22th February 2011
2011 a big year for Sailability in Australia and internationally
2011 has started in a big way for Sailability and its event partners. In Napier, New Zealand, January 26-29, the Kiwi Cup and Access Class Championships was held, with Australia represented by Chris Cook, Krista Bailey, Genevieve Wickham and Russell Phillips.
The pace continues in Australia over the coming months with the focus turning to UK in July with the 2011 IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championships and the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens in June. The 2011 calendar is as follows:
Victorian Access Class Championships will be held on 26th and 27th February, hosted by the Albury Wodonga Yacht Club in conjunction with Sailability AWYC. Venue will be Lake Hume. www.accessclass.org
‘Be Active’ WA Access Class Championships will be staged on Sunday 13th March. Sailability WA Inc at Royal Perth Yacht Club will host the event on the Swan River. sailability@rpyc.com.au
South Australian Sailability Championships will be held on 5th and 6th March at Goolwa, south-east of Adelaide at the mouth of the Murray River. The host will be Goolwa Regatta Yacht Club supported by Sailability SA. johnoj4@bigpond.com
IFDS Disabled Sailing International Championship 2011, Homerus Blind Match Racing Championships will be held on the Swan River, WA, 19th-26th March. Host is Royal Perth Yacht Club. www.rpyc.org.au or www.sailing.org/disabled
NSW Access Class Championships will run on 9-10th April on Lake Macquarie and will be hosted by Sailability/Belmont 16 Footers in cooperation with Sailability NSW Inc. www.accessclass.org
2011 Asia-Pacific and Australian Access Class Championships will be staged over the Easter Weekend, 22nd to 25th April, on the Swan River and hosted by Royal Perth Yacht Club. www.accessclass.org or www.rpyc.com.au
‘Be Active’ WA Keelboat Championships will run on Sunday 8th May with
Sailability@Royal Perth Yacht Club hosting. sailability@rpyc.com.au
Special Olympics World Summer Games will run from 27th June to 3th July. Venue Schinias Sailing Academy, Athens, Greece http://www.athens2011.org/en/index.asp
2011 IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championships will start on 1st July and run through to the 8th. The venue for the event will be Weymouth on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England, www.sailing.org/disabled
Issued by Graeme Adam, Public Relations, National Sailability Committee of Yachting Australia. Email: graemeadam@sailability.org Phone: 02 9959 3323 Mob 0423 741 681
By Ian Grant.
Whitsunday Sailing Clubs International 505 dinghy sailors skipper Paul Mitchell and crew mate Sam Haines will need to have their tactical thinking caps on when they compete for the SAP World championship honours at Hamilton Island later this month.
The combination have proved their skill to be worthy of testing their tactics against the world’s best but all of the best intentions can fall apart with the simplest of errors.
Paul Mitchell raced at the 2009 World championship on San Francisco Bay where he found out the small errors in race strategy and sail handling technique placed his title aspirations in damage control.
He and Sam Haines will have a slight technical advantage of sailing in familiar conditions to the wind and current which they regularly experience with club racing on Pioneer Bay. Read more…
Words & Photos: Andrew Gough
Matt Belcher found a few minutes in his busy schedule to share his experiences and progress towards London in 2012.
Matt Belcher you only have a few weeks before the Australian Championships, what has been your preparation so far?
Matt: Well our preparation has been a little bit limited, we have just sort of come back from Miami the second world cup event for this year, so we have had a few weeks off and now you can just see we are starting to rig the boat, next week will see us down in Canberra at the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) for a week, and then after a few days in Sydney we have the Sydney harbour regatta, and get back here few days before the event.
What attributed to your success last year?
Matt : Well Australia has a very good system in 470’s , we have one of the best coaches in the world, Victor Kovelenko and my crew is the current Olympic gold medalist, so for us it was just a matter of putting abit more time in then we did in 2009 and it was different priorities for different years, I mean last year we wanted to make sure we won the worlds, and try and establish ourselves in definitely the top 3, but you know we came out number 1 and we were happy to achieve that last year, but we spent a lot more days, we did almost three times what we did the previous year. So this year we are just looking at keeping our momentum and keep establishing ourselves and keep learning, so we will see what happens this year.
Just finally, what does the future hold for your campaign towards London?
Matt: Um, I don’t know, I guess that’s why it’s the future ( laugh), for us its just keep training hard, keep learning and keep improving, we are happy with how the seasons going so far, we are happy with our progress, and you know as Victor says it’s a long journey…
It was great to catch up with Matt and get an insight into the busy life of an Olympic campaigner, 470 World Champion and Queensland Sailing Team member.
All the best to Matt and Mal!
After an extremely tough summer of racing, Queensland Academy of Sport athlete and windsurfer Johanna Sterling ( aged 18) headed across the Tasman, for the New Zealand RSX Championships for 2011. Run out of the Manly Sailing Club situated in Whangaparaoa, the regatta was sailed in Big Manly Bay, said to be one of the nicest areas to race in New Zealand.
