Yachting

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.

Playing with new Liros Rope for the Skud
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.

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!

Melissa Yeomans

An Aussie Weekend

What a weekend!  Saturday Morning as always started with the Sailing Chix on air.   It was a big show full of AC talk and lots of Match Racing, TP52’s as well as the up coming JJ’s for the 18’s.   There is plenty happening in the world of sailing this year that is for sure!

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Sunday was pretty big.   My first umpiring event for the year was the Marinassess Women’s Match Racing Regatta, won by Kathleen Stroinovsky and her crew of Lucinda Whitty, Samantha Boyd and Kate Brown, representing the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.  It was a very tricky day with the Southerly hitting early on and causing the breeze to be very shifty as well as changing strengths with the shifts.   Women’s Sailing has come a long way in the last few years and we can thank the Olympics for including Match Racing at the London Games.    It was great to see Lucinda Whitty one of our Silver Medal winners out there yesterday as that helps increase the skill of the competitors.   It is also great as the atmosphere at the event was such a friendly one as well as being competitive.  This goes for everyone including Competitors, Organizers, Race Committee and Umpires.   It really felt like everyone was there to grow and improve as well as having a great time out on our awesome Harbour.

Leaving the CYCA I managed to get home to watch the last 1.5hrs of the Bathurst 12hour.  The race could be watched online via the website which was AWESOME! The commentary was great to listen too as well. The weather was teasing so much with rain all around the Mountain making it extremely difficult to choose what car setup to go for.  I can’t wait for the V8’s to start up with the new teams mixing it up a bit!  Check out some of the video here.  Apparently I missed an incredible amount of Safety Cars in the morning part of the race as well as some of the crazy rain that had them doing 40K around the track on the wrong tyres.  I will definitely be checking out the highlight footage.  Great effort by those who put together the coverage and did the Commentary.  Loved it.

Now for another big week at DeckHardware followed by a full weekend of umpiring at the Pittwater High Schools Teams Racing this weekend up at RPAYC.  Summer truly is awesome.

Melissa Yeomans

Sponsorship feels good

How good is it to be in the position to support sailors who are off on adventure and love the sport of Sailing.  Since sponsoring the Australian Youth Championships we have announced a number of new sailors to join the DeckHardware Ambassador Team.  Currently it stands at:  Nic Douglass, Tom Freeman,David Gilmour, Lachy Gilmour, Brad Greenrod, Ben & Scott King, Alec Milligan, Michael Pfeffer, Dante Olivieri & Alex Marzano, Carrie Smith & Ella Clark and the Fire Stopping 16ft skiff team. 

We will be adding more names to this list over the coming days which is truly exciting!  At the moment the Fire Stopping Team are competing in their National Championships and we wish them the best of luck!  When looking for our Ambassadors we don’t just look at results, we look at their goals, personalities, love for the sport, sportsmanship and much more.

On another good note, last week I got the chance along with the Sailing Chix to head up to Wangi to watch the Moth Nationals.   Or was it the Worlds?  Talk about an incredible field!  We had the chance to interview Nath Outteridge,  Tom Slingsby and Iain Jensen.  A huge thanks to the guys for taking the time before a nationals race to talk to us along with a couple of others who we interviewed (Beau interviewed us).  I have been involved with their Olympic Campaigns as a sponsor and friend and it is great to see them jumping in a class they love and out on the water.   Head over to the Sailing Chix website where we will be loading the interviews for you to listen too.  The interview with Tom in particular who we had more time to talk to is fantastic.  Thanks Tom!  You really did sum up what sailing is all about and it was great to hear.  Congrats to Scott Babbage for taking out the Aus Title and Pete Burling the Overall Win.

The guys now leave Australia and head to San Francisco for the America’s Cup.  What an exciting year ahead for them.  Jumping straight out of Olympic campaigns which lead to Gold into campaigns in the oldest competition in sport the America’s Cup.  I can not wait to follow their journeys.

The Sailing Chix and I finally sat down last week to have a very long and overdue meeting.  Talk about big plans for the year ahead, do you think we can fit it all in?  Have you tuned in yet to listen to our show?  Stay tuned for big updates!  We are extremely excited to be on this adventure together.

Melissa Yeomans

Goodbye 2012!

It is the end of the year and we have certainly had an interesting one to say the least as it started great but that only lasted a short time.  It won’t be hard for 2013 to be better than 2012, bring on 2013!

Boxing Day once again I was on the Southern Line with my father.  I also had the Sailing Chix doing our live coverage.  We had a great day on the start boat and our next door neighbour joined us who is a non sailor and had a ball!  Lots of photos and video from the day are on the DeckHardware Facebook page.  Dad is now down in Tassie taking my place as I had planned to go spread the DeckHardware word and catch up with my Tassie based friends.   He is having fun getting friends to call me from his phone to guess who they are.  Liesl you sound NOTHING like Dad hahahaha.

