We are looking for volunteers to help man the BBQ during the 420 Regatta which is coming up very soon!

We are in the process of organising a roster so whether you can spare 1 hour or more during the dates: 1st to 8th of January 2020 we'd love to hear from you!

No experience necessary, come along and enjoy the wonderful job of feeding hungry sailors in a great regatta atmosphere!!!

Please contact the office: admin@morningtonyc.net.au and let us know of your availability
Thank you!

BEING A CLUB MEMBER
Firstly, what is a Club?   The dictionary definition of a Club is:
 
“An association dedicated to a particular interest or activity whose members participate in the activity but also contribute to the running of the activities”
 
Mornington Yacht Club has as its main objective sailing in a variety of forms - from Learn to Sail, through to racing in the iconic Sydney to Hobart Race.
 
Our Club is organised into many areas, some requiring staff, others relying totally on members to volunteer their time to make things happen. Our staff, from the cleaner to the Club Manager ensure the important day to day routine tasks of running our Organisation are successfully undertaken.
 
The Board of Directors and the Finance Committee - who are all volunteers - plan and execute what has to be done to ensure our Club is well managed on a day to day basis and is structured to enable survival into the future.
 
There are several volunteer groups within the Club, but one such group is the ‘TAG’ team who carry out minor maintenance around the Club every Thursday morning - with their number one job being to empty the wheelie bins.
 
So, who manages all the sailing activities?

• The Sailing Committee, the Race Committee and the Training and Development Committee, all of whom are volunteers who plan and ensure that all sailing, racing and training take place in a safe and friendly manner.

But who does the week to week running of these sailing activities?

• Volunteers, Race Officers, the Race Crew, on the water and in the Tower.
•  On Saturdays there are currently just two dedicated volunteers who conduct racing on the water.
• There are 10 dedicated volunteers rostered to man the Tower and the Race Office every Thursday and Saturday to do a variety of jobs from Race Management, competitor safety (both on and off the water) through to race results.
• Sunday racing sees a few more volunteers ensuring racing takes place - some of whom are parents of the juniors just starting out in our sport. 
• To lay courses on the water, there are people required to take out boats, position and move buoys as required.

For Saturday races, help from the membership is required as it is just not possible for the two dedicated Race Officers on board Retriever to lay buoys to setup a course. This help is once again derived from our volunteer base and they become known as the ‘Duty Boat Crew’ – a crew that becomes part of the Race Management team and is rostered on each week to help on the water.
 
Have you been rostered to participate as the Duty Boat Crew?

• So far this season there have been 7 Saturdays requiring a Duty Boat Crew but only 3 boats have provided a crew and showed up to help out.

Being a Club member at MYC means volunteering when duty calls. You are usually only required once every two years, but our Club needs you to help keep the place working.
 
We hear a lot of members giving the excuse “but I only sail on Thursdays so why should I have to help on Saturdays?  Remember, the Tower is run by dedicated VOLUNTEERS on Thursday as well.
 
Our Club has been very soft on volunteering. Unfortunately, there is too much left to too few. It’s not hard to give up a few hours every two years to be part of the running of our Club.
 
Our Club is not just the Board or the sub Committees….
 
….it’s ALL OF US!!
 
Greg Martin, Commodore and Bill Bennett, Rear Commodore

Sailing Report Saturday 30th November, 2019
 
“In any moment of decision, the best thing to do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” - Theodore Roosevelt

I have always liked that quote and sitting on the start line before Saturdays Navigators Trophy Race, I channeled my inner Teddy Roosevelt and made a bold decision. As it turned out it was not the correct decision, but that’s the beauty of the Navigators Race - you must decide.
I have no doubt that there are many approaches navigators use to prepare for the Navigators Trophy Race. Spread sheets are filled in with data, weather models and tide charts pored over, advice is sought from “old salts”, and then there are those more relaxed souls that just toss a coin or use rock paper scissors to decide which direction to sail on the day.

Grey skies and a gentle breeze greeted a bumper crop of 25 starters. It was great to see 11 div. 3 entries, a wonderful example of the enthusiasm within this group of MYC sailors. The majority of the keel boats headed west, whilst the majority of the trailables headed south on slightly shorter course. Whilst the wind freshened early in the race and even brought some showers, eventually the grey skies cleared for a sunny afternoon, although the wind did soften considerably.

Well done to the keel boats that headed west and also to the trailables that headed south, these seemed like the better choices on the day.  But also, a special mention to those risk takers that bucked the trend and went in the opposite direction. This race would be really boring if we all went the same way. It was entertaining to listen to the radio reports at scheduled marks as there were some classic battles with lots of position changes in what was very tight racing over the entire day.  One more special mention to Zip who took line honors in div. 3 over an hour ahead of the next boat.

