SEHMYC - South Eastern Hills Model Yacht Club - Paris Creek SA 

Well it was not quite a cyclone, but it was a close relative. Actually it wasn't quite as bad as last Saturday.

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All the usual suspects (a great film just in case you haven't seen it) turned up with their Foci but it wasn't worth taking the chance on ruining them.

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Undaunted, The Green Machine ventured forth for its' second day of sailing in ............I'm not quite sure how many years. She was romping around and having a ball with the B rig.

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A potential new member turned up - Grant Edwards. He is maybe starting a transition from aircraft to sailing. And - surprise,surprise - he would actually lower our average age. He has a background in sailing Cherubs. If you don't know what they are you're missing out. I used to enjoy watching them when I was a kid. Anyway, Grant brought his TS2 IOM. A RED one 'cos RED ones go faster. When he saw that the Green Machine was not going to self-destruct with a B rig, he joined in. What a hoot! That thing boogies. It will be interesting when it comes up against some of the more modern designs. The sugar scoop transom is very distinctive and the TS2 looks like it is riding on a razor blade when it gets a bit of heel up.

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Alas for The Green Machine. Maintenance can only be ignored for so many years before it comes around to bite you. My steering servo has earned itself a position in that great resting place for dead servos. At the bottom of the dam. I'm still trying to get it out of the boat to replace it. I'm sure that Roger got the servo and winch first and then built the boat around them. As Roger tends to say 'That looks like a job for the Dremel'.

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David Draper did some fishing. As a responsible fisherman he did not strip mine the resources. I can confidently say that there are just as many carp in the dam now as there were before he started fishing.

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Marbleheads and 10 Raters off of Division one, everyone else off of Division two.

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And what a day for it. The breeze was just on the edge of quitting because it was getting too heavy. Even while this was going on, there were big holes with boats dead in the water.

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We had a few hard luck sailors. Grant Murray turned up to sail with the transmitter/receiver that I had working perfectly at home only to have it fail at the dam. Again! It was good to see you anyway Grant and thanks for throwing in a few races for Team Green Machine.

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John Lykke fared no better. His boat was working like a charm until it got to the dam whereupon it too went on strike. We have since tracked it to a cranky receiver. John and Delvene had been out the night previous and Delvene had won a bottle of wine as a lucky door prize. It was nicely donated to the club and put up as the prize for Line Honours Marblehead/10 Rater.

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Tony White won the wine and well done.

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Bob Tuohy put in some spectacular runs to take his second place.

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Peter White rounded out the podium.

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Terry Smith (and syndicate) missed out on being on the podium by the barest of margins. Well eight points isn't bad for a boat that didn't even get dusted off and drew complaints from the "Save the Spiders" protesters. I know now why I like A Class boats so much. When you're trying to score, answer questions about tuning and helping people repair their boats all at the same time, you don't have to get your socks wet when you run aground. A Class ground in a far more civilised manner and can be reached with the standard pole without having to go wading. I'm also claiming a record for the longest submarine run. I got from the windward mark at the Meadows end to the leeward mark (bullshit buoy) with only my periscope above water.

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Bob Watson did what Bob Watson does best. Never one to hide his feelings, Bob let us all know how he felt. And his boat had breakdowns too. On one of the occasions when Bob actually sailed he showed what a C2 rig could do against Tony White's B rig. It powered upwind in the gusts like a steam train.

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David Martin and Roger Hartley were over-powered for the day and retired quietly.

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On Corrected Time Peter White took the cake with a straight run of aces after the discards were taken off. How on Earth did he manage to start the day with a Correction Factor of 0.79 ? Not gunna happen again sweetcheeks.

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Bob Tuohy sailed to within three points of his Correction Factor to take out his second, second place for the day. Good sailing Bob.

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Done by two points eh Tony? Well done to all (or most) of the podium.

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.All of the rest of the positions were the same as the Line Honours.

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The Foci didn't get timed properly as I was busy racing. We did however, get places and so we have Line Honours but no Corrected Time.

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Well done Graham Alcock. Graham also set a record. He went the furthest distance without his rudder in the water. It looked sort of like a duck feeding.

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Bob Dare came in for a good second. I wish I could remember why he didn't finish Race three. I'm sure it must have been something that I could have razzed him up about.

