2017-05 BEACON - mccraeyc.com.au · did this for a couple of years that then led me onto joining...

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Page 1 The Beacon May 2017 Issue: 134 WELCOME TO THE MAY 2017 BEACON Last Saturday night was Presentation Night , It was a great success, with the Club Captain doing an outstanding job as MC. The evening was well attended although some of the divisions were under-represented. Next year we would love to have all divisions properly represented. I would like to thank our Social Committee of Jodi Sita and Scott Munro for organising and making the night such a success. Last year we had a season where we hardly missed a race day. This year we had the opposite with many days this season proving un-sailable. However when we were able to get on the water we had good fleet numbers all season. I know in 4 th Division we had some really competitive sailing days. It has been a challenging season on the water, and so the trophy winners at Presentation Night were extremely worthy. It has also been a challenging season for our Club Captain Colin Dods and the rest of the Sailing Committee and on behalf of all the sailing members I would like to thank you all. I spent a couple of Saturday mornings amongst the sailing school crowd where many of our youth are involved as assistant coaches. It is very encouraging seeing them passing on their sailing knowledge to new sailors. Our training classes were all full and there were plenty of new faces helping out. This will be my last year as Commodore. About seven years ago I did the sailing instructor course. I did this for a couple of years that then led me onto joining the General Committee. After many years sailing and enjoying what the club has to offer I thought it was about my turn to make a small contribution back to the club not knowing what that entailed or where it my lead me. Without question it has been a thoroughly rewarding experience. The old saying ‘you only get out of something what you are willing to put in’, is very true here. There are many dedicated volunteers willing to turn up each week to support the club. Working with people I would not normally cross paths with has been one of the most rewarding experiences for me as Commodore. To anyone thinking of getting involved on a committee I would strongly encourage you to do so. It has been an honour to serve the McCrae Yacht Club as Commodore. I feel the club is in great shape and I know I will be leaving it in very capable hands. I sincerely thank the support I have received from the General Committee members, in particular Mark O’Brien as Vice Commodore, David Briggs as Rear Commodore and Campbell Miles as secretary, they have made the job easy to do. I would like to thank the great support I have received from all of the volunteer members and, in particular, I would like to thank Lyn Johannessen and Peter Merritt for their wise counsel and encouragement. Last of all I would like to thank my wife Amanda and my family who were always there offering support and encouragement. I look forward to seeing you all at the club next season. Thanks. TRAINING CENTRE REPORT MAY 2017 One of the most important functions of the McCrae Yacht Club Training Centre is to ensure we have a sufficient number of suitably qualified instructors so that our courses can be run in accordance with the requirements of an accredited Discover Sailing Centre. I am very pleased to report that we currently have twelve fully qualified Instructors, as well as ten Assistant Instructors. Whilst it is a fairly challenging task keeping everybody’s qualifications up to date, it allows our Club a lot of flexibility and robustness in terms of course delivery. Each year Australian Sailing reviews our club in terms of our suitability to run accredited Discover Sailing courses. A representative of A.S. actually comes to the club and sits down with the Principal and goes through a very long checklist of requirements. They usually pick up on a few items such as bailers in rescue boats or a knife missing here or there. I am glad to report that this year we passed without having to do or buy anything! It could be a first! Anyway we are an officially accredited Discover Sailing Centre for another year! Training Centre numbers This year we have put a total of 129 people through our various accredited courses which include: Responsible service of alcohol 14 Saturday morning sail training 29 Annual General Meeting 4 pm, Saturday 24 June At the Club Rooms

Transcript of 2017-05 BEACON - mccraeyc.com.au · did this for a couple of years that then led me onto joining...

