[Sailingclub] Winter Yacht Sailing!

[Garrick Larkin]

Hi all,

As you can read below while everybody is welcome to sail I am especially looking for students or SRA members who are also defence civilians, uniformed defence members or immediate family of somebody in defence so that we can borrow yachts from ADFA!


Yacht Sailing!

Over winter I am planning to sail semi-regularly on the Endevour 24 trailable Yachts which belong to ADFA. Compared to the excitement of sailing a small boat, sailing a small yacht is closer to the romantisised image of sailing that most people who have never been on a boat have. Note that I say closer because many non-sailors have a totally unrealist romanticised image of sailing. That said you will stay dry, warm and if just cruising rather than racing could sit on deck with a bottle of wine and a plate of cheese crackers!

Tomorrow from 1pm is the ANUSC end of season BBQ and in addition the ADFA boatshed nextdoor is open until 4pm. This seems like the perfect opportunity to test out the Endevour 24s before the winter series starts. Basically it would involve looking at the yachts, possibly cleaning them, rigging them up and maybe even sailing them before having a few drinks at the BBQ. Because this is a first look at the yachts only experienced sailors or defence members would get to sail on a yacht but because the ANUSC is open, beginners would be welcome to go windsurfing or sail a normal boat.

The only problem with this plan is that the Yachts belong to defence which has a number of pros and cons. The pros are that they will provide the boats for free but the cons are that a minimum number of crew members need to be defence members and they will not provide insurance. Therefore by matching the ADFA boats with the ANU insurance and having students / SRA members with a relationship to defence we can have access to the yachts! So I am looking for civilians working for the department of defence, uniformed defence members or an immediate family member of a uniformed member (ie your spouse or one of your parents is in the military) to make up the quota. It doesn't matter if you have never been on a boat before because we can match defence members who can't sail with those who can sail. The insurance is not free but in the past has not been expensive so if everybody put in $5 or so everytime we sailed it should cover it.


Winter Series!

While the summer season is over the CYC runs a winter series once a fortnight on a Sunday. Their website says the dates are:  8, 22 May; 6, 19 June; 3, 17, 31 July; 14, 28 August. 

The winter series is very popular and while most of the racing is in yachts there is a surprising number of people who still sail small boats especially now while it is still warm. What I propose is that the club be open for winter sailing on these days. A small group (4) will be able to sail on an Endevour 24 yacht with me or a defence person who is an experienced sailor and those who want to sail dinghies or windsurfers can do so. As we move into winter it will rapidly contract to yachts only although there may still be people with dry suits, ultra thick wetsuits or mental disorders who continue to sail dinghies!

cheers

Garrick

0404 292 691
u3299815 at anu.edu.au
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