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Geoff Smith? What happened there? Thinking too much about your new Marblehead perhaps?

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Roy Shelton tried to get his Monsoon going but the wind conditions were too much for it. I honestly think that he would have been better off with his Wee Nip under those conditions.

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As Brian Pennifold rightly pointed out, he did a clean sweep of the A Classes.

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As a result of today's results, some Correction Factors have changed a bit.

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Bob Tuohy only moved up about 0.03.

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In the three races that Bob Watson sailed, his aggregate time was only 9 seconds behind Tony White. Bob gets to join Tony as gun sailors.

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Peter White jumped fron 0.79 to 0.94. That'll learn ya. Of the seven races that Tony and Peter competed against each othe there was 3 minute 40 seconds between them.

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My Correction Factor for the day - 0.92 - was based on my results from the first three races. I must have been going great guns early on. At the end of the day my Factor has been changed to a more realistic 0.87.

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Just out of interest, this is how the Corrected Time would have looked if Peter and I had our newer (more realistic) Correction Factors.

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If you weren't there ...................................... you missed out.

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Bob Dare was there first, thought no-one else was coming and unfortunately left.

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Peter White, Bob Tuohy and myself had a great relaxing day. I didn't bring a boat and so we only had Peter's and Bob's boats with transmitters getting passed around on whim.

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The breeze was just good enough to be interesting, bright blue skies - it doesn't get much better than this.

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Re ; The Christmas Party, Graham Alcock has a query.

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"Is the date of this event a secret  ??"

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No it's not. For those who have been taking jelly beans instead of their psychic pills .......it will be on Saturday 28 July 2018 which would have been our next Utility Day.

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Or you could have looked at the calendar. 

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14 July is a Marblehead/10 Rater Championship points race day.

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Even if you have no special interest in Marbleheads, come along and have a look at Tony White's machine. It is quite a beast. Assuming of course that Tony will be there. I certainly hope so.

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I didn't make it to the Utility Day on the 30 June due to a head full of goobies and a sandpaper throat. According to Graham Alcock the day was alright until lunch time when the breeze dropped right out. Thanks for that in depth report Graham.

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On Wednesday I got a call saying that it wasn't worth coming up. Everyone was standing around looking at the water. No-one was brave (silly) enough to put a boat in. What do you do when the dam is too blowy for sailing? You go slot-car racing, obviously. Bob Watson took the crew to his house and they had a go at catching Bob. Fat chance when he has got the controllers rigged.

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This Saturday I slept in a bit and then called Bob Tuohy to see what conditions were like. According to Bob there were clear blue skies and the wind was very sailable. As I walked out to the car through a gale with horizontal rain I wondered if Bob was pulling my leg. As it turned out he wasn't. Conditions were a bit trying at times and gusts managed to throw several boats together with mixed results on separating them.

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Three A Class boats competed. I didn't have time to get the trailer etc. hooked on after I slept in.

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Congratulations to Peter White on a commanding performance to take first place from Bob Watson. At times Peter's A Class looked more like an 18 footer.

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Bob managed to mangle his super heavy duty steering servo in one race. Easy on the tiller Bob. I'm not sure but I think he had a battery problem with his other DNF.

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Brian had his moments.

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Results panned out the same on Corrected Time.

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Of the two Marblehead skippers, Tony White prevailed for top honours. Well sailed Tony and that boat is a flyer. It is good enough that you have now taken the gun sailor position for the Club. Pity about your start place for stern chasers.

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John Lykke's B rig was competitive, just not competitive enough.

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Both skippers scored a DNS/DNF for Race 8. They were too busy untangling their yachts from each other. At least they kept it in-house and didn't take out other classes. Very gentlemanly of you guys.

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John Lykke reversed the scores on Corrected Time. Well sailed John.

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And now the big competition.

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Bob Dare topped out the Foci by a mere three points. Onya Bob.

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David Draper put in a great performance for a rank beginner, with a slight bit of coaching from Graham Alcock. Graham originally was going to sail Bob Dare's IOM with its' new B rig. Graham broke it. Before he complete a single race. Now I feel better about grounding Bob Watson's Marblehead and de-rigging the jib. David was interested enough in the results that he came asking about them at the end of the day. Maybe we have someone new hooked. I hope we see you back David.