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The Beacon

May 2017 Issue: 134

WELCOME TO THE MAY 2017 BEACONLast Saturday night was PresentationNight , It was a great success, with theClub Captain doing an outstanding job asMC. The evening was well attendedalthough some of the divisions wereunder-represented. Next year we wouldlove to have all divisions properlyrepresented. I would like to thank ourSocial Committee of Jodi Sita and Scott

Munro for organising and making the night such a success.Last year we had a season where we hardly missed a raceday. This year we had the opposite with many days thisseason proving un-sailable.However when we were able to get on the water we hadgood fleet numbers all season. I know in 4th Division we hadsome really competitive sailing days. It has been achallenging season on the water, and so the trophy winnersat Presentation Night were extremely worthy.It has also been a challenging season for our Club CaptainColin Dods and the rest of the Sailing Committee and onbehalf of all the sailing members I would like to thank you all.I spent a couple of Saturday mornings amongst the sailingschool crowd where many of our youth are involved asassistant coaches. It is very encouraging seeing them passingon their sailing knowledge to new sailors. Our training classeswere all full and there were plenty of new faces helping out.This will be my last year as Commodore.About seven years ago I did the sailing instructor course. Idid this for a couple of years that then led me onto joiningthe General Committee. After many years sailing andenjoying what the club has to offer I thought it was about myturn to make a small contribution back to the club notknowing what that entailed or where it my lead me.Without question it has been a thoroughly rewardingexperience. The old saying ‘you only get out of somethingwhat you are willing to put in’, is very true here. There aremany dedicated volunteers willing to turn up each week tosupport the club. Working with people I would not normallycross paths with has been one of the most rewardingexperiences for me as Commodore. To anyone thinking ofgetting involved on a committee I would strongly encourageyou to do so.It has been an honour to serve the McCrae Yacht Club asCommodore. I feel the club is in great shape and I know Iwill be leaving it in very capable hands.I sincerely thank the support I have received from theGeneral Committee members, in particular Mark O’Brien as

Vice Commodore, David Briggs as Rear Commodore andCampbell Miles as secretary, they have made the job easy todo.I would like to thank the great support I have received fromall of the volunteer members and, in particular, I would liketo thank Lyn Johannessen and Peter Merritt for their wisecounsel and encouragement.Last of all I would like to thank my wife Amanda and myfamily who were always there offering support andencouragement.I look forward to seeing you all at the club next season.Thanks.

TRAINING CENTRE REPORT MAY 2017

One of the most important functions of theMcCrae Yacht Club Training Centre is toensure we have a sufficient number ofsuitably qualified instructors so that ourcourses can be run in accordance with therequirements of an accredited DiscoverSailing Centre. I am very pleased to reportthat we currently have twelve fully qualifiedInstructors, as well as ten Assistant

Instructors. Whilst it is a fairly challenging task keepingeverybody’s qualifications up to date, it allows our Club a lotof flexibility and robustness in terms of course delivery.

Each year Australian Sailing reviews our club in terms of oursuitability to run accredited Discover Sailing courses. Arepresentative of A.S. actually comes to the club and sitsdown with the Principal and goes through a very longchecklist of requirements. They usually pick up on a fewitems such as bailers in rescue boats or a knife missing hereor there. I am glad to report that this year we passed withouthaving to do or buy anything! It could be a first!Anyway we are an officially accredited Discover Sailing Centrefor another year!Training Centre numbersThis year we have put a total of 129 people through ourvarious accredited courses which include:● Responsible service of alcohol 14● Saturday morning sail training 29

Annual General Meeting

4 pm, Saturday 24 June

At the Club Rooms

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Jon Knorr, receives the 2017 Suter Trophy from theClub Captain, Colin Dods.

Mark Bulka presented the 2017 Rowlands Trophyto Jamie Caithness.

The McCrae Crews Recognition & EqualisationTrophy was presented to Lee-Ann Allen by AlexAlbert. The trophy recognises Patience,Persistence and Perserverance. The Lighthouse Trophy winners with the Commodore.

Pat Stanway presented the John Stanway Trophy to a verydeserving Cam Dunwoody.

Winning skippers from Division 6 receive their awards from JanLind.

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The Commodore with all the Club members who have crewed withPaul on his Tasar over the season - and only one at a time!

