Hi all you MGers (and MG watchers!).  Sorry I have been tardy with a blog for everyone.  I think over the off-season I will try to do a once-a-month update on any major issues.  Work and life has been getting in the way of writing blogs lately!

In this edition:

• Update on 2010 / 2011 Nationals and NSW State Titles
• The rise of the Aero 12
• A potential Paralympian
• Training weekend for MG sailors still on the drawing board
• Time to don the wetsuit for the Brass Monkey Regatta!

So, here goes:

THE 2010 / 2011 NATIONAL TITLES:  PORT KEMBLA SAILING CLUB, LAKE ILLAWARRA - SAT 8TH JAN 2011 TO WED 12 JAN 2011

THE 2010 / 2011 NSW STATE TITLES:  TORONTO AMATEUR SAILING CLUB - LAKE MACQUARIE - SAT 9 APRIL 2011 TO MON 11 APRIL 2011

Note:  Both these events have been provisionally established.  Some minor elements are still being finalised with the respective clubs, but formal confirmation should be sorted in the following weeks.

Firstly the Nationals:

This promises to be a fantastic event and a terrific venue.  Lake Illawarra provides safe, open, sailing conditions, which suit typical summer wind patterns.  I understand that the facilities and hospitality at PKSC is excellent, and the rigging area is very good.  To get a feel for the club and the sailing venue, go to www.pksc.com.au .

Accommodation options are numerous, given that it is based near Wollongong.  There are plenty of family tourist options in the region, and good access to Sydney, for anyone contemplating combining the regatta with a family vacation.

The timing of the event has been set in response to the survey done earlier in the year, allowing families to have their traditional Christmas / New Year time without pressures of heading off to regatta, etc.  It has also been decided to run the event in a similar way to earlier years, in a compact time frame, to help with people's planning around other commitments.  Five days, seven heats, no lay days.

So, get fit and get ready!!  I am excited about the prospect of an even bigger fleet than last season, plenty of competition, more MGB's (maybe even a chance at our own division??) and hopefully more breeze and less flood tide than the last titles!  I really want to encourage the interstate contingent.  We love you guys putting in the effort to come and enjoy having you there pushing for success with us.

Ian Richardson of PKSC sent me a message some time back, noting that the club is keen to encourage the growth of the MG14 class.  He has purchased "Skulker" from Mirko for his son, and he wanted to get the word out to other Illawarra / South Coast sailors that they would be very welcome to come down to PKSC and join the fleet.

Also, the club runs an annual event, the Port Kembla Klassic, which I believe is to be held on the weekend of 27/28 November 2010.  This could be a great opportunity for keen MGers to get down there and familiarise themselves with the club and the course, as well as to kick some butt against other classes!  In fact, Touring Trophy details are yet to be finalised, but there is some consideration at Committee level to using this event as a Touring Trophy venue.  More on that will be forthcoming I am sure.

If anyone has any comments on sailing at Lake Illawarra, please send them through, to help everyone get a feel for what it is like.  I have heard plenty of good reports over the years.

Secondly, the State Titles:

Back to Toronto!!  We had a great Nationals series there in 08/09, and let's hope the open waters of Toronto Bay will host some breezes to challenge us all.  The timing of this event has also taken heed of the traditional clash with Easter.  A stroke of good fortune for the coming season is that Easter actually falls close to Anzac Day, so there is a hot opportunity to run these titles as a long weekend event at the start of school holidays, leaving the rest of the period for other family pursuits, including over Easter.

As a Toronto local, I can't wait to see you all here!  Most people are familiar with accommodation options in the area, but we can provide further details for you closer to time.

THE RISE OF THE AERO 12

Gee, I wish I could help my children's education by taking a "cash for comments" approach to  endorsing various suppliers to the sailing community.  John Laws or Alan Jones I am not, but I can certainly say that the Taree crowd are representing a hot-bed of activity, both on and off water.  There is a lot of cooperative development work going on up there, with Rochey having put himself in the mix last season, and continuing to commit himself to a commute up the Pacific Highway to take on the likes of Lenny Mancell, and all the other NS and MG tyros up there  (side-note:  I think young Greg is still dirty that he was outdone by a 20-year-old MG with a double-luff kite in the Manning River Marathon last January - to be fair, conditions certainly suited the double luff - so don't be surprised if he is putting some off-season thought into how to rev up his (yet to be built) boat to deal with those conditions if they occur at the next Marathon!)

So, back to the story.  Dave Dillon, of Dillon Boat Works in Taree, is madly pumping out new Aero 12's, after their introduction last season, and he has kindly put together a report on the happenings in his workshop the past few months:

Now that we have the Aero 12 up and sailing and a few niggling problems ironed out I thought it time to bring everyone up to date. We had a couple of issues with weight and some mast step problems early on which were caused by circumstances out of our control.  But after some brainstorming and modifications we now have a great product and can offer a structurally sound and underweight boat to our customers.

The idea of producing the Aero 12 came up mid 2009 during the GFC. What else do you do in the middle of a recession other than come up with a new product. The fact that we had very little else to do, and four keen sailors were hanging out for a new Aero 12 was enough reason for me to set about making the plugs and moulds. Dave Hardaker was the first to put his money up and Chris Caldwell, Adam Cause and Steve Jones quickly jumped into the next three spots. I should point out that the fact that it was a Michael Nash Aero design was a deciding factor. From a boatbuilders point of view, throwing your own money behind the development of a new boat can be daunting, but the long and successful pedigree of the Aero design tipped the scales.

By mid December we had the MG and two NS ready for their owners to fitout just in time for their respective Australian Titles, with the third NS just missing out. We delivered John and Judy Corbett’s NS (with custom transom modifications) just before the NS state titles with Neil Murphy’s NS being delivered last week.

Currently Len Mancell is finishing his MG in the factory and I for one can’t wait for a ride. Len will be sailing the new boat with his daughter as crew. It has been rumoured that the boat will be called “Mortein” as it has been proven to beat Roches !!

I might add here that it has been great to have Greg sailing on the river. There’s a lot of young crew up here that can only benefit by competing against the talents of two champions like Mancell and Roche clashing swords on the water.

Dave, thanks for this update.  My apologies that it has taken a few weeks to get up on the site here.  I also asked Dave to give me an idea on conversion costs to take an NS hull and set up retractable pole and kite chute for an MG.  This is certainly an option that a number of second-hand buyers are considering, given the surging popularity of the MG, and limited available MG-spec'd hulls, so why not grab an NS hull and convert, so it can be used for either class?  Dave emailed me on the weekend to let me know he is working on such a conversion now, and will give me an idea on price.  Dave, I look forward to this info, and to passing it on to everyone for their info.

