September 14, 2013September 14, 2013 Melissa Yeomans

One word is ‘Epic’

I really can only think of one word to describe last weekend. Epic. What was I thinking when I planned on being at Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s 75th Opening Day followed by Manly Relay for Life. Thankfully Nix had no intention of doing over 18 hours on air this year and all that goes with it! She also had decided to luckily rule out all costume changes which makes life easier as I did not have to chase after her making sure she was wearing shoes etc! Instead we were able to enjoy the event that is Manly Relay for Life, to sit back and take it all in.

I started the day at the Yacht Clubs Volunteer Breakfast which was fantastic with a good friend of mine Jen who is back in the country for a while. This was followed by some fun events on the water and the beach! What a great effort by those at the club to create a fun atmosphere to celebrate the day. It was great to see the Sail Past in action once again with the club’s Start Boat leading the way which Dad was of course onboard! Nix joined me at the Club Open day along with Producer so the rest of the day could be planned, well as much as you can plan something like Relay for Life! With all our day jobs we had not had the time to make much of a plan beyond knowing that we were starting the day at the Yacht Club and Finishing the day at Manly Relay for Life. Who knew what the day would bring!

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I managed to take around an hour of video and am gradually reducing it down to something a little fun. There were a few highlights of the morning as friends jumped in the Simulator early in the day followed by Youth Sailing Manager Locky being thrown in the water as you can see in the photo. Not a bad day to be thrown in the water and I must say that Jen and I were more than a little jealous as we drove off to Manly for the Afternoon.

After MHYC it was then time for Jen and I to head to Manly to join up with Radio Northern Beaches where once again Nix was highly involved and we were broadcasting on air. It was so hard to leave the fun activities at the Yacht Club behind and as we drove to Manly we heard Nix start broadcasting saying others would be joining her soon. We were almost there and just trying to find a park! As I said earlier the day was much better suited to swimming and when we got to Manly we found ourselves almost melting in the heat. There is something about Manly Relay for life and the atmosphere of the occasion that makes it such a great event to be involved in. As you can see Nix didn’t manage to stay out of costumes all together! Some of the Manly Relay for Life organisers talked her into just the one change on air so there was no escaping it! It was a big night to be on air as you also had the Australian Election and some Rugby on as well but we tried to avoid that with the score.

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I had an amazing day and took all of Sunday to recover which was much better than last year hahaha! It was great to be able to spend the Day with Jen doing some very different things to just a normal Saturday whilst she is home. I am very lucky to have such great and fun friends!

September 1, 2013 Melissa Yeomans

Stunning Sunsets

Last night I headed up to Wangi for Haylee Outteridge’s Fundraiser for her Olympic campaign. On the way I decided to take a scenic route around the lake to catch some photos of the sunset. With Back Burning smoke in the air it was an awesome sunset to sit for a while taking photos and videos of. Lake Macquarie is one of my favourite places in the world and somewhere that I love to sail.

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August 29, 2013August 29, 2013 Melissa Yeomans

Keep on going

You know you have had a hectic month when you have to look at the Calendar to work out what you have actually been doing! Crazy! Either that or I have fried my brain with all the study I have done lately. Last night I sat for the National Judge Exam just another step forward since becoming an umpire. Yes I passed so all the study of non match racing rules was worth it. I would not have been able to do this without the support of my umpire/judge friends who have been amazing since I started umpiring!

The last month has been wrapped up in a lot of sessions at the Gym: Pilates with the Awesome Michelle at Virgin Active Frenches Forest, Zumba with Claudine and her Aqua Zumba which I am certain is more of a workout for her than those of us in the pool, weights and the usual Bike, Treadmill etc. I can see that I am on the road to recovery which is such a nice feeling. My core really has been giving me so much trouble and as I can’t afford to go to the Physio as much as I would like it is taking longer to get stronger. I can’t wait to go sailing this season. Yes I said it. I don’t think I can wait much longer to be honest but don’t want to go too soon and set myself back again. I might have to test myself on a no-extras day or something and see how I go first.

Many of my mornings were also spent watching the Kiwis take out the Louis Vuitton which will see them in September go up against Oracle USA for the America’s Cup. We have been talking about it a lot on Sailing Chix with Nix especially as Nic D has been over there! On Monday Morning the Red Bull Youth AC starts which will see some very early rises at 4am for the Aussies wanting to cheer on Team Objective! We also had Liesl Tesch fill in whilst Nic was away as a guest Co-Host! SO much fun to have her in studio talking about her quiet year, which in everyone else’s words is hectic. Liesl was also let loose in the Warehouse getting new Liros Rope for the Skud. For those who don’t know much about her google her! She is an inspiration and I am lucky to call her a friend as she inspires me all the time.

Liesl Tesch Playing with new Liros Rope for the Skud at DeckHardware

I also got the chance to head out and watch the Sound Regatta at MHYC. When I was growing up sailing there we had one of the biggest events that kicked off the Sailing Season and it was great to see this happening once more.

Photos of the Sound Regatta

The next few weeks are just as crazy with a visit to Wangi due this weekend to see some friends, MHYC 75th Opening Day, Manly Relay for Life, The Youth AC and the big one the America’s Cup 30 years since the team on Australia II showed the world how good Aussie Sailors Are! I can not wait to watch these events and wish I could make it there.

July 30, 2013 Melissa Yeomans

How many clubs can I visit?