Division 1 winning skippers wrest their prizes from the handsof the Rear Commodore (who went home empty handed).

The winner of the Rosemary Mason award, MonicaMullins, receives her award from Dee Mason.

Vivienne Floyd receives the Georgiana McCraeTrophy from Lyn Johannessen.

The young gun sailors who prevaled to win the 2017McCrae Open receive their trophy from the man whohas won the trophy more times than any-one, SimonMerritt. Congratulations to Brody and Jarrod Riley.

On the night, the volunteers who turn out every weekend tomake the races happen were acknowledged for their vitalcontribution to McCrae Yacht Club.

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● Adult introduction to sailing 16● Tackers 36● Instructors course 5● Assistant instructors course 10● CPR update 7● Safety boat 2● Sailing for schools 535

Numbers for Saturday morning sailing school received a boostafter Christmas with a big influx after the Tackers programwhich was further increased by about 10 new youngsters.

Sailing school was less effected by the very poor weatherconditions than our regular Saturday afternoon racing.Generally breezes persisted long enough in the mornings tofinish our programs and really strong winds did not arriveuntil after we were finished. Perhaps our regular sailing wouldbe better off conducted in the mornings rather thanafternoons!

Have you ever wanted to learn to windsurf? McCrae YachtClub has Jeff Owen and Shane Baker attending a AustralianSailing windsurfing instructor course over the winter. Theywill be working with the Club and they are hoping to offer a‘learn to windsurf’ course next year. Stay tuned! If you areinterested please contact the Training Centre.There is clear evidence of windsurfing revival on a globallevel. The recent explosion in popularity of the Bic Techno293 junior sailboard class and the decision to include a foilingoption and retain windsurfing as part of the Olympic Gamesare examples of this revival.Hopefully, one day we will see a fleet of colourful sails atMcCrae.

We have a large and dedicated team of volunteers who havedone a great job again this year. In particular I would like tothank Trevor Knight for his dedication and service, steppingup to the role of administrator when we needed him most.Thank you to all who gave up their spare time to make thisseason such success for the Training Centre, you are all verymuch appreciated!

We intend to offer the full suite of courses again next season,so look out for notices from club administration for enrolmentdetails. Do not forget to book early, this helps a lot withplanning for the training committee.

YARD AND HOUSE REPORTWhat a great turnout it was for the end of season workingbee. The day is programmed into our calendar early in theseason and we all appreciate the effort and time given up bythe many to attend and help tidy-up our premises after along season. And it shows. Thanks to all whom found thetime and energy to assist.A plea to all those who have not removed their boats fromthe yard and a thanks to those who have obliged with winterstorage payments.A couple of requests to those who chose to storeboats next season: Firstly, if you plan to use the areaunder your boat (and it is not encouraged) for further gearstorage can you then regularly mow your spot. It is a largetask to mow the storage yard and moving boats around isonerous. It is even tougher if gear is stored below theseboats.Secondly, If you plan to raise the bow of your trolley on a“stand”, can we please restrict these stands to either second-hand milk crates (the club can provide) or plastic chairs.A special thanks this year to those who kept the mowingconsistent. A special mention to Darryl Todd who of late andsinglehandedly has mowed both back and front yards underthe guise of “good therapy”.

● Painting external sections of Clubhouse● New yard boundary fencing to north and east● Restoration of the beach fence● Restoration on the legs of the change-room benches● Maintenance to the tractor shed doors● Additional beach rubber matting

Happy wintering,Cheers

A hard day’s sailing at McCrae. Photo taken by Bob Cook from thefinish boat on 8 May.

