Ever since Scott Cavanough stepped out of sailing his small snub-nose Sabot on Waterloo Bay he had a career vision to race and cruise on the Worlds more demanding ocean voyages.
When he was not sleeping in his warm and dry bedroom in the bay side suburb of Wynnum he was braving the cold elements steering maxi yachts including the replica of the 1937 Americas Cup winner Ranger on a trans- Atlantic voyage to compete in J Class sailing regattas.
The 29 year old has completed more transatlantic crossings than most other Australian master mariners but he feels his personal log book will not be complete until he contests the gruelling mini Transat.
This race over 4500 nautical miles from La Rochelle (France) to San Salvador (Brazil) has been dominated by either American or French sailors in the past and Scott Cavanough remains determined to become the first Australian to win the classic test of solo racing at the helm of his baby 6.5 m yacht Skippy. Read more…
 The Mini Transat 650 is a test of the all round, mental, physical and seamanship skills of its competitors.
It is 4,200 nautical miles of pure sailing and a test of extreme endurance. Scott’s aim is to be the first Australian to win. |
More About The Mini Transat…
Mini Transat 6.50 also known as Transat 650 is a solo transatlantic yacht race. The length of the yachts are limited to 6.50 metres.
An Englishman Bob Salmon, from Plymouth, originally came up with the idea of the mini transatlantic race in the late 1970s. It was conceived to promote relatively affordable solo offshore sailing in response to the trend for bigger and consequently more expensive boats for the OSTARs and other trans-ocean races.
The first mini transat started from Penzance Sailing Club, Penzance, UK in 1977 and races have subsequently been staged bi-annually on odd number years. Over the years the course varying slightly, with the first four races starting from Penzance before transferring to Brest, France in 1985. Since then the start of Leg 1 has usually been somewhere in Brittany or La Rochelle with a stop-over in the Canary Islands. Leg 2 then sees the fleet race to the West Indies or Brazil. Read more…
June 2011:
Friday 3: 9am-1pm – Sailability Sunshine Coast in action at Mooloolaba Marina – adults with any type of disability have access to sailing activities ranging from therapeutic to recreational to competitive. SSC boats are custom-made and will not capsize or sink.
12-5pm – Registration for the Sail Mooloolaba regatta – 18 boat classes ranging from small dinghies to large keel boats competing on the waters off Mooloolaba Beach. The regatta incorporates State Championships for the International Optimist and Moth classes.
Saturday 4: 8-9am – Registration for Sail Mooloolaba regatta
9.30am – Briefing for competitors
Not before 11am – Racing begins (Dinghy and Open Divisions)
Sunday 5: Not before 10am – Racing begins (both divisions)
5pm Prize giving
Tuesday 7: 9am-1pm – Sailability children/schools in action – today from Currimundi Special, Caboolture Special and Buddina State
1-4pm – Club Kawana Radio-controlled Yachting in action - packed racing schedule for those who want to remain dry including both Scratch races (competitors start together) and Handicap races
Wednesday 8: 12 noon – a fun sail providing visiting sailors the chance to join a leisurely afternoon sail with Mooloolaba Yacht Club.
Thursday 9: 1-4pm – school and university students battle each other in a match racing, boat on boat, competition on the Mooloolah River. Sailing at its most exciting at point blank range from The Wharf, Mooloolaba
9am-5pm – Registration and warm welcome to the Etchells sailors
Fri 10-Sun12: 15th annual Musto Etchells Australasian Winter Championship. Out come the big guns as America’s Cup, Olympic and World Championship sailors head out to the waters off Mooloolaba Beach seeking to grab the coveted Winter title. Racing from11.30am on Friday, 10am on Saturday and Sunday.
May 30th, 2011 SM11/009
Tasmanian State Champion Sophie Chesterman is one of a growing list of young sailors flying into the region for Sail Mooloolaba’s weekend regatta, which starts on Saturday at 11.30am.
Miss Chesterman, selected to represent Australia at the World Championships in San Francisco this July, will compete on a Laser 4.7 dinghy, one of 18 different boat classes in action at the prestigious event, which incorporates State Championships for the Optimists and Moths.
“I have sailed in every other state except Queensland,” Miss Chesterman, age 16, said today. “On holiday here, I’ve watched the boats from the shore so many times, so I’m itching to get out there and have fun!”
Tasmania’s Youth Sailor of the Year who trains four times a week and twice before school, will have to defeat Matthew Flinders Anglican College student Madi Kennedy, also 16, to win the Laser 4.7 event. Kennedy, the Girls Australian Youth Champion, represented Australia at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore last year.
Nine year-old Hamish Swain will also catch a flight this week to reach Mooloolaba in time for the nine day ‘festival of sailing’. He and his friend Aiden Gummow, also 9, will travel from Airlie Beach to compete in the Optimist Green Fleet section of the regatta.
“He absolutely can’t wait,” Mrs Swain said. “The boys are taking their own sails, but hiring Optis in Mooloolaba. Hamish loves going to regattas, he says he makes a new friend every time. At the Nationals this year he made friends with a boy from Western Australia whom he hopes might also be entering.”
Hamish is one of six representatives from Whitsunday Sailing Club signed up so far.
