The 2009 Sabre Victorian Championship was sailed at GLYC over the Labour Day long weekend. The clear winner overall was Chris Dance sailing on Espresso, who also won the Seniors division. The best performance by a GLYC sailor was Tim Heaney in Sabretage who finished 6th overall. First in the Super Vets division was John Dick on Zither, with Big Day Out, sailed by B Eastgate, taking out the Vets division. Steve Douglas on Sea-N-Red won the Grand Master Division, with Alan Riley on Zap coming first in the Masters division. The ever consistent Fiona McCulloch on Splash won the Ladies division. Jack Felsenthal from Black Rock Sailing Club/GLYC, won the Juniors in '132', followed by GLYC's Breanna Collins in Kaboom. Other GLYC Sabre sailors who brought home trophies in handicap divisions included Mark Jefferis on Pipit, Rob van Elden on Pocket Maxi, and Peter Lessels on Happy Hour.

Saturday’s two races were held in challenging 20 knot winds which provided an exciting ride. The wind was a lot kinder on Sunday averaging 10-12 knots, allowing the competitors to enjoy some good tactical racing. The Monday morning race had to be called off due to lack of pressure.

Boats (lower l to r) Sabretage, Kaboom, Leadlight, ???

The 2008 Victorian Javelin Championship was sailed at GLYC over the Labour Day long weekend. Although the fleet was smaller than expected, with only 10 boats participating from Elwood SC, Chelsea YC, and Beaumaris YC, the standard of competition between the top boats was very high. Four races were sailed in light to moderate conditions to complete the series; two races had previously been sailed at Chelsea YC. The stand out winner of the GLYC series was Liquor Box from Chelsea YC sailed by Brent Frankcombe and Brett Taylor, but since they did not compete in all the previous races they were relegated to 4th place overall. The 2008 Vic Title went to Himalayan Woman sailed by Aaron Hirst and Paul Newman also from Chelsea YC

RESULTS

• OVERALL - 1: Himalayan Woman, A.Hirst/P.Newman, Chelsea YC, 2: LA Woman, J.Thomson/G.Parsons, Elwood SC, 3: Unzipped. B.Williams/C.Vaughan, Chelsea YC
• GLYC RACES - 1: Liquor Box, B.Frankcombe/B.Taylor, Chelsea YC 5 pts, 2: Himalayan Woman, A.Hirst/P.Newman, Chelsea YC, 9 pts, Razor, P.Sharp/L.Sharp, Beaumaris YC, 14pts

Boats (lower l to r) Himalayan Woman, LA Woman, Unzipped, Liquor Box.

The 2007/2008 24th Australian Impulse Championships was sailed at GLYC over the Christmas New Year period. The fleet of 39 boats came from as far away as the Port Curtis SC in QLD, Oxley SC in QLD, South Lakes Macquarie Amateur SC and Toukley SC in NSW, Port River SC in SA. The Victorian boats represented clubs at Albert Park, Hampton, Chelsea, Portarlington, Indented Head, Colac, Westernport, and Inverloch. A large fleet of 8 boats made the long trek from Oxley SC on the Brisbane River to participate. Toby Whittle from SLMASC was defending his title, and four previous Australian Champions were on hand to try and take it off him.

Ten races were sailed in warm conditions and moderate sea breezes. Two races were abandoned due to strong easterly winds on the second last day. The Impulses revelled in the conditions sailing hard and fast around back-to-back trapeziodal courses

The racing was very competitive with eight different winners over the ten races, and very close finishes between similar performing boats in each heat. Large fleets of Masters (14), Grand Masters (8), added to the excitement. The overall winner was Toby Whittle sailing Cosmosoarus from South Lakes Macquarie Amateur SC in NSW who sailed very consistently to win the Invitation race and record heat scores of 1,1,2,2,1,3,3,7,4 after dropping the last heat.