LINDSAY MASON:  A PARALYMPIAN AT THE LONDON OLYMPICS IN 2012?

Most of you are aware of Lindsay ("Water Rat") Mason's sailing prowess and success.  However, not all of you will be aware that Lindsay is campaigning for a spot in the Paralympic sailing team for 2012.  Lindsay's capability and courage to sail, despite vision and hearing difficulties, is a great example.  A couple of weeks ago we had an email exchange about how things were going, and the following comments across a couple of emails blew me away, firstly for how serious the training is, and secondly for the disability that his skipper deals with to compete at an elite level, and thirdly for Lindsay's sense of humour:

Alcohol intake is part of my daily nutritional program - well that's my story and I am sticking to it!

Yes, the camp was really cool esp the bit where coach Adrian Finglas gave us some of Victor's 470 secrets on strategy and tactics. The 71 page document is so top secret that even we weren't allow to have a copy of it! Oh the bit about going to the gym twice a day (first session at 7:30am) and then having an ice bath after each gym session was not so good!

Yes, I am forward hand on a SKUD18 which we packed last weekend into a container and is now off to Medemblik and Weymouth. Ame has no arms or legs and steers the boat electronically using the three toes that she has. So I have to remember not to be too adventurous at mark roundings, as the electronics turn the boat a bit slower than some situations require. Gets pretty hectic up front at bottom marks, as I drop the kite and pull the jib and main on at the same time.

Cheers,

Lindsay

Lindsay, on behalf of the MG crew, I wish you and your skipper, Ame, all the best with your campaign to represent your nation in 2012.  Keep us posted!

TRAINING WEEKEND FOR MG'S IN SEPTEMBER?

Martin and the Committee had been working on a residential weekend training programme for the MGers this coming September, similar to the successful one held at Point Wollstonecraft last August, but this time to be held at Balmoral.  Unfortunately we could not get enough bookings to lock in the accommodation, but the Committee is considering a non-residential training weekend, potentially 18/19 September.  This is not confirmed, but something to keep in the back of everyone's minds..... and, if the Committee does decide to proceed, it would be really helpful if people express commitments early, to help the Association complete the effective organisation!

I thought the training last August was fantastic.  It made Phil and I think more intensely about all our moves and tactics, which I know translated into a much improved performance the following season (although we couldn't wrest the Club Championship from Bobby and Hayden!!).  So, if it does go ahead, I really encourage everyone's participation.

AND FINALLY:  THE BRASS MONKEY REGATTA, TOUKLEY SAILING CLUB, JUNE LONG WEEKEND

Yep, I'm a wuss.  I am looking outside my office at the rain and feeling the cold, so sailing is not high on my agenda right at this moment.  However, Phil Moore recently sent out details of the Brass Monkey Regatta to everyone and, from what I am told, it is a wonderful event.  Foxee actually won its division last June, piloted by Rochey and crewed by Phil (whilst I stayed at home and stared at the walls).  They are heading back as the defending regatta champs again and, as usual, some of the Toronto mob will be there to keep Greg and Phil honest.

So, what are you doing on the long weekend?  Why not head up to beautfiul Lake Budgewoi and have a go?  Plenty of boats, lots of fun, hopefully some breeze.  If you can't do the whole weekend, perhaps one or two days could be worthwhile.  I'll be heading down to at least watch at some stage!!

That's all for now!  Email me if you have any comments or items, or photos you want to share........

Hi everyone,

Lindsay Mason sent me some info last week that will be great for sailing trivia buffs.  It partly concerns our friend, Rohan Nosworthy, who teamed up with Lindsay for 2nd place at the Nationals, encountered some mishaps and still came 3rd at the NS14 States.  Well done, Rohan!  Aside from the gear donation, mentioned br Lindsay that helped Hugh at Balmoral, I understand Hugh had to drive to Gosford to help repair some gear failure that his father had at the NS14's.  A casual observer migh question whether the MG and NS guys are more than just good friends!!  Hmmmmm...... Here is Lindsay"s message: 

Has a boat (or parts thereof) ever come top three places in both the MG and NS Titles held concurrently? Water Rat just managed this feat over Easter!

Firstly, a huge congratulations to Rohan Nosworthy and Reilly Tasker (son of Barracouta Sails sail maker Neil Tasker) who sailed Water Rat into 3^rd place in the NS State Titles at Gosford, despite being match raced off the course in one heat and breaking a gooseneck, thus scoring dnf in another heat. The day when an MG wins a major NS regatta is not very far off! The MG and its abundance of boat speed, was the talk of the NS boat park and everybody was swarming over the boat. You just can’t buy publicity for the MG class better than that. A big thank you to the NS official that decided that Water Rat should be spot weighted for compliance with the rules. They weighted the hull at 64.8kg, which allowed us to remove the 3/4kg of lead that we had on the boat, bring it right down to 100g over the minimum weight and making it the lightest boat of the 67 competing in the regatta. I think that they will be careful what they wish for in the future!

Secondly, congratulations to Hugh and Tom for winning the MG States at Balmoral. After breaking his carbon mast in heat 3, Water Rat’s spare mast was loaned to Hugh to complete heats 4 and 5 of the MG Titles, before being rushed back up to Gosford to be used on Water Rat for the final heat of the NS Titles.

Hi all (again),

After Friday's racing at the States, the AGM for the NSW MG Association was held, which constitutes the National body for the class.

I will outline below the main agenda items which were covered at the meeting (NOTE:  THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE MEETING!!).  However, firstly, let me run through the details of the newly elected committee:

President:             Martin Pryor (previously Gary Reeves)

Vice Presidents:   Bob Taig (previously Mike Slee), Kerry Beatty

Secretary:             Gary Reeves (previously Phil Moore)

Treasurer:             Lindsay Mason (no change)

Race Secretary:    Lachlan Pryor (previously Bob Taig)

Registrar / Measurer:    Phil Marsden-Jones (previously Mirko Cairoli and Dave Hardaker respectively)

Publicity Officer:  John Hickey (no change).

