Sep 9, 2020

And Today's Theme Is ...


Everything will kill you so choose something fun!  Apparently, even too much radio sailing can be fatal.

everything

As most of us know, you have to balance it out, as the guy on the left is demonstrating, with a little beer (port) circle formation as well. And getting the balance right is important, otherwise the circle could become a spiral which will invariably be downwards. I know, I know, it’s only the second paragraph and already I’m wandering (out yonder) off topic.

So I might as well wander a little further before I return to the theme (yes, there is one) and say that a port circle sounds like what happens when you’re doing a penalty, so maybe we’ll just stick to calling our post-sailing collegiality a beer circle with extras.

So the theme is, you should keep radio sailing until it kills you or it’s not fun any more. Hopefully, your fun meter’s alarm goes off some time before your lakeside heart attack seals your fate, and you switch to doing something that you enjoy more than standing in the rain while your boat stalls in a wind shadow that wasn’t there a few seconds ago.

A case in point – our erstwhile Commodore John Goor has decided to hand back his transmitter (resign) and focus on things that he currently finds more fun than radio sailing. I think that mainly involves Wandering Out Yonder, dragging a caravan around behind him, which we know has been an attraction for many members off and on, for many years, so we can (sort of) understand his current focus. John has done the right thing by resigning now, rather than remaining as an absentee Commodore for the rest of his term, so the Club can move on.

And move on we have. A quick browse of our Club Constitution shows that we (the Committee) have the power to fill Casual Vacancies and, after some short email discussions, we have voted to do the following:

- Appoint Graeme Howie, our Vice Commodore, as our Commodore for the rest of the club year
- Appoint Bruce Quail, a Committee Member, as our Vice Commodore for the rest of the club year
- Appoint Craig Taylor as a Committee Member for the rest of the club year, to restore the numbers and balance of the Committee.

The rest of the Committee will be stepping up to fill any gaps that may arise from the changes.

Life will go on and most of you won’t even notice the changes. This newsletter will continue to keep you informed …

Thursday 10 September 2020: IOM and DF 95 Club Racing at Jackadder Lake, from 2.00 pm. Weather: Showers Easing, Max 19, Partly cloudy. Very high (near 100%) chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Winds northwesterly 25 to 40 km/h turning west to southwesterly 25 to 35 km/h before dawn then becoming light in the evening.

Saturday 12 September 2020: IOM and DF 95 Club Racing at Jackadder Lake, from 2.00 pm. Weather: Sunny, Max 21, Light winds becoming southerly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening.

For those sailors (me and Lloyd Coles) attending the DF 95 State Championships in Albany on Saturday and Sunday, the wind forecasts are west to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h tending west to southwesterly during the day then becoming light during the evening on Saturday, then showers and Light Winds on Sunday morning. Wish us luck – the lake in Albany is fine from most wind directions but I fear that Light Winds (my favourite forecast - not) will fall victim to Local Knowledge, especially as the Locals make up the vast majority of the 14-boat fleet. But they’re all good blokes, so they might let us in somewhere.

The Michael Bell Memorial 10R Trophy is on at Jackadder next weekend (all day 19 September) and can be entered online at rsawa.asn.au now, then the Southwest Invitational and Venue Test Event is on the following weekend.

Somewhere in there we might, just might, get back to sailing at South Perth Lake – we’ve made some progress with government bureaucrats but now the hold-up is ARYA’s insurance broker who seems to have gone sleepie-bys on producing the necessary Certificate of Currency we need to give the City of South Perth. A Certificate is produced as a matter of routine every year apparently, but not this year. Note that poor performance is not confined to the public service.

Anyway, enough grumbling (I can hear you from here …) John, good luck with your change of direction, wherever it takes you, and we hope to see you at the lake, boat in hand some time. 

Cheers
Bruce