Summer

Melissa Yeomans

Blast from the past to finish 2014

The last week of 2014 was very much a blast from the past as DeckHardware sponsored the Manly Junior National Titles.  I also volunteered my time to be on the Protest Committee for the regatta.  It was fantastic to see so many young sailors on the water enjoying a class that teaches Spinnaker work at such a young age.

I first sailed a Manly Junior on Narrabeen Lake with Nathan Wilmot as my skipper.  I was 5 and he was 6 apparently, I don’t remember that but do remember sailing with him hahaha.  We were way too small but both of us came from Sailing families and had already done a fair bit of sailing so it was time to give it a go.  Once we got the hang of things our parents took us to our club that has remained a big part of our Sailing lives: Middle Harbour Yacht Club.  We managed it a few times however when it got too windy and Nathan’s Dad James had to jump in and hike to sail home with Nathan as crew it was decided we really were too small to sail together.  It was a start of so much for us.  I still have friends from those early Manly Junior days and fantastic memories.  This years Nationals was held on the waters where I spent my early years sailing and it was great to see the MJ fleet out on the Sound sailing in the tricky conditions that grow and nurture amazing sailors.

Congratulations to all involved in the Manly Junior Nationals.  I was so impressed by your setup and organisation as well as the attitudes of everyone there.  Such a fantastic atmosphere.

What a year 2014 has been, DeckHardware has had an incredible year.  We would like to thank you all for a fantastic 2014. It has been an extremely busy year for the DeckHardware Team both on and off the water. The Sydney Sailboat Expo is looking to make 2015 an even more exciting year for us and we look forward to seeing you all in April.  We wish you all a wonderful 2015 and look forward to following all the Regatta action over the next few weeks in particular.

As most people are taking holidays over this time I find myself working harder than ever on DeckHardware and the Sydney Sailboat Expo. Such exciting times ahead for sure!

Well that was 2014. I over committed and started on a bigger journey than I had ever dreamed. It tested me more than I would have liked and at times was very unkind. Yet at the same time it challenged my way of thinking and what to believe, pushing me to open doors and take a leap of faith. So here’s to a 2015 full of fun, adventure, excitement, success and new directions. Most importantly let 2015 be a year of better health and laughter. No more liver issues, joints under control so I can bring back the tough sailor chick I used to be and get back out on the water for some fun and laughs.

Happy New Year Everyone and thank you for being part of the journey and the great sport of sailing.

Melissa Yeomans

Boxing Day on Sydney Harbour is Amazing

I know I am extremely lucky to be brought up Sailing on Sydney Harbour.  For a number of years now I have had the privilege of being part of the second line start team for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.  Sydney Harbour is such a special place and Boxing Day sees it at its best each year.  I started the day with an early morning drive up to Middle Head to see the Harbour showing off looking spectacular in the morning sun.  No sign really of what was to come in the hours ahead.

On board the Middle Harbour Yacht Club Start Boat was a close group of friends who we trust to get the job done.  Dad is the RO on the second line so we like to ensure we have plenty of people who know what they are doing that won’t get distracted by the excitement of it all.  So not only are we a tight start team but it also is an enjoyable day out with a great group of friends to celebrate the Holiday period.   This years start I must say was one of the best we have seen.  Not only was the Harbour packed with spectators because of so many big boats taking part but our start line was hectic especially at the boat end!  We actually run two start teams, one upstairs and one down just to make sure we can see across the long line towards our pin end boat.

Check out the Sydney Sailboat Expo Instagram page for all the action as well as Facebook.

This year we had no boats over early so once those starting on the third line had past us we were able to pick up anchor and follow them all out into the big seaway.  Offshore as always at this point is pretty hectic with spectators and competitors heading around South Head.

Each year we have a tradition of once we see the boats leave the Harbour we head back to our place with our team to watch the TV Coverage of the front line and have a big feast of Christmas Day leftovers.  Such a great way to finish up the day with good friends.

Boxing Day is just an incredible experience.  I recommend to everyone experiencing it from the water at least once as it is something you won’t forget.  Sydney Harbour on Boxing day is an iconic event featuring the sport I love on the Harbour I love.  It does not get much better than that.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Melissa Yeomans

It is the Sailing Season

Nath on GAC Pindar
Nath on GAC Pindar

I really am so lucky to be born in Sydney and into a Sailing Family. Last week the Extreme Sailing Series was in Australia taking place on our Beautiful Sydney Harbour. I spent three days on the headland cheering on my oldest friend Nathan Wilmot as he was steering GAC Pindar along with Tom Slingsby who we sponsor onboard Oman Air. I joke that Nath is my oldest friend as in he was born first and we have known each our whole lives. It is not that he is old hahahaha. Although the Saturday of the EXSS was his 35th Birthday which was mentioned regularly by the commentary team.