SERIES WINNERS

• OPEN - Cosmosoarus, Toby Whittle, South Lakes Macquarie Amateur SC (NSW), 2: Orange Roughy, Toby Leppin. South Gippsland YC (VIC), 3: Dragonheart, Dougall Watt, Albert Park YC (VIC)
• HANDICAP - 1: Orange Roughy, Toby Leppin, South Gippsland YC (VIC), 2: Potential Energy, Paul Foster, South Lakes Macquarie Amateur SC (NSW), 3: Dogs Gone Mad, Glenn Bond, Toukley SC (NSW)
• JUNIOR - Without a Paddle, Nick Aldridge, PortCurtis SC (QLD)
• LADIES - Mojo, Monica Jones, Hampton SC (VIC)
• MASTERS - Flying Oyster, Ron Parker, Albert SC (VIC)
• GRAND MASTERS - Maddog, Mike Howell, Albert SC (VIC)
• GREAT GRAND MASTERS - Affi, Keith Cousens, South Gippsland YC (VIC)

The full TopYacht results are displayed on the Sail Melbourne web site.

Photos Winning smiles (upper left): Overall winner Toby Whittle from SLMASC congratulates fellow club member Paul Foster on finishing 2nd on Handicap in Potential Energy.
Prize-winners (upper right): (left to right) Ron Parker-Masters, Luke Randell-Most improved award, Monica Jones-Ladies, Toby Leppin-2nd Outright and 1st Handicap, Dougal Watt-3rd Outright, Mike Howell-Grand master, Nic Aldridge-Junior. Front row: Keith Cousens-Great grand master, Toby Whittle-1st Outright and winner Invitation race
Boats (lower l to r) Cosmosoarus, Orange Roughy, Dragonheart, Without A Paddle.

The Fireball 2007 State Titles were sailed at the GLYC on the 10/11 March. Fireball weather prevailed with a good sea breeze for the three races on Saturday and a freshening south-westerly giving good planing conditions for the two Sunday races. Fifteen boats competed from as far away as Apollo Bay, and the racing was very competitive. The clear winner, with five first places, was 'Rock Star' skippered by Heather McFarlane and crewed by Chris Payne. The minor placings were hotly contested with 'Sugar and Spice', Ian Ravenscroft and Paul Grant taking second place, one point in front of 'Scarlet Manuka', sailed by Phillip Peverell and Steven Baum. Just a point behind in fourth place, was Vic Sailing Supplies, skippered by Warren Slater with Glen Peverell on the wire. The Fireball Association generously loaned their club boat 'Trilogy' to GLYC members Gary and Neil Maskiell, and despite not having sailed a Fireball for some time, they performed creditably to finish in 10th place. Full details on the Event Results page.

Photos (anti-clockwise): Saturday start, Winners Heather McFarlane and Chris Payne in 'Rock Star', 'Trilogy', 'UXB' (Tony Heath and Samantha Allen)

The 2006/7 125 National Championships are now finished. Some 42 boats from as far away Townsville and Perth attended. Full race results are listed on the Sail Melbourne Results web page. Congratulations to local GLYC boys Mitchell Meade and Nick Baglioni who won the Handicap Series in Team RSL #3154 (photo top left), and to Tim and Nicholas Willersdorf in 'JIT' #2890 who came 8th on Handicap.

Final Overall results: 1st: Waterloo C.Anderson (Qld) 6pts, 2nd: 'J' D.Brewer (Qld) 13 pts, 3rd Scorpion J.Scott (Vic) 23 pts, 4th Night Flight L.Johnson (NSW) 26 pts

Final Handicap results: 1st Team RSL M.Meade (Vic Junior) 44pts, 2nd Status Quo V.Callow (Qld) 50pts, Equal 3rd Give Way G.Brown (NSW) 60pts and 4th Jens Gem J.Bakker (NSW) 60pts

Placegetters (photos below l-r): 1st Waterloo, 2nd 'J', 3rd Scorpion, and 4th Night Flight