The election process was very friendly and mutually supportive.  First of all, as Gary did at the meeting, we should particularly acknowledge the tremendous efforts of Phil Moore, the outgoing secretary.  He has held this position for MANY years and done a fantastic job, and was looking for a break.  Gary has had a few stints as President, and always played an excellent leader's role, and he willingly handed the reigns to Martin, who is very passionate about building the class.  Gary continues as Secretary, and his experience will be most welcomed.

Thanks are also due to Mirko, who has left the class (hopefully not forever) to take on fatherhood - nurturing a potential new crew member!  Dave also made a big contribution last year, coordinating the host club Taree for the Nationals.  Bob has shifted roles, but continues to be keenly involved as a Vice President.  Lindsay's decision to re-nominate as Treasurer was fully supported by the members, and we look forward to him continuing with his fine numeric skills!

It was great to see some "new blood", albeit with some joking about a Balmoral takeover!!  Kerry Beatty has served on the committee over the years and returned as Vice President.  Lachie Pryor was press-ganged into the Race Secretary role, given that he has undertaken this responsibility for the Cadet class over the past few years.  Phil Marsden-Jones happily took on the combined roles of Registrar and Measurer, given the relationship between these responsibilities.

Martin, as the new President, will bring a fresh pair of eyes to the class, given his professional responsibilities in the sport and his experience as National President of the Cadet Association.  We look forward to seeing what lies ahead  to continue the resurgence of this great Association!!

Discussion Points at AGM

• Next Season's Nationals:  Two big issues here - timing and venue.  As to timing, the survey consensus has been to move away from Christmas / New Year.  Tentative dates being considered are for a five-day event (no lay-days) from Friday 7 January 2011 to Tuesday 11 January 2011.  I emphasise that this is yet to be confirmed, but at least provides an indication.  This will hopefully satisfy families wanting to keep the traditional time together, and it will also enable a growing number of NS14 sailors who wish to contest the MG14's to compete in both Nationals series if they wish.  As to venue, this is still being negotiated.  We are still awaiting expressions of interest from a couple of clubs.  The primary offer so far has been received from Port Kembla club.  However, there are some negotiations to continue before finalising their offer.  It is hopeful that the venue will be finalised and communicated very quickly in the next few weeks.
• Next Season's State Titles:  Also in response to the survey results, there was a broad view to move away from Easter.  Next year presents a great opportunity, because Easter is very late (around Anzac weekend), with school holidays starting two weeks prior, so the tentative timing is around a 3-day long weekend series at the start of the holidays.  The dates are around 8 to 11 April, depending on whether we start on the Friday or Saturday.  Venue is yet to be confirmed.
• MGB Yardstick:  An Association member (not Phil or me!) raised for discussion a request to consider moving the MGB yardstick from 105 back to 106, the same as the MG14, potentially in association with a minimum 150kg combined crew minimum weight for that yardstick.  There was general consensus that the MGB was allowing heavier crews to be more competitive, whilst not outperforming standard MG14 rigs. It was felt that a formal resolution on this was not appropriate at the AGM, but the request was noted and referred to the new Committee to consider, which may involve polling Association members on the issue. 

So, there are some important issues to be resolved in the short-term by the new Comittee.  Watch this space!

• Hi all,

Sorry it has been a little while since the last blog.  Life has been a bit busy.  Well, you can see the results on the website, but I can offer a few other tidbits on the NSW State Titles.  I have to admit, Phil and I only sailed on the Friday (1st heat), followed by family time for the balance of the weekend, but we also attended the AGM after the first day's racing.  Hopefully some brave soul will email me with some more "war stories" from the series which we can add into the blog!

Anyway, Hugh and Tom didn't do anything surprising:  they blitzed the field.  Must have been interesting to break a new carbon mast 100m from the finish which would have given them a perfect scoresheet!!  We came second to them in the Friday race, by a narrow 6-minute margin (!).  We never got within coo-ee of them.  They had a perfect start, we had a shocker, which was compounded by an interesting encounter with our old mate Kerry Beatty ("Blew True") at the top mark the first time.  Ever tried doing a 360 in the midst of a rolling swell, 15 knots of breeze and boats scooting around you in various states of limited control?  No, we hadn't either until that point.  The ride to the first wing mark was "exciting", up around North Head, with the swell even steeper and the wind even stronger.  For us non-Balmoralers, this was a character-building experience.

The great news was that there was wind for most of the series.  Yee-haa!!  A great antidote to the lack thereof at the Nationals and for most of the season, for that matter!  I have added a couple of photos at the bottom of this post, just to to whet your appetite and show what an MG can do when there is wind!

A couple of bits from the weekend that I know about:

• Carnage!!:  Aside from Carbon Neutral breaking its mast, the Mansfields from Toronto in Flame Boy apparently struck disaster on the second day, breaking a mast and tearing the main.  I feel for Brian and Lara.  They have certainly experienced some interesting damage over the past season or so, including a whole rig which is now lying on the bottom of Lake Macquarie somewhere!  The other Toronto flag-flyers, Bob and Hayden in Filthy Fase, also did some sail damage.  I think the fleet will be a little depleted this coming Saturday.
• Hitting the Podium:  On a personal note, I want to congratulate the Filthy Fase boys, our local rivals and good friends, who are always threatening among the leaders, but their second overall constitutes their highest series finish so far.  Well done, guys!  And then, outgoing President Gary Reeves and Alex Warner in Xanadu (St George) matched their 3rd in the Nationals with a 3rd in the States.  Given that they had not sailed as a team together since New Year, in challenging conditions, was a great testament to them.  And, as mentioned before, Hugh and Tom gave us all a lesson and we are all thinking about how we can show them some competition next season!
• Sea Sickness:  "Cat and Mouse", sailed by Jim Reeder and Mark Collins, made the journey from Canberra, which was great to see.  A couple of new faces, I didn't really get the chance to say hello before the first race, but afterwards I caught up with Jim.  He noted that they had to retire, because Mark got a bad case of sea sickness out in the Sound.  If you're used to Lake Burley Griffin, no wonder!!  Anyway, they kept going for the series which is great to see.

So, here are a couple of photos!

Hi all,

We just received a great message from an old MGer on the blog this week and, as we exchanged a few emails, I found that he had a great story to tell.

His name is Keith Chidzey, who sailed "Dopey", which has become Kerry Beatty's "True Blew".  He used get around with some of the class veterans:  Gary Reeves, Lindsay Mason and Greg Roche.  He was also apparently very competitive sailing with his 5-year-old daughter, while he operated on the wire.  I chipped him about having some "Mr Men" Books and puzzles in the cockpit to keep her occupied, as well as the fact he was looking for an unfair weight advantage by sailing with his daughter!