As you can tell I am a big fan of the Navigators Race. I have been sailing in it since I was a teenager and it still gives me a buzz. In my opinion it is a unique part of our sailing program and it would be great to make it a major sailing event. ORCV has the Cock of the Bay race, GLYC has the Marlay Point maybe we could aim to make the Navigators Race something similar? Anyway, I will climb down off my soap box for now – editorial over. Now for the results.

 Final Results


Line Honors

Division 1 : Javelin
Division 2 : YT2
Division 3 : Zip


Handicap Results

Division 1

1. Morticia : McDonald, Kurz & Alexander
2. Seduction: Richard Nicholls
   
3. Phoenix: Phoenix Syndicate #4
   

Division 2

1. YT2:  Stuart Gooley
2. Tonic: Ray Harvey
3. Beau Ciel: Alison & Terry Clough
   

Division 3

1. Endless Advice : Rob Harrison
2. Magic Pudding : Phillip Mannes
3. Beau Brummell : Tonia & Graeme Vertigan
   

AMS Results

Division 1

1. Morticia : McDonald, Kurz & Alexander
2. Seduction : Richard Nichols
3. Javelin : Mark Nicholson
   

Division 2

1. YT2:  Stuart Gooley
2. Tonic: Ray Harvey
3. One-4-One : Alan Clark
   

 
CBH Results
 
Division 3
 

1. Magic Pudding : Phillip Mannes
2. Zip : S. Shafer & C. Ferris
3. Endless Advice : Rob Harrison
   

The Special Sailing Instructions for the Blairgowrie Destination Race have now been released. Please find them waiting anxiously for you under the Sailing>>Club Race Documents>>Special Sailing Instructions heading on this website, or, you can scoot straight there by clicking here

Saturday Racing Report November 23, 2019

You could sense that there were high levels of anxiety pre-start on Saturday. Everyone had read the forecast, but as usual, and particularly in sailing, timing is everything. Our sport is so dependent on Mother Nature and she can be very unpredictable at times.  Last Saturday was no different. It’s almost impossible to imagine that at one stage pre-start we had no wind and calm seas, and yet by the time the flags went up we had 25kts and some fairly big seas to contend with.

The pre-start anxiety demonstrated how many sails some boats have onboard. There were more sail changes than costume changes at a Cher concert in some cases. Which head sail was the most common question being pondered by most crews?  “Let’s go with the 2”; “No wait a minute lets go with the 1”; “fantastic the breeze is in at last”;  “Oh no! Let’s go with the 3 and while your there put a reef in the main.“

The strong winds proved a handful for some boats, with a number of retirements early in the race. Hopefully no damaged gear or more importantly crew. Those that slugged it out were rewarded with some upwind discomfort, but incredibly rewarding downwind legs. The brave souls that flew spinnakers  -  I salute you. It was not without risk, with Endless Advice having a few problems and even Tub Thumper continuing their season of memorable broaches.  For others there would have been some debate no doubt between the foredeck and the cockpit (dream world) regarding the value of gybing.
Thanks also to our on-water race crew, particularly the crew of Hysport, who commented to me that we had it lucky sailing out there, compared to them bouncing around in a powerboat. I must admit their “drowned rat”  look after the race made me re-evaluate things. Thanks to all our race crew volunteers for keeping us safe and making it possible for us to race.

Final Results:


Line Honours

Division 1 : Morticia
Division 2 : Arabelle
Division 3 : Himalayen Women

Handicap Results

Division 1

1. Windsong : Jim Watson
2. Morticia : McDonald, Kurz & Alexander
3. Trim : Tony Grundy
   

Division 2

1. Arabelle : B.Levenspiel & G.Hailes
2. Tonic: Ray Harvey
3. YT2:  Stuart Gooley

 
Division 3

1. Beau Brummell : Tonia & Graeme Vertigan
2. Himalayen Women : Paul Dynes
3. Endless Advice : Rob Harrison
   

AMS Results

Division 1

1. Morticia : McDonald, Kurz & Alexander
2. Windsong : Jim Watson
3. Seduction : Richard Nichols
   

Division 2

1. Arabelle : B.Levenspiel & G.Hailes
2. YT2:  Stuart Gooley
3. Tonic: Ray Harvey

 

CBH Results
 

Division 3

1. Himalayen Women : Paul Dynes
2. Darkside of the Moon : Steve Bolton
3. Endless Advice : Rob Harrison