The scene was set with a fleet of 21 athletes racking up to compete for a shot at the title. For any sailboarder perfect 15 – 20knot plaining conditions are ideal, unfortunately Whangaparaoa couldn’t deliver and the week was plagued by light, hot and shifty conditions.
With consistent results in the top 10 and racing alone as the only Australian, Johanna battled it against international competitors from the Netherlands to Italy. In what she commented to be “not my favourable conditions…” Sterling consistently pressed against the New Zealanders to find she had a score card of an 8th, 4th, 10th and a 7th halfway through the regatta. Sterling commented at that point that, “I have been working hard on my skills and fitness and was very happy to see some improvements…”
“Racing was very challenging physically so it was pretty tough just to keep motivated and focused”.
By the end of the four days Sterling had secured seventh overall, in a field of mixed youth and women. This impressive result was attributed to hard training and hours on the water at her home club the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron. Sterling says the result was credited to some different training at home and at the venue.” I also had a month of fitness and sailing training at home before heading to NZ which ensured that I was ready to face two challenging regattas. My results also improved a lot at the NZL Nationals which can be attributed to the time I spent training in New Zealand”
One of mother natures most dangerous creations the Cyclone, often brings with it torrential rain, battering winds and large ocean swell. For any normal person these factors are cause for concern. However for a small group of sailors this prediction of wind and swell was exactly what they had wanted.
Sailors from Cleveland Bay, Townsville took the meaning of extreme to new levels as they took on the elements that Cyclone Yasi had to offer. Josh Van Brederode as featured in the video below took on the 40 plus knots that Yasi battered the coast with for hours before and after the storm hit
Watch as Josh Van Brederode tackles Yasi…
- Queensland Sailors Tackle Yasi -
Andrew Gough
Yachting Tasmania warmly invites all classes of Trailerable Yachts and Sports Boats eligible under the current YA
Australian Trailerable Yacht & Sportsboat Rule (CBH) and the Australian Sports Boat Association Constitution (SMS) to participate in the 2012 Australian Championships to be held In Hobart. The Championships will be Hosted by Bellerive Yacht Club .
Competitors expressing an interest in attending the Championships are invited to forward contact details to
Danny.Cunningham@Centro.com.au or info@asba.org.au, or post to Danny Cunningham 24 hill Street West Hobart to ensure an information pack is sent out.
By Ian Grant.
Champion Sunshine Coast skipper Rod Jones had his attention focused on another sailing venue when a 52 knot South East gust was recorded at Double Island Point lighthouse last Tuesday afternoon.
The savage breeze which followed an equally wild summer storm turned the open ocean between Cape Moreton and Double Island Point into a frenzy of white water cancelling any chance for Rod Jones and his Club Marine Blue crew to have a final practice session before heading to Hobart for the Tasmanian SB3 championship this weekend.
Both Rod Jones and his crew of experienced one-design sailors Sean O’Rourke and Greg MacAllansmith Silver Medallists from the 2010 Audi Australian championship are predictably ranked among the top chances despite facing a strong group of Hobart crews who have the valued advantage of regularly racing on the tricky River Derwent.
As expected the ‘Tassie Teams’ headed by former World Dragon champion Nick Rogers are equally experienced and determined to protect their one-design racing reputations when the sails are tensioned for the important first races of the three day regatta on Friday afternoon. Read more…
Entries to the Fairway Challenge close on Monday 28th February 2011 so there isn’t much time left to get your paper work in. Please ensure you send your documentation in full which includes entry form, crew register, Cat 3 audit form, current certificate of insurance and proof of payment if paying by EFT.
Please let us know if you require a berth for Friday 11th and Saturday 12th March so that arrangements can be made with the Moreton Bay Boat Club.
A full buffet breakfast will be available from 7.30am on Sunday 13th March in the restaurant prior to the presentation. The cost is $12.95 which is very reasonable but we must know numbers as soon as possible for catering purposes.
Our major sponsors this year are Voyager Gaming Technologies, Morgans Seafood and Scarborough Physiotherapy. Major prizes will be given out at the presentation.
Sailing instructions are available at www.mbyc.com.au
Please remember to notify us of any crew changes before the race.
Don’t forget the mandatory race brief which will be held on Monday 7th March 2011 at the Moreton Bay Boat Club, starting at 7.30pm.
Regards
Secretary MBYC
Shona Lawrie
“Midnight Oil”
For Race information & Calendar go to www.mbyc.com.au
The 2011 Australian Team Racing Championship is the selection event to determine the Australian crews to represent the country at the 2011 ISAF World Team Racing Championship to be held in Ireland.
Sportsboat CBH Nationals to be held on Lake Burley Griffin on the 22, 23 and 24 April 2011.
http://www.canberrayachtclub.com.au/documents/NOR_SB&TY_Nationals_Regatta_2011.pdf