It was great to sit on the Hill with his Family and in particular his Mum (my mum’s best friend) who was back in Sydney to watch. Who would have thought growing up that we would find ourselves here. Two little kids who loved to sail and would play with little boats to test each other on rules while away on my grandfathers boats. Now Nath is a Gold Medallist and skipper of amazing boats and I am organising a Sailing Expo for our city! Sailing was always going to be a huge part of both our worlds growing up surrounded by sailors and Sydney Harbour. We have it good. Yes of course I have asked Nath to be involved in the Expo and like all those I have spoken to the answer is of course, if I am in Sydney I am there! Thanks guys it means a lot.

I do hope the Extreme Sailing Series comes back to Australia in the future. It was fantastic to watch especially with so many Aussies involved! We really are so strong as a nation when it comes to Sailing. To have such stadium racing in a location that allows for so many spectators is fantastic. We are lucky! Not to mention some pretty cool Sydney Icons in the back ground.

It has been such a busy time at work with the Sailing Season in full swing. Throw in the Sydney Sailboat Expo and all that needs to be done for that and I am certainly busy!

This morning I walked the CYCA dock to check out what was happening and have a look at a couple of the newer boats. Less then a week away from the start and once again I will be part of the Start Team for the second line. This year I expect to be BIG. The SOLAS Big Boat Challenge saw more spectators then ever before with so many Maxi’s Sailing. Boxing Day will no doubt be even bigger then ever and I don’t think the weather will scare away the spectators if it is overcast if the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge was anything to go by.

The big question is how many Helicopters will be above us this year?

Melissa Yeomans

Sail Sydney and Hail!

What a week! I wasn’t back in the office for long before I found myself at Sail Sydney supporting the sailors.  Making sure those we sponsor have stickers on their boats and catching up more importantly with the Moth Sailors to check where we are at leading up to the Worlds!

It was great to see Sail Sydney back on the Calendar.  The Finn Fleet in particular have been big supporters of DeckHardware and in particular Liros Rope.  Big thanks to them for being so friendly too!

Yesterday I manned the car park for a few hours to make sure everyone behaved and parked in the appropriate sections while trying to get people to park a certain way to optimize the space!  What a mission.  Thanks to those who stopped to chat and worked with us to make it happen.

Today I have spent the day working on the Sydney Sailboat Expo.  While busy working away I got more than a little distracted by yet another crazy storm.  This week has been all about storms here in Sydney.  I can only imagine the stress it added to the PRO and RO’s at Sail Sydney!  As I type this yet another one is about to come through… Amazing clouds all week as each storm has crossed over Sydney.  Today was different though as the Northern Beaches got hit with some serious Hail!  My Facebook feed is filled with Hail Shots and Video.  Just crazy weather.  Sydney is known for it’s afternoon Summer Storms but it isn’t normally every day and more than one!

Let’s Hope the weather plays nice for the Big Boat Challenge on Tuesday and the Extreme Sailing Series later in the week.  I can not wait to get out there and cheer on some friends of mine who are sailing.  #AussieSailorsRock

Melissa Yeomans

Back in Sydney and back on the water already

10389418_392947390860425_92243335414990299_nAfter just one day back in the office I was on the water Umpiring! Having only been back in Sydney for two days and with lots of work to do this was a little crazy but an event I really wanted to do.  The Jet Lag certainly was a struggle unlike when I got to Europe.  I think it was the heat when I got home as it was so humid and hot making it hard to adjust!

For the next four days I was Umpiring at the MUSTO International Youth Match Racing Championships.  I have now done this event a couple of times and the level of racing this year was fantastic! It makes it very enjoyable to umpire when the racing is so good.  The Umpire and RC Teams were fantastic as is the case each MUSTO.  The weather this year behaved with the round robins completed in a nice time which was very kind of huey!

NZ did manage once again to take the Win with Harry Price and his crew coming Second.  Great racing by both teams, a special mention has to go to Caitlin Tames on Mainsheet for Harry.  She well and truly was the shorty of the team as seen in this photo and did a fantastic job on mainsheet.

As you can imagine with being so busy and trying to get all the DeckHardware and Sydney Sailboat Expo work done there is a pretty long to do list in my head at the moment.  Yep it is in my head as I have not even sat down to write it down yet!  There is so much to do after METS and so many new products to put up on the website etc!

10428475_392590107562820_2385613362224578398_nTomorrow I am finally back at the Gym to do some Pilates and make sure my health continues to move forward in the way that is has.  A few months ago I honestly did not know if I would be able to handle the last few weeks physically, however it looks like I finally found a way to get the Hyper Mobility back under control.  Now to keep the forward progress happening so that I can keep up with this workload I have taken on!