In quotes I have copied in some of his comments and memories, plus a photo of dad and daughter in front of a heap of boats in the Nationals a few years ago.  He has admitted that this same daughter has just qualified for university!:

"crew weight strategy! now I am laughing!!!!! ..... ask the old guys & they will probably make several disparaging remarks along the lines of 'mad bastard', etc ..... had won a few champs before playing in MGs, so had 1/2 an idea of what I was doing.

I steered and sheeted from out on the wire with the boat maximized for simple easy-to-me control access - eg: a self tacker on the jib, with sheet leading along boom). Needless to say I was very happy when we voted to allow asymmetrics (made my life a lot easier!). For up wind - with power-to-weight all out on the wire we were very quick upwind. Anyway, for your amusement attached is a shot of the last series I competed in (nationals in 2000 @ St G), got to lead the fleet several times before a series of diasters (rudder blade, bad capsize, etc) wiped us out (as they do ..).

hold a real soft spot for my time in MGs

btw - just recently got back sailing again with an old mate letting me steer his trailerable, gee it is good to be back on the water"

by the time that photo was taken, she was actively contributing to the boat, particularly sheeting the main downwind."

And now a picture:

Hi everyone,

I had itchy fingers (and I am procrastinating on other work I need to do), so I thought I would punch out a few words on a few bits and pieces.

Hello again....

Well, here is my report - the one that won't go to Australian Sailing, the one that won't chronicle performance and results.  But it will hopefully record some of the things that made up the fabric of the titles - the week that was at Manning Point.  I promise there won't be too many weather and wind references (maybe)....  By the way, if you have some funny stories to share from the titles, add a comment or email me.  I'm sure we will all like to hear them.

So, here we go:

"Gone crabbing...."

Of the top 6 finishers in the series, I know 5 of us (excluding the winners) somehow found a way to ground ourselves in the river along that western shore, sometimes on more than one occasion each.  And it wasn't just the front-runners.  Yes, we were all trying to extract some sort of advantage at the time, to our peril.  This is particularly amusing when you realise that young Greg on Final Phase had been practising on those waters over the past few months, but also Rohan from Water Rat spent some time the previous week taking depth soundings from his tinnie along that shore!  Obviously the sands below the surface were shifting!  I am embarrassed to say that the loudest reaction to hitting the dreaded bottom came from the crew of Foxee, with for'ardhand using the word "stupid" quite forcefully in the direction of the skipper, and the skipper's retort was something like "shut up and focus on getting the boat going!!"  It's okay, we're still talking to each other, but I believe karma did work when said for'ardhand dislocated a finger in the second-last race (I would like to say it was the finger he was wagging at me as we grounded, but that is taking a little too much journalistic licence - sorry Phil, I feel your pain....).

Of course, the sense of humour of fellow competitors comes to the fore in these situations.  It's just that you don't expect such witty and cheeky retorts from a 14-year-old.  After Final Phase's unfortunate scrapings with the river bottom in the first couple of days, young Ben "Famous" Ferguson wandered up to us after the race when we had a our turn to embarrass ourselves later in the series, brandishing his finger and lecturing us that we had no right to try and go over that part of the river and steal the crab pots they had carefully laid there a couple of days earlier!!  Very good, Ben.

A "Celebrity" in our Midst

Speaking of Ben "Famous" Ferguson, apparently he had gained some notoriety in the weeks leading up to the titles, getting his face on TV and local press with sailing.  This led his family and other locals to tag him as "Famous".  We got some taste of the Ferguson family sense of humour during our time at Manning Point, and they were never going to allow their famous son to get too big a head.  The opportunity came to bring him down to earth after Final Phase's unfortunate mishaps in the first two days, when the family greeted Ben as he returned to shore with his new nickname:  "Not So...." (famous).  Love it!

Time 'n Tide

Well, for many of us, grappling with significant tidal flow was a new experience which yielded some fresh new challenges:

• The Heat 2 General Recall-fest.  Is it a record to have 4 starts and 3 general recalls?  I have never experienced that before.  Some of us wondered if the black flags might be hoisted, but one of the officials was heard to say that "We'll keep doing this until these guys learn to get it right!"  Fair enough.
• Special finishing technique.  Honourable mention goes to Gary Reeves in Xanadu, who lost a couple of places in one of the early heats with a strong outgoing tide, by misjudging a finish close to the pin.  Oops!  Too close!  However, the trophy in a unanimous verdict goes to my close friends, the Mortons who, in the same race, were finishing well up in the fleet, but turned a Top 10 finish into 21st, as they took approx. 6 minutes to actually clear the pin and finish cleanly!  The fact that neither Rob nor Sian did not land on shore and promptly beat their heads against a nearby tree, or kick any local stray dogs, is a testament to.....something!
• And of course, who could forget the last race, when everything was up for grabs.  The first nor-easter with a bit of punch, then the clouds closed in and the wind died, and the cats and dogs started to fall out of the sky.  We were under starter's orders, and I know in our case we sat on the line facing upstream, moving inexorably backwards to the wrong side, desperately checking the stop watch and realising we were stuffed!  Fortunately we had plenty of company, sufficient to justify a general recall.  We just needed to endure the downpour for 15 minutes or so before a restart.  Ah, good times.

"Who?  Me?"

Kerry Beatty, we like you.  You're a good guy.  And I was sad to hear about the mishap with your mainsail in the last race.  However, I do need to single you out for special mention in the false start stakes.  In that fateful Heat 2, and again in Heat 7, we found Kerry in our vicinity near the starting line, he and his crew counting down the seconds to the start.  They had their plan, they were positioned for real advantage compared to the fleet when the horn sounded.  The only problem was, the advantage was gained by being a number of boat lengths over the line at the start!  The tide had played its nasty tricks again.

On each occasion when the individual recall horn was sounded, I helpfully called to Kerry, suggesting he might want to consider returning to the correct side of the starting line and having another go.  I don't think he was prepared to accept my interpretation of where the starting line was.  Unfortunately for him, my interpretation was correct enough and the offical pin boat did single him out for special attention.

Crash! Bang! Wallop!