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MAX’S SUNDAY PICNIC DRIVEThirteen classic and modern cars turned up for Max’s AnnualPicnic Drive.  The destination was revealed on the day to bethe picnic shelters at the Sorrento back beach.   Allparticipants managed to follow the excellent printed routemap except Neil (Wrong Way) and Carol Wilson; Eileen andPeter Bird were seen headed for Gunnamatta surf beachbefore doing a “u turn”.   The scenic route was via ArthursSeat, Main Ridge, Boneo, St Andrews, Rye and finally OldMelbourne Road to Sorrento. Judging by the pleasant, happy conversations over lunch allparticipants thoroughly enjoyed the social outing.  Each yeara different destination is chosen and it is hoped more peoplewill join in for a pleasant Sunday morning together.  Thisfunction started with members who had classic cars andliked to drive the quiet roads of the Peninsula, but moderncars are equally welcome. Hope to see you next year.Neil Wilson

SAILING FOR SCHOOLS 2017The second half of the season is over and it went very wellwith a variety of weather conditions.The schools that sailed in February and March were LittleYarra Steiner School from Yarra Glen, Oxley Christian Collegefrom Chirnside, Goulburn Valley Grammar School fromShepparton and Peninsula Christian College from Tyabb.Ninety students from Goulburn Valley Grammar School sailedwith us over 3 days with thirty Year 10 kids each day. Tofacilitate 30 students on the water at one time it wasnecessary to borrow a couple of Pacers from Safety BeachSailing Club to give us 10 boats each with a crew of three.The winds were light on each day and as well as enjoyinglearning to sail the kids were fascinated by the clear waterand being able to see the bottom in 15 metres of water. Athome they swim in their local irrigation channels which arenot as clear as our Yarra. As a real treat some of the kidshad dolphins playing around their boats.Little Yarra Steiner School spent 2 days with us. On the firstmorning we taught them to reach, in the afternoon we hadthem beating and running. On the second day we were offfor a picnic to Rye but with a fading south-westerly breezewe were all becalmed before we got very far so we towed allthe boats ashore and had lunch on the Village Green inRosebud. It was not long before the forecaste breeze arrivedand we reefed the Pacers and had an exciting run back tothe Club.The week after being on the beach we received a largeclass-made card that all the kids had signed and addedcomments about their sailing experience.With Oxley College we sailed with 72 kids in five separatesessions over two and a half days. On the Tuesday we had a12 knot westerly and the kids were able to to sail the reefedPacers by themselves, but when Wednesday came it wasobvious that we needed some expert sailor support . With afew quick phone calls we had Horst Kopp, Casey Imenio andAnna O’Brien on the beach ready to go and we were able totake the kids sailing in 20 knots and they loved theexcitement.This is the first time that Peninsula Christian ChristianCollege has sailed with us and from the smiles on theteachers and kids faces we don't think it will be their last.With all our classes we keep the technical terms to aminimum. For example: boats do not have a bow andstern, they simply have a front and a back. We have kidswho have never been in a boat before but who are able to

skipper a boat within a couple of hours. You would not callthem ‘experts’ at this stage but they can reach between twomarks and get safely back to the beach again. Theexcitement of the program is to see kids that areapprehensive and do not want to get their feet wet, laterreturn to the beach with the “I Can Do It” attitude. It isvery rare indeed to find a child who has not enjoyed theexperience.This year has been a milestone for the program with our5,000th student passing through the course since Doug andGraham started 11 years ago, and during that time theprogram has raised $174,000 for the Club

SAFETY BOAT COURSE 2017Adventure on the high seasParticipating in club activities is a good thing – right? Soconsidering my lack of experience and signing up for a SafetyBoat Course seemed like a smart idea at the time. WithGraham Mason at the helm I was warned to expect theunexpected. And that’s just what happened; even Grahamgot a few surprises!On day 1 we sped through a range of nautical techniquessuch as knots, navigation and rescue. One of the participantshad to pull out, leaving just Cory Riley and myself learninglots of new things. We had Peter Merritt telling us about thevarious structures within Australian Sailing that enable clubssuch as McCrae to operate. Did you know that McCrae YC isone of the most active clubs in Australia? John Mason shareda new perspective about management styles when operatinga safety boat. We found out how inaccurate a handheldcompass can be and also to first check the date when relyingon a chart. All very useful information for what lay ahead.Day 2 started out with some fast boat work on Georgiana andYabi 2. Colin Dods assisted Graham, and I think we managed

