One of the many fantastic things about being involved in the sport of Sailing is being able to inspire the next generation. I hope the special night I have planned for this years CHS does exactly that.
Belmont 16’s
YNSW Youth Championships
On the long weekend I volunteered at the NSW Youth Sailing Championships. Our start team was Dad, Dave, Rhys and I. With almost we think 60 starts due to the number of recalls I was simply exhausted at the end of it and did not want to do any more maths for a while.
I can’t say enough about the team we worked with on Course Area B. Our Finish Team, our Mark Layers and our on shore contact Donna. Donna gave us the chance to breathe knowing we had someone on shore should one of the girls we were supporting need us. Emma Harris, Georgia Llewellyn and Jaime Swavley had a full support team out on the start boat but not on shore. So thank you Donna!!!
Because of who we had on the start boat it was great to have someone on shore to call when young Emma Harris had to go in to fix her bung. At least I had someone to call and make sure she was ok and to let her know she was going to make the next race in time. I also had good friend and on water judge Ian Humphries make sure she made it in safely whilst we were in postponement.
It was a big step for Emma jumping into a Laser Radial. To see her mixing it with the fleet on the last day was AWESOME!
It was great to watch the J and G team in the 420 Wings. The girls are growing into the boat and continue to boost not only confidence but skill as well. Having seen them out training it was great to be able to watch them compete in the 420 fleet.
What a fantastic three days with some fantastic people. I hope the competitors and their parents and coaches appreciate the hard effort we put in to ensure all the racing happened. It was not the easiest of weather conditions and at times was very frustrating as we waited for the breeze to work with us not against.
To Dave our Driver! You are awesome! Thanks for being a part of a great weekend and providing the wildlife sanctuary to keep us entertained during the postponements.
I could write so many pages on the event there are just so many stories. So check out the photos I managed to take in between being super busy on the water.
check out www.facebook.com/deckhardware for a few photos I took during the event.
CHS Sailing Regatta is over for another year
The 46th Combined High Schools Sailing Championships (CHS) in conjunction with 34th Australian Secondary Schools Sailing Championship and 37th NSW Secondary Schools Sailing Championships. An event that tested all those in attendance, competitors and race officers alike. What was with that weather! Breeze, No Breeze, pouring rain and boiling hot! From Freezing in the rain to crews going swimming and capsizing on purpose or being capsized by other competitors during the postponement!
Watching the sky above Lake Macquarie proved a tricky read for Race Officers and competitors resulting in several postponement’s and a day abandoned. Wouldn’t it have been nice to have a Noreaster!
Watching the skill levels of some of the sailors out on the water was fantastic. It was great to see so many different classes being sailed so well. In particular the leading Flying Eleven sailors who I enjoyed watching sail extremely well. Along with watching people sailing something new to them or giving a regatta a go. I hope you all enjoyed the new experiences.
With the inclusion of Allen, TBS and PROtect Tape to our range of Liros Rope we are now in a position of being able to supply a support van to local Regattas. Our first trial of this was the CHS at Belmont. I could not have done it without the assistance of Rhys and Georgia Llewellyn, Goughy, Liz Gazzard, Greg and Emma Harris. Thanks so much for your help in keeping the van company! Special thanks to Rhys who helped re rig a couple of boats along with Georgia, Kate and Emma who took time to write and draw on my whiteboard to be displayed in the van. I learnt a lot about how to manage the van at regatta’s in the future. It was a fantastic experience and we will be doing it in future. So keep an eye out for the newly stickered DeckHardware van! Thanks Rhys for putting the stickers on.
Special Congrats go to Georgia for coming Third in the Laser Radial plus Emma and Susie Milton coming Third in the Aust Girls Division. The Narrabeen Lakes Sailing Club was represented by 6 fantastic young women who did so well!
Congratulations to all competitors and especially to the Division winners. Year 6 and all High School Students make sure you put this in the Calendar for next year! It is a great event to meet sailors from other classes and perhaps sail something you would not normally compete in.
Here are the links to all the photo albums on our facebook fan page. I hope you enjoy all the photos. There is video yet to come. A huge thanks to our DeckHardware supporters / assistants Liz Gazzard and Rhys Llewellyn who assisted in getting so many photos from different locations during the regatta.
