Glenn Bourke the former Olympian and Laser class World champion has successfully made the transition to the strict art form of SB3 Dart one design racing by winning the Victorian championship on Geelong’s Corio Bay last weekend.

The master tactician took a break from his busy day time job as CEO of the Bob Oatley owned Hamilton Island Resort to team up with his Sunshine Coast crewmates Rod Jones and Greg MacAllansmith in the high performance sports boat Club Marine Blue.

They were in similar dominating form last August winning the Queensland championship on the more familiar courses set for the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.

However the Club Marine Blue crew who are currently ranked fourth in the World following the 2011 World championship in England were forced to be selective in their race strategy in the tricky conditions that were presented on Corio Bay.

Their eventual 12 point championship winning margin from the best 10 races to count included 8 wins clearly showed that the Club Marine Blue crew again set another high standard in this demanding class where a minor blemish in the important human related skills of tactics and technique mean the difference between winning and finishing back in the pack.

During a post regatta interview Glenn Bourke said, “It comes down to tactics. This was an odd regatta in that quite often the corners paid, and I’m not a corner type of guy. But eventually the conservative option, taking the shifts in the middle and chipping away, won out”.

“You have to be in phase (with the wind) when it’s shifting that much we were in phase more often”.

“Thousands of races over the course of a career bashes what’s right and wrong into you. Then if you have a little bit of natural ability coupled with that it helps”. He said.

This win was an impressive result achieved by the exceptionally talented Club Marine Blue crew but that regatta is now history as they prepare to contest the open Australian championship on the equally tricky River Derwent on the 18^th to the 20^th of February.

The trio of Club Marine Blue sailors who all play an important individual role in the results will be forced into employing a different set of tactics to master the skill and local knowledge possessed by  Hobart idol and former World Dragon class champion Nick Rogers.

Rogers like Glenn Bourke is a talented tactician and has the logged the ‘hard miles’ in a career spanning a number of strict one design classes which allows his Tasmanian crew to share the top of the pre-championship betting order with the Queensland and Victorian champions in Club Marine Blue.

Interest will also focus on the performance of class ‘rookies’ including former Sydney Hobart Race winning skipper Roger Hickman.

Hickman from Tasmania and Chris Dare from Victoria are the latest high profile sailors who have career plans in place to be on the pace when the battle lines are drawn for 2012 SB3 World Championship at Hamilton Island from December 18-20.

Teenage Whitsunday Sailing Club 420 class sailors Klaus Lorenz and Ollie Annear overcame the important lack of class experience to finish 10^th in the OAMPS Australian Youth championship on the windy Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron courses earlier this month.

Klaus has always shown exceptional talent with a dedicated training program to climb the ranks in the Australian Optimist Dinghy class and was not out of his depth steering his dinghy Drag Queen to a deserved top ten result.

He had a soul searching decision to make regarding his future career after finishing with the Bronze Medal at the Australian Optimist Championships hosted by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in 2011.

The time had arrived for the talented tropical water sailor to step up to a class which would not only offer a competitive one-design racing environment but also provide the young skipper and his long term school mate Ollie Annear with the opportunity to race against the best 420 crews.

Because of their age they had that Optimist dinghy racing with the Whitsunday Sailing Club fleet was over and accepted the challenge of combining and improving their individual skills in making sure they were on the pace in the Olympic trainer 420 class.

Both Klaus and Ollie were excited after announcing the decision in August and just five months later they gave notice that Drag Queen was on the pace in spite of training alone on Pioneer Bay.

“Racing in the 420 class was an easy decision to make, however both of us understand the challenges that are ahead but we are young and prepared to do the hard yards”. Klaus Lorenz said last August.

Klaus and Ollie are not only school friends but great mates with a personal dedication to help each other to become recognized as North Queensland’s best young sailors.

Judging by the results of finishing 8^th in the Open Australian championship and 10^th in the OAMPS Youth championship the Drag Queen crew are destined to achieve their goals in 2012.

They have learnt that boat preparation and endless hours of training to improve their boat skills have overcome the lack of racing regularly in big fleets.

Meanwhile the testing waters of Pioneer Bay will become the important test bench for the promising 420 class racing team who will be focusing their careers on becoming selected to represent Australia at a future World Youth championship.