MG's acting like Dodgem Cars?  Yep!  You bet!  Once again, the eventful Heat 2 false starts had everyone on their toes, and the line was set uncomfortably close to the Harrington Pub shoreline.  Disaster in the making.  We had our own mishap when the race finally started, as we started towards the pin end and headed on the short tack for the pub shore.  First obstacle was the "Port Tack Bandit" (more of him later), who seemed intent on a suicide mission all afternoon.  Then we gave water to Carbon Neutral as he tacked to port on our bow, then we tacked as close to shore as possible, looked ahead, almost smugly, thinking we had virtually the whole fleet covered.  Smug too soon, as Awesome steamed down on starboard and, with no real water to tack back into, we had to duck.  Only problem:  a couple of the Taree boys had already decided to do a siamese twin impersonation directly behind Awesome.  Dave Hardaker in his new Aero 12, Wineot, was demonstrating the greater strength of his carbon pole, compared to the flimsy construction in the foam sandwich and fibreglass on Viper's starboard side.  We had nowhere to go but to create a Viper sandwich, slamming into their stalled and rapidly mangling hull, taking out a piece of our bow in the process.

In the same series of events, the Slee family in Asif decided to question the starters at close range, which involved connecting with the start boat, and there was generally the sound of cracking and crumpling among boats in the first minute or so.

One of the more interesting sights was one boat deciding to play chicken on port tack along the pub shore, wilfully ignoring the calls of "Starboard" as they steamed forward.  It wasn't the "Port Tack Bandit", but perhaps he should also have had a similar name!

On the last day, unfortunately, the carnage continued with Flame Boy and Sea Change coming to grief, holing the latter boat and forcing them to retire, with Flame Boy in sympathy deciding not to continue as well.  Also, Blew True had its main ripped whilst capsized, due to the unintentional close attention of Water Rat.  Sad, but it is part of racing from time to time.

Then, of course there was the hitting of marks by various boats during the series, not just at the finish line.  I won't comment on all the incidents I observed, but I will mention my own stupidity.  In one of the races mid-series, we were pushing downwind to the mark near the pub in fluky conditions.  We trailed Filthy Fase and Wizard of Oz, and we caught a beautiful gust which brought us up on their tails.  I hated the idea of rounding the mark and sitting in their exhaust, so I made one of those snap monumentally stupid decisions which not only stopped our momentum, but lost us significant ground and further places which we never regained.  I called "Mark Room".  I positioned myself inside the two boats at speed, but I was well within the 3 boat-length requirement and therefore not entitled to call it.  Would they acquiesce to my bluff?  Rob looked at me and said something like "No you don't!"  Okay, now I was stuffed.  My only option was to slam into the buoy, sit there while the tide kept pushing me onto it, then drag myself off, take the penalty, and watch Gary Reeves in Xanadu turn a deficit behind us into a neat advantage ##**??  Phil's look of disdain at me was certainly justified!!

Final mention and commiseration in the carnage stakes should go to Dave Hardaker, whose brand new Aero 12 incurred structural damage in the mast support, forcing him to retire about halfway through the series.  This was a real shame for the guy who had played the central role on behalf of Taree club to organise the series.  All I can say, Dave, is that you are a great sport, particularly because you still kept a smile on your dial and continued to make things happen for the remainder of the programme.  I hope the boat is back in shape real soon, and that the boat builder has been whipped appropriately!

And now, to the "Port Tack Bandit"

That would be Rory Pryor in Felix.  I couldn't believe my eyes in the first attempted start in Heat 2, with plenty of boats milling at the pin end, Rory scrapes the pin with a port tack start!  He actually somehow dodged everyone.  The confidence and folly of youth!!  The fact he tried it again when we finally got off the line was an absolute head-shaker!!  Rory, you are a scary young dude!  I hope your young female crew did not understand the risk of what you were trying to do, or she may have needed to be taking Mogadon at an unreasonably young age!

The Dept. of Youth

Well, our winners were young, but Hugh was a seasoned veteran compared to a number of our young up-and-coming competitors at the titles.  It was great to see the young guys from Yeppoon in Voodoo show their skills again this year.  The conditions did not suit them, but they often found themselves near the front-runners, and I hope you keep making the trip down here, guys.  You will get good conditions, and you will get higher up the leader board.  Overall, whilst our youngest competitor, Eamon Smith, was only 8 years old, the Balmoral club made the greatest youth contribution.  Whether it was Lachlan Pryor and his crew as "Young Guns" again this season, the Marsden-Jones girls featuring towards the front in a few races, with big smiles and some screaming from the boat and their on-shore supporters, the "Port Tack Bandit", and the quiet achievers on Supernova, it added so much to see all you guys involved and competitive.  We want to see you guys continuing to develop and featuring on the leader board in coming seasons!

"I'll Have a Chai Latte"

This would have to be a Balmoral story.  Sorry guys, you all sail around a beautiful part of Sydney, but there is a certain perception of the people around the lower North Shore, which was certainly reinforced at Manning Point.  No names will be mentioned to protect..... The scene:  crews unrigging at the end of one of the heats.  Father of a teenage female for'ardhand strolls up to the middle-aged skipper from Balmoral Club.  "I feel like a flat white, what about you ****, would you like something?"  "Oh yes, I would like a cappuccino."  Teenage daughter chimes in:  "And Dad, can you get me a chai latte?"  A chai latte????  At Manning Point for heaven's sake!!!!  I wonder how the general store handled that order!

Good Sports

There were several obvious examples of this during the series.  I will highlight a few of which I am aware:

• Martin Pryor.  He is certainly putting a lot into participation in the class by younger competitors.  So much so that he actually volunteered (he says when he had a couple too many beers) to skipper a boat for the sake of giving his young crew the chance to sail.  For a guy who has been out of dinghies for a long time, has some health issues, and wasn't exactly ideal weight for the boat, I applaud you for having the commitment and guts to sail the series.
• Gary Reeves.  I'm not going to dwell on the issues around the abandonment of Heat 1.  Suffice to say, Gary probably had the most to lose from having his first place in that heat cancelled.  However, in his capacity as Class President and as a  competitor, he scrupulously avoided involvement in the issue and readily accepted the decision of the protest committee, carried on sailing and gained a creditable third place overall.
• Hugh Tait.  In the weather melee that was the final heat, Carbon Neutral and Filthy Fase fought out the lead, daylight ahead of the rest of the fleet.  However, as they completed the first lap of the course, Hugh did not round the bottom mark, because he believed the start boat had signalled Course 2, and he viewed Course 2 as not including that mark.  However, he did not know that the sailing instructions had been changed (and that the course 2 flag had been flown at one point on the starter boat because the starters decided to use it to test wind direction!).  Anyway, when he returned to shore, he readily accepted the situation and withdrew from the race, handing the win to Bob and Hayden on Filthy Fase.
• Brian and Lara Mansfield.  They had the crash with Sea Change in the last race.  Lara got a fat lip when the impact threw her face first into the side stay.  But they decided to withdraw from the race because they felt it was not proper to continue after the collision, and the effect it had on Sea Change.
• Greg Roche, Rohan Nosworthy.  I owe a lot of what I know about tuning and sailing an MG to Greg.  He is always generous with his views and time.  The same with Rohan.  He is always offering ideas and prepared to share tips with others.  Maybe I shouldn't single them out, because I'm sure there are others who do the same thing.  It's just great to see this attitude among the front-runners:  champion sailors and champion people.
• Greg and Emily Junk, Sea Change.  In the lighter breezes towards the end of the series, these guys were closer to us than we liked.  In one race, we were drifting downwind towards Harrington Pub, watching as Greg and Emily came up from well behind to sit on our tail.  I was very frustrated and perplexed as to how they did this.  Greg said "Did you realise that you have been sailing with your mainsail inside out for the past few minutes?"  Yes, I am an idiot, and yes, Phil gave me another one of those looks, but I do appreciate the fact that Greg did inform me about the problem when he didn't have to!
• The Taree officials.  Yep, the patience of Job and friendly smiles, despite the challenges and complaints thrown at them!

And "See Ya Later"

To the boys on Carbon Neutral and Water Rat, you were in a class of your own.  Well done. 

I could add lots more, but lack of time and tiredness have hit me.  I could talk about me thinking that the only way I could beat Filthy Fase in Heat 6 was if they capsized, and seconds later they promptly obliged with a spactacular dunking!  I could talk about the Taree wives who adopted us when we felt left out, as they cheered the locals, so they then agreed to cheer us at every opportunity out on the water and approach to the finish for the rest of the series!  I could talk about the Toronto darts championship, which was a subsidiary event to the National Titles, in which I amused my colleagues with a complete lack of talent!

Thank you all for a great time and great memories.  I look forward to many more opportunities to sail and have fun together!!

Cheers John

Hi everyone,

I suppose most of us are heading back to the normality of everyday life after that sojourn we had at Manning Point a few weeks ago.  Hopefully we have dried out all our gear and ourselves by now, otherwise things would be a bit smelly!!

As I promised, I will provide some "unauthorised commentary" on the Nationals in the next post.  Will it be controversial?  Hopefully not really!  Will it be a bit gossipy?  Perhaps a little bit!  In addition to this post, Martin Pryor has promised me that he will pen a "View From the Rear"  (there's lots I could say to that, but I will leave it well alone!).  So Martin, I know you have been at the Cadet Nationals, but time to get this done now before school starts!!

Before going in to the report, some other quick things to mention:

• Photos, photos, photos!!  There were plenty taken, largely of boats drifting around in not a lot of wind.  However, these will find their way to the website when Bob T gets the opportunity to load them in.  Special thanks to Tony Potter (Tom Potter's Dad - Carbon Neutral), Annetter Trotter (Brian Mansfield's wife - Flame Boy), Dave Hardaker, who was forced to convert from sailor to photographer (more of that below), and Sarah Morton (daughter of Rob and Sian - Wizard of Oz).  I will toss in a couple of photos at the end of this post to whet your appetite.
• Manning River Marathon weekend.  I asked Mr Roche for a quick report.  I could sense his frustration in the response.  The Saturday race at Manning Point did not rate a mention, and Greg commented that the Sunday race was an agonising 3.5 hour drifter, and the lead MG was a 30-year-old double-luffer!  Not impressed!!
• Although Toronto does not recommence racing until 30 January, Saturday on Lake Macquarie was a very active day.  The Etchells had their final race in their Nationals Series, the local yacht clubs had their Saturday racing, and in amongst all the large hardware was a small lone boat, with a diminutive lone sailor - an MG!  I got out my binoculars, and there it was powering up into Belmont Bay, all the way from Toronto, in a solid nor-easter, and who was it, one Greg Roche (as he explained to me later he needed to blow out the cobwebs after a few frustrating weeks)!  Well, he set the kite behind a significantly larger Sport Boat with a big asymmetric, and they took off.  Who was faster?  Yep, Final Phase overtook the Sport Boat to windward and continued to fly away as they broad-reached down into Toronto.  It brought tears of joy to my eyes!!
• Speaking of the Etchells, on the Friday I took the time off work to follow the Etchells around....well, follow John Bertrand around.  I had my son and a couple of his mates in the tinnie with me, and I tried to explain the significance of Bertrand to them.  They were more concerned that I seemed to be stalking him and his boat.  I actually convinced my wife and a friend to come out with me and follow Bertrand around the course in the second race of the day, in which he duly blew the fleet apart and won by an unusually large margin at that level of sailing in that class.  We even got a nod of acknowledgement from the Great One and his crew as they cruised downhill comfortably ahead of their nearest rivals.  He did win the title, and by a good margin.  However, although Etchells may offer challenging and close fleet racing, as well technical tuning requirements, it all seemed a little pedestrian doing continual windward / leewards, compared to flying along, crew on wire, up on the plane (as you do an MG)!  Does anyone agree with me?

So, next post will be the unauthorised report.....

Hi everyone,

I hope we have all arrived home safely from what I would describe as the most "eventful" regatta in which I have ever participated!  First of all, despite the challenges of lousy weather, lack of shelter, tidal mayhem and some sailing course confusion, I believe that the biggest things that shone through were the general camaraderie of the sailors (including plenty of laughter in the face of various forms of adversity!), the wonderful participation of the families that came along to support, the relaxed and often humorous hospitality of the locals and, ultimately, the good attitude of the officials who did cop a fair bit of flak early on, but kept trying to provide the best possible on-water structure in less than perfect conditions.  No one can control the weather, so we had to deal with atypical conditions not suited to the river, as opposed to those black nor-easters we hoped would thrill us and which could normally be expected this time of year.

Having said that, I know that I walked away from the series realising that it was, overall, really fantastic.  We had 32 boats!  The best-sized fleet for many years.  We had competitors from as far away as Yeppoon to the north and Melbourne to the south.  We were all challenged in ways that most of us are unaccustomed:  river, tide, big breeze fluctuations within races and on different parts of the course, significant amounts of two-sail reaching (good for the NS-experienced sailors!), very tight reaching under kites, trying to stay the right side of the starting line with limited breeze and a strong outgoing king tide!!!!  Oh, and of course, there were the pods of dolphins that regularly turned up to escort some of us around the course.  One apparently even nudged the bow of Valhalla on the first day, trying to give them a little pointing assistance!!

