St Leonards Yacht Club & Motor Squadron in St Leonards, Victoria | Sport & recreation

St Leonards Yacht Club & Motor Squadron

Locality: St Leonards, Victoria

Phone: +61 3 5257 1707

Address: 1001 LOWER BLUFF ROAD 3223 St Leonards, VIC, Australia

Website: http://www.stleonardsycms.com.au

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25.01.2022 Just off the press - unfortunately, we have had to postpone the 62nd Nationals planned for 9-16 January 2021 at Largs Bay SC in SA. Continuing uncertainty surr...ounding border closures and quarantine requirements have made this decision inevitable. The Herons join a long list of other classes that have already cancelled nationals for next season. The good news is that we have booked Largs for similar dates in January 2022. Hopefully, the situation will have improved by then and we will be able to get together again. Other planned National regattas e.g. 57th Nationals in Canberra in 2022 will now be pushed out one year.

22.01.2022 Going, going and gone.... Works happening on the replacing the ramp going along well whilst most of us are in isolation. Stay Safe All!

20.01.2022 Another tip from Bully from Bull Sails. Telltales are the best indicators of sail set up. The old adage trim to the front of the jib and the back of the main is very true, Particularly on the windward legs! Correct position of headsail sheeting is to have all the telltales break evenly as you luff (or the lower ones a fraction earlier). If your top jib telltales break first, your sheeting position needs to be moved forward. Conversely if the bottom ones are first, move the ...car aft. Once set up at the optimum, then we can use them. In light air we want the telltales streaming all the time as we are trying to generate maximum power. On heavier displacement boats maybe even move the car forward a touch and ease the sheet to get a fuller shape without too much twist off. Don’t pinch, just sail the boat fast as you can. In medium airs we are up to speed and can afford to work a bit on our VMG (Velocity Made Good, distance in a straight line toward the mark, not over the ground). To this extent we can pinch a little to shed a little power for extra height. If you have plenty of power, sail with the windward telltale lifting 30-45 degrees. The telltales will jump around a lot but try and average it out. In heavy winds it is all about the angle of heel, the biggest problem is being overpowered. We need to shed enough power to enable us to sail the boat rather than the boat sailing us ( being the pilot, not the passenger). Flatten and twist the sails, let the luff of the jib backwind to feather the boat, particularly in the bigger gusts. Ease the Genoa car aft to twist the sail off and shed power higher. Our biggest issue is sailing around on our ear and sliding sideways and being unbalanced causing rounding up. Not great VMG! Flat is fast (said that a few thousand times!). The telltales will be jumping all over the place, but that’s ok. Its about balance! We are fortunate in Geelong that we sail in relatively flat water and this makes the depowering process through steering higher much easier without all those pesky rollers coming at you. I think the best indicator for the helm is the angle of the forestay on the horizon, keeping that at a nice constant angle of sailing relatively flat yet still with enough power to sail quick (usually about 15-20 degrees). One more tip, if you cant see your telltales from the helm position. Have a steer sitting to leeward to get a bit of a handle on how they are behaving. The sign of a helm-person doing a good job is post race. They should have a headache from concentration, a ricked neck from gazing at telltales and questioning how did we go?. Fun, ehhh! Any feedback or future topics, let me know!

18.01.2022 Some of the young sailors hit the water this afternoon down at the club.

17.01.2022 One of our members, Laurence, has been busy over the winter lockdown building a beautiful new Heron. It looks light and fast. One to watch out for this racing season !

13.01.2022 First boat launch down the new ramp.

12.01.2022 Almost finished!

10.01.2022 Oops bad start! It has happened to all sailors, some on a more regular basis than others it must be said. That horror start where it just doesn’t seem to happen? It could come down to many factors, which may have been an error of judgement on your behalf, a malfunction or because of other boats actions (or sometimes inactions). But we have been there, back in the ruck watching the other boats sailing away from us. This is usually accompanied by feelings of disappointment and ...Continue reading

08.01.2022 A perfect day for sailing at the St Leonards Yacht Club today.

07.01.2022 Of course, we can't get out on the water at the moment but we can still think about what we would do when can. So until sailing does resume we're running a series of tips put together by Australian Cadet Dinghy Coach and all round good bloke, Tony Bull of Bull Sails. Enjoy and stay safe. Bully's tip of the week... Decide on a race plan before the start, gather as much evidence as you can and decide if one side is favoured! Prepare your plan, if you are pretty certain you can commit to that one side. Go for it. If you are a bit hesitant but think one side is likely favoured then go part to that side but not too far to minimise the loss if it doesn’t work out. Or if you really can’t work it out, play the middle until the race unfolds, just stay on the tack closest to the mark. That is still a plan! If you are pretty confident in your plan, stick to it! If a few boats tack on you and force you to tack away, tack back as soon as you are in clear air. It may happen a few times but keep persevering! Don’t ever fall for what the hell, this is too hard and sail away. Easy options seldom work.

06.01.2022 The new ramp and jetty are coming along well, here are some updated photos. Stay safe and see you all soon

05.01.2022 And the work continues on the new ramp! Yay! Thanks for the photos Norma Willoughby taken whilst you are out exercising and observing the current social distancing guidelines. Stay safe everyone.

05.01.2022 Testing out the new ramp and jetty. Looks fantastic. Well done to all those involved in fundraising to get this great new facility in place.

04.01.2022 Rigging up for another great day on the water

04.01.2022 Good to see some boats back on the water today.

04.01.2022 Port and Starboard, the first rule we learn. When we on a port tack and have a boat approaching us on starboard tack on a converging course. We have two options regardless of being upwind or downwind. We can tack or gybe away or alter course to pass behind. Actually there is a third option but it is very messy and expensive! The first thing we need is to ascertain if we are on a collision course.It can take a while and experience to learn to judge on open water but is relativ...Continue reading

03.01.2022 Season 2020-21 Sailing and Events Calendar now available to be downloaded from our website

03.01.2022 Great that some of us could get out for a sail again, feeling for our Melbourne members who cant get to us though!

03.01.2022 Reading the wind shifts upwind. This weeks TOTW is a little more condensed at the request of Brendan Garner, whose powers of comprehension was being tested by multiple paragraphs and words of more than three syllables. (little known fact, boat builders are just frustrated sailmakers ). Reading the wind is often seen as some sort of mythical art, but while it does get enhanced by regular sailing and observing it is actually a mostly analytical skill. In enclosed waters like t...hose we sail in, the wind does shift around quite a bit in direction and strength. These gusts coming down the bay are a bit like those little dark catspaws you see scudding across ponds on a windy day, particularly near the shore! I will not go into too much detail about this ( I would need my whiteboard and a cap with a little propeller on top). But we can analyse how to react when these gusts approach. When an isolated increase in wind (gust) approaches it is recognisable by more disturbed water under it, it makes the water look darker. From where this gust is approaching us will usually signify its impact on us. If we see the gust approaching from ahead, coming at us bow on as it were, it is very likely we will get knocked or headed and may require a tack. If the gust is approaching our vessel from the side it will likely lift us higher as we sail around the edge of it. So we can expect to make a gain! Easy on paper! But get out there and try and pick it yourself. Look at the darker patch and try and guess what will happen. Another pretty simple approach is to always sail the closest tack to the mark. Following this a rule will generally mean you are sailing the optimum lifted course in terms of getting from A to B. So not a bad one to fall back on if in doubt. Bully

01.01.2022 I wonder if this is the future of winter sailing in Victoria What do you think?