It has been an action packed time for me. I have spent time at RPAYC, BSC, SFS plus my home clubs MHYC and M16’SSC. Most of this has been for Seminars, Meetings or Umpire dinners etc. It has been a busy month and I think my head may have exploded a few times there trying to take it all in and learn even more.

Last weekend was the Start of the Sydney to Gold Coast Yacht Race. What a slow start! The video will give you a great idea of what the conditions were like for the race, given how long it took to get out of Sydney Harbour and head offshore.

I only took a few photos of the event. Yeah ok more than a few but it wasn’t my normal effort as I was also trying to post on Instagram at the same time as well as video too! Here they are.

This weekend I am back in Umpire mode as we have the Club Marine NSW Youth Match Racing Championships on both days at the CYCA. They will be long days on the water and hopefully the weather will play nice as it is our first event with the new boats!

Who would have thought this is winter? I have been so busy! What on earth will spring be like with all the Australian Match Racing Championships happening at the CYCA. Plus over the next few weeks the America’s Cup will be a good reason to wake up early to watch all the racing online as it ramps up into semi final mode for the LVC. Good Luck to the boys on Artemis!

July 3, 2013 Melissa Yeomans

The secret to Mat Belcher’s success – part one

What a great article on Mat! Good to hear some of how he manages his life around his sailing too.

Every4Yearz

IN the weeks leading up to the London Olympics, when every other athlete was dreaming of winning gold and conquering the world, Mat Belcher was planning for his life post-Olympics.

He enrolled himself in a University course, and set out a plan for Rio in 2016. It wasn’t that he was overconfident about winning gold in London, it’s just the mindset that has made the 30-year-old one of the world’s most formidable sailors.

Mind you, he had every right to feel confident about London. Together with sailing legend Malcolm Page the Gold Coast-based sailors had won the past three 470 World Championships and were unbeaten for the best part of 12 months leading in to London.

It was just that Belcher felt he needed to add to the business degree he already held, to set himself up post-Olympic career.

“In sailing a lot of it is long term planning, and…

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June 18, 2013June 18, 2013 Melissa Yeomans

Sydney Harbour

I am so lucky to live in Sydney. Days like this remind me why that is as winter turns the sky an amazing blue. The Harbour too shows off the varying depths and colours. I could watch the Harbour for hours as it changes through the day.

I am hoping the weather stays beautiful as once again this Saturday I am umpiring at the CYCA. Last week was week one of the Capt John Piper regatta with this week the finals. It has been a busy few weeks as prior to that we also had the East Coast Champs at MHYC my home club. Which was a full weekend on the start boat and in the protest room on a Sunday night to hear a couple of protests.

The conditions on the Saturday of the East Coast Champs were interesting with light breeze and a big seaway out on the sound as the video shows.

June 17, 2013 Melissa Yeomans

June update

Great to see the work being done to DeckHardware Ambassadors Fire Stopping! The team have been using our products for a while now but having the chance to do a full refurb was fantastic.

Phil Yeomans

Over the June Queens Birthday weekend, I was again out on the water running the Optimist East Coast Championships at MHYC. Whilst we were blessed with nice fine days, the wind gods neglected us. Both days were affected by fickle winds early in the piece. With over 70 competitors in the two Optimist fleets and a couple of Cadets and a few 420s to round out the fleet, there were plenty waiting for a a course to be set, especially on Sunday with a 3 hour delay. Once again I was fortunate to have Melissa backing me up and Robin Tames and Phil Clinton also aboard the start boat. With a team that starts everything from the annual Rolex Sydney Hobart Race down to the aspiring sailors in the Optimists, it’s good to have the experience aboard. Some competitors came up from Victoria to add to those from around Sydney…

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May 26, 2013May 27, 2013 Melissa Yeomans

Umpiring takes over again

Last weekend I spent the entire time indoors with the umpire team doing a seminar. Huge thanks to Gary Manuel for his time and effort in putting together the seminar! Thanks to Erica Kirby for making it happen too! A room full of umpires and I am sure you can imagine the topics and discussions that occurred.

This past weekend we got back out on the water which was much needed. It reminded us of why we love to umpire. How lucky are we! Amazing harbour, blue sky’s and sunshine… If only the breeze could behave haha, there is no chance it is winter breezes! And to think this is the off season if there were such a thing, match racing is just starting up. It’ll be a big year for match racing in Sydney with some very special anniversary events at the CYCA.

May 13, 2013May 14, 2013 Melissa Yeomans

Sydney Harbour turns it on

On Sunday I was on the water for the NSW High Schools Teams Racing Championships. It is days like this that make me well aware of how lucky I am to be able to spend time on Sydney Harbour. It was a very long day but views like this make it worth while! I am extremely lucky to live in a city with such an amazing Harbour full of sailors enjoying the beautiful sunshine. To think this is the CYCA Winter Series sailing past? So lucky.

The photos were taken with my iphone using a waterproof casing for on the water and not the best for photography.

What more can I say? I had a little play in Instagram

The fog starts to clear to show Shark Island

May 1, 2013May 1, 2013 Melissa Yeomans

Keep on going

Today in the mail I received a reminder. A reminder of what I am working so hard for and why I put up with both my knees currently being taped up due to my joints not liking increased exercise. I am working hard with my physio to find a way to manage my joints. It is involving a lot of Pilates at this stage and unfortunately this week my knees haven’t liked the treadmill at all even taking it easy. I have a goal and I’m going to reach that goal. I am proud of my history as a female skipper and boat owner. My goal is so simple = to be able to sail. Slow and steady. I have to believe I will get back out there and still have the skill I had when I owned Animus.