Easter in Sydney top a strengthened event schedule for 2012

The Australian Access Class Association is working with yacht clubs and State Sailability Associations to stage six class championships in 2012. The regatta season kicks off on the

15^th January with the inaugural Tasmanian Access Class Championship, to be hosted by

Derwent Sailing Squadron in cooperation with Sailability Tasmania.

The climax of the Access regatta season will be the Access Class World & International Championships, to be hosted by Middle Harbor Yacht Club, with the support of Sailability Middle Harbor, Sailability NSW, Macquarie Group Foundation and the NSW Government. This is the first time that the Access Worlds have been staged in Australia.

The waterways around MHYC will be busy this summer with the NSW championships, an AACA National Coaching Clinic, culminating in the Worlds. IACA Executive Officer David Staley is expecting around 120 sailors to be competing in Access 2.3, 303, Liberty and SKUD 18.

Internationally, 2012 is a big year with the London Paralympic Sailing Competition being staged from 1–6 September at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, UK. Australian teams in each of the classes – SKUD, Sonar and 2.4mR – will be competing for medals.

In accordance with the Paralympic selection timetable, Yachting Australia will nominate team members to the Australian Paralympic Committee during the month of February unless the window is specifically extended for a particular class. A number of elite sailors who have come through the Sailability system are vying for selection.

Major sailing events 2012

15-16 January

Tasmanian Access Class Championship

Derwent Sailing Squadron

www.dssinc.org.au

26th January

Australia Day Regatta

Manly Yacht Club/Sailability Manly – Access 303s

www.sailability.org/au/manly

27th January.

Coaching Clinic for State Championships competitors

Middle Harbour Yacht Club

January 28 & 29

New South Wales Access Class Championships

Middle Harbour Yacht Club with Sailability Manly

www.accessclass.org/?Page=30801

3-4 March

South Australian Sailability Championships

Goolwa Regatta Yacht Club

www.gryc.com.au

11 March

‘Be Active’ West Australian Access Class Championship

Royal Perth Yacht Club

www.rpyc.com.au/index.php?id=69

17-18 March

Victorian Access Class Championships

Lysterfield Sailing Club,

david@accessclass.org

24/25 March 2012

Special Olympics ACT Games Regatta,

Sponsor Bendigo Bank, hosted by Sailability ACT

Lake Tuggeranong

terrypeek@bigpond.com

4-5 April

AACA National Coaching Clinic

Middle Harbour Yacht Club

(Supported by bequest from the late Jim Brown)

david@accessclass.org

7-13 April

Access Class World & International Championships

Middle Harbour Yacht Club

www.2012accessworlds.mhyc.com.au

1–6 September

2012 Paralympic Sailing Competition

WPNSA, Portland, UK

http://www.london2012.com/paralympic-sailing

September tba

IFDS Blind Match Racing (Homerus) Worlds GBR, RNCYC,

Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland

http://www.ifds.org

27-28 October

Special Olympics ACT Multi Sports Mini-Games

Sponsor Bendigo Bank, hosted by Sailability ACT. Lake Tuggeranong.

terrypeek@bigpond.com

17/18 November

Special Olympics ACT Race and competition training hosted by

Sailability ACT, Lake Tuggeranong

terrypeek@bigpond.com

Issued by Graeme Adam, Public Relations, National Sailability Committee of Yachting Australia. Email: graemeadam@sailability.org  Phone: 02 9959 3323

Sailability Australia is the Australian arm of the international Sailability movement, with eight state or territory Sailability associations and some 65 branches/programs nationally. Australian sailors with disabilities are represented nationally by delegates on Yachting Australia’s Sailability Committee (nominated by State Yachting Associations) and internationally through Yachting Australia’s membership of Sailability World, the International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) and the Australian Paralympic Committee.

Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats X1 winner of the 2011 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week IRC class line honours trophy heads an impressive Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet preparing to do battle with the storm tormented Tasman Sea.

No owner, skipper or individual crew are prepared to predict what will unfold in the important tactical terms of wind and sea conditions yet another impressive fleet will sail out of Sydney Heads on Boxing Day for what is considered to be among international ocean racings more physically demanding challenges of seamanship.

Barring accident, gear failure and crew injury the Mark Richards Hamilton Island Yacht Club registered Wild Oats X1 is expected to prevail in the maxi boat match race against the Anthony Bell owned Investic Loyal, the Peter Millard skippered Lahana and the Matt Allen helmed Ichi Ban.