The regatta, in its second year, brings together sailors of all ages from grass root level through to national and Olympic standard. Pint-size Optimists will compete alongside sports boats, Etchells, monohull and multihull boats over four different courses both in the river and on the open water off Mooloolaba Beach.
The unprecedented line up of activities planned for Sail Mooloolaba (June 3-9) begin this Friday when Sailability Sunshine Coast will be in action from 9am at Mooloolaba Marina. A schedule of events is attached.
Sail Mooloolaba is proudly supported by the Sunshine Coast Destination Ltd (regional tourism entity) and the Sunshine Coast Council, and Events Queensland.
// .. ends.
Further information:
Holly Kenny, Media Manager E: hollykenny@bigpond.com T: 5443 3436 M: 0431 186511
Get on board for Sail Mooloolaba 2011 – www.sailmooloolaba.yachting.org.au
Dear All,
The YA Board has considered and approved the policy on issuing interpretations on the Special Regulations. This is now online at www.yachting.org.au/specialregs, and a copy is also attached.
The procedure follows those recommended by the National Safety Committee. In addition to notifying MYAs of the policy’s introduction, we will do a brief piece for the email newsletter etc so that people are aware of the policy and opportunity to get formal interpretations.
We would appreciate it if you could forward information about this policy to interested clubs, classes, officials or other stakeholders in your state or territory.
As we get requests for interpretations we will keep all MYAs involved as provided for in the policy.
Kind regards,
Glen Stanaway
Sport Services Manager
Yachting Australia
Direct Dial Phone: +61 (0)2 8424 7408
Skype: glenstanaway
COM 13 2011 Determining and Issuing Interpretations to the SR
Dear Race Organiser/Manager,
Please note that the Yachting Australia prescription to IRC rule 21.6.1(b) regarding number of spinnakers carried on board while racing has been updated for 2011. This allows competitors in Category 1-3 races to carry one more spinnaker than is shown on their IRC certificate, provided that the area is not greater than the rated SPA, without an increase in rating.
To view the prescription in detail, please click on the following link:
http://www.yachting.org.au/?Page=35211&MenuID=Sports%5FServices%2F22739%2F0%2F%2CIRC%2F22210%2F0%2F
Kind regards,
Amy Howie
Sport Services Coordinator – Certification
Yachting Australia
Direct Dial Phone: +61 (0)2 8424 7410
Fax: +61 (0)2 9906 2366
Skype: amy_howie
Website: www.yachting.org.au
Street Address: Level 1, 22 Atchison St, St Leonards, NSW 2065
Postal Address: Locked Bag 806, Milsons Point, NSW 2061
By Ian Grant.
There are no hidden secrets in the form shown by the John Galloway skippered Queensland Marine Services as the crew have continued to dominate the major results in Whitsunday Sailing Club Twilight racing on Pioneer Bay.
John Galloway again proved the depth of his tactical experience to select the right options when he steered Queensland Marine Services to a 1 minute 28 second win over arch rival Roger Down in True Love while Jeff Brown’s 007 filled third another 52 seconds of the pace.
All three crews welcomed the opportunity to test their light wind sailing skill as they continue with the preparations to improve their boat speed in the local fleet racing to be on the pace to contest the 2011 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week in August. Read more…
The most radical offshore racing yacht to be launched in decades is to compete at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2011.
The 42-footer, simply named Q, has been created to capitalise on the exceptional performance gains that come from canting keels by taking the moveable ballast concept to the limit: the entire keel fin and ballast bulb rotates around the hull so that when it is fully canted it is completely clear of the water!
The innovative concept is the brain-child of Ian Oatley, a member of the Oatley family who own Hamilton Island. It has been four years in design, development and build. American design group Reichel/Pugh converted Oatley’s ideas into reality and the yacht was then built by McConaghy’s in Sydney
Put simply, rotating the keel clear of the water eliminates speed-sapping drag, and because the keel fin is positioned so far to windward less ballast is needed to gain maximum stability. Rating and handicap considerations haven’t come into the equation for this boat, but pleasure and high speed have. Read more…
Known for its cold weather sailing, Medemblik in the Netherlands is the current host nation for the fifth ISAF sailing world cup event, The Delta Lloyd Regatta.
Queensland Sailing Team members Brendan Casey, Ashley Stoddard, Johanna Sterling and Ryan Palk have travelled from sunny warm Queensland to take part in one of the world’s best Olympic sailing regattas.
The first Olympic sailing regatta in Medemblik took place in 1985, and through the years became one of world’s best Olympic sailing regattas with over 1,100 participants from more than 50 countries regularly attending. In 2011, the Delta Lloyd Regatta is the fifth of seven regattas in the third edition of the ISAF Sailing World Cup.
The first day of the regatta has pushed athletes to their physical and mental limits, and the freezing water and strong 20 – 30knot nor – Easter punished those who weren’t prepared.
Queensland sailors proved their worth and rose to the occasion in the second day when Ryan Palk Australia Sailing Team and Laser standard member bumped up to 8th overall. ” …It was a good day, hard day for alot of people, but i had a good one so cant complain” said Palk
This coming weekend sees the annual 29er Queensland Championships.
With an international fleet in attendance, the regatta will be proving ground for 29er sailors from around Australia.
Notice of Race can be viewed here:
2011 QLD 29er STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS NOR A