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to frighten a few fishermen as we charged about at 20+knots in a moderate sea. I was reassured by Col thatGeorgiana being a Barcrusher was a very dependable boatand could certainly handle severe conditions with ease. Laterthat night it was quite a comfort to recall this advice.Apologies to the people of McCrae who we put under anorange cloud as we let off a whole bunch of old flares. Wefound out that there is a good reason why flares have expirydates, as we found that a number of these old ones did notwork.Later Louis Chapman joined us in a club Pacer and his jobwas to be rescued; not just once because you see both Coryand I had to take it in turns. Louis of course is a skilled sailorand can bottle a Pacer without really getting wet. Even after10 capsizes and us putting him right way up in every differentway he still managed to climb around the hull and stayrelatively dry. This of course was not good enough forGraham who cast the Pacer adrift and sent Louis over theside so that Cory and I could practice with a water-loggedbody. Graham showed us a particularly clever techniquewhere we could dunk him even deeper in the water and spinhim around as he popped neatly into the boat. It was a neattrick because Cory and I stayed dry while Louis was the onlyone that got wet. He did get a bit cold and although we didn’tknow, it was good preparation for later that night!After an early dinner, Graham outlined the task for our nightnavigation exercise. We were to select a current chart andplot a course from McCrae across the channel, run down tothe Fort, avoid the sandbanks and find the unlit pole Number12 somewhere off Blairgowrie and then back to McCrae. Withour recently acquired navigation skills we planned thevoyage, timed the legs and calculated the fuel required.We had Doug Lee on board with us as observer onGeorgiana. Cory and I with our passenger Doug, headed outon our transit from Arthurs Seat beacon then 4 minutes and24 secs past the Hovel at 15 knots. I recalled Cols adviceabout the dependability of Georgiana, but crashing throughthose seas, in the dark at 15 knots did not seem safe to meas we could not see anything in front of us. We decided toreduce speed and Graham suggested on radio that it waseasiest to halve the speed and double the times for each leg.In those conditions, that was the limit of my mentalarithmetic so we settled down to 7.5 knots on our courseknowing that the trip was now going to take twice as long.One thing we didn’t check in our preparation was how to turnthe light on in the GPS (if it has one) which of course showsspeed and bearing. So it was a little comical as we held thetorch on the GPS which had the side effect of destroying ournight vision. So with chart and parallel rule rolling about thecabin we made our turn to port for the next leg. However,with the new course came more turbulence and staying oncourse was proving problematic. We did eventually find thebig dark Fort; it was just near the big dark ship! Not surewhat our observer thought of our navigational skills but wedid check once or twice on his well-being. We went aroundthe fort at a safe distance and headed on our new bearing tofind the unlit pole. Staying on course was difficult, thespotlight doing a wonderful job of turning the spray into adazzling display of dancing reflected light. We ended upreading latitude and longitude from the GPS and plotting ourposition on the chart as we ran down to the unlit pole. Aspredicted by the up-to-date chart we found it in the dark,right where it was supposed to be.Even with some moonlight that pole was truly black amongstthe night sky, the racing waves and spray; it would havebeen very easy to run into it. However, we did a fair job oflighting it up with Georgiana’s powerful spotlight and it waspainted in wonderful reflective orange all the way to the top