Oh, and yes, a very high quality group of contenders at the front end, among the best for years.  It comprised the current NS14 National Champ, the defending MG National Champ, two previous National Champs, and a former UK Olympic training squad member in the 470's.

So, to the official results.  I'm sure Bob Taig will have all the details on the site soon.  But, in the meantime, here is a summary:

MG14 National Titles - Scratch Results

1.  Carbon Neutral - Hugh Tait and Tom Potter (Northbridge) 7 points:  A new boat, for which they completed the fitout in Sydney about 2am on the 27th, these guys showed most of us a clean set of heels for most of the series.  They are the current NS14 National Champs, and are jointly registering this boat for MG and NS.  Five firsts, a second, and retired in the last heat.  Excellent effort, guys!  They quickly headed down to Belmont at the conclusion of the presentation to each race 16-footers at their Nationals, whilst the rest of us went home to collapse!

2.  Water Rat - Rohan Nosworthy and Lindsay Mason (St George) 11 points:  This was the return of the combination that dominated the Nationals in 06/07 at Sunshine.  Hugh didn't have it all his own way.  Rohan (who actually lives in the hinterland towards Port Macquarie, and who is experienced across many dinghy classes and yachts) and Lindsay (who is also campaigning for a spot in the sailing team for the 2012 Paralympics) spent several races locked in the exhaust of Carbon Neutral, struggling to find a way through.  Carbon Neutral was marginally faster upwind, which is saying a lot given the legendary upwind speed of Water Rat.   Their score card read a first, five seconds, and the final race a drop when they had to re-start after a recall.

As you can tell, it was a tale of domination by two very good boats.  However, 3rd through 6th was a battle royal, with only 6 points separating them at the end.  This was a fantastic series within a series!  Each race saw these contenders typically finish within a couple of minutes of each other.  It all came down to the final race and, upon reflection, a significant measure of good and bad luck, to sort out the final placings:

3.  Xanadu - Gary Reeves and Alex Warner (St George) 24 points:  Gary had a new young crew with Alex on board, and they continued to improve as the series progressed.  Their capacity to achieve consistently strong starts and extract something extra downwind in a number of races was decisive in them achieving third place.

(4.)  Foxee - John Hickey and Phil Moore (Toronto) 27 points:  With an MGB rig we only get to count in the yardstick category, but we were surprised and proud to find ourselves in such strong company.  MG's carried a regatta yardstick of 100, with the MGB's at 99.

5/4.  Filthy Fase - Bob Taig and Hayden Domanti (Toronto) 28 points:  (Fourth in the National Titles, Fifth on Yardstick) These guys had a massive roller-coaster ride.  On the last morning they converted a third-place position into disaster with an uncharacteristic capsize at the final wing mark.  As we tried to encourage them on the beach, none of us knew how different things would be in the last race, when they recorded a win by about 13 minutes!! (Yes, the weather conditions were "interesting"!).  In the "what-if" department, they would have looked at a very different result, also because they lost a couple of places in an earlier heat via a one-minute penalty for forgetting to sign-on (I'm sorry for reminding you of that, Bob!)  Anyway, they can be justly proud of their efforts.

6/5.  Final Phase - Greg Roche and Ben Ferguson (Toronto / Taree) 30 points:  (Fifth in the National Titles, Sixth on Yardstick) Greg, the defending champ, performed excellently in the conditions with his new young crew, Ben.  They also improved mightily as the series progressed.  The last race was a lottery with shifting winds, heavy rain periods, a storm cell dragging away any wind for a significant period, and a short surging nor-easter that brought some of the fleet through from out of nowhere to overtake the front-runners who were stuck in a giant hole.  Unfortunately, as it turned out, the biggest victim of all this among the leaders was Final Phase.  However, they were not disgraced in any way and showed they are a quality team with further potential.

And here are the other key results for the series:

MG National Titles - Handicap Results

1.  Spellbound - Arran Gore and Alyson Gearing (Port Hunter):  A great story - ancient hull, wooden deck, but very well-sailed in the conditions.  This included a second place on scratch in the final race!  Excellent consistent effort across the series.

2.  Valhalla - Brian and Valerie Hamilton (Altona - Melbourne):  A new MGB rig, Brian and Valerie are very keen participants in the class, and it was great to see them rewarded for their efforts, including travelling all the way from Melbourne.

3.  Catchup - Phil Marsden-Jones and isobel Shepherd (Balmoral):  There was a fantastic representation from Balmoral, and a number of boats featured in various races on handicap, and some of them also had some excellent scratch placings in different races (including Phil's daughters on Wet 'n Wild).  For Phil, with an eternal sunny expression, and tons of zinc cream, it was great to see him among the prize-winners.

4.  Radical Phase - Tony and Eamon Smith (Taree):  I hope Tony doesn't mind me saying this, but this team requires special mention because it comprised probably the largest and definitely the smallest competitors in the fleet!!  Young Eamon was only 8 years old, but handled himself very well under his dad's guidance.

5.  Flameboy - Brian and Lara Mansfield (Toronto):  A great series for Brian and Lara, continuing to show fantastic improvement.  Sadly, a retirement in the last race may have reduced their chances of finishing higher in the final standings.

And the other awards:

Young Guns Awards (Crews each under 20 years of age)

Scratch:  Eclipse - Lachlan Pryor and Ellie Davies (Balmoral):  Lachlan has now won this award two years in a row.  He finished ninth overall, but was often competing near the front of the fleet.  A couple of gear breakages on the final day impacted the results.  Overall an excellent effort, and I am sure Eclipse will figure higher in the standings in the regattas ahead.

Handicap:  Supernova - Jasper Brown and Alex Graham (Balmoral):  This pair of 16-year-olds quietly went about their business, finishing consistently throughout the series, topped off by contending with the leaders on scratch in the final race.

Masters Awards (Crews each over 40 years of age)

Scratch:  Foxee - John Hickey and Phil Moore (Toronto):  No "old fart" jokes allowed!!

Handicap:  Valhalla - Brian and Valerie Hamilton (Altona):  "Old fart" jokes are allowed, because they live far enough away to not hear them!!