All of the four front runners have been recently modified with either hull shape changes or new additions to their sail lockers for what is expected to become a seriously contested 628 nautical mile match race for the prestigious line honours trophy.

Previous form suggests Wild Oats X1 will remain as the yachting punter’s favourite to claim her sixth line honours title from the past seven races.

But her experienced crew including Americas Cup winning sailors will need to again show their respect for the weather particularly if a squally ‘southerly buster’ roars in from The Great Southern Ocean.

Interest will also focus on the Volvo 60 class match race involving the New South Wales Andrew Wenham skippered Southern Excellence and the Whitsunday Sailing Clubs Leo Rodriguez steered Merit.

Southern Excellence launched in 2001 has had a recent ‘face lift’ which promises to lift her speed potential for her boat on boat match race against the 1997 launched Merit.

This clash between the two former Volvo Globe ‘war horses’ will be determined by which crew produces the smartest tactical strategy associated with the wind angle and velocity that blows over the deck.

Race experience favours the team of Tropical Sailors who have the distinction of winning the 2008 Performance Handicap class trophy under the redress rule following their rescue of the Victorian crew from the sinking yacht Georgia.

Merit now racing in her 14^th year has the proven record of surviving a physically demanding Sydney Hobart however skipper Leo Rodriguez understands he will need to apply a tactical smart strategy over the 628n/ml race to win his State of Origin war on the water over his New South Wales rival Andrew Wenham in Southern Excellence.

Casey Smith has been forced to experience a longer than usual time studying the cold and inhospitable nature of The South Atlantic Ocean after the dismasting of the Volvo race sloop Puma on Monday.

Naturally the dramatic incident was not the result the experienced professional Sunshine Coast Ocean racing sailor was expecting.

However a report from skipper Ken Read has confirmed all the crew are safe but extremely disappointed.

At the time Puma was handling the 23knot breeze and moderate 2.5m seas comfortably when the carbon-fibre mast failed snapping in three places as the rig fell into the sea.

Puma was in the middle of nowhere, 2100 nautical miles from the first leg finish line in Cape Town when the crew were forced to recover the 31m broken spar and sails from the sea and prepare a jury rig.

They were reported to be making slow progress at a peak speed of 5.9 knots for the closest land the remote South Atlantic island group of Tristan da Cuhuna where they will dock alongside and receive 500 litres of diesel fuel from a visiting cargo ship.

As expected in spite of their predicament a report from Puma confirms the spirit among the crew remains high as they have moved from experiencing a challenging race to a far more challenging adventure to reach Cape Town in time to re-rig for the second leg of the race to Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile Team Telifonica racing under skipper Iker Martinez continues to maintain a stranglehold on being the first yacht to sail into Cape Town.

However following the dismasting of Puma her skipper and crew have accepted that no victory is certain until they receive the official signal.

In a report shortly after hearing of the dismasting Iker Martinez said “This is a disappointment for the Puma crew”.

At the time of the dramatic and expensive incident Puma was presenting a real challenge to be the first yacht into Cape Town but that challenge unfortunately ended when the call of rig down alerted the off watch members who were enjoying a meal below deck.

They have been trained for the best and worst experiences of a Volvo Race including the adrenalin rush of recording their career best sailing speed surfing the ‘growlers’ in the screeching sixties to being becalmed in the equatorial doldrums however the unfortunate dismasting has bonded Team Puma to meet the challenge of sailing a slow course for Cape Town.

For the award winning Volvo Globe Race sailor Casey Smith being temporarily stranded a long way from the far friendlier climate of the Sunshine Coast in summer only remains as a distant memory as he deals with his day to day job as a professional deep sea sailor and living the dream of adding another Volvo Race finish to his impressive log book.

Terry Archer will challenge his personal ocean racing skill and endurance when he and his Questionable Logic crew represent the Whitsunday Sailing Club in the gruelling 628n/ml Rolex Sydney Hobart race starting on Boxing Day.

Archer who contested the blue water classic in 2010 as a member of the Ocean Affinity crew will be a first time entry as an owner skipper.

He is not the first and will not be the last ‘rookie’ skipper to have the personal ambition to record a Sydney Hobart in his offshore racing log book.