and adorned with yet more reflective paraphernalia on top.We circled that pole searching for its identity to confirm itwas indeed the unlit pole No 12 Georgiana then punched itsway back to McCrae against that northerly and as weapproached the Rosebud pier we were greeted by a reddistress rocket high in the sky between us and the lighthouse.McCrae base advised that they were in contact with the policeand we were requested to conduct a search NNE fromRosebud pier. By now my mental math skills had slipped farbelow my present capability and Graham supplied the searchcourse of 60 degrees at 7.5 knots for 8 minutes with turns toport for 57 seconds. We actually did find a pair of distraughtsailors wallowing in high seas in the dark with a brokenmotor. They were glad to see us and barraged us with theircontinual moaning about their injuries and broken motor. Wesubsequently identified them as Louis Chapman and DavidGrace whom Graham had coerced to venture out and getthemselves lost at sea in the middle of the night. Theconditions had worsened and together with the constantwhining from the victims and the incessant radio requests forsituation updates, there was a degree of controlled stress butwe eventually got them under tow and took them back toMcCrae where they miraculously recovered from theirinjuries, stopped their whinging and got themselves ashore.It was now too rough to recover Georgiana at the Club orAnthony’s Nose So Graham ordered us to go to Martha Cove to recover andas we surged into the seas we received a warning over theradio that under no circumstances were we to run into any ofthe big yellow poles between McCrae and Martha Cove. Itwas a timely warning as one by one the poles emerged out ofthe darkness. Bruce Gardiner recovered us and we headedback to the Club for a debrief.Fortunately for us Graham’s wife Kay had prepared hot foodfor us all as we debriefed in the tower. David and Louis haddried off by now and were in high spirits and we confirmedthat all involved were still intact. Corey and I were bothexhausted but much the wiser for our experience. Manythanks to Graham and all his helpers for a truly amazingnautical experience.

Divisional skipper winners at Presentation Night - Casey Imeneo andSimon Merritt.

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Firstly, hockingstuart would like to thank everyone for theirongoing support over the last 12 months with many membersobtaining market appraisals. We are very pleased to be ableto donate $500 back to the McCrae Yacht Club for each sale.We look forward to this ongoing relationship as well as ourongoing support of various events and activities around theclub, in particular the Australian and World Championships inJanuary 2018.The McCrae property market continues to be extremelystrong and a highly sought after location with Melbourne onlyan hour away. Some great results recently have been….47 Bartels Street, McCrae selling under the hammer for$975,0002 Beverley Road, McCrae selling under the hammer for$1,320,00037 The Avenue, McCrae sold before auction for $1,150,0088 Flinders Street, McCrae selling under the hammer for$905,00018 Fairway Crescent, McCrae sold before auction for$675,000207 Bayview Road, McCrae, sold privately for $585,000We have some fantastic new listings – please see our websitefor details.6A Williams Street, McCrae – stunning new four bedroomhome close to the beach31 Austin Avenue, McCrae – Fully renovated with incrediblebay views201 Bayview Road, McCrae - 4 Bedrooms and 3 bath walkingdistance to the Plaza and beachI look forward to seeing you again in Spring and Summer.

ISAIL WHITSUNDAYS 2018 CONTENDER WORLDCHAMPIONSHIPS AND SOHO LAWYERS 2018 CONTENDERAUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: MAY UPDATEOrganisation of these events are progressing well. The UKsailors look like they have committed to a container and it’salso looking positive for the Italians. Mark O’Brien and ScottMunro will be going to the Worlds in Denmark in July and willbe encouraging the Europeans to organise their container.Locally the Contender class is going from strength to strengthwith the recent Victorian Championships having 41 entries.Amongst the mix is a strong lot of McCrae boys! If we add tothis the Western Australians, the Canberra sailors and a fewmore from NSW and Qld we’re confident of 60 boatAustralian representation.We’ve secured some great sponsors including our Worldsexclusive naming rights sponsor, iSail Whitsundays, andexclusive Australian Championship sponsor Soho Lawyers.In addition, we are being supported by Race Day sponsorsMain Ridge Cider, Seanezzi Contenders, CPM and AlatoneroRestaurant, and our product sponsors Cool Room Hire, SailorApp and Tequila Tromba.The event will be held 15 to 25 January 2018. If you areinterested in being involved please contact Jeff Owen or MarkO’Brien for more information.