With all the troubles of this year I have also been very lucky to have some amazing friends support me.   I am especially grateful to Nix, Nic and Lindsay who I started an amazing adventure with this year that has kept me going.  Our radio show.   It has been so much fun to get out there and promote our amazing sport with friends who love it as much as I do.  It certainly has taken up a fair amount of our time but the rewards have been well worth it.  Sailing Chix Rock!!!  I can not wait to see what adventures 2013 take us on.   Nix is already down at Dee Why now setting up for an outside broadcast to bring in the New Year!

The second highlight of the year was definitely all those late nights during London 2012 cheering on the Aussie Sailors!  You are all awesome and I am so glad I get to call so many of you friends and support your journey.   Bring on Rio!!!

Thanks so much to those who have stood by me the last two years. It has been a rollercoaster and I have learnt a lot about me and others. Bring on 2013, as I have had more than my share of bad luck and I am ready for the good!

Happy New Year everyone! 2013 has so many big plans already!  Lots of Sailing Chix with Nix, A trip to METS in Amsterdam for DeckHardware, More Umpiring and so much more.

Melissa Yeomans

Boxing Day is almost here!

Yeah ok we have Christmas first.  But Boxing Day is going to be just so exciting this year it is hard to not get excited.   We at Sailing Chix with Nix will be doing a live coverage of the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race start on Boxing Day.   Once again my Dad will be the starter on the second line as well.  So it is a big day for us!

Sailing Chix with Nix will be LIVE on Boxing Day covering the Start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race!

Sailing Chix

Sailing Chix with Nix will be live on location for the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race based at Tania Park above Grotto Point on the Northern Beaches in Sydney! The Chix can’t wait to bring you five hours of interviews from yachts, specialists, weather gurus, the community and more to really bring the Hobart to life! We will kick off from 9AM and take you right through until 2PM as the boats leave the heads and start the journey South!

Want to know more about Sailing Chix with Nix head over to our website www.sailingchix.org

You can listen live via radio, streaming online or via the Tune In app – details below!

Radio: 88.7 or 90.3 in Sydney

Apps: Tune In

Tunein website

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!

Bring on Boxing Day!

Melissa Yeomans

Yachting Awards and Sailing Chix

On Friday night the Sailing Chix and I headed to the Australian Yachting Awards!  For all the winners check out the link.  It is always a great night getting to see Australian Sailors celebrated.  There were more than 230 guests attended the event at the Byron Kennedy Hall in the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park, Sydney.  The three of us managed to catch up with friends along with spreading the word on our new Radio Show.  The feedback we had on the show was fantastic!  Thanks so much everyone for the support.  As a sponsor of the Australian Sailing Team the Yachting Awards is certainly a highlight.

Nina Curtis and Liesl Tesch certainly are two of our biggest advocates!  Love them so much!  Good to know we have some other awesome sailing chix wanting to see our new venture succeed.

Saturday morning we then woke up early to be on air!  We kicked off a little early and still did not manage to cover everything!  We will be backing it up in the next show.   Here is our show update from Yesterday:

Jam packed champion chat!

Well what a show we had for you this morning! So much went on last night at the Yachting Australia awards that we will just have to roll over the after party to cover more interviews for you next week!

Today we did chat to Cam Williams from Channel 9, Mark Spearman who took out the Youth Sailor of the Year award, and of course our great interview with one of the Volunteers of the Year, John Middleton and Mike “Fletch” Fletcher who was honoured with the Yachting Australia Lifetime Achievement award.

We did get to meet the Minister for Sport, it was great to hear about how her son fell in love with sailing at the launch of Discover Sailing at the Canberra Yacht Club last week. We are hoping to have her on the show in the next few weeks!

The Honourable Kate Lundy, Minister for Sport presenting the Sport Promotion Award last night

On top of all of this (yes it was busy here in the studio!), we chatted live to one of the winners of Yachtswoman of the Year, Nina Curtis of ONLY Racing and of course Randy from Bangin’ the Corners! Fantastic to have them both on the show! Beau of Bangin’ the Corners is of course “Nathan’s brother” – one of the recipients of the Yachtsman of the Year award last night, along with his crew Iain Jensen, as well as Malcolm Page and Mat Belcher, and Tom Slingsby. Yes a three-way tie!

It was great to see so many of our past guests up there taking out awards last night! Of course Liesl Tesch and Dan Fitzgibbon took out the Sailor of the Year with a Disability! What an awesome year for our Sailing Chix with Nix advocate! Matt Allen also presented the SOLAS trusts award, a great cause that we all need to support as sailors.

If you missed the action today, or want to catch up on what we have been getting up to over the past few weeks check out our Past Shows page. Today’s show should be up in the next few days!