Questionable Logic designed by the leading New South Wales team of Iain Murray, Ian Burns and Andy Dovell and built by Sydney Yachts has raced competitively in short course events including the Airlie Beach and Audi Hamilton Island Race Weeks but has rarely been tested on long ocean passages since joining the more relaxed fleet racing in the warm Whitsunday Island waters.

Her delivery crew will face a serious test during the long haul from Airlie Beach to Sydney to complete the pre-Hobart formalities including a stringent safety inspection before the enthusiastic Terry Archer has the chance to fulfil his ambition.

However the enthusiasm will take on a more demanding role when the comparatively smaller Questionable Logic tests her handicap rated ocean racing speed against a number of high profile yachts including the 2010 Audi Australian IRC champion Loki and the Mark Richards helmed super maxi Wild Oats X1.

None of the many Whitsunday Sailing Club supporters of the Questionable Logic Hobart Race challenge are prepared to make a pre-race prediction but believe both skipper and crew have the skill and determination to share a mooring in Hobart’s historical Constitution Dock.

But meanwhile Questionable Logic and the Leo Rodriguez skippered Volvo 60 Merit winner of the Rolex Performance Handicap class trophy in 2008 continue with their pre-Hobart race preparations.

Merit racing under the Stratco sponsorship was the 18^th to finish last year and the crew will be hoping for a more favourable spinnaker sailing breeze to beat their relatively slow 7.7knot average and 3 day 9 hour 18 minute 53 second elapsed time.

Terry Archer will remember stepping ashore in Hobart for the first time and despite being a maiden race skipper will positively focus on steering Questionable Logic to the required boat speed to challenge his personal best target of 3 days 15 hours 42 minutes 52 seconds when Ocean Affinity finished 22^nd last year.

The Sunshine Coasts highly talented Laser dinghy sailors will have the opportunity to contest the 2012 Australian championships on familiar waters over the Christmas-New Year holiday period.

Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron will host the series on the physically demanding Waterloo Bay ‘torture track’ from December 27 to January 4.

Noosa Yacht and Rowing Club’s Ryan Palk a member of the Australian Olympic training squad and Queensland Academy of Sport representatives Klade Hauschildt (Noosa) and the Maroochydore Sailing Club’s Mitchell and Madison Kennedy have increased their training schedules in recent weeks.

All four gifted monotype sailors are listed as major contenders following excellent results from international and interstate regattas over the past 12 months.

Ryan Palk who has spent most of the past year racing under the Australian Olympic Team banner and coached by former Olympic Bronze Medallist Michael Blackburn won his first Australian championship on Waterloo Bay which suggests he will be a strong contender.

His long term training partner Klade Hauschildt also has the potential and the determination to make his presence felt when the sails are tensioned for the important points to determine the group of skippers to compete for the Gold Medal on January 4.

Hauschildt has since recovered from a serious ankle injury which forced him out of Laser class racing for most of the winter months.

However he is now back in full training and presents a distinct challenge to the major challengers including his good mate Ryan Palk.

The brother and sister Maroochy River sailors Mitchell and Madison Kennedy already ranked among the rising teenage stars on the Australian Laser racing circuit are showing the same tactical skill expressed by their father Mark when he won the World Laser Masters championship.

All three Kennedy’s will separately compete for honours with Mitchell hoping to press home his tactical knowledge of Waterloo Bay to be nominated as a medal prospect in the Radial class while younger sister Madison who has represented Australia at the Junior Olympics is expected to be a major medal contender in the 4.7 rig class.

Naturally father Mark who has played a major role in developing the skills of Mitchell and Madison has the proven skill and experience to add another major medal to his impressive trophy cabinet.

As expected the 2012 Australian Laser class regatta has attracted an international standard fleet with the open championship including entries from skippers representing European, English, American and New Zealand clubs.

This suggests the competition to qualify for the Gold Medal sail-off in all classes will hinge on the skills of the individual skipper to sail smart, limit their tactical errors and have the steering skills to sail fast in notorious Waterloo Bay ‘slop’.

http://www.rqys.com.au/index.php/2012-australian-laser-championship/

NOR, Entry List and other event information can be found.

Also attached is the Poster for the event.

Many thanks.

Kind Regards,

Debbie Stoddart – Secretary

M: 0410 665 850 | F: (07) 3204 4665 | E: sailing@qldlasers.com | P O Box 596, Kallangur Qld 4503

W: www.qldlasers.com

Trilogy too Classy.