New Zealander George Brasell was crowned Champion of the 2014 Musto International Youth Match Racing Championship, after defeating local Harry Price in a four-match thriller this afternoon.

Melissa Yeomans

Out on the water again

On Sunday I competed in Manly Yacht Club’s Helly Hansen Women’s Challenge.   It’s been a few years since I have steered an Adams 10m and Ben Nossiter was extremely generous to allow me to borrow his boat. With some of my old Animus crew onboard it made it even better and a great deal of fun. I’m extremely lucky to be able to borrow Sirius and that Ben says yes before I ever can ask the whole question.  I am extremely grateful to be in such a position.

I didn’t know how I was going to feel having spent so much time off the water to focus on getting my hypermobility under control.   With the help of a great massage on Friday I can now say two days later I am feeling ok!  YAY!  This is a huge relief and makes all the effort, cost and time worth it.  I am so glad I have a physio who has been able to help manage how I move forward.  I just wish I could afford to visit more often for treatment to speed along the process!

There is still a long road ahead with this morning having more tests done but at least I can now hopefully get out on the water racing a little more than I have the last few years.  The first lap saw a fair few cobwebs and with two fairly new crew onboard we eventually found our rhythm and had the boat going nicely.  Sydney Harbour helped too as it was a stunning day to be out on the water racing.  We managed a third place in our division which was great considering new crew and sailing only 5-up.  To be honest we weren’t really focused on a result we just wanted to have an amazing time.   For me it was all about having the chance to go for a sail again in the hope that I could do so.

Massive thanks to Ben for the boat, Damo, Brad, Tais and Lucy for a great day on the water!  It is always a great event to do and so much fun thanks to Manly Yacht Club especially Ivana and the organising committee for talking me into entering after a few years away.

This weekend once again I will be around the water volunteering at an event.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Melissa Yeomans

Supporting friends and sponsored sailors at the JJ’s

I have spent almost all of the past week and a bit out on the water taking photos, helping rig and more at the 18′ Skiff JJ Giltinan Championships.  Another JJ’s is over with 7 taking the win. We were there every day to support the teams we Sponsor and those who use our products. With our suppliers Allen Sailboat Performance Hardware along with Liros Ropes also sponsoring several boats from the UK and Europe there were plenty of teams we were following. What a tough series in some tricky conditions, well done to those who made the podium.

We are very proud to support the 18’s where we can and it is always funny when asked on the ferry which boat am I following.  Such a tricky answer that always ends in a few laughs.  Of course the main one we follow is our good friends onboard The Kitchen Maker.  Having known Mal Page for longer than I would like to let on, as well as Cam McDonald who is a friend and customer it is great to be able to support them and cheer them on.  This time around Darren stepped aside with a bad back and they got Will Philips a member of the Australian Sailing Squad to steer the boat.  Will is someone I have known of for a while through work and sponsorship commitments so it was great to be able to get to know Will better over the week.

Between friends and boats sponsored by DeckHardware and our suppliers we couldn’t count on one hand the boats that we were following and hoping would do well. Always good for the heart rate! With the UK boys on Haier finishing in 10th place which was a fantastic achievement after moving to Sydney for several months.  The Kitchen Maker had their moments during the regatta with their best result a 2nd place finishing just behind Haier, a brilliant result for a team who had not sailed together.  Thanks to Kim Wilmot for joining me on the back of the ferry to celebrate that 2nd place which was so close to a race win.  A definite highlight of the week!

There are plenty of photos if you head over to the DeckHardware facebook page.

Now to spend the week in the office before heading out on the water once more this weekend to do some umpiring.

Haier
The Kitchen Maker

 

Melissa Yeomans

Sailing getting some recognition!

The Australia Day Long Weekend of 2014 has been a great one for sailing.  We have seen sailors rewarded with Australia Day Honours along with others who are behind the scenes of our sport.  Over the weekend we also saw Richard Hinds counting down the current 100 greatest Aussie sports stars which was featured on the Daily Telegraph.  Sailing as a sport is currently growing in interest and awareness.  Australian Sailors have always been up there as some of the best in the world but recently the achievements have been even great to see them getting noticed more.

The Olympians, Paralympians and America’s Cup Sailors bring our sport into the limelight.  It is not what everyone does when they go sailing on the weekend and many sailors often would like to see the focus shift away a little from the high profile events.  As someone who is in the Sailing Industry and involved in my local club I honestly am happy to see anything that will help increase the participation rate of sailing.  The more sailing is in the news the better chance we have of people deciding that it looks like fun and something worth trying out.  The more people aware of how much fun it is spending time on the water and at your local club the better!  Let’s face it, it is a lifestyle and makes us who we are. There are often boats looking for crew and many clubs have a variety of ways for people to get into the sport.