As for next week, well we have interviews with Phil Jones, CEO of Yachting Australia, and we were also lucky enough to catch up with Victor Kovalenko the medal-maker himself! These interviews and more from the 16 footer States, the Farr 40′s and a number of development programs are all happening next week!

Massive thanks to those who chatted with us last night and today! Until next Saturday, enjoy the southerly stream this weekend, and look forward to talking sailing with you next Saturday from 8am EST!

Listen to the Show:

Melissa Yeomans

Discover Sailing Launch was today

Today I had the opportunity of heading down to Canberra for the Launch of Discover Sailing.   It is a new initiative by Yachting Australia to increase the participation in our sport.  It was great to see Mal Page take out Kate Lundy who is the Minister for Sport.  During the games myself and a few others were following her tweets eagerly awaiting news from Weymouth!  Today she got to go for a short sail in not much breeze with Mal and see what it was like.  We were joking around for a bit that due to the light air he should have taken something out a bit sporty.  Trapeze maybe?  Next time.

I also finally got to see Liesl Tesch in person and give her a great big hug!  It was pretty cool to stand there with friends and compare the different Gold Medals.   The Paralympic’s Medal is labelled Sailing versus Mal’s which says which class it was for instance.  Yes we had a discussion on which was best!  Oh and then out came a Beijing Gold!  Size difference!!!  Liesl was tempted to go grab her other medals…  But there was a launch to be done!

Here is what it is about:

Page and Tesch to launch Discover Sailing

Craig Heydon, Yachting Australia

Minister for Sport, Senator the Hon Kate Lundy, London 2012 Olympic Games sailing gold medallist Malcolm Page and London 2012 Paralympic Games sailing gold medallist Liesl Tesch will launch new participation program, Discover Sailing, at Canberra Yacht Club on Friday, 19 October.

The recent success of Australia’s sailors at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has raised the profile of the sport to a new level. Yachting Australia, with the support of the Australian Sports Commission, has developed Discover Sailing, a new participation initiative designed to bring new people into the sport across Australia.

The Discover Sailing Program features a new website,www.discoversailing.org.au, and incorporates a number of key programs, including; Tackers, designed for children aged 7-12, Sailability, a program for people of all-abilities and Discover Sailing Days, Experiences and Courses, to be delivered by Clubs.

Images from Today

 

It was worth the drive to Canberra and back!  Bring on Sailing Chix with Nix in the morning!

Melissa Yeomans

Where is our club heading?

Where do you want to see our club in 5, 10 15 years time?  I would like to see Middle Harbour Yacht Club as the destination for Sailors who love our sport and wish to compete against the highest level of sailors run by professional race committee that is the envy of other clubs.   Our location is and we know that.

I believe we need to inspire the next generation to stay in sailing and hopefully at our club.  So that they too then inspire the next generation to love our sport of Sailing.

My family was a part of the highly successful era in MHYC Centreboard and Offshore Sailing scenes.  Lately MHYC has told the world how strong we were and the sailors our club produced through its fantastic Centreboard Division.

Centreboard Division

  • Create a family environment
  • Get parents involved
    • Show them how to get involved
  • Run a power boat handling operators course
  • Look at classes offered and the direction of these classes offered at the club
    • Have a pathway and options along the path for our sailors.  When I was a teenager I asked and my mum fought to head down the same path as RPAYC, CYCA and RSYS and their training centres.

Junior Division

  • Optimist

Intermediate Division

  • 420

This is currently where our club is placed.   Ideally we should have an all inclusive Centreboard Division as it was when it was the strongest club in Sydney.

I would like to call on all those who believe in Middle Harbour Yacht Club to stand up and assist our club in finding its “Mojo”.  Many of you may have young kids and be wondering what path to lead them.  Whether they will be as lucky as you were growing up in a fantastic sailing environment.

I believe Middle Harbour Yacht Club has an opportunity right now as they did back then.  Perhaps instead of telling the teenagers what they will sail next they could hold an open event for all dinghy classes.  Then advise these classes that MHYC would love to have them race on a regular basis.  The place to start would be the 505’s which were such a strong class once at MHYC.  Let’s make the event a fantastic event and show everyone what a great place it is to sail and how amazing the people are.  How much we all love the sport of sailing.  We have the facilities to run the most professional event possible.  We also have the personnel in not only staff but a fantastic volunteer base that have run many great regattas over the years.

There are many questions people have asked me over the years.  Why was I the youngest skipper by such a margin? Why was I the only racing female skipper?  Where did those you grew up with go?  Where is your age group? Why did the Centreboard Division fold all those years ago?  Why are there so few females?  How did you manage to run so many women’s events and crews?

I have over the years said I have some but not all the answers should anyone wish to listen to someone so young.  I am a little older now and would love to talk to those who want to listen to my thoughts.   Perhaps we could hold an open forum and invite the members of the past?

So I ask: Where do you see Middle Harbour Yacht Club in 5, 10, 15 years time?