Sabot sailors,
Have you all recovered from the 2006 Selections weekend at Sail Sandy yet? It was a big one in all senses – tense competition as team selection was possibly at stake, a good number of boats, a challenging range of weather conditions, and a large number of races in a short time. Well done to all who competed and completed under those conditions. Thank you also to our interstate and international guests who joined us for the weekend – I trust you had a good time and learned something positive about the local conditions we could be facing at Christmas (this is Melbourne after all – could be anything!).
The results have been tallied, and the full set including interstate boats can be found at http://syc.com.au/raceresults/sailsandy06/SGrp1.php A different set of results which have removed the interstate boats, and therefore will be used as a basis for Team Selection, can be found at http://www.vicsabot.yachting.org.au/site/yachting/vicsabot/downloads/2006%20-%207%20Season/2006%20National%20Selections/Results.pdf
Congratulations to our current State Champion, Tim Hannah for taking out the series in style showing both superior technique and excellent decision making in the prevailing conditions. Nick Taylor prevented Tim from taking every race (whew!), and was the only one to really push Tim in taking second. Jeremy O’Connell sailed a fantastic series to take third overall.
Particular mention should be made of James Tammesild who returned from overseas to compete ahead of the Nationals at Christmas, James Morrison in his first return to serious racing after having been so unwell, and Grace Charles who sailed brilliantly and would have finished every race if the PRO had let her complete race one! Congratulations also to the two-up pairs of Jack and Matthew, Ollie and Zac, and Sam and James – well done guys, great effort – this is fantastic experience for Christmas and beyond, and will stand you in good stead.
It was also good to see some new faces on the water for the first time – Alison Dale in her recently purchased boat Volatile, and James Neeson in Prime Mover. Hope you enjoyed the experience?
Team Selection processes now commence, and for those who don’t make it, Sabot Week remains a great regatta, one where you can really learn racecraft and get the valuable experience to crack selection next year. The VSSA committee expect to announce the team at Sabotsail (follow link below) at Mordialloc SC over Cup Weekend – coincidentally the date when team uniform orders must be placed with the Voyers (follow link below to Selections for a copy of the Order Form).
So, what’s on this coming weekend? The VSSA is having a rest from class organised racing, so home clubs would be the likely destination for those wanting a sail. For those looking to get a bit more competition, a number of boats will be attending Black Rock YC’s Opening Day on Saturday 28th October – race starts at 2.00pm as usual - brunch served from 10.00am. There are not many weekends left between now and Christmas, so the extra racing could come in handy. There will be short course racing at Black Rock on Sunday morning as well.
Scoop – for those in the YV Junior Team, there was mention of four days of coaching pre Christmas as part of the YV team program in addition to the four days the VSSA has booked at Sandy from 18 December. Those four days are provisionally 25/26 November and 10 and 16 December – venue TBA. Watch this space.
That’s your lot – see some of you on Saturday at the Rock,
The Pres’
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