B14 NEWSYou may have noticed a distinct lack ofB14s around the club in the latter partof this season. They were activethough, with a 4-day State regattaspread over two weekends at SafetyBeach and Black Rock Yacht Clubs

respectively.The regatta gave the chance for some new skipper/crewcombinations, with Ollie McKeon, Jason Dunsmore and AnnaO’Brien all appearing during the regatta at some stage. SafetyBeach was sailed in light conditions while Black Rock wassailed in heavy conditions over six races.

1. Craig Garmston/ Paul Newman2. Guy Bancroft/ Louis Chapman3. Anna O’Brien/ David CunninghamUpcoming eventsB14 Presentation Lunch on 4 June.4 June Wine tasting and lunch at Phaedrus Estate andStumpy Gully winery. All past and present B14 skippers andcrews are invited.B14 NATIONALS and WORLDS starting 27 December 2017 to6 January 2018 at Port Dalrymple Yacht Club, Beauty Point,Tasmania.For SalePresently there are two B14s for sale within the Club. Forfurther details please contact Mark O’Brien. But act quickly asTassie has been sucking the mainland dry of good B14s forthe upcoming Worlds.

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The Club Captain’s Speech at Presentation NightWhat he said.

Not being experienced inperforming this kind of role I amgoing to fall back on the advice Igive to others in suchcircumstances: play to yourstrengths...

“I swear by almighty God that theevidence I shall give to this courtshall be the truth, the whole truth,and nothing but elements of thetruth.”

“In order that my evidence inchief not be subject to anymeaningful cross examination bythe defence, I rely on thefollowing summary andstatement of facts...

The summary in the case ofMcCrae Yacht Club vs weathergods is this...

What did he say?

I don’t want to do this so I’ll do itmy way.

I am going to tell lies.

I am going to use obscure wordsto blur the issues.

Here’s the go...

The first half of the seasonrecently departed might bedefined as verily possessinggreat potential as a documentedenterprise which, had forecasts,promises and undertakingsvariously been delivered upon orclemency prevailed in lieu of theaforementioned, themembership, to wit: thosepresent, would in fact have beenaccorded a maximisedsatisfaction coupled with a deepsense of accomplishment andcontentment.

By New Year’s Eve, a prima faciecase of weather-wrought cabinfever had, instead, beenestablished.

Accordingly and advisedly, thosepresent in the body of the courtwere rendered increasingly andoverwhelmingly disillusionedresultant in the first three monthsof the relevant period resemblingin verisimilitude an experienceakin to dining on a construct ofthe legendary Lord Sandwich;such creation having beencrammed with a fragrant darkbrown filling the average sailorroutinely resiles from wearing onthe sole of one’s boot.

Had the weather been halfdecent, the season would havebeen good.

The sailors would be happy.

The sailors were unhappy.

The sailors remained unhappy

The sailors had a bad taste intheir mouths.

Colloquially, Your Honour, andfor the tabloid journalistsstanding at the back of the roomlooking around vaguely for atranslator with pencils are poisedin consternation, the membershipwas chewing on a turd sandwichfor Christmas.

Thereforeto, warrants for thearrest and removal of the ClubCaptain were issued.

Your Honour, the facts of thematter are these:

The immediate past sailingseason did commence on 8October 2016 pursuant to thepublished schedule. However thesummons issued to the accusedvariously known by theovereducated as Zeus or Jupiteror by the unwashed masses asHuey, was declared as “PartHeard” as he refused to appearafter his matter was stood downand was therefore subject toadjournment.

Local journo’s are not yetcompetent.

The sailors had a bad taste intheir mouths.

A coup was planned.

The season started asprogrammed.

I wish I’d paid attention at school.

We only got one race in beforethe wind died.

Race 2 was cancelled.

The fact that these matters, bydint of their very nature, cannotbe heard ex parte (that is: in theabsence of the accused) didadversely and detrimentallyaffect the morale of the entireclub membership with thenotable exception of the barmanager and treasurer uponreceipt of the day’s revenue asextorted from the aforementionedbody of imbibers.

Of note; morale of the saidmembership seemed curiouslyquelled and mollified for a periodof several hours due to theministrations of said barmanager.