Honourable Mentions (No awards, but worthy of special mention)

Sea Change (Greg and Emily Junk, St George):  These guys finished seventh on scratch, steadily improving throughout the series, and thriving in the lighter conditions.  An unfortunate collision which holed their boat and forced them to retire in the last race was the only disappointment, but redress through average points enabled them to hold their place.

Wizard of Oz (Rob and Sian Morton, Lake Wallagoot):  They were always going to feature among the leaders in a number of races, particularly in lighter conditions, and they proved this by finishing third intwo races, and eighth overall.  When Rob gets that glint in his eye, you know he is out for blood!!  More often than I would like during the series, he was close enough for me to see that glint in action.  Then, of course, there was their special finishing technique in Heat 2, but I will save that for another post!

Viper (Richard Dodds and Stuart Ferguson, Taree):    A top ten finish in the MG's, these boys were in the mix at some point in most races.  Not bad for a couple of Northie sailors!!  Particularly as an adult male crew competing against several lightweights.

I could single out every boat for their involvement in the series, so I'm sorry I have not done that.  However, be on the lookout for my next post, where I will chronicle some of the amusing events of the series, which will be sure to figure various other characters in the fleet!

Thank you one and all for your participation and I really enjoyed the time out there with all of you.  Hopefully we will have a venue agreed for next year's Nationals in the next couple of months.  In the meantime, don't forget the Touring Trophy at St George on the Sat / Sun 13/14 February, plus the State Titles at Balmoral over Easter!!

Hi everyone,

I am back from a training course in cold, damp UK, looking forward to next week at Manning Point!  Without a few weeks of sailing, Phil and I went down to the club at Toronto on Saturday to do some last-minute maintenance and tuning.  We had a new jib to fit, and to ensure that no moving parts or ropes looked like falling apart just at the wrong moment.  There was a really nice south-easter, 12-15 knots, blowing up the bay, so we couldn't resist, and we took Foxee out for a blast.  Hard to tell how we went in the absence of any competition, but we at least blew the Flying Ants away!!  We had some nice downwind screamers.  The boat felt great.  The only flaw was that I decided to sail up to one of the local yacht club marks, round it and set the kite.  Unfortunately we had a little "trouble" tacking onto the mark, and I was left in two minds, of course made the wrong decision, and we ended up drifting over the top of the buoy.  Now I have a couple of nice yellow skid mars to polish off the bottom of the boat!!

Aside from that, my thoughts have been focussing on who could be the favourites for this year's event.  As usual, the handicap honours could be up for grabs by anybody.  However, I do have sneaking suspicion that one of the Toronto boats (if they stay afloat consistently) could do very well here, and I bet the strong Balmoral contingent will bring forth some serious contenders.

As for the scratch title, this is shaping up as probably the highest quality fleet for a number of seasons, with a real depth of experience and talent.  Apologies if I miss someone in this, like last year when Air Force One appeared out of the blue with a brother / sister team that had not sailed together for years, and took at third place, including a heat win!  There were also a couple of Qld entries last season with young sailors showing tremendous potential.  Certainly they could trouble the leaders.  However, I will focus more on the known quantities (in no particular order), starting with last year's champ:

Final Phase (Greg Roche):  Greg's successful combination with Daniel Yaxley ended after last year's Nationals.  However, he has picked up a new young gun at Taree, and he has spent a fair amount of time on the water at Manning Point and Taree the past couple of months, commuting up from the Hunter Region.  He is playing down his own chances, but he is a crafty veteran in the best sense of the words, and he will feature in the top few in each race.

Predator (Len Mancell and Les Barlin):  2nd last year, now to race on their home turf, could this be the time for Len and Les?  They are also extremely accomplished veterans in the class.  Second-hand reports from Rochey are that they have been extremely fast upwind, and difficult to beat.

Water Rat (Rohan Nosworthy and Lindsay Mason):  National champions in 06/07.  Lindsay normally races and skippers the boat at St George, but is crewing for Rohan, who is a successful skipper in a number of classes, including NS14's.  They had a clean sweep in the 06/07 Nationals, except for the last race when they had a swim near the finish line in a smoking nor-easter.  They had a few close races, but really had excellent upwind speed at the time.  At the Touring Trophy in Toronto early November, they humbled all of us.

Xanadu (Gary Reeves and Paul Tyson):  Also former National Champs, and Gary is the reining State Champ.  I don't know if they are going to operate with standard MG or MGB rig.  Either way, they will be close to the front most of the time and, I suspect, would be a big chance for the Yardstick title if they use the MGB rig.

Tigger ....?  (Hugh Tait):  Hugh Tait is the current NS14 National Champ.  He has a new boat just on the water which he is registering both for MG and NS, and I understand he is entering the titles.  Will he know how to sail fast, particularly upwind?  I bet he will!  An unknown quantity on the MG, but he is bound to be very competitive.

Filthy Fase (Bob Taig and Hayden Domanti):  Always been in the top 5 or thereabouts the past few seasons, and a whole new quiver of sails, and going very fast at Toronto (although suffering a little centreboad case calamity that needs fixing in the next few days...get on with it Bob!).  I can guarantee that these guys will be very competitive throughout the series.

There are a few more who will have their days in the sun during the Titles:

Wizard of Oz (Rob and Sian Morton):  For a husband / wife team who sail without any like-minded MG competition on the far south coast of NSW, whenever they show up at MG regattas they just get better and better.  They have previously won a heat of the States.  They have a new set of sails ready to go, family supporting them, up there, so I am sure they will figure in the contest!

Eclipse (Lachlan Pryor):  Lachlan is a young sailor from Balmoral, who finished third with his crew Amanda at the last State Titles.  At the Point Wollstonecraft training weekend they were sailing consistently fast, so they should also feature among the leaders at different times during the series.

And then there are more:  Dave Hardaker has just launched a brand new Aero 12.  He has sold Beat Route, in which he was a very strong improver last season, and I expect some home turf advantage will work in his favour with the new boat.  I have also heard in dispatches of a mysterious further Taree local that is looking very fast and could be a contender.

There are also a number of other stalwarts, such as Mirko Cairoli and Brian Reeves, if they attend the titles, who will also give the leaders a run for their money.

I have some photos from Rochey on the new boats launched at Taree that I will add to another post.  In the meantime, whilst I am focussing on the potential front-runners in the series, the main thing about the titles is participation.  Fun and experience for everyone.  Make sure you come and say hi during our time at Manning Point.  I look forward to seeing you all there!