Seeing the sport of Sailing in the news and getting recognition can only be a good thing.

OAM ‘s on Australia Day were awarded to Our Medal Winning Sailors Tom Slingsby, Mathew Belcher, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, Daniel Fitzgibbon.

Liesl Tesch was recognised for more than her sporting abilities, awarded an AM (Member of the Order of Australia) for both her Paralympic success and her “promotion and facilitation of sport for people with disabilities”.  Liesl is the co-founder of Sport Matters, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes disabled sport in developing countries.  Make sure you check out all she does for Sport Matters.  How she finds time to do all the she does is remarkable and she deserves to be recognised for what she does for those with disabilities as well as inspiring others.

Peter Campbell was recognised for his journalism in Sailing with an OAM.  Just do a search for his name and many articles appear as he has been at the front of sailing journalism for a long time.  He has been recognised by Yachting Australia a number of times for his efforts.

David Tillett was awarded an AM (Member of the Order of Australia).  For significant service to the sport of sailing.  Here is a link to an article on just some of what he has done for our sport.  His Yachting Australia Profile just gives us the tiniest insight into the time and energy he has given to Sailing.

Robert Oatley received appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia in this year’s Australia Day Honours.  Bob received the honour in recognition of his service to the wine industry, tourism and yacht racing.

Next up was the list compiled by Richard Hinds.  A Massive congratulations to Tom Slingsby, Mat Belcher and James Spithill for being recognised. To have a sailor at number 5 is just awesome and a fantastic highlight of where our sport is going. It is a shame that Nathan and Goobs missed out as their achievements have been fantastic and worthy.  As with any list like this there will always be a big discussion on how you would see it differently.  There is no doubt that I am more than a little biased when it comes to some of the sailors I have had the privilege to support and get to know.

Sailing in the spotlight.  We need to see this more to ensure our sport continues to grow as when it grows it just gets better for us all!  More competitors, better clubs, more crew, more skippers looking for crew, more chandleries, sail makers, boat builders and so much more.

Congratulations to those who have been recognised.  If I have missed anyone please let me know so I can add them!   Sailing going mainstream media, who would have thought!

Melissa Yeomans

New Ambassadors and more

We have two new Ambassadors! Zac and Jake Barnabas who have jumped into a Flying 11 for the very first time! They just competed in their very first Flying 11 Nationals with some great results in the lighter winds. Still a few years to grow into the stronger winds yet but a great first time result for a small team.

This is extremely exciting for us as Phil and Robyn know their Grandad very well from years gone by and Mel went to school with their Mum Christine along with knowing their Dad Trent as kids at the 18’s park. I guess you could say we were always going to sponsor Zac and Jake. The best part is they love Sailing and that is a big part of how we choose ambassadors, their attitude! It is in their blood after all.

It really is nice to be able to support some young sailors who love the sport that’s in their blood.

Zac and Jake
Zac and Jake

Last Friday and Saturday I headed to Gosford Sailing Club to support Sam Ellis who put together the very first Gosford Match Racing Event! Sam deserves massive praise for putting together the event. As do all the top competitors who attended using the event as a training session which was so very smart. Ash Rooklyn took out the event and made a great speech encouraging everyone to support the smaller and startup events. Nice one Ash. When you consider the skippers were Ash, Jay Griffin, Sam Ellis, Milly Bennett and David Witt it was quite an event with some great racing! Even better was the effort from Harry Price and Louie Collins who were the Race Officials! It really was a fantastic event out together by the young match racers to help promote and grow the sport.

Melissa Yeomans

2014 – it’s been a busy start

2014 started with us doing slightly reduced hours at the warehouse to have a bit of time out of the office. As a small family business it can be hard to get a break. At the same time Phil and the DeckHardware Van have spent almost every day at the Sabot Nationals as a Silver sponsor and doing some regatta support. This went so well and was appreciated so much that he has been asked to come back to Drummoyne and spend some more time there for the 13 and 16 foot Skiff Nationals. I’m glad to see the idea we had of regatta support is being appreciated so much when we are involved with events.

The 16′ Skiffs will see good friends and DeckHardware Ambassadors in action along with many other boats who use our product. This week we return to normal hours but having said that we really haven’t been working any less as yesterday Robyn and I were working on laptops in front of the Cricket! Time to start working on a new price list as the dollar changes and suppliers come out with new year pricing. There’s always so much to do.

It’s been fun to spend a few extra hours around the house as for Christmas we got two kittens! We can’t have a dog as we are on a main road with no fence and unfortunately over the last two years we had lost our previous cats to old age and cancer. We are pretty excited to welcome Gus and Max to our home. The best part of Christmas was bringing them home from the Animal Welfare League.

20140105-100026.jpg

20140105-100048.jpg