The forecast was terrible for the second and final leg of the B14 NSW States at Illawarra Yacht Club on the 14th March 2021.
There was a gale warning, with southerlies of 25 gusting 30 knots predicted.
Four skiffs braved the elements, 15 degrees and rain, following a day of 28 degrees and brilliant sunshine.
The club was keen to provide racing if possible, both for the B14s and for the regular Sunday local sailors in Trailables and other craft, and had a boat on the lake taking readings, and of course was monitoring the wind as it moved up the coast. As race time approached, the rescue boat was only measuring 14 knots on the lake, although it looked a hell of a lot worse. Racing was declared ON, so the B14s started getting ready to go on the water. The locals, on the other hand, got out of their wetsuits and went home!!
While 4 boats rigged up, only 3 hit the water as Yellowbone had a kite halyard mishap which could not be rectified.
Glenn Cardwell and Audrey Scheu in Bandit dominated the day, winning all three races, two by a long margin. The Nude gave them a run for their money in the third, but Bandit won out comfortably. Nathan Reynolds and Darren Morgan in Usain Boat had a good first race, finishing 2nd. But in Race 2 they collided with Richie Reynolds (no relation!) and Lissa McMillan in The Nude at the first top mark, breaking The Nude’s tiller extension. Nathan and Darren capsized during the penalty turn and struggled to upright the boat. Although the wind remained about 16-18 knots most of the day, with a few 20 to 25 knot gusts, the lake was very lumpy in the southerly, and the sea state made sailing challenging. Happily the lake water was very warm!
Although Bandit won the day, The Nude took out the States 2021 (for the 11th time), having notched up 3 wins at Woollahra in leg 1, whilst Bandit had recorded 3 fifths on the Harbour. The State Titles Trophy has had to be modified, with another layer added to fit more shields.
At the AGM before racing, Glenn Cardwell took over the role of NSW President from Lissa, who has held the role for 21 years. Minutes of the NSW AGM are here.
We are very grateful to Illawarra Yacht Club for putting on racing for just our small fleet on a pretty ugly day on the water! Thanks to Bob our Race Officer, as well as Ann, Norm, Dante, and the others on the start and rescue boats.
 Results B14 NSW States 2020-21 | [ ] | 30 kB |
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Sydney’s had a run of “interesting” weather this season, with the planned first leg of the B14 NSW States postponed from 25 October after Woollahra cancelled racing due to a howling southerly. Racing was cancelled the following Sunday with southerly gusts in excess of 30 knots. And the rerun of the States on 8/11 saw southerlies again, albeit not ridiculously strong, but still gusty and swinging wildly.
Six boats braved the conditions to complete 3 races. It wasn’t easy to sail well, and some less than graceful manoeuvres were displayed! Of note was the less-than-a-minute-to-go-to-the-start-of-the-first-race capsize by class veterans Sophie Hunt and Andy Payne in Purple Cow aka Hunt Leather. But like the pros they are, they managed to finish in second place behind Richie and Lissa in The Nude.
Glenn Cardwell and super-crew Audrey Schue in Bandit were with the Hunties going around the top mark but their mast hit the water, pushing them back through the fleet. The boom also hit Audrey’s head during righting, which might partly explain Bandit’s unanticipated performance – they were not their usual highly competitive selves, chalking up 3 fifths.
On the other hand, Yellowbone (Anthony House and Natalia Wu) and Usain Boat (Nathan Reynolds and Ellen Noye) both had sustained periods of brilliance. The most impressive was the third race when they led the field to the first top mark, going around together. The Nude and Hunt Leather managed to get around the pair, with Yellowbone finishing up third and Usain Boat fourth in that race, and indeed in the regatta.
Despite not much time in the boat this season, Stan Bland and daughter Anna showed good pace, particularly off the start and upwind. The full results are here.
On a demographical note, it was a very balanced regatta, with one female and one male on each boat. The age range was also impressive, from 16 to 66!
Good fun was had by all and hoping others can join us for the second leg of the States to be held at Illawarra Yacht Club on 14th March.
 B14 results States Round 1.JPG | [ ] | 85 kB |
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The Australian Nationals planned for Woollahra Sailing Club have been cancelled, due to the uncertainty surrounding the event caused by COVID-19. Potential last minute lockdown and travel restrictions make it too hard for participants and organisers to plan. However, some B14ers are looking at some informal sailing during the week of January 3-7 with whomever can make it to Sydney.
At this stage we would be looking at returning to Sydney in January 2022 for the Nationals. The Worlds in Lake Garda are still scheduled for 4th – 14th July 2022 at Circolo Torbole.
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PHAEDRUS B14 VICTORIAN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GARMSTON AND CHAPMAN DOMINATE!
The Phaedrus B14 Victorian Championship was held on the long weekend of March 7th to 9th at Sandringham Yacht Club.
The regatta would end up being the penultimate event for the season, with public events prohibited within 2 weeks due to the COVID 19 outbreak. All sailing was banned at all levels due to the virus outbreak. It would be 5 days later the Australian Grand Prix was cancelled by the government.
Hosted by Sandringham Yacht Club the event was run surperbly by the race committee and in conjunction with I14 and Musto skiffs. The sailing conditions for the weekend were the best for the season offering something for everyone. Saturday provided a 15-20 knot wind from the south west with a large swell generated from the south end of Port Philip Bay.
These conditions made everyone work hard to maintain their boats upright. Garmston and Chapman won both races, with Bancroft and Grace claiming 2nd twice. On arrival on the Sunday the fleet were greeted by 25+ knot southerly and were held on shore. A lot of bodies were already aching form the Saturday, however after a half hour delay the race committee decided to start. With the wind constantly around the 24knot wind range the committee wisely only ran 2 of the 3 races which were planned for the Sunday. As they could see the fleet getting tired with plenty of capsizes through the fleet. The 2 races were split between Garmston/Chapman and Bancroft/Grace, Loutit and Briggs managed a 2nd were a clear 3rd overall.
On the Monday surely we were going to get a light day. Monday arrived and it was already white capping, it was looking like another hard day at the office. Pleasantly the breeze abated slightly to be a consistent 12-15knot southerly which the whole fleet enjoyed. This would be the final sailing day for the B14 fleet in Victoria and they had 3 races to finish off the 7 race series. It was good to see Freya Vickery back steering as well as Grace Lazaar who was excellent in steering in her 1st regatta at the helm of a B14.
FINAL RESULTS at syc.com.au
1/ Craig Garmston and Louis Chapmam 6 points
2/ Guy Bancroft and Dave Grace 11 points
3/ Dave Loutit and Hugo Briggs 22 points
4/ Ewan Campbell and Tori Campbell 28 points
5/ Glenn Lazzar and Grace Lazzar 31 points
6/ Ron Kane and Jason Dunsmore/ J. Randall 32 points
7/ Freya Vickery and Linden Kruss 45 points
B14 contestants and supporters a waiting on shore day 2 at SYC
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