Keith Glover and his Trilogy crew set a new standard in Australian Multihull championship racing when they claimed the 2011 Corsair Marine/Seawind series trophy with six wins from six races.

They had claimed the championship after scoring a comfortable win in race 5 on Thursday however both Keith Glover and his principal crew mate Ben Kelly believed they had a point to prove.

Sure skipper Keith Glover, Ben Kelly, Brendon Mann and Harry Bethwaite enjoyed a small crew celebration after race 5 however the ‘crew vote’ was unanimous on chasing a possible six from six.

Trilogy the unchallenged form boat of the series was again cleverly sailed in the bay passage race outpacing her .939 handicap correction factor to eventually claim a comfortable 4minute 40 second win over the South Australian trimaran Wilparina 11 (Rob Remilton) with the Julian Griffiths steered Sunshine Coast catamaran Hot Vindaloo into third another 1 minute 55 seconds off the pace.

“I guess the result has justified taking on the new learning curve associated with the canting mast, however Trilogy now races with a smaller sail area and is certainly faster”. Keith Glover said.

APC Mad Max again dominated the line honours but skipper George Owen who had seemed certain to wrap up the Silver Medal comfortably had his back to the wall to ward off a late charge from Hot Vindaloo.

The APC Mad Max crew who finished the fastest with an elapsed time of 2 hours 25 minutes 32 seconds understood that their handicap calculated time of 2-45-37 was under a serious threat from their lower handicapped rivals.

Thankfully Wilparina 11 which managed to win her match race against Hot Vindaloo by 2 minutes 37 seconds ultimately allowed APC Mad Max which finished sixth fastest on corrected time to win the Silver Medal on count back over Hot Vindaloo.

Veteran multihull sailor Tony Goshnick produced a form reversal when he steered Outrage to a runaway 32 minute 31 second win over the Division 2 champion the Linda Renouf skippered Dash.

However Outrage which previously recorded a 5-8-8-8 only managed 7^th place overall while Dash which finished all six races in the top 3 won the Division 2 championship by six points from Frassid (Shaun Fishley) with another two points to Iain MacDougall in Goldfinger.

Further Information is available from Mike Hodges 041188 8850 or Ian Grant 0427 592 664.

Tactical testing final.

The forecast of a light variable sea breeze promises to test the tactical awareness in the final race of the Corsair Marine/Seawind Australian Multihull championship on Moreton Bay today.

Since the highly competitive championship started on Monday the fleet of fast lane sailing multihulls representing South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland have experienced a demanding test in a mixed range of wind and sea conditions.

Thankfully the predicted forecast will not result in a lazy breeze however the expected 5-10 knot wind will freshen during the day and is expected to be spiced with numerous changes in velocity and direction.

Keith Glover (Trilogy), Linda Renouf (Dash) and Phil Day (Rhythmic) who won their respective Division 1, 2 and 3 championships with a race to spare yesterday will enjoy their sail today free from any tactical pressure while interest focuses on the tactical ‘dogfight’ to resolve the minor places.

All three class results hang in the balance with only a point separating the George Owen skippered Victorian catamaran APC Mad Max and Queensland’s Hot Vindaloo (Julian Griffiths) who promise to become involved in a mate against mate match race to decide the Division 1 medals.

Naturally Julian Griffiths and his Hot Vindaloo crew must become the tactical aggressor to hold any hope of outpacing the speed sailing APC Mad Max which holds the advantage of finishing ahead of Hot Vindaloo in three of the five races.

This is not an impossible task as Julian Griffiths is well known to lay his skill on the line to test the tactical defence of the experienced George Owen and his APC Mad Max crew.

Victorian Shaun Fishley promises to protect his consistent score of 1-3-4-3-3 at the helm of Frassid when he becomes engaged with his closest rival Iain MacDougall (Goldfinger) to decide Division 2 minor medals.

Frassid while being clearly outpaced by the Linda Renouf skippered championship winner Dash only needs to finish better than 4^th place today to win a deserved Silver Medal.

The battle for the minor places in Division 3 is also close with the Mike Hodges Renaissance poised to protect their 1 point advantage over the George Bulka skippered Skedaddle to wrap up a very successful and professionally run regatta hosted by The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron.

Further information is available from Mike Hodges 041188 8850 or Ian Grant 0427 592 664.