Rather than fail to appear in thetwo weeks that followed, theaccused disrupted proceedingsto the point where no matterscould be heard due to his on-going confrontational conduct.

The second such act causingapproximately 200 witnesses tobe turned away from the annualopening proceedings upon whichthe bar manager relies for thesustenance and promotion of hisperspicacious and remunerativereputation.

See, learning Latin at school isnot a complete waste of time.

The sailors were unhappy.

The bar manager is a crook.

The sailors are drunks.

It was really windy. There was noracing.

The Opening Day racing wascancelled.

The bar made a loss despite thebar manager being a crook.

The behaviour of the accusedcontinued in analogous fashionuntil a further hearing on 12November brought about freshconditions and a consistent lineof argument before the defenceagain changed his story duringthe afternoon session. Again, thematter was stood down while aflattened fleet was picked up.

The Catamaran Championshipssaw 62 witnesses answer asummons however, all attendeesbearing a yardstick under 71.5refused to take the stand,thereby evading crossexamination by the defence onDay 1.

The second day of hearings sawthese persons surrendering theirPina Colada glasses uponreceiving undertakings from thedefence that questioning on thisday would be “probing” ratherthan “brutal”.

Five matters were heard for this2 day period with all partiesreported as being fully satisfiedwith proceedings.

The weather continued to bedisappointing.

We got a race in.

The wind shifted, went to 30knots and flattened the fleet inrace 2.

“A” Class sailors have no dash.

“A” Class sailors have no dash.

The weather eased.

We got five races in.

The sailors were happy.

Cooperation by the defencethroughout the 2016 period ofassessment can only bedescribed as “sporadic” withregular adjournments and furtherfailings to appear pursuant tointerpretations enunciated by ourlearned friends at the Met.

This course of conduct hasmeant only one heat each of theLightning vs Lighthouse matterscould be heard and ensured theLadies vs Buffers hearing wouldbe adjourned to a date to befixed.

A 7 day trial in early January2017 meant the appearance of49 persons in the Federal “A”Class court sitting at McCrae. 11races were completed with allparties sentenced to participatingin more sailing in the period thanthe local membership hadenjoyed in the past 3 months.

Recognition to the presidingMagistrate is surely appropriatehere.

Such is the reputation of thejurisdiction that submissions by 2Associations saw 2 matters listedin a consolidated plea for theLabour Day weekend.

The weather was unpredictable.

BOM forecasting is a joke.

2 races out of a possible 16 wereheld.

The sailor were unhappy.

The “A” nats were held.

The “A” Class sailors had a goodweek despite having no dash.

Well done, Bron.

McCYC is good- just ask us.

Two courts ran side-by-side with64 appearing before your honour.Again, the accused onlyappeared sporadically howeverentrants were sentenced to six ofthe best.

While I have the ear of the court,I will take this opportunity to tablea full confession to the repeatedoffence of failing to be routinelyand reliably present within mypersonal jurisdiction due to thedemands of the office I hold. Iadmit that I have beencontinually in breach of my bailconditions as granted by thatcourt and I respectfully requestthe continued forbearance of thehighest office holder in the room;that being the Chief Justice of theCourt of Appeal, Her Honour,who sits with us on Table 3.

Your Honour, would you pleaseapproach the bench.

Thank you ladies and gentlemenof the Jury. That concludes myevidence in chief. We will shortlybe cross-examining nominatedprize winners on the season thatwas and the future.

It is my sincere hope that you willall comply with your goodbehaviour bonds tonight and thatwe will all continue to serve timetogether in our community.

2 separate race tracks were run

The weather was unpredictablebut we squeezed in 6 races.

I’m in strife because of the club.

I’m always at meetings.

I’m in strife because of the club.

Sorry darling but I’m going to doit all again.

(I don’t think these flowers willwork.)

I’m going to ask awkwardquestions.

I bet the usual crew willembarrass themselves.

See you next season.