Sailing on Salt Shaker
So one of my biggest hopes with coming over here was to hook up with a local sailing club and get out as crew for racing. And I have! Very easy to get set up here as there are 4 or 5 clubs within a few kilometers of Brighton. I chose the Sandringham Yacht Club (http://www.syc.com.au/) as it has a more casual reputation. I filled a form, got a call within a half hour, and got invited to crew on a 32' Jarken cruiser/racer.
Ken Gaylor, the owner of Salt Shaker, is a retired professor of biochemist from Melbourne University. What a good guy! He's sharp at tactics, easy going on the crew, really competitive on the course, and has a lot of fun.
I raced a number of times now with Ken on a Wednesday afternoon summer series. No spinnakers allowed in this one so it's all about tactics and timing. We've done well!
A couple of 1st place finishes, a 2nd place spot (just yesterday), and few less well-placed finishes to mention. There's usually around 35 boats racing. They use a handicapping system with a staggered start. Salt Shaker usually starts 14 minutes after the first half of the fleet. The course varies depending on conditions; there's over 40 courses that use with somewhere around 12 different buoys strewn across the bay. The length of the courses vary from an hour or two to full-day races.
Ken Gaylor, the owner of Salt Shaker, is a retired professor of biochemist from Melbourne University. What a good guy! He's sharp at tactics, easy going on the crew, really competitive on the course, and has a lot of fun.I raced a number of times now with Ken on a Wednesday afternoon summer series. No spinnakers allowed in this one so it's all about tactics and timing. We've done well!
A couple of 1st place finishes, a 2nd place spot (just yesterday), and few less well-placed finishes to mention. There's usually around 35 boats racing. They use a handicapping system with a staggered start. Salt Shaker usually starts 14 minutes after the first half of the fleet. The course varies depending on conditions; there's over 40 courses that use with somewhere around 12 different buoys strewn across the bay. The length of the courses vary from an hour or two to full-day races.Here's a shot of yesterday's photo finish. We lost out by one (1!) second for 1st place. Bruce the Elder, a regular on the Wed. race, and also a retired biochemist, took this second shot showing how we lost that race by one second. Note the pole being held out across the bow!!
This was great afternoon with a steady 17 kt breeze, small seas of less than a meter, and blue skies. We raced an 8.2 nmile course out to the shipping lanes and back (course #33). Good fun.
I've been working the pole to sheet out the gennaker and putting my catamaran main sail handling to good use. So Ken invited me to crew on the more competitive winter Saturday series that beginning in late April. Those races will be full gear, in colder conditions, and against some of the more competitive teams. Should be a great experience.
Here's a shot of the Anne Kongsgaarden, Ken, and myself from yesterday. Anne is also a visitor coming from Denmark with her husband who is here on assignment. She's a regular on the Wednesday scene as well.
This was great afternoon with a steady 17 kt breeze, small seas of less than a meter, and blue skies. We raced an 8.2 nmile course out to the shipping lanes and back (course #33). Good fun.
I've been working the pole to sheet out the gennaker and putting my catamaran main sail handling to good use. So Ken invited me to crew on the more competitive winter Saturday series that beginning in late April. Those races will be full gear, in colder conditions, and against some of the more competitive teams. Should be a great experience.Here's a shot of the Anne Kongsgaarden, Ken, and myself from yesterday. Anne is also a visitor coming from Denmark with her husband who is here on assignment. She's a regular on the Wednesday scene as well.
