for boththe class associations and the club and this is a formatwell worth offering in future.In the past year, we have pitched for two significantregattas which have not goneour way – the F18 Worlds in2020 and the Tasar Worlds in2024. That our club cansubmit such creditableproposals is a testament toour culture and values and the Tasars, in particular,was a close-run thing. As a consolation prize, we willhost the Tasars for their Victorian States in 2022.This season, we look forward to hosting the MinnowNationals in January.Power BoatsOverall, our fleet of power boats is in excellent con-dition and the Sailing Committee acknowledges ourregular patrol boat crews, who all treat ‘their’ boats asif they were indeed their own. Jubilee’s motor isapproaching 1,000 hours and was under considerationfor replacement. However, given there is currently noindication of any issues, the decision has been made todefer this $9,000 expense unless and until required.Whilst we can afford to bear the risk of not immediatelyreplacing Jubilee’s motor, the same cannot be said ofthe tractor, of which we have but one. Accordingly, theSailing Committee will be looking towards replacementat the end of next season.The only power boat which required significantunscheduled maintenance during season 2018-19 wasour beloved McArthur, which twice burst a seam on itsstarboard tube. This is nobody’s fault and is simply theresult of the outdated design of this 20+ year old hull.Notwithstanding significant repairs, there is no

(Continued from page 5) guarantee that McArthur won’t go pop again. Inaddition to its dodgy tubes, McArthur’s motor is alsoapproaching 1,000 hours and its trailer has maybe onemore season left in it. The Sailing Committee hastherefore recommended replacing McArthur with newaluminium-hulled RIB. A decision on funding is pendinga review of the club’s patrol boat requirements over thenext five years.Course RevisionOur standard course has held us in good stead for anumber of years. However, there is anecdotal evidencethat the ever-increasing speed of the fastest boats isleading to a corresponding increase in perceived, if notactual, risk to people and equipment, particularlyaround the gate. The Sailing Committee has a revisedcourse to trial from the commencement of next season.VolunteersIn addition to our merry band of regular patrol boatcrews, I also acknowledge those land-based volunteerswho make a significant contribution to our club,including those in the tower, tractor drivers, fuelmonitors, bar persons and, of course, the canteen. Ittakes a lot of free people-power to keep our wonderfulclub functioning at such a high standard. Thanks.The revisions to the rostered swimmer program havebeen a success. So much so, that from next seasonthere will be 2 sailors rostered on patrol boats eachweek – one swimmer and one rib crew. Having arostered rib crew will not only make life easier for the

Sailing Committee, it will alsoopen up the field ofcandidates to perform thatduty. Same rules will apply.More details to follow.

Incoming CommitteeFor next season, we welcome Andrew Vize to theSailing Committee and welcome back Simon Merritt (aprevious Club Captain). Andrew and Simon will bejoining those of last year’s cohort back for anotherround; namely Al Watson, Andrew Pritchard, CamDunwoody, Steve Floyd, Brody Riley and LouisChapman. What a great blend of youth and experience.Thanks also to Steve Brayshaw and Dave Loutit, whoare both officially stepping down from SailingCommittee – I say “officially” because both will still bedoing a couple of RO duties next year. Nice gesture.Full details on the changes to the Sailing Instructionswill be included in the first edition of The Beacon forthe 2019/2020 season in September.I look forward to seeing you all on the water nextseason. In the meantime, go Saints!

Club Captain