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Geoff Smith was going great guns until the crew mutinied and made a break for Meadows. He almost set a new record for a grounding furthest from the Club. That record is still held by Peter Scapens (only just) from when he grounded on the northern side of Meadows Island. It was still a fairly long walk wasn't it Geoff? If Geoff had managed to get sailing again for the last race, a third place would have had him tied with David Draper. He would then have placed second on count-back. A second place in Races 9 and 10 would have had him tied with Bob Dare. Close racing guys.

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David Hyde came in, surveyed the conditions and aced his first race. Sensing a lack of competition he backed off for the next couple of races before retiring. Your story and you're stickig to it, eh, David?

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David Draper took Corrected Time from Bob Dare on count-back.  Good one David. Tough toe-nails Bob.

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Geoff Smith was right on the pace until his boat took off with sails beautifully set and drawing well. A pity that he had no control over it. Have you ever considered vane sailing? Again, a third place in the last race would have seen a three way tie on 16 points and a second place on count-back.

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A pity that David Hyde didn't sail a bit longer. He only sailed three races and was only 12 points off the lead. A full run of firsts would have looked good.

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Oops, nearly forgot the new correction factors.

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We have a winner!! Christmas in July will be at Steve Rosenberg's place, 159 Blake Road, Paris Creek from noon.

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Catering is as per usual, the Club will supply the meat and attendees are requested to bring a salad or a sweet. Chairs may be at a premium and so you may consider bringing your own to supplement the ones from the Club and the hosts.

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Directions if you're coming from Meadows are -

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If you're coming from Strathalbyn, Chuck a lefty at the first road past the donkey. Follow your nose until you see this place -

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A big thanks to Dariel (sorry about the spelling Babe), Steve and dogs. Just wait until you see Kosmo's new friend.

You should have been there Wednesday. There was not a cloud in the sky, the sun was bright and the breeze was .................... well there were no clouds and it was sunny anyway.

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Three boats tried to use half-a-boat's worth of breeze with limited success. We had at least twice as many spectators as we did boats and we finished up passing the transmitters around so that we didn't have to hold them all of the day.

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Still it was better than running around the house with a chook's bum tied to a stick, re-distributing the dust. A good day out.

I haven't sailed a Marblehead for quite some time. Bob Watson let me have a sail of his on one of our unstructured sailing days. He is probably still regretting it. As a result of this sail I have a few observations.

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Observation 1 Marbleheads are hampered by the length of their keels. They really do need shortening. My A Class would have sailed through there with no problems. Even if the A Class had grounded, it would have been close enough to the shore to use the recovery pole without me having to get my feet wet.

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Observation 2 If you sit up close to the start line, and luff while waiting for the start gun, the jib can become detached from the mast. Is this a special function of the class that I have stumbled onto? If so, you should have warned me about it. 

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Thanks for the sail Bob.

Avast me hearties!! A Stern Chaser!! We knew that it was a stern chaser day because David Martin was only there long enough to do some admin and then shot through before racing started.

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At the end of race nine it was anybody's day. Remember, there are no discards on stern chaser day so that the positions cannot easily be manipulated.

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Congratulations to Bob Watson for first place. The countback on second places did it.

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As Geoff Smith correctly pointed out, $50 is not enough to get me to fiddle the scores. Just ask Bob.

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It also took the countback on second places for John Lykke to take third place from Bob Tuohy.

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Graham Alcock was nobbled by having to leave early otherwise he would have been in there fighting for 3rd/4th place.

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Rogert Hartley recovered well from missing the first three races. He has certainly got his Marblehead moving a lot better after putting it on a diet. After winning race eight he was knocked back two divisions = one minute. He then won race nine and again was knocked back two divisions = one minute. He then still managed a third in race ten.

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It's a pity that Bob Dare had to leave early. He was starting out fairly well.

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We fiddled and we faddled and finally got Roy's Monsoon moving. We just have to get a decent boom vang working on it an she should be a goer.

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All in all, a good day's sailing. Five minutes after we stopped racing the water turned to glass. You can be lucky somrtimes.

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