Race Results
Image Links:
CHS last Race from a second RIB
Last Race of the CHS from the RIB
CHS Race 3 from Shore and Finish Boat
CHS Race 3 from RIB
CHS Race 2 from Shore
CHS Race 2 from the RIB
CHS Race 1 from shore
CHS Race 1 from the RIB
Three more sleeps
Just three more sleeps till I have a simply massive week ahead! I am heading to a regatta for the first time with a van ready to go. I will be onsite for the entire event as sponsor with hopefully enough product to help out the competitors should they need it. The regatta I am headed to is the Combined High School Sailing Regatta. Luckily a fair few friends will be at the event and there are a few I have not seen in a long time who will be their with their kids.
Setting this up has taken a lot of effort. A huge thanks to Mum who has helped put together the Allen bins which have images, product codes and prices of all the parts in each bin on the front to make it easy. Trying to work out what to take has been a mission. It really is a guessing game being our first attempt at this. I am looking forward to it. Trying to decide what Liros Rope to take has been the biggest challenge with such a diverse entry list. So a real assortment was the decision and occasionally there are colour choices too.
I will have my camera out for the week and post links to photos as soon as I get them all online. With such a diverse fleet it should make for some great images. As always I will be following DeckHardware Ambassador Georgia Llewellyn very closely as she competes in a Laser Radial for the first time. No doubt she will do fantastically well and will enjoy this new experience. The CHS is perfect for trying out a new boat and sailing something you don’t normally sail.
I am looking forward to a week on the water, talking Sailing, fun with friends and talking DeckHardware. It should be a fantastic week! If you are there make sure you come and say Hello! I have all sorts of goodies with me!
DeckHardware supports CHS Sailing
We are extremely excited to be involved in this years CHS! It is a regatta I loved as a high school student and I am glad I can now be involved as a sponsor. This is an event we have looked at sponsoring for years so it is fantastic to now be involved. I met so many friends at CHS and have so many good memories from on and off the water. From our perspective not only are we sponsoring an event that features a variety of classes but it is also an event that this generation of teenagers will remember for life. That is something very special to be a part of.
I hope this generation are as lucky as I was and enjoy the experience as much as I did. I hope they make great friends and memories which will be the stories they tell in years to come. My friends and I often tell the stories that were our CHS experiences.
Press Release:
The Notice of Race is now available for the 2012 Combined High Schools/ Australian Secondary Schools Sailing Championship to be held on the 10th April to 14th April 2012 at Belmont 16’ Sailing Club. The event is sponsored by SLAM in conjunction with DeckHardware.
To be eligible the Skipper and crew MUST be students attending an Australian Secondary School. The regatta is open to all classes and sees entries from many classes including Sabots, Flying Elevens, Lasers, 13’ and 16’ Skiffs, NS14’s, Herons, 29ers and in the past has also seen the entry of sports boats and small yachts. This is one of the highlights for many who compete in the regatta as it brings together teenage sailors from all classes giving them the chance to meet and experience other classes. Many of Australia’s well known sailors will agree that the CHS as it is known was a highlight of their teenage years. The event showcases some of Australia’s top young sailors and past winners of the event include current Olympians and Volvo Ocean Racers. America’s Cup Champions have also competed in the CHS as Teenagers.
The races are sailed on the same course in five divisions making for very exciting racing and exciting viewing for the adult spectators:
Div 1 Monohulls & Yachts
Div 2 Medium Monohulls
Div 3 Multihulls
Div 4 Slower monhulls
Div 5 Sailability
The Combined High Schools Sailing Championship in 2011 had over 140 boats entered. The 2011 Championship was eventually won by Alex Chittenden and Tom Potter sailing their 13ft Skiff ‘Sheads’ from Middle Harbour 16ft Sailing Club (NSW). Chittenden and Potter displayed good speed and tactics throughout the regatta which saw an array of different breezes.
The final placing was not confirmed until the final race of the series where Chittenden placed second, which was enough to secure the title. Second overall was Harry Price and Nick Connor (29er) and a further 3 points behind was Sarah Parker and Alicia Watt on their Flying 11 ‘Wave Runner’.
For more information on the 2012 event visit Belmont16s
Melissa Yeomans 